BY ELD. J. W. SCOLES.
WHILE looking over some of my clippings recently, I came across an article with the above caption, taken from the Methodist Recorder of Aug. 9, 1884. In these days when the subverting doctrine of “love without law ” is being so freely advocated, it is refreshing to see such sound principles expressed as we find herein contained. Believing the article to be worthy of the careful perusal of all, and thinking that our ministers especially might like to preserve some points in it for future reference, I give the article entire, as follows :
“Love and law are not antagonistic to each other. The one is the complement of the other. Either one without the other is incomplete. Love without law is free love; and law without love is deadly. God has shown this to us both in his word and in his works. The plan of salvation is based upon both the law of love and the love of law; neither one is slighted nor discarded. And yet how common it is to hear law spoken of as an exacting, tyrannical, and hateful thing, while love, is exalted to the highest degree as being a substitute for law, and a release from law’s binding obligations!
“Christ tells us that he came to fulfill the law, and not to destroy it. If we apply these words to the completion of the ceremonial law under Moses, we are taught that God’s laws, whether limited or lasting, are to be obeyed, fulfilled, and not to be loved out of existence by ignoring them. If we apply the words to the moral law, which it is doubtless intended we should, then the fact that God is love does not change the fact that he is a God of law also.
“The law of God is the supreme law of right, and is neither oppressive nor painful. Whatever God has commanded to be done, or not to be done, if obeyed, will bring pleasure and profit; if disobeyed, will bring pain and dishonor. Therefore, if we love God, we will keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous, but always right. As God loves to do right, all who are truly godly will love to do right both toward God and their fellow-men; for love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.’
“The departure of many who affect to teach and preach the gospel in these days, from the old Bible standard of right and wrong, by unduly exalting the law of love above what is warranted by the Bible, has led many to believe that vice is not very far removed from virtue, and that sin is not very sinful, if the sinner can only avoid being discovered in the sin; and even if exposure come, it is regarded as only a slight matter in popular estimation. The result is, in many instances, that a minister who faithfully and conscientiously preaches the truth, and follows the manner of Christ and his apostles in exposing and rebuking the sins condemned by the word of God, is liable to be misunderstood and charged with being a scold and behind the times. And yet there stands the law of God, unaltered and unalterable; and when the final day shall come, and we shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, we shall all be judged by that law, which is the great standard of right and wrong, and not by any human standard.
“The true spirit of Christian love is to do right, and that, too, by the standard of God’s word; for the decalogue is as much in force now as ever. God will no more excuse violations of his law now than at any former period; for Christ came to fulfill the law and not to destroy it. Salvation by faith does not remove the law of right, nor release us from its requirements. A Christian is as much under the moral law as a Jew or a sinner, and will suffer the same penalty for its violation. Why, then, should any one who professes to love God speak against the law? The law is a terror only to evil-doers. We are not surprised when murderers argue against capital punishment, and burglars protest against the usages of penitentiaries and jails, or that the morally guilty are uneasy and displeased whenever moral laxity is condemned. The photograph of moral character which Paul gives in the third chapter of his second letter to Timothy, in pointing out the perilous times to come in the last days, is in point here.
“The old Puritans may have been unnecessarily severe; and yet, for their times, perhaps not; but the times now demand a higher standard of moral and spiritual law to be taught and preached with earnestness and vigor in every pulpit and in every home. It, may be at the expense of some popularity, but it must needs be done, or God will remove our candlestick out of its place, (Note: which has happened already to corporate SDA’s; see RH, July 16, 1895 par. 12) to make room for others to do the work we either neglect or refuse to do. But while we proclaim our love for law, let us not forget to learn fully and practice faithfully the law of love.”
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald July 26, 1887