The Law and the Gospel

A TREATISE ON THE RELATION EXISTING BETWEEN
THE TWO DISPENSATIONS.

BY
JAMES WHITE.

“FOR THE LAW WAS GIVEN BY MOSES; BUT GRACE AND TRUTH CAME BY JESUS CHRIST.” John 1:17.

International Tract Society

THE
LAW AND THE GOSPEL.

“I and my Father are one.” John 10:30.

THE Father and the Son were one in man’s creation, and in his redemption. Said the Father to the Son, “Let us make man in our image.” And the triumphant song in which the redeemed take part, is unto “Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever.” LAGO 1.1

Jesus prayed that his disciples might be one as he was one with his Father. This prayer did not contemplate one disciple with twelve heads, but twelve disciples, made one in object and effort in the cause of their Master. Neither are the Father and the Son parts of one being. They are two distinct beings, yet one in the design and accomplishment of redemption. The redeemed, from the first who shares in the great redemption, to the last, all ascribe the honour, and glory, and praise, of their salvation, to both God and the Lamb. LAGO 1.2

But if it be true that the law of the Father and the gospel of the Son are opposed to each other, that one is to take the place of the other, then it follows that those saved in the former dispensation are saved by the Father and the law, while those of the present dispensation are saved by Christ and the gospel. And in this case, when the redeemed shall reach heaven at last, and their redemption shall be sung, two songs will be heard, one ascribing praise to the Father and the law, the other singing the praises of Christ and the gospel. LAGO 1.3

This will not be. There will be harmony in that song of redemption. All the redeemed will sing the facts as they have existed during the period of man’s probation. All will ascribe the praise of their salvation to God and the Lamb. Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses will join with the disciples of Jesus in singing of the redeeming power of the blood of the Son, while those who have lived since the crucifixion of Christ, saved by his blood, will join the patriarchs and prophets in the song of praise to the Father, the Creator, and Lawgiver. Therefore the law and the gospel run parallel throughout the entire period of man’s probation. The gospel is not confined to some eighteen centuries. The dispensation of the gospel is not less than about six thousand years old. LAGO 2.1

The word “gospel” signifies good news. The gospel of the Son of God is the good news of salvation through Christ. When man fell, angels wept. Heaven was bathed in tears. The Father and the Son took counsel, and Jesus offered to undertake the cause of fallen man. He offered to die that man might have life. The Father consented to give his only beloved, and the good news resounded through heaven, and on earth, that a way was opened for man’s redemption. In the first promise made to man that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, was the gospel of Jesus Christ as verily as in the song the angels sung over the plains of Bethlehem, to the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night, “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth good will to men.” LAGO 2.2

Immediately after the fall, hope of a future life hung upon Christ as verily as our hopes can hang on Christ. And when the first sons of Adam brought their offerings to the Lord, Cain in his unbelief brought the first-fruits of the ground, which were not acceptable. Abel brought a firstling of the flock in faith of Christ, the great sacrifice for sin. God accepted his offering. Through the blood of that firstling, Abel saw the blood of Jesus Christ. He looked forward to Christ, and made his offering in the faith and hope of the gospel, and through it saw the great sacrifice for sin, as truly as we see the bleeding Lamb as we look back to Calvary, through the broken bread and the fruit of the vine. Through these emblems we see Christ crucified. Abel saw the same through the dying lamb which he offered. Do we hang our hopes in faith upon Christ? So did Abel. Are we Christians by virtue of living faith in Christ? So was Abel. LAGO 3.1

Abraham had the gospel of the Son of God. The apostle says that the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Galatians 3:8. LAGO 3.2

Paul testifies of the Israelites in the wilderness, that they “were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:2-4. The gospel was preached to the children of Israel in the wilderness. The apostle says, “Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” Hebrews 4:2. LAGO 4.1

Moses and the believing Jews had the faith and hope of the gospel. Through the blood of the sacrificial offerings, they saw Christ, and by faith embraced him. Their hope of the future life was not in the law, but in Christ. LAGO 4.2

“The law,” says Paul, “having a shadow of good things to come.” The typical system is but the shadow. The good things, of which Christ as a sacrifice and mediator is the centre, are the body that casts its shadow back into the Jewish age. The bleeding sacrifices of the legal system were but the shadow. Christ, bleeding on the cross, was the great reality. Every bleeding sacrifice offered by the Jews, understandingly, and in faith, was as acceptable in the sight of Heaven as what Christians may do in showing their faith in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, by baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The one was done in the faith and hope of redemption through the blood of the Son of God, as verily as the other may be. The gospel dispensation, which is the dispensation of the good news or redemption, through Christ, has been six thousand years long. LAGO 4.3

The dispensation of the law of God is longer than that of the gospel. It commenced before the fall, or there could not have been in the justice of God any such thing as the fall. It existed as early as there were created intelligences subject to the government of the Creator. It covers all time, and extends to the future, running parallel with the eternity of God’s moral government. Angels fell, therefore were on probation. They, being on probation, were consequently amenable to law. In the absence of law they could not be on probation, therefore could not fall. The same may be said of Adam and Eve in Eden. LAGO 5.1

The reign of sin runs parallel with the reign of death, from Adam until sin and sinners shall cease to be. And parallel with these, stretching through all dispensations, there has been the knowledge of the principles of the ten commandments, consequently a knowledge of sin. LAGO 5.2

The means of this knowledge has been the law of God. “By the law,” says the apostle, “is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. “I had not known sin but by the law.” Chap. 7:7. As proof that this knowledge did exist immediately after the fall, see Genesis 4:7, 23, 24; 6:5, 11, 12. LAGO 5.3

Also, Noah was righteous before God. Cap. 7:1. He was a preacher of righteousness. 2 Peter 2:5. By his preaching right-doing, reproving the sin of the people of his time, he condemned the world. Hebrews 11:7. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were great sinners, excepting one man. Abraham interceded, saying, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Genesis 13:13; 18:20, 23, 25; 19:7. The blessing of God came upon Abraham, because he obeyed his voice and kept his commandments. Genesis 26:5. Those who refused obedience, experienced his wrath for their transgressions. The cities of the plain were condemned for their unlawful deeds. 2 Peter 2:6-8. LAGO 6.1

The foregoing positions relative to the law of God would meet with but little opposition were it not for the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The proper observance of the Bible Sabbath is not only crossing, but with many inconvenient, and not favourable to the successful prosecution of their worldly plans. The fearful and unbelieving shun its claims, brand it as a Jewish institution, and frequently assert that it was unknown to men until the Sabbath law was proclaimed from Sinai. Sacred history, however, proves this statement to be false. It is true that Sabbath-keeping is not mentioned in the book of Genesis. But this does not prove that it did not exist during the long period covered by that brief record. The facts connected with the giving of the manna show that the Israelites understood the obligations of the Sabbath that some of the people violated them, and were reproved by Jehovah, thirty days before they saw Mount Sinai. See Exodus 16:22-30. LAGO 6.2

We now come to the New Testament. The first four chapters of Matthew are devoted to a sketch of the genealogy of Christ, Joseph, and Mary, the birth of Jesus, Herod slaying the children of Bethlehem, John the Baptist, the temptation of Christ, and his entering upon his public ministry. The fifth chapter opens with his inaugural address. This was his first sermon. In this memorable sermon upon the mount, Christ warns his disciples against a terrible heresy that would soon press its way into the church. LAGO 7.1

The Jews boasted of God, of Abraham, and of the law, but despised and rejected Jesus. The great facts connected with his resurrection were soon to be so convincing that many would believe. And as the Jews were to reject and crucify the Son, while boasting in the law, Christians would run to the opposite and equally fatal heresy of trampling upon the authority of the Father, and despising his law, while receiving Christ and glorying in the gospel. It has ever been Satan’s object to separate in the faith of the church the Father and the Son. With the Jews was the cry, The Father, Abraham, the law; but away with Jesus and his gospel. With Christians the cry was to arise, Christ, the cross, the gospel; but away with the law of the Father. To meet this heresy, erelong to arise in the Christian church, the Master, in his first recorded sermon, spoke pointedly. Listen to his appeal to his disciples in the presence of the assembled multitudes:— LAGO 7.2

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” LAGO 8.1

These words of warning from our Lord fully meet the case. They need no comment. The history of the church, showing how loosely great and apparently good men have held the law of God, and the present closing controversy respecting it, give them special force. LAGO 8.2

Jesus did not come to legislate. In no case did he intimate that he would give a new law to take the place of that of his Father. Speaking of the Son, the Father says, “He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deuteronomy 18:18. “Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” John 7:16. “I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things.” Chap. 8:28. “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Chap. 14:24. LAGO 8.3

We will now consider the important question of the great apostle to the Gentiles, relative to the law of God and the faith of Jesus: “Do we then make void the law through faith?” Romans 3:31. This question points directly to the true issue between us and the men of this day who teach that the gospel of the Son makes void the law of the Father. Paul decides the question in these emphatic words: “God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” LAGO 8.4

The gospel is a necessity in consequence of law transgressed. Where there is no law there is no transgression, no sin, no need of the blood of Christ, no need of the gospel. But the gospel teaches that Christ died for sinners, on account of their sins. Sin is the transgression of the law. He came, therefore, as the great sacrifice for those who transgress the law. The gospel presents him to the sinner as the bleeding sacrifice for the sins of those who transgress the law. This fact establishes the existence of the law of God. Remove the law and we have no further need of Christ and his gospel. LAGO 9.1

In the gospel arrangement for the salvation of man, there are three parties concerned: The Lawgiver, the Advocate, and the sinner. The words of the apostle are to the point: “If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” 1 John 2:1. Sin is the transgression of the law of the Father; hence the sinner offends the Father, is in trouble with the Father, and needs Jesus to plead his cause with the Father. But if the Father’s law has been abolished, and Christ sustains to the sinner the relation of lawgiver, who is his advocate? “Mother Mary,” or some other one of the multitude of canonized saints, will answer for the Papist; but what will the Protestant do in his case? If he urges that Christ, and not the Father, is the lawgiver, and that in the present dispensation sin is the transgression of the law of Jesus Christ, then I press him to tell me who the sinner’s advocate is. And I ask him to harmonize his position with the words of the beloved John, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” LAGO 9.2

Paul addresses the elders of the church at Miletus, relative to the fundamental principles of the plan of salvation, thus: “I have kept back nothing that was profitable to you, but have showed you and taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:20, 21. The apostle here has set before the men of the present dispensation two distinct duties: First, the exercise of repentance toward God, for his law is binding upon them, and it is his law that they have transgressed. Second, the exercise of faith toward Christ as the great sacrifice for their sins, and their advocate with the Father. LAGO 10.1

These are both indispensable. Paul presented both. He kept back nothing pertaining to the plan of salvation that was profitable. LAGO 10.2

The closing words of the third angel point directly to a body of Christian commandment-keepers. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. The Jew takes no stock in this text, because he sees in it the despised Jesus of Nazareth. Many professed Christians find it as objectionable as the Jew, for the reason that they find in it the equally-despised commandments of God. But said the adorable Jesus. “I and my Father are one.” So the law of the Father and the gospel of the Son pass through all dispensations of man’s fallen state, in perfect harmony. Would God that both the blind Jew and the blind Christian might see this, and embrace the whole truth, instead of each a part, might keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and be saved. LAGO 10.3

But here let it be distinctly understood that there is no salvation in the law. There is no redeeming quality in law. Redemption is through the blood of Christ. The sinner may cease to break the commandments of God, and strive with all his power to keep them; but this will not atone for his sins, and redeem him from his present condition in consequence of past transgression. LAGO 11.1

Notwithstanding all his efforts to keep the law of God, he must be lost without faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. And this was as true in the time of Adam, of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and the Jews, as since Jesus died upon the cross. No man can be saved without Christ. LAGO 11.2

On the other hand, faith in Jesus Christ, while refusing obedience to the law of the Father is presumption. An effort to obtain friendship with the Son, while living in rebellion against the Father, is Heaven-daring. No greater insult can be offered to either the Father or the Son. What! separate the Father and the Son, by trampling on the authority of the one, and making a friend of the other? “I and my Father are one.” The Jew insults the Father, in his rejection of the Son; and the Christian flings in the face of the Heaven equal insult, in all his acts of worship in which he vainly thinks to make Jesus his friend while, with light upon the subject, he breaks the commandments of God. LAGO 11.3

I briefly call attention to three grand events which have taken place in connection with the sad history of fallen man, either one of which is sufficient to establish the perpetuity of the law of God. LAGO 12.1

First, the fall with all its terrible consequences. If the law of God was of such a nature that it could, in any particular be changed at any time, it would have been thus changed before Adam and Eve left Eden. If the plan of God’s moral government could be changed, it would then have been changed, so as to set them free, and save the tide of human wretchedness and agony which has followed. But no; it could not be changed. The curse must fall on man, and upon the earth for man’s sake; and the blight and mildew of sin must follow everywhere, and hang upon creation like a pall of death. Why? Because God’s law that had been transgressed could not be changed — could not be abolished. Every fading flower and falling leaf, since man left Eden, has proclaimed the law of God changeless. This has been the result of sin. It is the result of the terrible fall. And this has all come about because of the transgression of that law which is as changeless as the throne of Heaven. If that law could ever be changed in any particular it would have been changed when there were but two fallen beings, in such a way as to free them from the sentence of death, and raise them from their degradation, and the race from continued sin, crime and woe. LAGO 12.2

For six thousand years, the tide has been swelling, and creation has been adding groan to groan. Oh! the sorrow, the wretchedness, the agony! Who can compute it? The fall, then, with all its accumulated wretchedness, proclaims God’s law changeless. We hasten to notice the next event which proclaims this truth. LAGO 13.1

Second, the announcement of the ten commandments from Sinai with imposing display. It was not left for Moses to proclaim this law. It was not left for an angel to assemble the tribes of Israel, and utter these ten holy precepts in their hearing. The Lord himself descended in awful grandeur, and proclaimed these precepts in the hearing of all the people. LAGO 13.2

Do you say that that was the origin of the law of God? Do you say that the Lord descended on Sinai, and there legislated? And do you say that he has since abolished that code, or changed it? When did he do this? Where did he do it? Has any prophet foretold that such an event should take place? And has any apostle recorded that such a work was ever done? Never. LAGO 13.3

The several States empower their legislators to enact laws. These laws are published throughout the commonwealth. The people understand them. Some of these laws are repealed or changed. Is it done in secret, and the people permitted to know nothing about it? No. The same body that enacts laws, also changes, amends, or abolishes, and the people are apprised of the fact. This is made as public as the enactment of the law. And has not the Lord manifested as much wisdom in managing affairs in which man has so great an interest, affairs which affect his eternal welfare? He came down upon Sinai, and proclaimed his law under such circumstances as to impress the people with its grandeur, dignity, and perpetuity. Who can suppose that he would abolish, or alter it, and say nothing about it? LAGO 13.4

Third, the crucifixion established the law of God. If that law was of such a nature that it could be abolished, or any of its precepts be changed, why not have this done, and set man free, instead of the Son of God laying aside his glory, taking our nature, living the sad life he lived here upon the earth, suffering in Gethsemane, and finally expiring upon the cross? Why, oh, why, should the divine Son of God do all this to save man, if that law which held him as a sinner could be changed, so that he could be set free? But no; nothing could be done in that direction. Man had sinned, had fallen, and was shut up in the prison-house of sin. His sins were of such a nature that no sacrifice was adequate but the sacrifice of Him to whom the Father had said, “Let us make man.” The death of an angel was not sufficient. He only who engaged with the Father in the formation of man, constituted a sufficient sacrifice to open the door of hope by which he might find pardon, and be saved.
“Come, O my soul, to Calvary.”
and there behold love and agony mingled in the death of the Son of God. LAGO 14.1

Behold him groaning in Gethsemane. His divine soul was in agony as the sins of man were rolled upon him. “My soul,” said he, “is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” The weight of man’s sin in transgressing God’s immutable law was such as to press from his pores as it were great drops of blood. LAGO 15.1

He then bears his cross to Calvary. The nails are driven into his hands and feet. The cross is erected. There the bleeding Lamb hangs six terrible hours. The death of the cross was most agonizing. But there was in his case the additional weight of the sins of the whole world. In his last expiring agonies he cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And bows his head in death. LAGO 15.2

The sun, the brightest luminary of heaven, can no longer view the scene, and is veiled as with sackcloth. The vail of the temple, the noblest work of man, is rent in twain. Christ, the noblest being in the universe save One, is dying in agony. Creation feels the shock, and, groaning and heaving, throws open the graves of many of the saints, who come out of their graves after his resurrection. This great event transpired because it was the only way by which sinners could be saved. The law must stand as firm as the throne of Heaven, although the earth shake, and the whole creation tremble, as the Son of God died in agony. LAGO 15.3

How wonderful in its simplicity, its comprehensiveness and perfection, is the law of Jehovah! In the purposes and dealings of God there are mysteries which the finite mind is unable to comprehend. And it is because we cannot fathom the secrets of infinite wisdom and power that we are filled with reverence for the Most High. LAGO 16.1

Men shut from their souls the rays of divine light by refusing to walk in it as it shines upon them. How many will sacrifice purity of heart, the favour of God, and their hope of heaven, for selfish gratification or worldly gain! The question comes home to every soul, Shall I obey the voice from heaven in God’s ten words, or shall I join with the multitude who trample upon the law of Jehovah? LAGO 16.2

God will not always bear with the sinner. Christ declares that there is a greater sin than that for which Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown. It is the sin of those who have a knowledge of Christ’s life and his death in their behalf, but who continue to transgress the law of God. They may look upon Calvary, they may see the Son of God agonizing in the garden and dying upon the cross, and yet many for whom he has made this great sacrifice refuse to obey the law which he died to vindicate. It will indeed be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for the transgressors of God’s law. LAGO 16.3

The infinite sacrifice which Christ has made to magnify and exalt the law, testifies that not one jot or tittle of that law will relinquish its claims upon the transgressor. Christ came to pay the debt which the sinner had incurred by transgression, and by his own example to teach man how to keep the law of God. Said Christ, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” In consideration of all the facts so clearly establishing the claims of God’s law, with heaven and eternal life in view to inspire hope and induce effort, it is inconceivable how so many professing to be servants of God, can set aside his law and teach sinners that they are not amenable to its precepts. What a fatal delusion! Satan first devised this heresy, and by it, he enticed Eve to sin. The sad results of this transgression are before us. LAGO 16.4

We are living in a land of bondage and of death. Multitudes are enslaved by sinful customs and evil habits, and their fetters are difficult to break. Iniquity, like a flood is deluging the earth. Crimes almost too fearful to be even mentioned, are of daily occurrence. Shall we say that all this is because men live in obedience to the will of God, or is it because ministers and people hold and teach that its precepts have no binding force? LAGO 17.1

Men professing to stand as watchmen on the walls of Zion speak of the Jewish age as one of darkness. They represent the religion of the Hebrews as consisting of mere forms and ceremonies, and present in striking contrast the glorious light and privileges of the gospel age. While it is pleasing to God that we prize the blessings of the gospel, he is dishonoured and Christ’s mission is misrepresented by those who belittle his work in ancient times, as seen from the history of Adam down to the Christian era. LAGO 17.2

In what contrast to the teachings of these men are the words of Moses, the prophet whom God honoured above all other mortals, talking with him face to face, as a man speaketh with a friend. Moses possessed a spirit which is rarely found at the present day. He had a sacred regard for the right, a morality unmingled with selfishness and policy, and grandly rising above respect for times and people. Moses fully understood the force of his words, as he challenges the Hebrew host: “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” LAGO 18.1

Moses understood the sacred character and value of the divine law. Israel was highly honoured of God, and the surrounding nations looked with admiration and wonder upon them. Their laws and discipline, when compared with the laws of other nations, seemed even to their enemies in every way superior to their own. Moses stands forth superior in wisdom and integrity to all the sovereigns and statesmen of earth. Yet this man claims no credit for himself, but points the people to God as the source of all power and wisdom. Where is there such a character among men of this age? Those who would speak contemptuously of the law of God, are dishonouring him and casting a shadow over the most illustrious character presented in the annals of men. LAGO 18.2

In that memorable sermon upon the mount, in which our Saviour announced to his followers the principles of his government, he expressly declares the perpetuity of the moral law. His solemn warnings to the neglecters and despisers of the law of God are echoing down, even to our time: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” And in consideration of the claims of the law, he continues: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.” LAGO 19.1

Obedience to the law of God was the only condition upon which ancient Israel was to receive the fulfilment of his promises. Obedience to that law will bring as great blessings to individuals and to nations now as it would have brought to the Hebrews. The history of that people was recorded for our benefit. We should study it with a prayerful heart, and seek to shun the sins that brought upon them the wrath of God. LAGO 19.2

Christ came to teach men the way of salvation. And when the shadowy services of the former dispensation were no longer of any value — when type had met antitype in the death of Christ — then we might expect that if the law of ten commandments were no longer binding, Christ would declare its abrogation; if the Old-Testament Scriptures were no longer to be regarded as a guide for Christians, he would make known the fact. LAGO 19.3

Let us briefly notice a few events that occurred after the resurrection. As two of the disciples were travelling to Emmaus, conversing in sad tones of their disappointed hopes, Jesus himself, concealing his identity, drew near, and with words of sympathy, sought to draw from these sorrowing ones the cause of their grief. Although they had reason to regard with distrust and fear all men outside the little circle of believers, yet they freely unburdened their hearts to this stranger. Now was the time for Jesus to give those lessons which he would have repeated to his followers in all coming time. He reproved those disciples for their unbelief in not accepting the word of God just as it reads. And “beginning at Moses and the prophets,” he expounded to them the scriptures concerning his mission and his work. He then impressed upon them the fact that Jesus did come exactly as foretold by the prophets. The hopes of the disciples were revived as the words of the Old Testament were clothed with new life and power. Their hearts burned within them, and when Christ made himself known, they were ready to accept him as the risen Saviour. LAGO 20.1

That same night he revealed himself to the disciples assembled at Jerusalem. He did not point to the mighty works which he had done, to awaken their faith in him as the promised Redeemer. But he went back to Moses and the prophets and explained the scriptures concerning himself. The Old Testament, the “sure word of prophecy,” is the only key that will unlock the New-Testament Scriptures and show that Jesus Christ revealed in the gospel is the Son of God — the long expected Messiah. LAGO 20.2

Holy prophets have foretold the manner of Christ’s birth, the events of his life, his mission, and his death and resurrection. In the Old Testament we find the gospel of a coming Saviour. In the New Testament we have the gospel of a Saviour revealed as prophecy had foretold. The light of the gospel in the New Testament reflects its glory back upon the Jewish age, showing the significance and importance of the typical sacrifices prefiguring the Lamb of God. LAGO 21.1

There is no discord between the teaching of Christ in the Old Testament and his teachings in the New. While the Old Testament is constantly pointing forward to the true offering, the New Testament shows that the Saviour foretold by prophecy, and prefigured by the typical offerings, has come. The dim glory of the Jewish age has been succeeded by the brighter, clearer glory of the Christian age. But not once has Christ stated that his coming destroyed the claims of God’s law. LAGO 21.2

In the very last message to his church, by way of Patmos, the risen Saviour pronounces a benediction upon those who keep his Father’s law: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” LAGO 21.3

The most fatal delusion of the Christian world in this generation is, that in pouring contempt on the law of God they think they are exalting Christ. What a position! It was Christ who spoke the law from Sinai. It was Christ who gave the law to Moses, engraven on tables of stone. It was his Father’s law; and Christ says, “I and my Father are one.” The Pharisees held the reverse of the modern position, but were in just as great an error. They rejected Christ, but exalted the law. And it makes little difference which position is taken, so long as we ignore the true one, — that faith in Christ must be accompanied by obedience to the law of God. LAGO 22.1

While we point the sinner to Jesus as the one who can take away sin, we must explain to him what sin is, and show him that he can be saved from his sins, but not in them. He must be made to realize that “sin is the transgression of the law.” Paul makes the inquiry, many years after the death of Christ, “Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Thus Paul exalts the moral law. When this law is practically carried out in every-day life, it is found indeed to be the wisdom of God. It serves to detect sin. It discovers the defects in the moral character, and shows sin to be exceeding sinful, revealing it in all its hideousness. Through obedience to its requirements, Christian character is perfected. LAGO 22.2

God’s law is a copy of his mind and will. The sins forbidden there could never find a place in heaven. It was love that prompted God to express his will in the ten precepts of the decalogue. Afterward he showed his love for man by sending prophets and teachers to explain and illustrate his holy law. LAGO 22.3

God has given man a complete rule of life in his law. Obeyed, man shall live by it, through the merits of Christ. Transgressed, it has power to condemn. The law sends men to Christ, and Christ points them back to the law. LAGO 23.1