The Bible Echo
June 24, 1895
Christ's Followers
What is their Relation to the Law?
Jesus said of His followers, “Ye are the light of the world.” They are to shine amid the moral darkness. How?—Not by making long prayers to be seen of men, not in laying claim to high position, not in following a long, prescribed, tedious round of ceremonies, but by being imbued with the working principle of love to God, and showing it in obedience to His law. The people of God are to shine by working the works of God with earnest zeal, by their loyalty to Christ in being not hearers only, but doers of His words. They are to shine by working out their salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God that worketh in them, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure, and by showing in their lives the excellence of His righteous law. BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 1
The followers of Christ are drawn to Him, and the Holy Spirit is imparted to them, that they may be, not a mass of corruption, but as salt. Said Jesus, “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” The religion of the Pharisees was well described by this figure. They made void the law of God through their tradition. Professing to be worshippers of God, they had turned from the holy commandment, and were as salt that had lost its savour. Loving the honour of men, loving their own maxims and traditions, the Pharisees made idols of their own little precepts, and lost sight of the doctrines of the Bible, and the consequence was spiritual death. BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 2
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus presented the true principles of the law of God, and divested its precepts of the rubbish of man's inventions, which had been accumulating for ages, corrupting the true principles of religion, and making them consist in a ceaseless round of ceremonies. Jesus presented the truth in its unadulterated form, showing that the principles of the law must be planted in the heart. He thus calls upon His followers to change all their previous ideas concerning the exacting requirements of men, and for love of Him follow after purity of character and conduct. BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 3
Jesus said: BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 4
“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. 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. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 5
Then in the most solemn manner Christ takes up some of the specifications of the law, and shows how far-reaching is every precept which is to be written in the hearts of His disciples, and made manifest in their character. He does not in any way give license to the idea that the law of God is not binding; for it is upon that law that His kingdom is established. And as the people listened to His words, they said, “Never man spake like this Man.” BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 6
The people of God are the “light of the world” and the “salt of the earth.” They are to let the light of truth shine through them to the world; they are to have an influence to restrain the transgression and moral corruption that abound in all grades of society. But impure salt has no saving virtue. If the followers of Christ do not derive their life, their fragrance, and their saving qualities from Him, they have no spiritual worth. But all who conform their lives, their hearts, their minds, fully and ungrudgingly to His service, reflect His image, and from them the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shine into the darkness of a world that lieth in wickedness. BEcho June 24, 1895, par. 7