The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1894-08-18
Highest of all in Leavening Power.-Latest u.
R[!NaI a b. Bal,
Il " 5000 TOW
ABSOLUTELY PURE

denunciations of Scripture,
disposed to pallate and excu.
delinquencies as if they were in
accidents due to the weakness
nature, greatly to be regretted
and avoided, yet not by any
demanding penalty strictly en-
II we trace farther back the sour
these views,we find it in the lnadeq
apprehensions men have of the Di
Law. They do not keep in mind
holy spiritual, searching, lnfexit
character. They do not recognize i
absolute and Interchangeable authority
They merge all the perfectioEs Of God
into his one aspect as Father, and Sc
overlook his majesty as a Moral Gov.
ernor. Forgetting, too, that even a
father must rule, and that family with
out discipline is on the sure road to
ruin, they so explain the divine pater.
nifty as to make 1t mere good nature.
The Father of all cannot finally reject
any, and his grace is as universal as
mankind. Making happiness rather
than holiness the last end of his pro.
cedures, they resolve the law into an
educational institution instead OF an
original and unbending standard of
duty. In direct opposition to all such
loose and indefinite opinions stands
the positive assertion of the Apostle
James (v. 12), "There is one Law.
gIver." That God is a Lawgiver arises
from the fact that he is Creator. Even
in the lower sphere of physical forces,
it would be inconsistent with his per-
fections to allow the existence of a
permanent chaos. Were there no
uniformity in natural sequences, science
would become guesswork and life
riddle.
But if God imposes law upon unor-
ganized matter, much more must he
upon ra,ionel beings. Man, we are
told, was made in the image of God,
free, self-conscious agent, endowed
with reason, conscience and will, and
therefore raised immeasurablY above
all other orders of beings on earth. As
the immediate offspring of God he par
takes of his spiritual nature, and there
fore is capable of knowing him and
having communion with him. But he
is also capable OF turning away from
him and pursuing wrong courses. Man,
therefore, must have rule OF action.
His own moral constitution requires 1t,
as we'll as his relation to his Maker
upon whom he is dependent and to
whom he Is subject. The wise and
holy God cannot be Indifferent to the
character of his intelligent creatures
either in respect to their dispositions or
their conduct. He must have will
upon the subject, and that will must
necessarily take the shape OF law. 1t
is indeed conceivable that he might
have so constituted men that they
would always be disposed to do right,
an lnfallible propensity of nature guild
ing them at every step, so that there
never could be a possibility of their
going wrong either from inclination or
from mistake. But, so far as we know the
Almighty never did constitute any of
his creatures after this manner. Such
being the case, man with all his high
endowments being fallible and pecca-
BILE, there must needs be given to him
fixed rule Of conduct. Mere suggestion
or advice will not answer. There must
be something absolute and peremptory,
something that comes as the irrevoca.
Bile declaration of Gods own judgment
OF good and evil, something established
over mankind, like the sun in the
armament, the same from the worlds
first day to the last. 1t says, zHou
shall, or Thou shalt not, and it means
to be obeyed. 1t has, therefore, sane
.ions, as it indeed, must have; other
wise it would not be law at all, but
mere expression of opinion. And these
sanctions must be enforced. For if
not, then they might just as we'll not
exist.-Presbyterlan ReviezV.