BY H. JUDD.
LET us inquire. When God came down upon Mount Sinai, and gave the ten commandments with His own voice, it is said that he gave to the people “right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments.” Neh. 9:13. These commandments, laws, or judgments were given as a rule of righteousness, or in other words, a rule of right doing. They are primary laws, laws showing what is right and wrong; and obedience to them is what constitutes righteousness, or a right moral character. Said Moses concerning these laws, “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.” Deut. 6:25. Jesus was affirming the perpetuity of the commandments to all then present, and to future generations, when he said, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” See Matt. 5:17, 20. The apostles of our divine teacher, also taught that, “all unrighteousness is sin,” and that “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 5:17; 3:4. And St. Paul says, “The law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. Now if all unrighteousness is transgression of the law, it must follow that all righteousness is obedience to the law, and in harmony with this is the declaration, “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12:13 Inspiration has affirmed that these commandments are righteousness. “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.” Ps. 119:172. In the light of such testimonies as these, to abolish these laws would be to abolish righteousness. And what is affirmed of one is affirmed of all—all of them are righteousness. There is no evading the truth that this refers to the ten commandments, that were known in the days of David as God’s commandments. The abolition of any one of them would be the abolition of righteousness.
Has God done that ? Will He ever do it ? Let us hear His own testimony on this point: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Isa. 51:6, 7. How similar to this testimony are the words of Christ, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” Matt. 5:18.
In the face of such testimonies as these, is it not astonishing that any professing godliness should teach that this righteous law has been abolished, or changed in a jot or tittle ? To every intelligent believer in an all-wise and unchangeable God as revealed in the Bible, the presumptive evidence also is all in favor of the perpetuity and immutability of his law.
God has said that this law of ten commandments is the truth, and is perfect. Hearken to His testimony: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Ps. 19:7. See also Ps. 119:142, 151, 172. He assures us in prophecy that His law should not be abolished, and that the Messiah should magnify it. Isa. 51:6; 42:21. Accordingly, Jesus bore testimony to its perpetuity to all generations then future, and to its unchangeableness till heaven and earth pass. Matt. 5:17-20.
We have the apostles testimony also; for they taught the same truth. Paul says: “Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31. Another apostle teaches that this law should be our rule of action; for it is the rule by which all will be judged. “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” Jas. 2:12.
There is no proof in Scripture that this law has been abolished or changed in the least iota by divine authority. One great reason that has led people to believe that it has is the influence of the great apostasy foretold by the prophet and apostles. Dan. 7:20-26; 2 Thess. 2:3-8; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 4:3-4. In con- sequence of the great apostasy, which resulted in the establishment of the papacy, that power that was to ” think to change times and laws,”—the times and laws of God,— most Christians find themselves out of harmony with the law of God as recorded in the Bible; and it being more natural for men to
search for an excuse than to correct their customs received by tradition, some have taken the position that the Sabbath Law has been changed, others that it has been abolished, and others still that the whole decalogue has been done away. The change of the Sabbath being untenable from the Scriptures, men have claimed that the Sabbath was a Jewish institution, and was nailed to the cross, and failing to make it appear that one commandment of the moral law has been singled out and abolished, while the rest stand good, they have gone to the extreme of claiming that the whole law, given by Jehovah Himself, has been swept away; and this by Him whom God sent into the world to die for man’s transgression of that law, that sinful man might find pardon, and become reconciled to God. Now the only way out of this confusion of absurdity and error, is to turn to the law of God as originally given by Himself. And this many are doing in almost every nation. This is because God has sent his last warning to the world (Rev. 14:9-12.), and they are heeding His voice. Let all renounce false tradition, and return to the truth of God’s Holy Word, that they may be found ready when the Master comes.