The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-08-20

/
GOLDEN TEXT-Thou shalt love the Lord
| thy God with all thy heart, and with all
| thy soul, and with all thy strength. and with
| all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thy.
self.-Luke 1927.
Our God is a God Of order. To
have order we must have law, hence
God gave His people not only the
fundamental law Of humanity's
moral sense of right and wrong,
and the Ten Commandments which
are the basis Of all codes of law,
but also those detailed regulations
needed for the laws Interpretation.
The law of God was not intended
to establish legalistic system Of
salvation by work, but, as revealed
in the New Testament, it was to
guide and bring us to Christ, in
whom it finds its true fulfillment.
These are matters of fundamental
Importance and suggest the need Of
a careful study of our three Scrip
ture portions.
I. The Law Established (Exod.
23:1-9).
At Sinai the Israelites were
brought into the presence Of God in
a dramatic and solemn assembly to
hear the words Of God from the
mountain. These were later writ
ten as the Ten Commandments on
the tables Of stone. Here they
learned in a new way Of the mai
esty, the righteousness, and the love
of God.
The Ten Commandments are rec
ognized as the foundation on which
all legal codes, ancient and mod
ern, are built. They cover mans
relation to God and his relation to
his fellow man. They are unsur-
passed as a comprehensive and
compact statement Of the moral
law.
The passage in Exodus % gives
us some of the rules and regula-
tons for daily life which are in a
sense an Interpretation Of the law.
This portion gives us an idea Of the
type of laws provided by God for
His people and reveals "the moral
flavor of the whole divine legisla-
tion."
The thing which impresses us as
we read Of the divine requirements
of justice toward all, of love for
ones enemies, Of refraining from
false witness, Of refusing all brib-
cry, is that Gods standards are
very high.
Gods law is good, it is right, of
divine quality and perfect purity. It
has, however, an even higher plr-
pose than providing direction for
life. We learn Of that as we hear
III. The Law Described (Gal. 1928
2S).
What was the purpose of the law?
It was and is servant Of God to
lead the needy sinner to Christ. The
word tutor" in verse "a does not
refer to one who teaches, but the
servant who saw to it that the
school boy, possibly bit reluctant,
arrived at his destination.
The law convicts Of sin and makes
it evident to the repentant one that
he needs divine help If he is ever
to meet its demands. The law real
ly puts man in prison (kept in
ward" v. 23), and makes him look
to Christ to set him free.
When one trusts Christ he comes
into the place Of son. He enters
upon a spiritual maturity which
makes it no longer necessary to
have tutor directing and discipline
ing him. He has entered into new
relationship by faith, and is child
of God.
Does this mean that the law has
been set aside or abrogated? Not at
all. Jesus Himself said, 'Think not
that I am come to destroy the law
| :. am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill" (Matt. SID. This is our
third point.
iii. The Law Fulfilled (Gal. Sis,
14).
Paul had warned against the folly
Of legalism. In Christ men are free
from a slavish bondage to the law.
But men, desiring to substitute Ii
cense for liberty, were using the
grace of God as an excuse for self
indulgence and sin.
Christ has set aside all the cere-
monial requirements Of the law, for
He became the perfect, once-for-all
sacrifice for sin, which was infinite
! " superior to all the offerings Of
the Old Testament law. He thus full
filed the type Of the offerings.
The moral requirements Of the
law were gathered up In Him, and in
Him we have only one law to full
| I'LL, the law of love. Obedience to
that law meets all the moral re-
quirements of the Old Testament
law.
Liberty to the Christian In not
freedom to do as he pleases, not
ian occasion to the flesh" that it
may live in selfishness and sin. We
are free only to be bound by the
blessed law Of love.
The tablets Of stone were (and
still are) important. Their laws