158 God th a t requires obedience to th e Law. Our obedience to God’s commands are a proof of our love to God. The sum to ta l of th e commandments of th e Old Testam ent is given by Christ in th e New. Matt. 22: 37-40 tells to love God w ith all our h eart, and our neighbor as ourselves. Love is no t only th e source of ou r obedience b u t also th e power th a t impels it. Dr. Van Dyke said, “There is something nobler th an relu c tan t obedience and th a t is joyful obedience.” D ivisions of th e Law. The Law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai when God revealed H imself in aw ful m ajesty in th e m idst of thunder and lightnings and storm and cloud. T h at is no t a picture th a t suggests mercy and grace is it? The Law was w ritten on two tables of stone; one representing .¿.duties Godward and th e o th er duties man- ward. It is in teresting to note th a t th e first table— commandments 1-3— arrang es its teachings in th e order of though t first, th en word, and then deed, while th e second table, duties to man found in commandments 4-10— follows th e o rder of deed, word and thought. Christ observed these two divisions also when he summed up th e whole law' in Matt. 22:37, 38. Jesu s and th e Ten Commandments. The Law is God’s stand ard of per fection, showing w hat a person would have to do if “ doing” could ever save anyone. I t was given to show man ju st how he looks in God’s sig h t and to show how exceedingly sin fu l sin is. (Rom. 7:4-25.) The Law is a so rt of a m irro r let down from Heaven so th a t man may see his tru e condition in the sigh t of God and how far he comes from being w hat God demands. Law does not create sin in th e h ea rt of man it only reveals it. The Scripture plainly teaches no one can be saved by keeping th e law. Gal. 2:16-21; Rom. 3: 19, 20.
T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S How th en can we be saved if not by keeping th e ten commandments? Gal. 3:24 gives th e place th e law has in God’s g rea t plan of redemption. It brings us to Jesus Christ in th e sense th a t it shows us th a t we do not and cannot m easure up to God’s stand ard of a perfect man and so our need of becoming perfect in some o th er way. Christ is our righteousness. He is our ru le of life too. The Law can only curse and slay us. Christ became a curse for us by hanging on th e tree. (Gal. 3 :1 3 ). T rue believers in Christ will keep the sp irit of th e law as well as th e letter. Matt. 5:17-20. As Christians we have a higher ru le by which to walk th an th a t set fo rth in th e ten command ments. Gal. 6:15, 16. The law de mands stren g th from one who h as none, the gospel gives streng th to th e one who has none. There are bu t two classes of people, those who are living under law and those who are living under grace. The m ighty flow of grace which had its source in th e h ea rt of God and its chan nel in th e blood of Jesu s Christ was designed to rise above th e law of Israel. Salvation th rough th e blood of th e cross may be th e portion of every per son. Are you free from th e law of sin and death? Have you perfection in Jesu s God Gives H is Commandments to Moses. Ex. 20:1-7. 31:18. Memory Verse.— “Thou sh a lt love th e Lord th y God w ith all th y h e a rt.” Luke 10:27. Approach.—Now I w ant you to lis ten carefully and see if you can answer th is question. A re you boys and girls always allowed to do ju s t as you like a t home? You all BEGINNERS say no, so th ere AND PRIMARY m ust be some things Mabel L. M errill th a t are rig h t to do and s o m e things
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