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Jesus’ Example in Law Keeping, March 20
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:10
.
The law of God is the only true standard of moral perfection. That
law was practically exemplified in the life of Christ. He says of Himself,
“I have kept my Father’s commandments.”
The law is an expression of the thought of God; when received in
Christ, it becomes our thought.... God desires us to be happy, and He
gave us the precepts of the law that in obeying them we might have joy.
When at Jesus’ birth the angels sang—“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men” (
Luke 2:14
), they were
declaring the principles of the law which He had come to magnify and
make honorable....
“Till heaven and earth pass,” said Jesus, “one jot or one tittle shall in
no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Matthew 5:18
. The sun
shining in the heavens, the solid earth upon which you dwell, are God’s
witnesses that His law is changeless and eternal. Though they may pass
away, the divine precepts shall endure. “It is easier for heaven and earth
to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
Luke 16:17
....
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 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
.
When, through faith in Jesus Christ, man does according to the very
best of his ability, and seeks to keep the way of the Lord by obedience
to the Ten Commandments, the perfection of Christ is imputed to cover
the transgression of the repentant and obedient soul.
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