Review and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 9. (3/1/1906)

Review and Herald

Mar 1, 1906

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 1, 1906

New Testament Indorsement of the Perpetuity of God's Law

Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. Matt. 5:17, 18.

For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves; in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them); in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ. Rom. 2:12-16.

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Rom. 3:19.

Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law. Rom. 3:31.

So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. Rom. 7:12.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. James 2:8-12.

Our Publishing Work

By Editor

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.

See last paragraph on this page for instructions where to order.

THE latest religious liberty publication is the thirty-two-page pamphlet entitled “Liberty,” of which full announcement has already been made. The price is 5 cents a copy.

WILL those who have been inquiring for copies of the Special Testimonies which have been printed at various times, please read carefully the article headed “Special Testimonies,” on page 22 of the REVIEW of February 15?

HAVE you read and are you aiding in the circulation of that most valuable book, “Ministry of Healing”? Its mission is to encourage and benefit every sin-sick or physically sick individual. Lend it a hand. Price, $1.65, if sent by mail.

ALL the year round there is a continuous and general demand for the small books which contain Bible truth. “Our Paradise Home,” “His Glorious Appearing,” and “Best Stories from the Best Book” are the ones which have the largest sale.

SPIRITUALISM is one of the most enticing delusions of these last days, and many people are led into its snares, little realizing its true nature. A careful perusal of the little book, “Modern Spiritualism,” will put them on their guard, and disclose the real source of spiritual manifestations. Cloth, 40 cents; paper, 20 cents.

A CATALOGUE of our publications will be sent free to any one who requests it. It is valuable to those who desire to know what publications can be secured on the various points of truth. It contains an alphabetical list of all our books, and a numerical list of all the tracts and pamphlets in our various “Libraries,” with prices of the same.

MANY who have read the series of articles recently published in this paper on “The Canon of the Bible” will perhaps wish to know where a copy of the revised edition of the Bible can be secured. To such we say that the American Standard Revised Bible is undoubtedly the best edition now in print, and it can be supplied in good, readable type, cloth bound, for $1. Specify “American Standard” edition when you order.

OUR young people who would like to understand the first principles of photography, will be greatly helped in their work by Edison Driver’s articles, entitled “Something about Photography,” which will be published shortly in the Youth’s Instructor. Those who are preparing for missionary work in a foreign field should have some knowledge of this art, so that good photographs of interesting scenes may be sent for publication. One can understand much better when a picture accompanies a description. The Instructor is full every week of interesting, helpful reading for youth. Price, 75 cents a year; 40 cents for six months. Address Youth’s Instructor, Washington, D. C.

THE “Year-Book” for 1906 is now ready. Price, 25 cents.

ORDERS for publications are coming in most encouragingly. In fact, from the appearance of our shipping departments, we should often think it was December instead of March.

A CANVASSER in Pennsylvania has met with good success in selling “Coming King” in German. He has also found a ready sale for “Steps to Christ” among the Hungarian and Rumanian population.

THE history of “The Great Second Advent Movement” is truthfully, conscientiously, and interestingly told in Elder Loughborough’s book, by the above name. Recent converts to the truth are especially urged to purchase and read this book. Price, $1.50.

THE unexpectedly large demand for the new Special Testimonies, “Series B, No. 6,” and “Series B, No. 7,” has exhausted the stock so rapidly that our various publishing houses and branches, and we ourselves, have found it difficult to keep sufficient stock on hand so that orders could be filled promptly. A sufficient number will be printed to supply all. The two pamphlets will be sent, post-paid, for 10 cents.

THE present Sunday law agitation is giving opportunity for the circulation of literature, and we are receiving liberal orders for Religious Liberty Leaflets. The titles and prices are as follows: No. 1, “Principles too Little Understood,” 8 pages, 38 cents a hundred; No. 2, “Sunday Laws; Their Origin, Nature, and Object,” 8 pages, 38 cents a hundred; No. 3, “The Logic of Sunday Legislation,” 8 pages, 38 cents a hundred; No. 4, “The Civil Sabbath,” 12 pages, 55 cents a hundred.

SPECIAL effort is to be put forth this year on the two important books “Great Controversy” and “Desire of Ages.” The truth for these times is most forcibly presented in “Great Controversy.” Many of the Sunday-schools are to study the life of Christ throughout 1906, and no better work can be done by any one than to call the attention of Sunday-school officers and teachers to “Desire of Ages.” They can be truthfully assured that no such a “help” for the study of the lessons is to be found elsewhere. Old, experienced canvassers who have of late been engaged in other work, ought to carefully consider what their obligations are in view of the light they have received, and in view of the present dearth of canvassers who can successfully introduce these important books.

Orders for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society or to Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., or Battle Creek, Mich.

Also Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal.; Portland, Ore.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Much Rubbish

THE workers under Nehemiah were almost discouraged in their efforts to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, not only because they were continually harassed by their enemies, but also because there was “much rubbish” to be removed. The energy expended in building with new material seems to yield much more encouraging returns than the time and strength consumed in clearing away “much rubbish;” but unless the rubbish had been cleared away, the foundation of the wall would have been insecure. It sometimes seems like a thankless task to pay any attention to the “much rubbish” which unconsecrated hands have piled upon the true foundation, and yet many are building upon this worthless material, thinking that they have reached the solid rock. The “Higher Critics” have done nothing to advance the interests of the kingdom of God in the earth, but they have piled up “much rubbish” for others to remove. The advocates of the “New Theology” are simply dealers in “much rubbish.” Those whose minds are so fruitful in the spiritualistic interpretations of revealed truth are simply obscuring the true light by filling the air with much dust and rubbish. O for a breath from heaven which will clear the spiritual atmosphere, and a heavenly flame which will consume all the rubbish which now seems to hinder the builders! “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.”

Some Wholesome Words.

The recent public exposure of the sins of some men in high places has had at least one good effect: it has led to a recognition of the lack of moral soundness in many who have hitherto been regarded as leaders among men, and to some plain speaking concerning their abuse of the confidence in which they were held. This may act as a healthy stimulus to some who are under temptation to abandon the path of old-fashioned honor and honesty, but who have not yet actually committed themselves to a double life.

In the face of the tendency to gloss over the offenses of respectable transgressors of moral and civil laws the Outlook (New York) asserts with much emphasis that “the destroyers of hope and the wasters of moral wealth are the men who stoop to baseness from high positions, and make influence and power, which are in their keeping as trustees for others, the servants of their greed or ambition.” With this verdict all candid thinkers will agree. Great confidence reposed in a man, and great opportunity afforded for influencing others in the right way, only increase the greatness of his infamy when he betrays that confidence and abuses that opportunity.

We quote a portion of the editorial in the Outlook, upon this subject:—

It is almost impossible to overestimate the shock to confidence, the disaster to hope, which have come in this country as the result of recent betrayals of trust by men of prominence in public and business life, and it is a mischievous perversion of true compassion which makes respectability and position palliatives of moral offense. There is no offender so naked of excuse as the man who sins from the height of a great place, no betrayer of honor so base as he whose honor is so great that it becomes itself a capital for his use. The common offender is held back by no public opinion, kept in place by no pressure from others, sustained in temptation by no consciousness that others are leaning on him, and that if he defaults morally, misery and bankruptcy follow in the train of his collapse; on the contrary, he feels that he is detached from the moral life of the community, that what he does is of little account, that no man trusts him. The great criminal is not he who commits a crime of a magnitude which impresses the imagination, but he who turns traitor in the face of general confidence and universal respect, the man who does not break, at the risk of his life, into other people’s houses and take their property, but seizes and wastes property put into his hands by men and communities because he is believed to be honorable. The magnitude of an offense is determined not by the daring with which it is committed nor by its rating on the statute-books, but by the measure in which it involves violation of trust, betrayal of confidence, use of the honor and authority bestowed by others, for selfish or base purposes. The individual soldier who goes over to the enemy is a traitor, but his treason is venial compared with that of an Arnold loved and trusted by his chief, holding a post of immense importance because of that confidence, looked upon as a leader by reason of a record of heroism. When such a man falls, he falls like Lucifer, and there is no measure to the infamy which blackens his name on the lips of later generations.

The only solid and permanent foundation for a life of uprightness is a conscientious observance of the precepts of that law which is “holy and just and good.” When for the sake of personal advantage one begins to play fast and loose with the eternal principles of truth revealed in the Word of God, and to accept technical interpretations of the laws of the land as his standard of righteousness, he has prepared the way for moral bankruptcy.

Much which has been done in secret, with little thought of exposure, is now being proclaimed upon the housetops, and nearly all who have been condemned by public opinion as guilty have worn the cloak of religion. This is a sign of the times. Those who in the perilous times which characterize “the last days” are indicted by inspiration under eighteen

different counts, are described as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” From such we are told to turn away.

Editorial

By Editor

Principle and Principal

THE makers of dictionaries tell us that Principle means “a settled rule of action,” and that Principal means, among other things, “a capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt, or used as a fund.” Some persons write principal when they should write principle, and other persons are governed by principal when they should be governed by principle. It is remarkable to what an extent principal will sometimes override principle. Property interests will often warp the judgment and dull the perception so that principles which are perfectly clear to an unprejudiced observer are utterly disregarded by those who claim to be loyal and true. Adherence to principle is better than adherence to principal. “The ordinances of Jehovah are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.”

In Old London Once Again

By William Ambrose Spicer

AN hour ashore in good old England, and the miseries and discomforts of sea travel to a poor sailor were all but forgotten. It has been an open winter in England, and though it was but the first of February, the fields were green. At Aston Hall, near Birmingham, where I stopped off to see a site which the brethren are considering as a headquarters for the British field, snowdrops were growing in the open, along the lakeside.

On Sabbath I met with the old North London church, in Duncombe Hall. It was just twenty years ago this spring that Elder Haskell and three Bible workers, Sisters Hurd, Owen, and McKinnon, and myself came to London and held the first Sabbath meeting with Sister Marsh, the one lone Seventh-day Adventist in all the great city.

There was a little company of Seventh-day Baptists meeting in East London, led by Dr. Wm. Mead Jones. Dr. Jones was a good friend of ours, and I well remember his telling us that we would find that it was not possible to get people to leave their old churches in London and come out and keep the Sabbath, as people might do in the newer American cities. But all we Seventh-day Adventists know is to present the message that God has given us to carry to every nation and to every people, high or low, far or near, equally for the greatest city in the world as for the smallest hamlet.

The three young sisters began to go out, reading the Bible among the people. They studied the prophecies of Daniel and of Revelation around the firesides, and people began to understand these truths of Christ's soon coming, of the Sabbath reform, of the new earth, and the nature of man. They saw a great system of truth, every part fitting into the general plan, and all so simple and clear and definite that all they could consistently do, was to accept it. So they came out, one after another, keeping God's Sabbath, and joining heart and soul with this advent people. As I looked into the faces of the old friends who came out in those early days, and who through the years have helped in the building up of the work, I thanked God again for the simplicity of this third angel's message.

The thing that made us all Seventh-day Adventists was the simple story of the fulfilment of prophecy, the sound doctrines as to the advent, the sanctuary and its cleansing, the Sabbath, and the nature of man. That is what made our fathers in this message Seventh-day Adventists. These foundation principles created the advent movement. And these truths which made us all Seventh-day Adventists are the truths that will make other people Seventh-day Adventists. There is no other message that will do it.

We see more and more in these truths, but it is not in the preaching of the refinements, as it were, of the advent doctrines that truth's most powerful advocacy consists. The plain and straightforward evidence of the fulfilment of the prophecies and the setting of the Sabbath and other truths in the advent movement is the thing that convinced us and made us Seventh-day Adventists. That is the thing for others to build upon also. Thank God for the simple, fundamental, definite platform of truth. Let us hold to the main line of the advent doctrine, for there are yet many who must hear it, and then comes the end.

The Seventh-day Baptists had begun their work in London centuries ago. God used that people to keep the torch of Sabbath truth burning through the ages of darkness. When the third angel's message began to be proclaimed in London, our Seventh-day Baptist friends had all that learning and talent and devotion could give to their Sabbath reform advocacy. But this third angel's message is the Sabbath reform message for these last days. And as our three lady Bible workers went out in human weakness to present it in the homes of the people, the power of God was present to convict hearts, and to lead souls to accept the message. In about a year we had more Sabbath-keeping believers in London than our Seventh-day Baptist brethren. I would not at all suggest any comparisons as a matter of disparagement of their earnestness and zeal, for they were good friends of ours. But the third angel's message, the preaching of the prophetic message God has given us, is the strength of the Sabbath cause. We are a people of the prophecy. This movement itself is the fulfilment of prophecy.

And wherever it goes, it brings forth the same fruit. Here are the old believers in London, growing in love for the message, new ones coming in, the work moving forward, the "blessed hope" as dear to their hearts as to those of the believers in America. The children of the early days in the London work are now grown up, and a goodly number are in turn bearing burdens in the work, and successfully preaching and teaching the truth in this populous British field.

I was thankful to meet with friends, old and new, here. To some of us London is still home, for here we grew into the work and service of this blessed message. Instead of the one lone Seventh-day Adventist in London, of twenty years ago, there are now nearly four hundred believers in the great city.

W. A. S.

London.

An Unholy “Holiness” Doctrine

By L. A. S.

A RECENT issue of the Gospel Trumpet, a “holiness” journal published in West Virginia, contains an argument of some length to prove that “the torments of hell will be unending.” The argument is based on the expression “forever and ever,” which occurs in certain Scripture passages which speak of the fate of Satan and the ungodly. The writer goes so far as to assert that “all teachers who teach an ending hell are Satan’s preachers, and are antichrists.”

In this argument it is stated, however, that “there will be degrees of future punishment,” and texts are quoted which plainly teach that this will be so. God “will render to every man according to his deeds.” Rom. 2: 5, 6. The Pharisees, for their hypocrisy, were to receive the “greater damnation.” Matt. 23: 14. It is to be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for the cities of Galilee. Matt. 10: 14, 15; 11: 20-24. The servant who “knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes,” is to receive “few stripes,” while others will receive “many stripes.” Luke 12: 47, 48. This fact of degrees of future punishment is fatal to the theory of endless torment.

When the final judgment of the wicked takes place, the devil and all the ungodly—“whosoever was not found written in the book of life”—are cast into a lake of fire. And according to the argument of this “holiness” organ, all who are cast into the flames are to remain there, burning, yet alive, to all eternity. Is this being beaten with “few stripes”? Eternity is infinite. Eternal consciousness in hell fire would be infinite suffering, infinite punishment. Instead of some receiving but “few stripes” in hell, all would receive unending stripes. Jesus always spoke the truth. He did not say “few stripes” when he meant punishment and suffering infinitely great.

If all the wicked are to burn endlessly in the lake of fire, all suffer alike. Those who have sinned but little suffer the same pain inflicted upon the greatest monsters of evil, and for the same length of time. Any attempt to show that there can be degrees of punishment in an endless consciousness in the lake of fire, must be built upon fancy purely. Such an idea is contrary to reason, and there is no hint of it in revelation. There is only one reasonable and Scriptural explanation of degrees of punishment, and that is in the idea of the limit of the duration of consciousness. Those who receive

“few stripes” for their sins are quickly consumed, and their suffering is quickly ended, though in a sense their punishment is eternal because they are deprived of eternal life in God’s kingdom. Those who receive “many stripes” have their consciousness and sufferings prolonged, until each shall have been rewarded according to his works, according to the deeds done in his probationary life.

The doctrine that God will subject his creatures to an eternity of the most dreadful torture in a burning hell is the most God-dishonoring doctrine that could be invented, for it represents him as being worse than the devil. It has done more to drive people from God, to make infidels, atheists, and scoffers at Christianity, than any other doctrine, however false. The doctrines of true Christianity do not operate in this way. Every really Christian doctrine presents the Almighty as a God of love. It is Satan who represents him in a different light.

How is it possible for any one to worship a being who he believes will cast his creatures into a place where they will suffer the most dreadful agony through never-ending ages of time? And what else could result from the worship of such a fearful being but that the worshipers should partake of the character of the one worshiped, and become themselves cruel and callous to human suffering? Is it any wonder that in past centuries, when men did believe this awful doctrine, they burned “heretics” at the stake to save men’s souls from an eternity of fire in the world to come? Is it any wonder that they callously inflicted on their victims all the inhuman tortures of the Inquisition? This doctrine of eternal torment has an evil record. It has borne evil fruit.

The final end of the wicked is pictured in Revelation 20. They come up on the breadth of the earth, with Satan at their head, and surround the New Jerusalem, and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. The city of God with the saved inside it is thus in the midst of the fire that devours the ungodly. There is no record that the city is removed to any other place. But it is declared that there is to be a new earth, and that the “first earth” is to pass away. Rev. 21: 1. The first earth is to be burned up in the fire which comes down out of heaven upon the wicked as they stand around the holy city. 2 Peter 3: 10. The old earth passes away in fire, and then the voice of the eternal One is heard saying, “Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21: 5. The new earth comes into the place of the old.

The first world, that of Adam and his descendants down to Noah, was destroyed by a flood. It was overflowed with water, and “perished.” The world that was known after the flood was not the world that was known before the flood. The antediluvian world passed away. Its whole surface was changed; its arrangement of land and water, mountain and plain, was completely altered; for not only was there a fearful storm from heaven, with mountain waves sweeping over the submerged land, but the “fountains of the deep” were broken up; the waters under the earth burst their barriers, and there must have been a gigantic upheaval and displacement of the earth’s crust on all sides. It was a new and strange world upon which Noah and his family looked when they came forth from the ark.

The righteous in that time of destruction and judgment upon the wicked were in the ark, in the midst of the storm of water which overwhelmed the ungodly. At the coming final destruction, likewise, the righteous will be in the holy city, in the midst of the storm of fire that overwhelms all whose names are not in the book of life. After that storm, will come forth new heavens, and a new earth, but the wicked will not be in it. They will be no more. God will have a clean universe. There will be a complete annihilation of sin.

L. A. S.

The Testimony of the New Testament Concerning the Law

THERE is a certain class of teachers who never tire of asserting that the law of God was abolished at the cross, and that there is no New Testament authority for its perpetuity. The fearful responsibility of making such a claim as this which is an insult to the authority of the King of heaven, is assumed in order to avoid the claims of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

More than half a century ago Elder J. N. Andrews, who now rests from his labors, wrote convincingly upon this subject, and his articles are worthy of being reproduced. We quote from his first article as follows:—

It is painful to witness the various inconsistent and self-contradictory positions resorted to by those who reject the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. But of all the positions adopted, no other one seems equally dangerous, or fraught with such alarming consequences, as the view that the law of God by which the Sabbath is enforced, has been abolished, and that we are therefore under no obligation to “remember the Sabbath day.” The question whether God has abolished his law or not, is indeed the main point at issue in the Sabbath controversy; for when it is shown that the law still exists, and that its perpetuity is clearly taught in the New Testament, it most conclusively settles the question that the Sabbath is binding on us, and on all men.

Matthew 5. The first testimony on this point was borne by the Lord Jesus in his sermon on the mount. He says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.” We believe therefore that he did not destroy them; consequently they are yet in force. He adds that not “one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Hence no one of its precepts will cease before the rest. And that shall not be “till heaven and earth pass.” Hence we say that the law of God extends down through the gospel dispensation to the end. He testifies that he came not to destroy, but to fulfil; and that he might stop the mouths of those who teach that his obedience to the law annulled it, he adds that “whosoever shall break one of these commandments,” etc., “shall be called least in the kingdom of God,” or, as Campbell renders it, “shall be of no esteem in the reign of heaven.” And that we might not mistake the commandments referred to, he proceeds to quote and comment on the law of the decalogue, the ten commandments. This is a nail fastened by the Master of assemblies “in a sure place,” and it is clear proof that the mission of Jesus was not to destroy, but to “magnify the law and make it honorable.” Isa. 42:21.

Matthew 22. Jesus teaches that on two precepts, viz., to love God with all the heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, “hang all the law and the prophets.” These two great commandments from their nature can never cease to exist; consequently, the law and the prophets, which hang on them, can never fall,—can never be abolished. The law of commandments contained in ordinances has been abolished, that the ordinances of the Jewish church might make way for those of the Christian church. But that the ten commandments are comprehended in these two precepts, and are therefore inseparable from them, is clearly taught in James 2:8-11; Rom. 13:9; 1 John 5:3.

It is a fact of much importance that the ten commandments, though often quoted by our Lord, are never introduced upon a new account, but stand on their original basis, viz., as the law of God. It may be said, indeed, that the law of God had not expired before Christ's death, and that we should look to the writings of the apostles for the re-enactment of that part of it which is embraced in the New Testament. It is a sufficient answer to this, to reply that there is but “one lawgiver,” and if he has abolished his law, the apostles themselves could not re-enact the smallest part of it. Therefore those who teach that the law of God was destroyed at the death of Christ, must, to carry out the sentiment, teach also that we may violate any, or even all, of its precepts, and be blameless.

The second chapter of Romans (verses 11-16) shows that all men are amenable to the law of God, whether they possess that law written in his Word or only in their hearts. To this point Paul testifies again, when he says “that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law [to how many does the law speak?]; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Moses wrote the first books of the Bible; hence it appears that, previous to his time, the world was without a

written revelation of God's will. But that the law of God written in “the heart, as expressed in this text, existed from the beginning, is evident from these considerations: 1. “Until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Rom. 5:13. Now if the work of the law had not been written in the heart before the giving of the written word, how could God have counted men sinners? For they would have had no law to transgress. Again, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. “Where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. As the transgression of the law has existed from the beginning, it follows that its requirements have also existed from the same point. To conclude the argument from this chapter, we say that if the doctrine that the law of God was abolished at Christ's death, be carried out, its advocates must also teach that sin has not existed in the world since that point; for it can not be shown that he has ever re-enacted one of its precepts. If therefore the world has been “without law to God” since the death of Christ, it has also been without “transgression of the law,” for “where no law is, there is no transgression.”

Rom. 3:9-31. The apostle in this chapter has stated more fully the argument noticed in chapter second. “We have before proved,” says he, “both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.” He did this by showing that those who had not the law written in the oracles of God, had at least the work of the law written in their hearts; and as all men have transgressed the law, all are by the law convinced of sin as transgressors. He proceeds to sustain this doctrine by various quotations from the Old Testament, showing the fearful state of fallen man, viewed in the light of God's holy law. Verses 10-18. “What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” If man had not fallen, “a better covenant” would not have been needed, than, “This do, and thou shalt live.” But by the fall, man lost the only principle from which true and acceptable obedience can spring, viz., pure love to God. After the fall man was left with “the work of the law” written on his heart to show him what God required; and with the promise of a Saviour, somewhat obscurely expressed, through whom he could hope for pardon. Salvation by faith in Jesus was more clearly revealed to Abraham. After four hundred and thirty years the written law was given to Israel, as the basis of a covenant, which should last “till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Gal. 3:19; Heb. 10:9, 10. Thus in the providence of God, man has had a fair trial of his ability to live by a covenant of works (see Gal. 3:12, 21), and of himself to render acceptable obedience to God's holy law. It need not be added that he has fallen under its fearful curse. “For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Gal. 3:10. Christ was “made under the law,” and he, only, of all the sons of Adam, kept its requirements perfectly, then died to atone for our transgressions, and to redeem us from its curse. Our hope of salvation, then, is through faith in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation for our sins. Thus God is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. That we can be justified by Christ, and yet live in violation of God's law, no one can maintain; but to teach that our present obedience can justify or atone for our past offenses, would be an equal absurdity. Hence we conclude that our justification in the sight of God is solely on account of faith, and not on account of works. By faith in the atonement of the Saviour our hearts are cleansed from sin, and we receive the “renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Then with that perfect love to God restored to us, which Adam lost at his fall, we are prepared to render acceptable obedience to God, and thus to fulfil “the righteousness of the law.” Rom. 8:3, 4, 7.

The law reveals and makes us know What duties to our God we owe; But 'tis the gospel must reveal Where lies our strength to do his will.”

Rom. 3:31: “Do we then make void the law through faith? GOD FORBID: YEA, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW.”

Continue reading: ***A Statement of Facts Concerning Our Present Situation—No. 4***