Earlier text: General ArticlesThe Visigoths in the Western Empire.
"The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into a vanquished city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws of humanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valor, and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a wealthy and effeminate people; but he exhorted them, at the same time, to spare the lives of the unresisting citizens, and to respect the churches of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, as holy and inviolable sanctuaries. Amidst the horrors of a nocturnal tumult, several of the Christian Goths displayed the fervor of a recent conversion; and some instances of their uncommon piety and moderation are related, and perhaps adorned, by the zeal of ecclesiastical writers. While the barbarians roamed through the city in quest of prey, the humble dwelling of an aged virgin, who had devoted her life to the service of the altar, was forced open by one of the powerful Goths. He immediately demanded, though in civil language, all the gold and silver in her possession; and was astonished at the readiness with which she conducted him to a splendid hoard of massy plate, of the richest materials, and the most curious workmanship. The barbarian viewed with wonder and delight this valuable acquisition, till he was interrupted by a serious admonition, addressed to him in the following words: 'These,' said she, 'are the consecrated vessels belonging to St. Peter; if you presume to touch them, the sacrilegious deed will remain on your conscience. For my part, I dare not keep what I am unable to defend.'" "The Gothic captain, struck with reverential awe, dispatched a messenger to inform the king of the treasure which he had discovered; and received a peremptory order from Alaric, that all the consecrated plate and ornaments should be transported, without damage or delay, to the church of the apostle. From the extremity, perhaps, of the Quirinal hill, to the distant quarter of the Vatican, a numerous detachment of Goths, marching in order of battle through the principal streets, protected, with glittering arms, the long train of their devout companions, who bore aloft, on their heads, the sacred vessels of gold and silver; and the martial shouts of the barbarians were mingled with the sound of religious psalmody. From all the adjacent houses, a crowd of Christians hastened to join this edifying procession; and a multitude of fugitives, without distinction of age or rank, or even of sect, had the good fortune to escape to the secure and hospitable sanctuary of the Vatican. The learned work, concerning the City of God, was professedly composed by St. Augustin, to justify the ways of Providence in the destruction of the Roman greatness. He celebrates with peculiar satisfaction this memorable triumph of Christ; and insults his adversaries by challenging them to produce some similar example of a town taken by storm; in which the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to protect either themselves or their deluded votaries." "In the sack of Rome, some rare and extraordinary examples of barbarian virtue have been deservedly applauded. But the holy precincts of the Vatican and the apostolic churches, could receive a very small proportion of the Roman people; many thousand warriors, more especially of the Huns, who served under the standard of Alaric, were strangers to the name, or at least to the faith, of Christ; and we may suspect, without any breach of charity or candor, that in the hour of savage license, when every passion was inflamed, and every restraint was removed, the precepts of the gospel seldom influenced the behavior of the Gothic Christians. The writers, the best disposed to exaggerate their clemency, have freely confessed that a cruel slaughter was made of the Romans; and that the streets of the city were filled with dead bodies, which remained without burial during the general consternation. The despair of the citizens was sometimes converted into fury; and whenever the barbarians were provoked by opposition, they extended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent, and the helpless. The private revenge of forty thousand slaves was exercised without pity or remorse; and the ignominious lashes, which they had formerly received, were washed away in the blood of the guilty, or obnoxious families." "The matrons and virgins of Rome were exposed to injuries more dreadful, in the apprehension of chastity, than death itself; and the ecclesiastical historian has selected an example of female virtue, for the admiration of future ages. A Roman lady, of singular beauty and orthodox faith, had excited the impatient desires of a young Goth, who, according to the sagacious remark of Sozomen, was attached to the Arian heresy. Exasperated by her obstinate resistance, he drew his sword, and with the anger of a lover, slightly wounded her neck. The bleeding heroine still continued to brave his resentment, and to repel his love, till the ravisher desisted from his unavailing efforts, respectfully conducted her to the sanctuary of the Vatican, and gave six pieces of gold to the guards of the church, on condition that they should restore her inviolate to the arms of her husband. Such instances of courage and generosity were not extremely common. The brutal soldiers satisfied their sensual appetites, without consulting either the inclination or the duties of their female captives." "But avarice is an insatiate and universal passion, since the enjoyment of almost every object that can afford pleasure to the different tastes and tempers of mankind may be procured by the possession of wealth. In the pillage of Rome, a just preference was given to gold and jewels, which contain the greatest value in the smallest compass and weight; but after these portable riches had been removed by the more diligent robbers, the palaces of Rome were rudely stripped of their splendid and costly furniture. The sideboards of massy plate, and the variegated wardrobes of silk and purple, were irregularly piled in the wagons, that always followed the march of a Gothic army. The most exquisite works of art were roughly handled, or wantonly destroyed; many a statue was melted for the sake of the precious materials; and many a vase, in the division of the spoil, was shivered into fragments by the stroke of a battle-ax. The acquisition of riches served only to stimulate the avarice of the rapacious barbarians, who proceeded by threats, by blows, and by tortures, to force from their prisoners the confession of hidden treasure. Visible splendor and expense were alleged as the proof of a plentiful fortune; the appearance of poverty was imputed to a parsimonious disposition; and the obstinacy of some misers, who endured the most cruel torments before they would discover the secret object of their affection, was fatal to many unhappy wretches, who expired under the lash, for refusing to reveal their imaginary treasures." "The edifices of Rome, though the damage has been much exaggerated, received some injury from the violence of the Goths. At their entrance through the Salarian gate, they fired the adjacent houses to guide their march, and to distract the attention of the citizens; the flames, which encountered no obstacle in the disorder of the night, consumed many private and public buildings; and the ruins of the palace of Sallust remained, in the age of Justinian, a stately monument of the Gothic conflagration. Yet a contemporary historian has observed that fire could scarcely consume the enormous beams of solid brass, and that the strength of man was insufficient to subvert the foundations of ancient structures. Some truth may possibly be concealed in his devout assertion, that the wrath of Heaven supplied the imperfections of hostile rage; and that the proud Forum of Rome, decorated with the statues of so many gods and heroes, was leveled in the dust by the stroke of lightning." "Whatever might be the numbers of equestrian or plebeian rank, who perished in the massacre of Rome, it is confidently affirmed that only one senator lost his life by the sword of the enemy. But it was not easy to compute the multitudes, who, from an honorable station and a prosperous fortune, were suddenly reduced to the miserable condition of captives and exiles. As the barbarians had more occasion for money than for slaves, they fixed at a moderate price the redemption of their indigent prisoners; and the ransom was often paid by the benevolence of their friends, or the charity of strangers. The captives, who were regularly sold, either in open market, or by private contract, would have legally regained their native freedom, which it was impossible for a citizen to lose, or to alienate. But as it was soon discovered that the vindication of their liberty would endanger their lives; and that the Goths, unless they were tempted to sell, might be provoked to murder their useless prisoners; the civil jurisprudence had been already qualified by a wise regulation, that they should be obliged to serve the moderate term of five years, till they had discharged by their labor the price of their redemption." "The nations who invaded the Roman Empire, had driven before them, into Italy, whole troops of hungry and affrighted provincials, less apprehensive of servitude than of famine. The calamities of Rome and Italy dispersed the inhabitants to the most lonely, the most secure, the most distant places of refuge. While the Gothic cavalry spread terror and desolation along the sea coast of Campania and Tuscany, the little island of Igilium, separated by a narrow channel from the Argentarian promontory, repulsed or eluded their hostile attempts; and at so small a distance from Rome great numbers of citizens were securely concealed in the thick woods of that sequestered spot. The ample patrimonies, which many senatorial families possessed in Africa, invited them, if they had time and prudence to escape from the ruin of their country, to embrace the shelter of that hospitable province. The most illustrious of these fugitives was the noble and pious Proba, the widow of the prefect Petronius. After the death of her husband, the most powerful subject of Rome, she had remained at the head of the Anician family, and successively supplied, from her private fortune, the expense of the consulships of her three sons." "When the city was besieged and taken by the Goths, Proba supported, with Christian resignation, the loss of immense riches; embarked in a small vessel, from whence she beheld, at sea, the flames of her burning palace, and fled with her daughter Læta, and her granddaughter, the celebrated Virgin Demetrias, to the coast of Africa. The benevolent profusion with which the matron distributed the fruits, or the price, of her estates, contributed to alleviate the misfortunes of exile and captivity. But even the family of Proba herself was not exempt from the rapacious oppression of Count Heraclian, who basely sold, in matrimonial prostitution, the noblest maidens of Rome to the lust or avarice of the Syrian merchants. The Italian fugitives were dispersed through the provinces, along the coast of Egypt and Asia, as far as Constantinople and Jerusalem; and the village of Bethlehem, the solitary residence of St. Jerom and his female converts, was crowded with illustrious beggars of either sex, and every age, who excited the public compassion by the remembrance of their past fortune.277 "This awful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief and terror. So interesting a contrast of greatness and ruin, disposed the fond credulity of the people to deplore, and even to exaggerate, the afflictions of the queen of cities. The clergy, who applied to recent events the lofty metaphors of Oriental prophecy, were sometimes tempted to confound the destruction of the capital and the dissolution of the globe."—Decline and Fall, chap. 31, par. 22–24, 26.
(To be continued.)
A. T. J. Under Grace.
By R. F. Cottrell
SOME object to the view that being under the law (Rom. 6:14, 15) means "under the condemnation of the law." They think that to claim this is adding something to the text. We believe that the reasoning powers which God has given us were intended to be used in reading and understanding his word; and that to use them adds nothing to, and takes nothing from that word. What is meant by the grace of God? It is simply his favor. How is this favor obtained? Through the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for our sins. "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Show us a man that has not sinned, and he is one that has no need of this favor which comes only through Jesus Christ; but he is one who keeps, and ever has kept, every precept of the law; otherwise he would be a sinner, a transgressor of the law. But when the sinner (as are all the human race) finds favor through Jesus Christ, he certainly passes out of a state of condemnation into a state of favor. He is not now under the condemnation of the law, because he has found pardon and favor through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is now "delivered from the law, that being dead" which held him under its threatened penalty. And what was that? It was sin. The law has no demand against him who is not guilty of its violation, but keeps its every precept. Such a one is free. Said David, "I will walk at liberty." Why? Not because he was at liberty to transgress the precepts of the law, but, said he, "for I seek thy precepts." Ps. 119:45. Let us read the text which is offered as proof that the law of which it speaks has been abolished, being superseded by the favor or grace of God. "For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid!" Rom. 6:14, 15. This is quoted to prove that one precept, at least, of the law spoken of may be transgressed with impunity. And but for that one precept, which is generally transgressed, the text never would have been quoted for such a purpose. But if it proves one precept of the law abolished, it proves the same of every one of them; for there is no distinction. Now if the law has been superseded, as they claim, no human being is bound to keep one of its precepts; because it has ceased to be law. In that case it can be truly said to all men, "Ye are not under the law." But all to whom the apostle spoke were under grace. As truly as they were not under the law, so truly they were under grace. Are all men now under grace? Do all enjoy the favor of God? If so, all are in a very happy condition. None are accounted sinners in the sight of God; for sin is ever condemned by him; the sinner cannot enjoy his favor. Are there now no servants of sin? Said the apostle to those who, he said, were under grace, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Verse 16. "Sin is the transgression of the law"—this and only this; for this is a perfect definition. Sin is not the transgression of grace. Read the text with this inspired and therefore perfect definition in the place of the word defined. There can be no valid objection to this. Thus we read: "For the transgression of the law shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we transgress the law, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid!" Our friends do not hold with Paul; for they claim the liberty to transgress the law, because they are not under the law, but under grace. But let us read again from the apostle: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the transgression of the law that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to the transgression of the law, live any longer therein?" See verses 1 and 2. Now I submit it to the candid reader: Does Paul teach those of whom he says, "Ye are not under the law," that they may transgress that law? Does he not, on the contrary, teach obedience to it, that they may live no longer in sin? Every candid mind, unwarped by prejudice from the prevailing custom of transgressing one of the precepts of the moral law as given by God himself at Sinai, must admit that the apostle, in these very scriptures, teaches obedience to that law which is the subject of his discourse. Then what does he mean by being delivered from the law, and not being under it, but under grace? Simply that by the favor of God through the sacrifice of his Son they had been pardoned of their past transgressions, and hence the law had no demand against them in reference to its penalty, so long as they were dead to sin, living no longer in it. Justified by the law? No, indeed. The law has no power, nor ever had, to justify its transgressor. The sinner can only be justified through faith in Jesus Christ. But being set free from sin, by the sacrifice and righteousness of Christ, he obtains a righteous character, that is, the character of a doer of the law; and in the day that God shall judge the secrets of men, according to the gospel, "The doers of the law shall be justified." See Rom. 2:12-16. Casting Great Guns.
By Editor
THE following from Harper's Weekly is not very highly suggestive of the millennium. From this it does not look as though the time is at hand when the nations shall not "learn war any more," as so "many people" are saying. Does it not rather show the fulfillment of the proclamation in Joel 3: 9–14, "Prepare war," etc.? The production of a modern heavy gun is not only a costly affair, but often one of no little risk, as it must be perfect for its work, and able to pass the severe test imposed upon it. On the 5th of April the fourth attempt to cast the last of the great 12-inch cast-iron rifles for the Government was successfully made at the South Boston Iron Works. The last previous effort had been made in October, and had proved a failure. On the present occasion the pit had been very carefully prepared, with an unusually stout core. Three large furnaces were filled with an aggregate of 105 tons of ore. The fires were started, and in a little over fifteen hours the iron was ready to run. The signal was given, and the troughs leading from the furnaces at once began to pour the metal into the gun cradle in the center of the building. In twenty-two minutes the pit, dug forty feet into the ground, was full, and the great rifle took its first rude form. Early in May the core will be removed, and the gun taken out. The weight of one of these cast-iron breech-loading guns is 54 tons; that of its Powlett pneumatic carriage, also made at the same works, 40 tons. The length of the gun is 30 feet. Its projectile weighs 800 pounds, and is thrown by a charge of powder weighing 265 pounds, with a maximum muzzle velocity of 1,840 feet per second, and an approximate muzzle energy of 19,000 foot-tons. The pressure per square inch of bore is about 15 tons, and the penetration of iron plate 23 inches. Enormous as is this weapon, the carriage with the gun can be maneuvered by one man in 30 seconds. A quarter of a century ago the most powerful piece of ordnance anywhere constructed was one weighing five tons, carrying a projectile of 78 pounds, with a velocity of 1,570 feet, and an energy of 1,100 foot-tons. A comparison of these figures with those of the heavy breech-loading rifles just spoken of, will show the advance made in our country. But in other lands this is very far surpassed by high-powered modern steel guns. The Armstrong and Krupp monsters now in use dwarf even our 54-ton gun. The Armstrong 100-ton gun throws a projectile weighing 2,000 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 1,841 feet, produced by a charge of 772 pounds of powder, and developing the enormous muzzle energy of 47,037 foot-tons. Guns like these are actually mounted in some of the Italian iron-clads. There is also an Armstrong 110-ton gun in process of manufacture, and there are many 63-ton and 80-ton Woolwich guns. Krupp is making for Italy four 130-ton guns, 55 feet long, to carry projectiles weighing 2,330 pounds each, with a velocity of 1,825 feet per second. Such are the prodigious weapons of other lands. The Fresh Hour.
By T. L. Cuyler, D. D.
EVERY day should be commenced with God. The busiest and the best man in Jerusalem was wont to say, 'In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up;' 'I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning.' Daniel too saluted his God with prayer and praise at early dawn. We begin the day unwisely and at a great risk to ourselves if we leave our chamber without a secret conference with our Almighty Friend. Every Christian, when he puts on his clothes, should also put on his spiritual armor. Before the day's march begins he should gather up a portion of heavenly manna to feed the inner man. As the oriental traveler sets out for the sultry journey over burning sands by loading up his camel under the palm tree's shade, and fills his water flagons from the crystal fountain which sparkles at its roots, so does Christ's pilgrim draw his morning supplies from his exhaustless spring. Morning is the golden hour for prayer and praise. The mind is fresh; the mercies of the night, and the new resurrection of the dawn both prompt a devout soul to thankfulness. The buoyant heart takes its earliest flight, like the lark, towards the gate of Heaven. One of the finest touches in Bunyan's immortal allegory is his description of Christian in the Chamber of Peace, who 'awoke and sang,' while his window looked out to the sun-rising. If even the stony statue of old heathen Memnon made music when the first rays of the dawn kindled on its flinty brow, surely no Christian heart should be dumb when God causes the outgoings of the morning to rejoice.—T. L. Cuyler, D. D. Going Forward in the Right Way
You have turned from your evil ways. That is well, but it is not enough; you must go forward in the right way. A negative religion is not sufficient. Deliverance from Secret Faults
THE "secret faults," from which David prayed to be delivered, may refer to those hidden infirmities, propensities, and desires which so often suggest temptation, furnish the weak place for its assault, and lead to sins of memory, sins of imagination, sins of the affections, and sins of the passions and appetites. Were man cleansed from "secret faults," the fountain head of sin would be dried up, and the love of sin would be taken away.—Sel. Logical Antinomianism.
By W.
A WRITER for a professedly Adventist paper in the East, in an article against Sabbath-keeping, says of the ten commandments: "Paul tells those who keep this law that they are 'fallen from grace,' which is equivalent to saying that there is no salvation in keeping the ten commandments." We never yet came across any such statement in any of Paul's writings, but we know that there are many people who, in their hatred of the Sabbath, teach just such stuff. There are people organized into churches, whose chief article of faith is that the law of God is abolished, although it is seldom that one is found bold enough to declare that all who keep the law of God are worthy of death. But this is the inevitable conclusion; for if God's law has been abolished, then it must now be sin to follow the injunctions of that law. Let us suppose that we have the records of a church whose foundation (?) is the belief that God's law has been abolished, and in which discipline is rigidly enforced. We should read something like this: "Brother A was charged with the crime of not having taken the name of God in vain for three months. A committee was appointed to labor with him, but he acknowledged the truth of the charge, and stubbornly refused to change his course, stating that he was determined always to hold the name of his Creator in reverence. Accordingly he was disfellowshipped as one irrecoverably fallen from grace. "Deacon B had in early life been well known as a horse jockey. After he joined the church his natural ability was exerted with tenfold diligence for the edifying of the body of Christ. So skillful had he become by long practice in chicanery, that no man could by any means get even with him in a bargain. He could cheat and lie with unblushing countenance. In short, he was an ornament to the church. But in an evil day he fell in with a traveling preacher, who persuaded him that the law of God is binding upon Christians, and from that time he became a different man. He began at once to restore to those whom he had defrauded. This caused suspicion in the minds of his brethren. Finally suspicion became certainty, when Brother X overheard him tell the truth in regard to an old horse which he was selling to one who was no judge of animals. By this unwarranted act, he actually lost the opportunity of cheating the poor man out of fifty dollars! In another instance, he could easily have extorted one hundred per cent. interest from a brother who was forced to borrow a sum of money for three months. Instead of doing so, however, he loaned the brother the money without interest. Patient labor was bestowed upon him, but to all entreaties he turned a deaf ear, perversely repeating the words, 'Thou shalt not steal,' and saying that henceforth he should abide by that rule. He even expressed extreme sorrow that he had ever violated it. He was decided to be an incorrigible observer of the old ten-commandment law, and was accordingly disfellowshipped by unanimous vote. "Mr. C had gained a wide notoriety as a 'bruiser' and cut-throat. He had 'killed his man' many times, and was so expert with the pistol that his bullet never failed to reach the heart. It was his delight to lie in wait for unsuspecting and inoffensive persons, and kill them without any warning. He was so adroit withal, that the officers of the law had never been able to detect him in these acts. He had never read the Bible, nor heard of the ten commandments. He was finally arrested for a petty crime, and while lying in jail he was visited by a clergyman, who read the Bible to him. For the first time in his life he heard the obsolete commandment, Thou shalt not kill. When he learned that this was spoken by the great Jehovah, amid the thunders of Sinai, he was struck with terror and remorse. With trembling lips he confessed all his past course, and was assured by the minister that God would pardon. Accordingly, as soon as he was released, he applied for admission to the church; but he was told that he had now fallen from grace, —that the ten commandments are abolished; that no man who professed a desire to keep them could become a member of the church of Belial. After a short talk with the committee, he seemed to see the matter clearly. Drawing a revolver, he shot the chairman through the heart, and with a club he knocked down two of the deacons, all the time using the most violent oaths. Upon this clear evidence of his fitness for church membership, he was at once received into full fellowship. "Brother D was turned out of the church in disgrace. Cause: A rigid observance of the old seventh commandment. At the same time, Mr. F and Mrs. G, on profession of having lived in open adultery for a year, were admitted into the church." And thus we might read on for pages. Does it seem irreverent to write in such a strain? It is only what would actually be done if no-law people always lived up to their profession. People have actually been turned out of churches simply because they kept the fourth commandment; and if people are disfellowshipped for keeping the fourth commandment, why not for keeping any other? And when men say that it is sin to keep the ten commandments, who shall say what abominable things they do not do in secret? or that they would not do them openly if fear of their fellow-men did not restrain them? Why is it that professed Christians speak with such contempt of the law of God? Because they hate the fourth commandment, which enjoins the observance of the Sabbath. Primarily, however, it is because of hatred of all law and restraint. No doubt they would repudiate the picture which we have portrayed. They would profess abhorrence of murder, adultery, and theft. But if it is a sin to keep the fourth commandment, it is also wrong to keep the sixth, seventh, and eight. If they teach that the law of God is not in force, that those who keep it have fallen from grace, they necessarily teach that it is no sin to swear, lie, steal, kill, and commit adultery! Nay, more, they actually teach people that they must do those things in order to secure the favor of God! A more horrible doctrine could not be imagined. To teachers of such doctrines we commend a careful consideration of the following texts, the application of which is obvious:— "Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" Jer. 7: 8-10. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." Isa. 5: 20,24. THE next text which we shall notice is Gal. 5:18. "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Antinomians very rarely quote this verse, doubtless because it is so very evident from the connection that the law is recognized as being in active existence. Let us give it our attention for a little while, that we may see what beautiful harmony there is in the Bible on the subject of the law. Since those who are led by the Spirit are not under the law, it follows that those who are not led by the Spirit are under the law. Again, the preceding verses read as follows: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." Gal. 5:16, 17. These verses state in the plainest terms that the flesh and the Spirit are contrary to each other; that walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit are directly opposite conditions. Then since those who are led by the Spirit are not under the law, and those who are not led by the Spirit are under the law, it follows that those who are under the law are those who are fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:19-21. The fruit of the Spirit is, of course, the very opposite, being "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Verses 22, 23. Referring to these fruits of the Spirit, the apostle says: "Against such there is no law." Verse 23. That is, those who are led by the Spirit, and who yield its fruits, are in harmony with the law; while the law is against the works of the flesh; and those who do the works of the flesh are condemned by the law, or are under it. Here we arrive at the same conclusion as in regard to Rom. 6:14, that "under the law" simply represents a state of antagonism to, and violation of, the law; and of course no one could be in such a state if the law were not in full force. Now since all sinners are by the law condemned to death (Rom. 3:19; 6:23), it follows again that "under the law" means condemned by the law—under the sentence of death. Turning backward, we find the expression "under the law" used twice in Gal. 4:4, 5: "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." In the third verse the apostle says that when we were children we were "in bondage under the elements of the world." But (that marks a change) God sent forth his Son to redeem "them that were under the law." We would naturally expect the redemption to be from that under which we were in bondage, which was "the elements of the world." In the fifth verse the redemption is said to be from "under the law," thus showing that "in bondage under the elements of the world," and "under the law," are equivalent terms. Let us trace further this matter of bondage. In verse 9 Paul says to the Galatians: "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" Here it is implied that they were in danger of returning to a condition in which they had previously been. And what condition was that?279 Read verse 8: "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." That is, they were heathen. So being in bondage to the elements of the world,—the "weak and beggarly elements,"-is equivalent to being in a state of heathenism. Those who do not know God are termed heathen. But no man can know God without being a follower of Christ, as the Saviour said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. In the strict Bible sense, therefore, all who are not in Christ are heathen. And therefore although Paul addressed his epistle to those who had been idolaters in the commonly accepted sense, the argument is of universal application. We conclude, then, that the "elements of the world" are simply the various forms of sin. This is still further shown by Eph. 2:1-3: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation [manner of life] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Nothing but sin is meant by "the course of this world," the "weak and beggarly elements," and "the elements of the world." And to be "in bondage under the elements of the world," is to be "under the law," in a state of condemnation. Christ came in the fullness of time (see Mark 1:14, 15; Dan. 9:25) "to redeem them that were under the law." But in order to do this, he himself had to be "made under the law." This is in harmony with Heb. 2:17, which says: "Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." The people whom Christ came to redeem were "under the law," therefore he was made like them, "under the law." Now if there is any lingering doubt as to the meaning of "under the law," compare with the above and Gal. 4:4, 5, Paul's words in 2 Cor. 5:21: "For he [God] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Christ was sinless; he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22); the Law of God was in his heart (Ps. 40:8), and his whole life was an exemplification of the law. Yet knowing no sin, he was made to be sin for us. As the prophet said: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:5, 6. We were in bondage to sin, "under the law," and he took upon himself the same bonds, and was made under the law. Moreover, since those "under the law" are condemned, under sentence of death, he, "being found in fashion as a man," having voluntarily placed himself in the same condemnation, "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. 2:7, 8. And so the innocent suffered for the guilty. Man had been overcome by sin, and by it brought into bondage (2 Peter 2:19), and in order to redeem him from this corruption, and the death that must necessarily follow (James 1:15), the spotless Son of God took upon himself the form of a servant of sin, and consented to be covered with the same degradation into which man had plunged himself. What for? "That we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5:21. In order that we might be made without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Eph. 5:27),—perfectly conformable to the holy Law of God; and that thus being enabled, in Christ, to keep the commandments, we might through him have eternal life. Matt. 19:17. Before leaving this text in Galatians, there is one more point which we wish to place before the reader. We read that Christ was "made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." It was necessary for Christ to assume the condition of those whom he would redeem. This being the case, we may know that Christ redeems none who occupy a position different from that which he took. This is plainly stated in the Scripture. "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren," etc. Heb. 2:16, 17. Those whom he was made like, he can redeem; others he cannot. We read also that Christ "died for all." 2 Cor. 5:15. What, then, is the necessary conclusion? Just this: Since he was made "under the law," and was made like those whom he came to redeem, and he came to redeem all men, then all men were "under the law." Further, the text indicates that he came for the sole purpose of redeeming them that were under the law; their being under the law made necessary some act for their redemption. If they had not been under the law, they would have needed no redemption. Now when we recall Paul's words to the effect that Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14), the conclusion is unavoidable that "under the law" indicates the state of sin which characterizes every human being, and from which none can be rescued but by Christ. But notice the dilemma in which they place themselves, who claim that Gentiles are not "under the law," and that the law was only for the Jews. If that position were true, it would necessarily follow that since Christ came to redeem only those who are under the law, he came to redeem only the Jews! For certain it is, that no person who is not in the position which Christ took upon himself when he came to redeem man, can have any part in that redemption. We think that none, when they consider this point, will place themselves outside of God's scheme of redemption, by refusing to admit that they are by nature and by practice "under the law." Let us rather acknowledge our guilt, that it may be washed away in the blood of the Lamb. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Prov. 28:13.