"Now it is necessary that thou shouldst have accurate copies of them. And indeed this legislation is full of hidden wisdom, and entirely blameless, as being the legislation of G.o.d; for which cause it is, as Hecateus of Abdera says, that the poets and historians make no mention of it, nor of those men who lead their lives according to it, since it is a holy law, and ought not to be published by profane mouths."--_Josephus, "Antiquities," book 12, chap. 2, sec. 4._
Unfaithful as the Jewish people oftentimes were, yet through their testimony and the dealings of G.o.d with them, the fame of the living oracles was spread abroad among the ancient nations.
One G.o.d--One Moral Standard
"There is one Lawgiver." James 4:12. He is ever the same, and His law is the standard of righteousness for all mankind. There was not one moral standard before Christ and another after. Christ"s death upon the cross because man had broken the law, is the divine testimony to all the universe that G.o.d"s law can never be set aside nor its force suspended.
Jesus opened His public teaching with the declaration:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pa.s.s, one jot or one t.i.ttle shall in no wise pa.s.s from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:17-19.
The moral law of ten commandments is one code, every precept equally sacred and equally binding:
"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:10-12.
The law of G.o.d still speaks with all the force of that voice from Sinai, and it speaks to every soul on earth:
"Now we know that 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 G.o.d." Rom. 3:19.
Thus the law of G.o.d convicts all men of sin, and would drive every one to Christ for pardon and for the divine gift of the grace and power of obedience.
The ceremonial law--the precepts and ordinances commanded for the sacrificial system--ceased with the sacrifice of Calvary, as all these ceremonial observances pointed forward to the cross. There can be no confounding of the moral law and the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law of types and shadows showed in itself that a primary or higher law--the moral law--had been violated, making necessary a divine sacrifice if transgressors were to be saved from death and restored to obedience.
The Standard in the Judgment
The law of G.o.d"s moral government, which is the rule of life for every creature, must necessarily be the standard in the great judgment day.
The Scripture states the sum of all human obligation and responsibility in the words:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear G.o.d, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For G.o.d shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14.
Every son and daughter of Adam"s lost race is judgment bound, to answer before the bar of G.o.d the demands of the perfect law. Divine justice cannot abate one jot or t.i.ttle of the requirements of the holy law, nor by any means clear the guilty. But divine mercy has provided the way by which G.o.d can "be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GIFT OF G.o.d
"G.o.d so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." John 3:16.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHILDLIKE FAITH
"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 18:3.]
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
"How should man be just [righteous] with G.o.d?" asked the patriarch Job.
It has been the vital question ever since Adam sinned, and lost his righteousness and forfeited his life. The answer of Scripture is:--
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with G.o.d through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom 5:1 "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of G.o.d: not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8, 9.
In the beginning, life and righteousness were the gift of G.o.d to man.
Only the Creator could bestow the gift at the first; when lost, only creative power can restore it.
Man Cannot Justify Himself
The law of G.o.d declares all men sinners. Not only did Adam"s posterity inherit of necessity a sinful nature, but every soul of man has wrought sin as the fruit of that nature.
"As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death pa.s.sed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.
"There is no difference," Jew or Gentile, bond or free, they are in the same lost condition; "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d." Rom. 10:12; 3:23.
The sinner finds himself a transgressor, condemned to death by a holy law. He turns to it with the thought, "I will do what it says, and become righteous and win life." But he cannot undo the fact that he has sinned. A holy law can only cry, "Guilty! guilty!" to one who has transgressed it. The law declares righteousness; it cannot give it. As the Scripture says:
"We know that 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 G.o.d. 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." Rom. 3:19, 20.
The guilt exists. No deeds that man can do can undo it or cover it from a righteous law. Not only that, but as soon as the law declares what righteousness is, the sinner finds that its demands are altogether beyond the power of his flesh to meet. It calls for a kind of work that fallen human nature cannot so much as approach. Paul cried out, when struggling under conviction, "We know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." Rom. 7:14.
The carnal cannot bring forth the spiritual. But the law demands a spiritual work of righteousness. It is impossible for the carnal mind to undertake it. The Scripture says:
"The carnal mind is enmity against G.o.d: for it is not subject to the law of G.o.d, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please G.o.d." Rom. 8:7, 8.
But the awakened sinner is yet in the flesh. He finds the law thundering his guilt and condemning him to death. He cannot wash away the past, nor hide it; he cannot obey G.o.d"s law with a carnal mind, and that is all the mind he has. He is lost, and helpless of himself, but longs for a way of escape. Paul"s cry in the same position is the cry of the despairing heart that has not found the Saviour, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. 7:24. Thank G.o.d, there is an answer to that cry, for every sinner.
"Plunged in a gulf of dark despair, We wretched sinners lay, Without one cheering beam of hope, Or spark of glimmering day.
"With pitying eyes the Prince of grace Beheld our helpless grief: He saw, and, O amazing love!
He came to our relief."
The Free Gift of Christ
Following that despairing cry of human helplessness, "Who shall deliver me?" there came the believer"s shout of praise, "I thank G.o.d through Jesus Christ our Lord." He is the deliverer; for He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us." Rom. 7:25; Gal. 1:4.
The way of escape and salvation is the gift of G.o.d"s love. "G.o.d so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
No sinner has need to plead that G.o.d may be willing to forgive him; the Lord"s infinite love that gave His Son to die, is pleading with the sinner to believe and accept salvation.
In order to be the sinner"s Saviour, the divine Son of G.o.d must take man"s place before the broken law. He came in human flesh, with all its weakness. "I can of Mine own self," He said, "do nothing." He trusted the Father, and lived a life of perfect righteousness in human flesh. He who knew no sin, bore man"s sin in His body on the cross. "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." For man"s sin He died, "that He by the grace of G.o.d should taste death for every man." In Him was met the penalty of the law. But it was a sinless sacrifice. He "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to G.o.d." Heb. 9:14.
Therefore death could not hold Him. He rose in the power of an endless life to be man"s advocate and priest and savior, ministering His grace and righteousness and life to every one who will receive them.
The righteousness that He wrought out for man in human flesh He longs to put into every human heart. As in His own flesh in Judea He walked and lived the life of righteousness, so now, by the Holy Spirit, He walks in human lives today. That means forgiveness, and deliverance from the power of the flesh, and a new life of power, and righteousness and justification wrought within by the divine indwelling Saviour. How may we receive Him with all this great salvation?--By faith; by believing His promises; "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." Eph.
3:17.
Christ in all His fulness abiding within,--this is the wonder and mystery of the gospel, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." It means an ever-present, ever-living Saviour, able to save to the uttermost.