229
T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S which to regulate his life from start to finish. He requires absolutely no fur ther instructions. No need is unat tended to, no requirement omitted, no advice forgotten, no warning slighted, no necessary information withheld. Directions abound for every step of the way from beginning to end, so that if the Christian had never seen a copy of the Old Testament he would be ade quately prepared to order the course of his life, in every detail, in accordance with the will of God. Now may he profitably considered The Claims of the Law upon the Chris tian Believer. It has an interesting relationship to •him as we have seen, and a high and honorable place in the plan of God, but that it has any claim whatever upon the believer today cannot be sustained a moment, if, the light of New Testa ment truth is allowed to illuminate the subject. This will be better understood if we reflect upon the purpose of the Law. We quote from another; “I. The Moral and Ceremonial Laws: The Moral Law of the Old Testament is summed up in the Ten Command ments. The Ceremonial Law is spread out over the remainder of the Penta teuch. The Moral Law sets forth God’s mind as to what Israel ought to be. But in view of the fact that the Is raelites were not what they ought to be, God gave them the Ceremonial Law with its provisions of priesthood and sacrifice in order that when the Is raelites sinned they might have the means of atoning for their sin, and re ceiving pardon for it. Jehovah gave Israel the Ten Commandments in order to keep them from sinning, but know ing that they would sin in spite of them, He gave them a way of escape from the consequences of their evil do ing. In the Ten Commandments the Lord told Israel what they must do if they would he holy as He was holy, and
then in the Levitical Law He told them what they might do in case they failed to be holy. In His righteousness He gave them stern commands to keep, and in His mercy He gave them sacrifices to cover their violatioh of the com mands. The Moral Law revealed Is rael’s duty as sinners. The Ceremonial Law revealed their privilege as sinners. The Ten Commandments displayed the principles of holiness that were later manifested in Christ’s life and char acter, while the principles of sacrifice and atonement in the Levitical Law were manifested in His sacrificial, aton ing death. He was the fulfillment of the Moral and the Ceremonial Laws. He was all that the former required that Israel should he—He was holy; and He did all that the latter required should be done on behalf of guilty men—He offered a sacrifice for sin. H. The Ministration of Death: The commandments, while declaring what Israel ought to be, reveal what Israel is not. They are Israel’s ideal and their condemnation—their ideal because they are God’s standards of life, and their condemnation because they reveal their sin with its eternal conse quences. The apostle- declares the ideal nature of the Law when he says, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12). He also declares its condemnatory na ture when he calls it, “the ministra tion of death, the ministration of con demnation” (II. Cor. 3:7, 9). Jehovah has said, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4, 20), and the law, which reveals man’s sin, inflicts penalty upon him. The broken commandments, the violated law, visit him with con demnation. Hence, the apostle’s desig nation, “the ministration of condemna tion, the ministration of death.” ® HI. Not the Way of Salvation: The Ten Commandments are not, and never were, the way of salvation for a sinner. “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16). They
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker