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Humble Hero
The law requires a righteous life, a perfect character, and this
we do not have. But Christ, as a human being, lived a holy life and
developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all
who will receive Him. His life stands for their life. In this way they
have forgiveness of sins that are past. More than this, Christ fills
them with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character
in the likeness of the divine character. And so “the righteous require-
ment of the law” is fulfilled in the believer in Christ.
Romans 8:4
.
God can “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:26
.
It had been Satan’s aim to divorce mercy from truth and justice.
But Christ showed that in God’s plan they are joined together. The
one cannot exist without the other. “Righteousness and peace have
kissed.”
Psalm 85:10
.
By His life and His death, Christ proved that God’s justice did
not destroy His mercy. He proved that sin could be forgiven and
that the law is righteous and can be perfectly obeyed. Christ refuted
Satan’s charges.
Now Satan would bring forward another deception. He declared
that the death of Christ abolished the Father’s law. If it had been
possible for the law to be changed or abolished, then Christ would
not have needed to die. But to do away with the law would be to
immortalize sin and place the world under Satan’s control. Because
the law was changeless, Jesus died on the cross. Yet the very means
by which Christ established the law, Satan claimed had destroyed it.
This will be the focus of the last conflict in the great controversy.
Satan’s “New Model” Lie
Satan now puts forward the claim that some portion of the law
spoken by God’s own voice has been set aside. He does not need
to attack the whole law. If he can lead people to disregard one
commandment, he achieves his purpose. For “whoever shall keep
the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
James 2:10
. By consenting to break one
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commandment, people come under Satan’s power. Concern-
ing the great apostate power, the representative of Satan, prophecy
declares,