Character of the Law of God
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thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments,” says
Christ, “hang all the law and the prophets” (
Matthew 22:37-40
).
The law demands perfect obedience. “Whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (
James
2:10
). Not one of those ten precepts can be broken without disloyalty
to the God of heaven. The least deviation from its requirements, by
neglect or willful transgression, is sin, and every sin exposes the sinner
to the wrath of God. Obedience was the only condition upon which
ancient Israel was to receive the fulfillment of the promises which
made them the highly favored people of God; and obedience to that
law will bring as great blessings to individuals and nations now as it
would have brought to the Hebrews.
Obedience to the law is essential, not only to our salvation, but
to our own happiness and the happiness of all with whom we are
connected. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing
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shall offend them” (
Psalm 119:165
), says the Inspired Word. Yet finite
man will present to the people this holy, just, and good law, this law of
liberty, which the Creator Himself has adapted to the wants of man, as
a yoke of bondage, a yoke which no man can bear. But it is the sinner
who regards the law as a grievous yoke; it is the transgressor that can
see no beauty in its precepts. For the carnal mind “is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be” (
Romans 8:7
).
“By the law is the knowledge of sin” (
Romans 3:20
); for “sin is the
transgression of the law” (
1 John 3:4
). It is through the law that men
are convicted of sin; and they must feel themselves sinners, exposed
to the wrath of God, before they will realize their need of a Saviour.
Satan is continually at work to lessen man’s estimate of the grievous
character of sin. And those who trample the law of God under their
feet are doing the work of the great deceiver; for they are rejecting
the only rule by which they can define sin, and bring it home to the
conscience of the transgressor.
The Law of God reaches to those secret purposes, which, though
they may be sinful, are often passed over lightly, but which are in
reality the basis and the test of character. It is the mirror into which
the sinner is to look if he would have a correct knowledge of his moral
character. And when he sees himself condemned by that great standard