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The Desire of Ages
His death; but the precepts of the Decalogue are as immutable as the
throne of God.
Since “the law of the Lord is perfect,” every variation from it
must be evil. Those who disobey the commandments of God, and
teach others to do so, are condemned by Christ. The Saviour’s life
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of obedience maintained the claims of the law; it proved that the law
could be kept in humanity, and showed the excellence of character
that obedience would develop. All who obey as He did are likewise
declaring that the law is “holy, and just, and good.”
Romans 7:12
. On
the other hand, all who break God’s commandments are sustaining
Satan’s claim that the law is unjust, and cannot be obeyed. Thus they
second the deceptions of the great adversary, and cast dishonor upon
God. They are the children of the wicked one, who was the first rebel
against God’s law. To admit them into heaven would again bring in
the elements of discord and rebellion, and imperil the well-being of
the universe. No man who willfully disregards one principle of the
law shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
The rabbis counted their righteousness a passport to heaven; but
Jesus declared it to be insufficient and unworthy. External ceremonies
and a theoretical knowledge of truth constituted Pharisaical righteous-
ness. The rabbis claimed to be holy through their own efforts in
keeping the law; but their works had divorced righteousness from
religion. While they were punctilious in ritual observances, their lives
were immoral and debased. Their so-called righteousness could never
enter the kingdom of heaven.
The greatest deception of the human mind in Christ’s day was
that a mere assent to the truth constitutes righteousness. In all human
experience a theoretical knowledge of the truth has been proved to
be insufficient for the saving of the soul. It does not bring forth the
fruits of righteousness. A jealous regard for what is termed theological
truth often accompanies a hatred of genuine truth as made manifest in
life. The darkest chapters of history are burdened with the record of
crimes committed by bigoted religionists. The Pharisees claimed to be
children of Abraham, and boasted of their possession of the oracles
of God; yet these advantages did not preserve them from selfishness,
malignity, greed for gain, and the basest hypocrisy. They thought
themselves the greatest religionists of the world, but their so-called
orthodoxy led them to crucify the Lord of glory.