The
Perpetuity of the Law
The Giver of the Law
How many lawgivers are
there?
There is only one
Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to
save and destroy. But you who are you to
judge your neighbor? James 4:12.
What is said of the
stability of Gods character?
I the Lord do not
change. Malachi 3:6.
How enduring are Gods
moral precepts?
The works of his hands
are faithful and just; all his precepts are
trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and
ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
Psalm 11:7,8.
Note This rule is
unchangeable because it is in harmony with the
unchangeable nature of God. The rule of God among
men is an expression of His holiness. It must be
eternally what it has ever been.
Christ Fulfills the Law
Did Christ come to
abolish or to destroy the law?
Do not think that I
have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill
them. Matthew 5:17.
Note As the word
law is used in various senses in the
Bible we may well begin our study with a brief
examination of its meaning.
The word torah is
there used [that is, in the Old Testament] for
the laws revealed through Moses, but these were
of a threefold character.
(a) The civil law was
strictly applicable only to the chosen people,
and was adapted to their peculiar circumstances
both in the wilderness and in Canaan, but it has
ever since formed the pattern for the legislation
of all civilized countries.
(b) The ceremonial law
was also only for Israel and proselytes from
heathendom, and it was preparatory and temporary
(Galatians 4:3,9; Colossians 2:16,17,20,21;
Hebrews 7:18, 19; 9:10; 10:1); yet it not only
typified the gospel dispensation, but illustrated
the perpetual principles of acceptable worship.
(c) The moral law was
given to Israel in trust for all mankind. It
contains the elementary rules of moral right and
wrong. It has never been abrogated but is as
unchangeable as its author, being based on our
essential relationships to Him [Christ] and our
fellow men, and it is of perpetual and universal
obligation (Matthew 5:17-20).
Confining our attention now
to the moral law, let us consider its essential
character and its original proclamation.
1. It may be regarded
as the expression of the divine mind and will,
universal in its scope, but individual in its
application, for it addresses us in the singular
number.
2. It is strikingly
compact, but singularly; covering every
relationship in which we stand both to God and
man, and embracing alike our religious and social
duties.
It deals not only with our
open words and actions, but also with our hidden
thoughts and motives the first, second, and tenth
commandments regulating our desires, the third
and ninth our words, and the remainder our deeds.
The commands imply a prohibition of the opposite
conduct, and the negative involves the contrary
positive duties as we see from the summary of
both tables in Leviticus 19:18;
Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12.
What does fulfill
mean when used with reference to law?
Carry each others
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the
law of Christ. Galatians 6:2. (See Matthew
3:15; James 2:8, 9.
How did Christ treat His
Fathers commandments?
If you obey my
commands, you will remain in my love, just as I
have obeyed my Fathers
commands and remain in his love. John
15:10.
If one professes to abide
in Christ, how ought he to walk?
Whoever claims to live
in him must walk as Jesus did. 1
John 2:6.
Sin and the Law
What is sin?
Everyone who sins
breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4.
Note This text says
that sin is, not was, the transgression of
the law, thus showing that the law is still in
force in the gospel dispensation. Whosoever
likewise shows the universality of its binding
claims. Everyone who commits sin transgresses the
law.
In what condition are all men?
For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God. Romans
3:23. What shall we conclude then? Are we
any better? Not at all! We have already
made the charge that Jews and gentiles alike
are all under sin. Verse 9.
By what are all men proved
guilty?
Now we know that
whatever the law says, it says to those who
are under the law, so that every mouth may be
silenced and the whole world held accountable to
God. Verse 19.
Faith, Love, and the law
Does faith in God void
the law?
Do we, then, nullify
the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we
uphold the law.
Verse 31.
What, more than all else,
proves the perpetuity and immutability of the law
of God?
For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. John
3:16. That Christ died for our sins.
1 Corinthians 15:3.
Note Could the law
have been abolished, and sin been disposed of in
this way, Christ need not have come and died for
our sins. The gift of Christ, therefore, more
than all else, proves the immutability of the law
of God. Christ must come and die, and satisfy the
claims of the law, or the world must perish. The
law could not give way. The fact that the law is
to be the standard in the judgment is another
proof of its enduring nature. (See Ecclesiastes
12:13, 14: James 2:8-12.)
Who has the promise of
being blessed in his doing?
But the man who looks
intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,
and continues to do this, not forgetting what
he has heard, but doing it he will be
blessed in what he does. James 1:25.
How may we know that we have
passed from death to life?
We know that we have
passed from death to life, because we love our
brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in
death. 1 John 3:14.
And how may we know that we
love the brethren?
This is how we know
that we love the children of God: by loving
God and carrying out his commands. 1
John 5:2.
What is the love of God?
This is love for God:
to obey his commands. And his commands are
not burdensome.
Verse 3.
Note In the moral
government of the universe God acts in harmony
with a rule
. Not only is it unchangeable
with respect to places and races, to days and
seasons, to conditions and circumstances, but
also to ages. It has been unchangeable. It will
be unchangeable. We cannot conceive of an age
when the moral government of the universe shall
be changed, because we cannot conceive of God
becoming different morally from what He is now
and ever has been
This Law of God is holy
as He Himself is holy
It is a universal law
The Law of God is just and cannot be unjust
Its justice is universal
. It is more
than just it is gracious
It results in
welfare, in happiness, in blessedness. It is more
than negative, prohibiting wrongdoing. It is more
than positive, requiring right doing. It is
linked with all the outgoing of Gods life
towards man; and this means that it is linked
with His great compassionate love. The Law of God
is full of the love of God.
How are those described who
will prepare for the coming of Christ?
This calls for patient endurance on the
part of the saints who obey Gods
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
Revelation 14:12.
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