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The Acts of the Apostles
He who has blunted his spiritual perceptions by sinful leniency toward
those whom God condemns, will erelong commit a greater sin by
severity and harshness toward those whom God approves.
By the pride of human wisdom, by contempt for the influence
of the Holy Spirit, and by disrelish for the truths of God’s word,
many who profess to be Christians, and who feel competent to teach
others, will be led to turn away from the requirements of God. Paul
declared to Timothy, “The time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from
the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
The apostle does not here refer to the openly irreligious, but to
the professing Christians who make inclination their guide, and thus
become enslaved by self. Such are willing to listen to those doctrines
only that do not rebuke their sins or condemn their pleasure-loving
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course. They are offended by the plain words of the faithful servants
of Christ and choose teachers who praise and flatter them. And among
professing ministers there are those who preach the opinions of men
instead of the word of God. Unfaithful to their trust, they lead astray
those who look to them for spiritual guidance.
In the precepts of His holy law, God has given a perfect rule of life;
and He has declared that until the close of time this law, unchanged in
a single jot or tittle, is to maintain its claim upon human beings. Christ
came to magnify the law and make it honorable. He showed that it is
based upon the broad foundation of love to God and love to man, and
that obedience to its precepts comprises the whole duty of man. In His
own life He gave an example of obedience to the law of God. In the
Sermon on the Mount He showed how its requirements extend beyond
the outward acts and take cognizance of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.
The law, obeyed, leads men to deny “ungodliness and worldly
lusts,” and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world.”
Titus 2:12
. But the enemy of all righteousness has taken the
world captive and has led men and women to disobey the law. As Paul
foresaw, multitudes have turned from the plain, searching truths of
God’s word and have chosen teachers who present to them the fables
they desire. Many among both ministers and people are trampling
under their feet the commandments of God. Thus the Creator of the