Basic HTML Version
A Complete Rule of Life, May 12
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in
his temple the ark of his testament.
Revelation 11:19
.
Our Redeemer testifies: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door,
and no man can shut it.”
Revelation 3:8
. Through this open door into the
temple of God, we see the royal law, deposited in the ark of the testament.
Through this open door, light shines from that holy, just, and good law,
presenting to man the true standard of righteousness, that he may make
no mistake in the formation of a character that will meet the requirements
of God. Sin is condemned by that law; we must put it away. Pride and
selfishness can find no place in the character without crowding out Him
who was meek and lowly of heart.
The law of God is the standard by which character is to be tested; if
we erect a standard to suit ourselves, and attempt to follow a criterion of
our own devising, we shall utterly fail to secure heaven at last....
The mind must yield obedience to the royal law of liberty, the law
which the Spirit of God impresses upon the heart, and makes plain to the
understanding. The expulsion of sin must be the act of the soul itself, in
calling into exercise its noblest powers. The only freedom a finite will can
enjoy, consists in coming into harmony with the will of God, complying
with the conditions that make man a partaker of the divine nature.
The law of God given from Sinai is a copy of the mind and will of the
Infinite God. It is sacredly revered by the holy angels. Obedience to its
requirements will perfect Christian character, and restore man, through
Christ, to his condition before the Fall. The sins forbidden in the law
could never find place in heaven.
It was the love of God to man that prompted Him to express His will
in the ten precepts of the Decalogue.... God has given man a complete
rule of life in His law. Obeyed, he 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.
[139]
143