It will ever be the aim and object of all true ministers of Christ to lead those to whom they minister in the true path of obedience to the Word of G.o.d. The chapter which lies open before us, as indeed the entire book of Deuteronomy, shows us very plainly how Moses, that eminent servant of G.o.d, ever sought and diligently labored to press upon the congregation of Israel the urgent necessity of the most implicit obedience to all the statutes and judgments of G.o.d. He did not seek any place of authority for himself: he never lorded it over G.o.d's heritage. His one grand theme, from first to last, was obedience. This was the burden of all his discourses--obedience, not to him, but to his and their Lord. He rightly judged that this was the true secret of their happiness, their moral security, their dignity, and their strength. He knew that an obedient people must also, of necessity, be an invincible and invulnerable people. No weapon formed against them could prosper so long as they were governed by the word of G.o.d. In a word, he knew and believed that Israel's province was to obey Jehovah, as it was Jehovah's province to bless Israel. It was their one simple business to "hear," "learn," "keep," and "do" the revealed will of G.o.d; and so doing, they might count on Him, with all possible confidence, to be their shield, their strength, their safeguard, their refuge, their resource, their all in all. The only true and proper path for the Israel of G.o.d is that narrow path of obedience on which the light of G.o.d's approving countenance ever shines, and all who, through grace, tread that path will find Him "a guide, a glory, a defense, to save from every fear."

This, surely, is quite enough. We have nothing to do with consequences: these we may, in simple confidence, leave to Him whose we are and whom we are responsible to serve. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." If we are doing His will, we shall ever find His name a strong tower; but, on the other hand, if we are not walking in a path of practical righteousness--if we are doing our own will--if we are living in the habitual neglect of the plain Word of G.o.d, then, verily, it is utterly vain for us to think that the name of the Lord will be a strong tower to us; rather would His name be a reproof to us, leading us to judge our ways and to return to the path of righteousness from which we have wandered.

Blessed be His name, His grace will ever meet us, in all its precious fullness and freeness, in the place of self-judgment and confession, however we may have failed and wandered; but this is a totally different thing. We may have to say, with the Psalmist, "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice; let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." But then, a soul crying to G.o.d from the depths, and getting forgiveness, is one thing; and a soul looking to Him in the path of practical righteousness is quite another. We must carefully distinguish between these two things.

Confessing our sins and finding pardon must never be confounded with walking uprightly and counting on G.o.d. Both are blessedly true, but they are not the same thing.

We shall now proceed with our chapter.

At the second verse, Moses reminds the people of their covenant-relationship with Jehovah. He says, "The Lord _our_ G.o.d made a covenant with us in h.o.r.eb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

The Lord talked with you face to face, in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord; for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount) saying," etc.

The reader must distinguish and thoroughly understand the difference between the covenant made at h.o.r.eb and the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are essentially different. The former was a covenant of works, in which the people undertook to do all that the Lord had spoken: the latter was a covenant of pure grace, in which G.o.d pledged Himself with an oath to do all which He promised.

Human language would utterly fail us to set forth the immense difference, in every respect, between these two covenants. In their basis, in their character, in their accompaniments, and in their practical result, they are as different as any two things could possibly be. The h.o.r.eb covenant rested upon human competency for the fulfillment of its terms, and this one fact is quite sufficient to account for the total failure of the whole thing. The Abrahamic covenant rested upon divine competency for the fulfillment of its terms, and hence the utter impossibility of its failure in a single jot or t.i.ttle.

Having in our "Notes on the Book of Exodus" gone somewhat fully into the subject of the law, and endeavored to set forth the divine object in giving it, and, further, the utter impossibility of any one getting life or righteousness by keeping it, we must refer the reader to what we have there advanced on this profoundly interesting subject.

It seems strange, to one taught exclusively by Scripture, that such confusion of thought should prevail amongst professing Christians in reference to a question so distinctly and definitively settled by the Holy Ghost. Were it merely a question of the divine authority of Exodus xx. or Deuteronomy v. as inspired portions of the Bible, we should not have a word to say. We most fully believe that these chapters are as much inspired as the seventeenth of John or the eighth of Romans.

But this is not the point. All true Christians receive, with devout thankfulness, the precious statement that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of G.o.d;" and, further, they rejoice in the a.s.surance that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope;" and, finally, they believe that the morality of the law is of abiding and universal application. Murder, adultery, theft, false witness, covetousness, are wrong--always wrong--every-where wrong: to honor our parents is right--always and every-where right. We read, in the fourth chapter of Ephesians, "Let him that stole steal no more;"

and again, in chapter vi, we read, "Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."

All this is so divinely plain and settled that discussion is definitively closed; but when we come to look at the law as a ground of relationship with G.o.d, we get into an entirely different region of thought. Scripture, in manifold places, and in the clearest possible manner, teaches us that, as Christians, as children of G.o.d, we are not on that ground at all. The Jew was on that ground, but he could not stand there with G.o.d. It was death and condemnation. "They could not endure that which was commanded, 'And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart;' and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and quake.'" The Jew found the law to be a bed on which he could not stretch himself, and a covering in which he could not wrap himself.

As to the Gentile, he was never, by any one branch of the divine economy, placed under law. His condition is expressly declared, in the opening of the epistle to the Romans, to be "without law [?????]."--"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,"

etc., and, "As many as have sinned without law shall perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law."

Here the two cla.s.ses are brought into sharp and vivid contrast, in the matter of their dispensational position. The Jew, under law; the Gentile, without law,--nothing can be more distinct. The Gentile was placed under government, in the person of Noah; but never under law.

Should any one feel disposed to call this in question, let him produce a single line of Scripture to prove that G.o.d ever placed the Gentiles under the law. Let him search and see. It is of no possible use to argue and reason and object,--it is utterly vain to say, "_We think_"

this or that: the question is, "What saith the Scripture?" If it says that the Gentiles were put under the law, let the pa.s.sage be produced.

We solemnly declare it says nothing of the kind, but the very reverse.

It describes the condition and the position of the Gentile as "without law"--"having not the law."

In Acts x, we see G.o.d opening the kingdom of heaven to the Gentile; in Acts xiv. 27, we see Him opening "the door of faith" to the Gentile; in Acts xxviii. 28, we see Him sending His salvation to the Gentile: but we search in vain, from cover to cover of the blessed Book, for a pa.s.sage in which He places the Gentile under the law.

We would very earnestly entreat the Christian reader to give this deeply interesting and important question his calm attention. Let him lay aside all his preconceived thoughts, and examine the matter simply in the light of holy Scripture. We are quite aware that our statements on this subject will be regarded by thousands as novel, if not actually heretical; but this does not move us, in the smallest degree.

It is our one grand desire to be taught absolutely and exclusively by Scripture. The opinions, commandments, and doctrines of men have no weight whatever with us. The dogmas of the various schools of divinity must just go for what they are worth. We demand Scripture. A single line of inspiration is amply sufficient to settle this question, and close all discussion, forever. Let us be shown from the Word of G.o.d that the Gentiles were ever put under the law, and we shall at once bow; but inasmuch as we cannot find it there, we reject the notion altogether, and we would have the reader to do the same. The invariable language of Scripture, in describing the position of the Jew, is, "under law;" and, in describing the position of the Gentile, is, "without law." This is so obvious that we cannot but marvel how any reader of the Bible can fail to see it.[15]

[15] The reader may perhaps feel disposed to inquire, On what ground will the Gentile be judged if he is not under the law? Romans i. 20 teaches us distinctly that the testimony of _creation_ leaves him without excuse. Then, in chapter ii. 15, he is taken up on the ground of _conscience_.--"For _when the Gentiles, which have not the law_, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness," etc. Finally, as regards those nations that have become professedly Christian, they will be judged on the ground of their profession.

If the reader will turn, for a few moments, to the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, he will see how the first attempt to put Gentile converts under the law was met by the apostles and the whole church at Jerusalem. The question was raised at Antioch; and G.o.d, in His infinite goodness and wisdom, so ordered that it should not be settled there, but that Paul and Barnabas should go up to Jerusalem and have the matter fully and freely discussed, and definitively settled by the unanimous voice of the twelve apostles and the whole church.

How we can bless our G.o.d for this! We can at once see that the decision of a local a.s.sembly, such as Antioch, even though approved by Paul and Barnabas, would not carry the same weight as that of the twelve apostles a.s.sembled in council at Jerusalem. But the Lord, blessed be His name, took care that the enemy should be completely confounded, and that the law-teachers of that day, and of every other day, should be distinctly and authoritatively taught that it was not according to His mind that Christians should be put under law, for any object whatsoever.

The subject is so deeply important that we cannot forbear quoting a few pa.s.sages for the reader. We believe it will refresh both the reader and the writer to refer to the soul-stirring addresses delivered at the most remarkable and interesting council that ever sat.

"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, 'Except ye be circ.u.mcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.'" How awful! How terribly chilling! What a death-knell to ring in the ears of those who had been converted under Paul's splendid address in the synagogue at Antioch!--"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that _through this Man_"--without circ.u.mcision or works of law of any kind whatsoever--"is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and _by Him_ all that believe"--irrespective altogether of circ.u.mcision--"_are_ justified _from all things_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.... And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath."

Such was the glorious message sent to the Gentiles by the lips of the apostle Paul--a message of free, full, immediate, and perfect salvation--full remission of sins and perfect justification, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But according to the teaching of the "certain men which came down from Judaea," all this was insufficient--Christ was not enough, without circ.u.mcision and the law of Moses. Poor Gentiles, who had never heard of circ.u.mcision or the law of Moses, must add to Christ and His glorious salvation the keeping of the whole law.

How must Paul's heart have burned within him to have the beloved Gentile converts brought under such monstrous teaching as this! He saw in it nothing short of the complete surrender of Christianity. If circ.u.mcision must be added to the cross of Christ--if the law of Moses must supplement the grace of G.o.d, then verily all was gone.

But, blessed forever be the G.o.d of all grace, He caused a n.o.ble stand to be made against such deadly teaching. When the enemy came in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raised up a standard against him. "When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem, unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they pa.s.sed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring," not the circ.u.mcision, but "the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy unto all the brethren."

The brethren were in the current of the mind of Christ, and in sweet communion with the heart of G.o.d; and hence they rejoiced to hear of the conversion and salvation of the Gentiles. We may rest a.s.sured it would have afforded them no joy to hear of the heavy yoke of circ.u.mcision and the law of Moses being put upon the necks of those beloved disciples who had just been brought into the glorious liberty of the gospel. But to hear of their conversion to G.o.d, their salvation by Christ, their being sealed by the Holy Ghost, filled their hearts with a joy which was in lovely harmony with the mind of heaven.

"And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that G.o.d had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circ.u.mcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."

Who made it "needful"? Not G.o.d, surely; inasmuch as He had, in His infinite grace, opened the door of faith to them without circ.u.mcision or any command to keep the law of Moses. No; it was "certain men" who presumed to speak of such things as needful--men who have troubled the Church of G.o.d from that day to the present--men "desiring to be teachers of the law, knowing neither what they say nor whereof they affirm." Law-teachers never know what is involved in their dark and dismal teaching. They have not the most distant idea of how thoroughly hateful their teaching is to the G.o.d of all grace, the Father of mercies.

But, thanks be to G.o.d, the chapter from which We are now quoting affords the very clearest and most forcible evidence that could be given as to the divine mind on the subject. It proves, beyond all question, that it was not of G.o.d to put Gentile believers under the law.

"And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing" (alas! how soon it began!) "Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago G.o.d made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear," not the law of Moses or circ.u.mcision, but "the word of the gospel, and believe. And G.o.d which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as unto us. _And put no difference between us and them_, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore _why tempt ye G.o.d_, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

Mark this, reader. The law had proved an intolerable yoke to those who were under it, that is, the Jews; and, further, it was nothing short of tempting G.o.d to put that yoke upon the neck of Gentile Christians.

Would that all the law-teachers throughout the length and breadth of christendom would but open their eyes to this grand fact! and not only so, but that all the Lord's beloved people every where were given to see that it is in positive opposition to the will of G.o.d that they should be put under the law for any object whatsoever. "But," adds the blessed apostle of the circ.u.mcision, "we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ," and not by law in any shape or form, "_we shall be saved even as they_."

This is uncommonly fine, coming from the lips of the apostle of the circ.u.mcision. He does not say, They shall be saved even as we; but, "We shall be saved even as they." The Jew is well content to come down from his lofty dispensational position, and be saved after the pattern of the poor uncirc.u.mcised Gentile. Surely, those n.o.ble utterances must have fallen in stunning force upon the ears of the law-party. They left them, as we say, not a leg to stand upon.

"Then all the mult.i.tude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders G.o.d had wrought among the Gentiles by them." The inspiring Spirit has not thought good to tell us what Paul and Barnabas said on this memorable occasion, and we can see His wisdom in this. It is evidently His object to give prominence to Peter and James, as men whose words would, of necessity, have more weight with the law-teachers than those of the apostle to the Gentiles and his companion.

"And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how G.o.d at the first did visit the Gentiles," not to convert them all, but "to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets;" (here he brings an overwhelming tide of evidence from the Old Testament to bear down upon the Judaizers,) "as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and _all the Gentiles_," without the slightest reference to circ.u.mcision or the law of Moses, but "upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto G.o.d are all His works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to G.o.d."

Here, then, we have this great question definitively settled by the Holy Ghost, the twelve apostles, and the whole Church; and we cannot but be struck with the fact that, at this most important council, none spoke more emphatically, more distinctly, or more decidedly than Peter and James; the former, the apostle of the circ.u.mcision, and the latter, the one who specially addressed the twelve tribes, and whose position and ministry were calculated to give great weight to his words, in the judgment of all who were still, in any measure, occupying Jewish or legal ground. Both these eminent apostles were clear and decided in their judgment that the Gentile converts were not to be "troubled" or burdened with the law. They proved, in their powerful addresses, that to place the Gentile Christians under the law was directly contrary to the Word, the will, and the ways of G.o.d.

Who can fail to see the marvelous wisdom of G.o.d in this? The words of Paul and Barnabas are not recorded. We are simply told that they rehea.r.s.ed what things G.o.d had wrought among the Gentiles. That they should be utterly opposed to putting the Gentiles under the law was only what might be expected; but to find Peter and James so decided would carry great weight with all parties.

But if the reader would have a clear view of Paul's thoughts on the question of the law, he should study the epistle to the Galatians.

There this blessed apostle, under the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost, pours out his heart to the Gentile converts in words of glowing earnestness and commanding power. It is perfectly amazing how any one can read this wonderful epistle and yet maintain that Christians are under the law, in any way or for any purpose. Hardly has the apostle got through his brief opening address when he plunges, with his characteristic energy, into the subject with which his large, loving, though grieved and troubled heart is full to overflowing. "I marvel,"

he says--and well he might--"that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into"--what? The law of Moses? Nay, but "the grace of Christ into a different gospel which is not another [?te???

e?a??????? ? ??? ?st?? ????]; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

Let all law-teachers ponder these burning words. Do they seem strong and severe? Let us remember that they are the very words of G.o.d the Holy Ghost. Yes, reader, G.o.d the Holy Ghost hurls His awful anathema at any one who presumes to add the law of Moses to the gospel of Christ--any one who attempts to place Christians under the law. How is it that men are not afraid, in the face of such words, to contend for the law? Are they not afraid of coming under the solemn curse of G.o.d the Holy Ghost?

Some, however, seek to meet this question by telling us that they do not take the law for justification, but as a rule of life; but this is neither reasonable nor intelligent, inasmuch as we may very lawfully inquire, Who gave us authority to decide as to the use we are to make of the law? We are either under the law or we are not. If we are under it at all, it is not a question of how we take it, but how it takes us.

This makes all the difference. The law knows no such distinctions as those which some theologians contend for. If we are under it for any object whatsoever, we are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in _all_ things which are written in the book of the law to do them." To say that I am born again, I am a Christian, will not meet the case at all; for what has the law to do with the question of new birth, or of Christianity? Nothing whatever.

The law is addressed to man, as a responsible being. It demands perfect obedience, and p.r.o.nounces its curse upon every one who fails to render it.

Moreover, it will not do to say that though we have failed to keep the law, yet Christ has fulfilled it in our room and stead. The law knows nothing of obedience by proxy. Its language is, "The man that doeth them shall live in them."

Nor is it merely on the man who fails to keep the law that the curse is p.r.o.nounced, but, as if to put the principle in the clearest possible light before us, we read that "as many as are of works of law are under the curse." (See Greek.) That is, as many as take their stand on legal ground--as many as are on that principle--in a word, as many as have to do with works of law, are, of necessity, under the curse. Hence we may see at a glance the terrible inconsistency of a Christian's maintaining the idea of being under the law as a rule of life and yet not being under the curse. It is simply flying in the face of the very plainest statements of holy Scripture. Blessed be the G.o.d of all grace, the Christian is not under the curse. But why?

Is it because the law has lost its power, its majesty, its dignity, its holy stringency? By no means. To say so were to blaspheme the law.

To say that any "man," call him what you please--Christian, Jew, or heathen--can be under the law, can stand on that ground, and yet not be under the curse, is to say that he perfectly fulfills the law or that the law is abrogated--it is to make it null and void. Who will dare to say this? Woe be to all who do so.

But how comes it to pa.s.s that the Christian is not under the curse?

Because he is not under the law. And how has he pa.s.sed from under the law? Is it by another having fulfilled it in his stead? Nay; we repeat the statement, there is no such idea throughout the entire legal economy as obedience by proxy. How is it, then? Here it is, in all its moral force, fullness, and beauty: "_I_ through law am dead to law, that I might live unto G.o.d."[16]

[16] The omission of the article adds immensely to the force, fullness, and clearness of the pa.s.sage. It is d??