Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-02-19

ooOs-s-s-s-s-s-o-s-s-s-s-s -s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-O
ly of your neighbors as you would
have them speak of your Or do you
hold up their imperfectlons to ridicule.
as you would like to have them hold
up yours? DO you guard your tongue
so that you speak only things you
would think proper for your neighbOr
to speak respecting you, If you changed
places?
Simple Justice-Nothins More.
Do you not begin to see. dear friends,
that what God requires Of us Is much
beyond what the majority have been
rendering? Do you stand appalled, and
| tell me that it would be impossible to
| live fully up to that standard? ! agree
with you. And ST. Paul agrees, say
ing, 1--WE cannot do the things which
we would" The Scriptures again
J agree and declare "There is none
/ righteous, no, not one. All have sin
ned and come short of the glory of
God"
What shall we do? Shall we say
J that because we are unable to live up
| to our own conceptions and stand
/ ards Of justice we will make no at
] tempt to do so, but abandon those
standards entirely? God forbid. We
are weak enough and imperfect enough
as it is. TO ignore our best ideals of
! justice would be to take off all the
brakes and permit the downward tend
encies Of our depraved natures to go
| rapidly from bad to worse-to carry us
| further and further from God and the
standards of character which he ap-
proves. We can surely be content to
do nothing less than our very best to
live up to our own ideals and to raise
those ideals MS nearly as possible to
| the Divine standard
What Would Be tho User
Suppose we do our very best daily
| to measure up to our highest concep-
tions of our God-glven ideals and
standards, would God accept of this
and count us worthy of his favor and
of eternal life? Surely not. The Law
| of the Lord is perfect. Justice Is
Justice. Not the hearer of law, not
the wel-wishing. receives the reward,
| but the doer the obedient! Here, then,
we find ourselves in difficulty. With
our hearts, our minds, we approve
Gods Law and desire to be obedient
to him, but find, as st. Paul says. that
many things we wish to do we fall
to accomplish and many OF the things
we do not wish TO do we cannot avoid.
'We cannot do the things that we
would" We approve the excellent de-
mands OF Gods Law We disapprove
the imperfections of our own flesh.
Like st. Paul, we cry out. 20 wretch
ed man that | am. who shall deliver
me from this dead bOdyT-this body
| that is imperfect through inherited
sin and weaknesses. With our minds
we serve Gods Law and approve 1t;
! but with our bodies we come short.
| What is our hope? How shall we be
! delivered? Can we prevail upon God
| to change the reasonable requirement
of our text so that it shall read, What
doth God require of me but to viii
Justly and do imperfectly? We can
not hope for such change In the
! Divine Law. Are we then hopeless as
respects Divine approval aud eternal
/ llfe2 Romans vii, l7-24l
The Gift Of God Is Eternal Life.
In our moment of perplexity we
hear Gods message speaking peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord" The
message of peace is that what we
could not do for ourselves in the way
of lifting ourselves up TO Divine APP
proval God has provided shall be done
FOR us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our failure 20 keep the Law marks us
as unworthy of eternal life, and
worthy Of the wages of sin-nst eter-
nal torment, but death God In mercy
concluded TO offer us eternal life as
gift-hecause of our not actually merit
ing It under his legal requirements
Thus we read. THE wages of sin Is
death: but the 0ift OF God Is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord
(Romans vi, 23l What we could not
obtain legally under the Divine re-
quirements God protters to us as a
gift But the gift is conditional one
as eVnressed In the words. Through
Jesus Christ our Lord" Only those
who accept Jesus Christ as the Way,
the Truth. aud the Life" may have
Gods gift OF eternal life, Hence II
will be seen that II is wholly mistake
20 suppose that the heather at home
or abroad can get eternal life. the gift
of God. IN Ignorance OF Christ All the
Scriptures confirm this aud declare not
only that we cannot save ourselves by
obedience TO the terms OF Gods Law,
but that there Is none other name un'
der heaven given among men, whereby
we must he saved"-through faith In
his name-through faith In his blood
(Acts ~, ~.
But how Is this done justlyg aud
why does God so limit his gift Of eter'
nal llfeg
Gods Law represents himself and
leannot chonva He cannot reQuire less