

Does God's Grace Blot Out The Law

 Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.





The devil, through sin, has just about wrecked this world of 
ours.  We live in an age of rebellion against all restraint and 
law.  Our nation stands aghast at the big-city, gang-defiance of 
social order and property rights, including the right to live.  
Murder, robbery, and personal assaults have become the trademark 
of both urban and suburban 20th-century life.
Each day as we read the newspaper it seems that the quality of 
life has edged downward a little bit further.  At times we are 
tempted to believe that things can get no worse, and that 
conditions have hit rock bottom.  Yet, the next day, even more 
violent, bizarre crimes are reported, and we simply shake our 
heads in disbelief.  It is difficult to comprehend how a nation 
like America with its rich Christian heritage could ever depart 
so far from its founding principles.  Even the non-Christian 
countries are not plagued with as much crime and overall 
violence as this so-called Christian nation.  More crime is 
reported in Washington, D.C., in 24 hours than Moscow reports in 
a full year.  No doubt the reporting methods are not the same, 
but it still presents an alarming picture.
The problem becomes more serious when we realize that 
lawlessness also reaches into the area of religion and affects 
millions who would never think of killing or raping.  It is 
probable that the great majority of church members in America 
today carry few convictions against breaking at least one of the 
Ten Commandments.  A very insidious doctrine has been developed 
in both Catholic and Protestant theology which has tended to 
minimize the authority of God's great moral law.  It has led 
many to look lightly upon transgression and has made sin to 
appear unobjectionable.  In fact, sin has lost its horror for 
multitudes and has become an acceptable mode of life for both 
youth and adults.  Witness the current trends in lifestyle which 
support this view.
How many young men and women are living together without benefit 
of marriage!  Yet they do not believe such living arrangements 
should be designated as sin.  A large portion of shoplifters are 
professing Christians, and most of those who belong to churches 
believe that there is no sin whatsoever involved in violating 
the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
How can we explain this paradoxical situation among those who 
profess such high regard for the Bible, and such love for 
Christ?  This question becomes more significant when we consider 
the historical position of Christianity toward the Ten-
Commandment law.  Almost all of the great denominations have 
officially placed themselves on record as supporting the 
authority of that law.  Yet very subtle errors of interpretation 
have crept into the modern church, leading to the present state 
of confused loyalty toward the Ten Commandments.  How earnestly 
we need to look at that law and study its relation to God's 
grace and to salvation itself.  It is so easy to accept the 
popular clich s concerning law and grace without searching out 
the biblical facts by which we will finally be judged.  We must 
find authoritative scriptural answers to questions like these:  
In what sense are Christians free from the law?  What does it 
mean to be under the law?  Does God's grace nullify the Ten 
Commandments?  Is a Christian justified in breaking any of the 
Ten Commandments because he is under grace?  These are the 
questions we shall address ourselves to in this important study.



Condemned to Die

Let us push aside the rubbish of confusion which has obscured 
the truth about how men are saved.  Multitudes have heard 
emotional discourses on sin and salvation, but they still do not 
understand the logic and reason which require a blood sacrifice.
Can you imagine the horror of standing before a judge and 
hearing the sentence of death pronounced against you?  Probably 
not.  But you have felt the driving guilt and fear when God's 
Word stabs you with this sentence:  "The wages of sin is death."  
Romans 6:23.  Why fear and guilt?  Because "all have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God."  Romans 3:23.
The words are there and the meaning cannot be mistaken.  The 
word "all" might just as well be spelled John Smith or Mary 
Jones or whatever your name happens to be.  The shocking fact is 
that you are under the sentence of death!  You have been found 
guilty before the law, and there is no court of appeal in the 
world that can reverse the sentence and find you not guilty.  
The fact is that you are guilty, just as guilty as sin.  
According to 1 John 3:4, "sin is the transgression of the law," 
and you must plead guilty to breaking the law.  Whose law did 
you break?  Paul answers quickly, "I had not known sin, but by 
the law:  for I had not known lust, except the law had said, 
Thou shalt not covet."  Romans 7:7.  There it is!  The great 
Ten-Commandment law is the one which was broken, and it demands 
death for the transgressor.
In desperation the sinner searches for a way to be justified in 
the sight of that broken law.  How can the sentence of death be 
turned aside?  Can man atone for his sins by obeying the 
commandments of God for the rest of his life?  Back comes the 
answer in language that no one can misinterpret:  "Therefore by 
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his 
sight."  Romans 3:20.
Listen, there is a reason why works will not justify a soul.  If 
a man is found guilty of stealing and is sentenced to ten years 
in jail, he may indeed justify himself by works.  By serving the 
time of his sentence, the man may satisfy the claims of the law.  
He is considered perfectly justified and innocent because he has 
worked out his deliverance by fulfilling the sentence.  In the 
same manner, a murderer may be justified by works if he serves 
the fifty years of his sentence.  But suppose the sentence is 
death instead of fifty years?  Can the prisoner then justify 
himself by works?  Never!  Even if he should work for one 
hundred years at hard labor, the law would still demand death.  
The truth is that "without shedding of blood is no remission. 
... So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many."  
Hebrews 9:22-28.
This is why the sinner can never be saved by works.  The penalty 
for sin is not ten years in prison or fifty years at hard labor.  
The sentence is death, and the law cannot be satisfied except by 
the shedding of blood.  That unchangeable law with its 
unrelenting death sentence could no more be removed than the 
throne of God could be toppled.  The guilt of the past cannot be 
erased by resolutions of good behavior in the future.  The 
sinner finally is forced to confess that he owes something that 
he cannot pay.  The law demands death and he cannot satisfy it 
without forfeiting his own life for eternity.

The Law Still Binding

Now we are brought to the question which has created confusion 
for multitudes of Christians:  If the works of the law cannot 
save a person, is it therefore necessary to keep the law?  
Apparently this was a burning issue in the early church, because 
Paul asked the same question in Romans 6:1.  "Shall we continue 
in sin, that grace may abound?"  In other words, does grace give 
us a license to disobey the law of God?  His answer is:  "God 
forbid.  How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer 
therein?"  Verse 2.
How interesting it is that Christians in this age of relativism 
can invent their own definitions which condone lawbreaking.  The 
Bible says sin is violating the Ten Commandments--the law which 
has been described as irrelevant and old-fashioned by many 
modern theologians.  Don't be deceived.  Every one of those 
great moral precepts is just as timely and needful today as they 
were when God wrote them on the imperishable tables of stone.  
And nothing has ever happened to make them less binding than 
they were when God gave them.  In fact, we are going to discover 
that Jesus came to magnify the law and to open up its spiritual 
application, making it more comprehensive than the legalistic 
Pharisees ever imagined.  Under the distilling influence of 
Christ's perfect life of obedience, we can see the spiritual 
details of law-keeping which are neither recognized nor made 
possible apart from Him.

God's Law--A Mirror

At this point we must be very careful to designate also what the 
law cannot do.  Even though it points out sin, it has no power 
to save from sin.  There is no justifying, cleansing grace in 
it.  All the works of all the laws would not be sufficient to 
save a single soul.  Why?  For the simple reason that we are 
saved by grace through faith, as a free gift.  "Therefore by the 
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:  
for by the law is the knowledge of sin."  Romans 3:20.
Do not stumble over this crucial point.  We cannot earn 
forgiveness by working hard to obey.  No sinner can gain favor 
and acceptance with God because he keeps the law.  The law was 
not made for the purpose of saving or justifying.  It was made 
to show us our need of cleansing and to point us to the great 
source of cleansing, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  The Bible speaks 
of the law as a mirror to show us what kind of persons we really 
are.  "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is 
like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he 
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth 
what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect 
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful 
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his 
deed."  James 1:23-25.
It is obvious to all that a mirror cannot remove a spot from the 
face.  Looking into the mirror all day, and even rubbing it over 
the face, will not provide any cleansing.  Its work is to reveal 
the spot and to point the dirty one to the sink for actual 
cleansing.  The law, in like manner, can only condemn the sinner 
by giving him a knowledge of his condition and then pointing him 
to the cross for true cleansing.  "For by grace are ye saved 
through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of 
God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast."  Ephesians 2:8, 
9.  Paul further emphasizes this point in Galatians 2:16:  
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, 
but by the faith of Jesus Christ ... for by the works of the law 
shall no flesh be justified."
Right here we must consider one of the most fallacious 
propositions ever set forth relating to the law.  Countless 
sincere Christians have accepted the idea that the Old Testament 
encompasses the dispensation of works and that the New Testament 
provides for a dispensation of grace.  Under this garbled plan 
people were saved by works in the Old Testament and by grace in 
the New Testament.  This is simply not true.  The Bible holds 
forth only one beautiful, perfect plan for anybody to be saved, 
and that is by grace through faith.  Heaven will not be divided 
between those who got there by works and those who got there by 
faith.  Every single soul among the redeemed will be a sinner 
saved by grace.
Those who entered into salvation in the Old Testament were those 
who trusted the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ, and they 
demonstrated their faith by bringing a lamb and slaying it.  
They looked forward in faith to the atoning death of Jesus.  We 
look back in faith to the same death and are saved in exactly 
the same way.  Be very certain that all the redeemed host 
throughout eternity will be singing the same song of 
deliverance, exalting the Lamb slain from the foundations of the 
world.

The "New" Law of Christ

Some try to dispose of the Ten Commandments on the basis of the 
"new" commandments of love which Christ introduced.  It is 
certainly true that Jesus laid down two great laws of love as a 
summary of all the law, but did He give the idea that these were 
new in point of time?  The fact is that He was quoting directly 
from the Old Testament when He gave those new commandments.  
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy might."  Deuteronomy 6:5.  
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."  Leviticus 19:18.  
Certainly, those penetrating spiritual principles had been 
forgotten by the legalists of Christ's day, and they were new to 
them in relation to their life and practice.  But they were not 
intended by Jesus to take the place of the Ten Commandments.
When the lawyer asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment 
in the law, he received the answer:  "Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the 
second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets."  Matthew 22:37-40.
Notice that these two love commandments simply summed up "all 
the law and the prophets."  They all hang upon these two 
principles of love.  Christ was saying that love is the 
fulfilling of the law just as Paul repeated it later in Romans 
13:10.  If one loves Christ supremely with heart, soul, and 
mind, he will obey the first four commandments that have to do 
with our duty to God.  He will not take God's name in vain, 
worship other gods, etc.  If one loves his neighbor as himself, 
he will obey the last six commandments which relate to our duty 
to our fellow men.  He will not be able to steal from his 
neighbor, lie about him, etc.  Love will lead to obeying or 
fulfilling all the law.

Not Under the Law

Often we hear this argument in an effort to belittle the law of 
God:  "Well, since we are not under the law but under grace, we 
do not need to keep the Ten Commandments any longer."  Is this a 
valid point?  The Bible certainly does say that we are not under 
the law, but does that imply that we are free from the 
obligation to obey it?  The text is found in Romans 6:14, 15.  
"For sin shall not have dominion over you:  for ye are not under 
the law, but under grace.  What then? shall we sin, because we 
are not under the law, but under grace?  God forbid."
How easily we could prevent confusion if we accepted exactly 
what the Bible says.  Paul gives his own explanation of his 
statement.  After stating that we are not under the law but 
under grace, he asks, "What then?"  This simply means, "How are 
we to understand this?"  Then notice his answer.  In 
anticipation that some will construe his words to mean that you 
can break the law because you are under grace, he says, "Shall 
we sin (break the law) because we are not under the law but 
under grace?  God forbid."  In the strongest possible language 
Paul states that being under grace does not give a license to 
break the law.  Yet this is exactly what millions believe today, 
and they totally ignore Paul's specific warning.
If being under grace does not exempt us from keeping the law, 
then what does Paul mean by saying that Christians are not under 
the law?  He gives that answer in Romans 3:19.  "Now we know 
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are 
under the law:  that every mouth may be stopped, and all the 
world may become guilty before God."  Here Paul equates being 
under the law with "being guilty before God."  In other words, 
those who are under the law are guilty of breaking it and are 
under the condemnation of it.  This is why Christians are not 
under it.  They are not breaking it--not guilty and condemned by 
it.  Therefore, they are not under it, but are under the power 
of grace instead.  Later in his argument, Paul points out that 
the power of grace is greater than the power of sin.  This is 
why he states so emphatically, "For sin shall not have dominion 
over you:  for ye are not under the law, but under grace."  
Grace overrules the authority of sin, giving power to obey God's 
law.  This is the effective reason that we are not under the 
law's guilt and condemnation and also why Paul states that we 
will not continue to sin.
Suppose a murderer has been sentenced to death in the electric 
chair.  Waiting for the execution the man would truly be under 
the law in every sense of the word--under the guilt, under the 
condemnation, under the sentence of death, etc.  Just before the 
execution date the governor reviews the condemned man's case and 
decides to pardon him.  In the light of extenuating 
circumstances the governor exercises his prerogative and sends a 
full pardon to the prisoner.  Now he is no longer under the law 
but under grace.  The law no longer condemns him.  He is 
considered totally justified as far as the charges of the law 
are concerned.  He is free to walk out of the prison and not a 
policeman can lay hands upon him.  But now that he is under 
grace and no longer under the law, can we say that he is free to 
break the law?  Indeed not!  In fact, that pardoned man will be 
doubly obligated to obey the law because he has found grace from 
the governor.  In gratitude and love he will be very careful to 
honor the law of that state which granted him grace.  Is that 
what the Bible says about pardoned sinners?  "Do we then make 
void the law through faith?  God forbid:  yea, we establish the 
law."  Romans 3:31.  Here is the most explicit answer to the 
entire problem.  Paul asks if the law is nullified for us just 
because we have had faith in Christ's saving grace.  His answer 
is that the law is established and reenforced in the life of a 
grace-saved Christian.
The truth of this is so simple and obvious that it should 
require no repetition, but the devious reasoning of those who 
try to avoid obedience makes it necessary to press this point a 
bit further.  Have you ever been stopped by a policeman for 
exceeding the speed limit?  It is an embarrassing experience, 
especially if you know you are guilty.  But suppose you really 
were hurrying to meet a valid emergency, and you pour out your 
convincing explanation to the policeman as he writes your 
ticket.  Slowly he folds the ticket and tears it up.  Then he 
says, "All right, I'm going to pardon you this time, but ..."  
Now what do you think he means by that word "but"?  Surely he 
means, "but I don't want to ever catch you speeding again."  
Does this pardon (grace) open the way for you to disobey the 
law?  On the contrary, it adds compelling urgency to your 
decision not to disobey the law again.  Why, then, should any 
true Christian try to rationalize his way out of obeying the law 
of God?  "If ye love me," Jesus said, "keep my commandments."  
John 14:15.

Obedience--The Test of Love

Someone may bring up the objection that after the law has 
accomplished its purpose of pointing the sinner to Christ for 
cleansing, it will no longer be needed in the experience of the 
believer.  Is that true?  No, indeed.  The Christian will always 
need the watchdog of the law to reveal any deviation from the 
true path and to point him back to the cleansing cross of Jesus.  
There will never be a time when that mirror of correction will 
not be needed in the progressive growth experience of the 
Christian.
Law and grace do not work in competition with each other but in 
perfect cooperation.  The law points out sin, and grace saves 
from sin.  The law is the will of God, and grace is the power to 
do the will of God.  We do not obey the law in order to be saved 
but because we are saved.  A beautiful text which combines the 
two in their true relationship is Revelation 14:12.  "Here is 
the patience of the saints:  here are they that keep the 
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."  What a perfect 
description of faith and works!  And the combination is found in 
those who are "saints."
The works of obedience are the real test of love.  This is why 
they are so necessary in the experience of a true believer.  
"Faith without works is dead."  James 2:20.  No man ever won a 
fair maiden's heart by words alone.  Had there been no flowers, 
no acts of devotion, no gifts of love, most men would still be 
searching for a companion.  Jesus said, "Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in 
heaven."  Matthew 7:21.
Words and profession are not enough.  The true evidence is 
obedience.  Today's bumper stickers reflect a shallow concept of 
love.  They say, "Smile if you love Jesus," "Honk if you love 
Jesus"; but what did the Master Himself say?  He said, "If ye 
love me, keep my commandments."  John 14:15.  And that is 
exactly what most people don't want to do.  If love makes no 
demands beyond a smile or wave, then it is welcome; but if the 
lifestyle must be disturbed, the majority will reject it.  
Unfortunately, most people today are not looking for truth.  
They are looking for a smooth, easy, comfortable religion which 
will allow them to live the way they please and still give 
assurance of salvation.  There is indeed no true religion which 
can do that for them.
One of the strongest texts in the Bible on this subject is found 
in 1 John 2:4.  "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his 
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."  John 
could write that with such assurance because it is one of the 
most deeply established truths in the Bible.  Jesus spoke of 
those who said, "Lord, Lord," but did not do the will of the 
Father.  Then He described many who would seek entrance to the 
kingdom claiming to be workers of miracles in the name of 
Christ.  But He would sorrowfully have to say, "I never knew 
you:  depart from me."  Matthew 7:21-23.  You see, to know 
Christ is to love Him, and to love Him is to obey Him.  The 
valid assumption of the Bible writers is very clear and simple:  
If one is not obeying Christ, he does not love Christ.  And if 
he doesn't love the Master, then he doesn't know Him.  John 
assured us, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee 
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."  John 
17:3.  Thus, we can see how knowing and loving and obeying are 
all tied closely together and are absolutely inseparable in the 
life of God's faithful people.  The beloved John summed it up in 
these words:  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his 
commandments:  and his commandments are not grievous."  1 John 
5:3.

Is It Possible To Obey the Law?

Countless Christians have been taught that since the law is 
spiritual and we are carnal, no human being will ever be able in 
this life to meet the requirements of the perfect law.  Is this 
true?  Has it been given by God as a great idealistic, 
impossible goal toward which converted souls should struggle but 
never expect to attain?  Is there some hidden reservation or 
secret meaning in the many commands to obey the ten great rules 
God wrote on stone?  Did God mean what He said and say what He 
meant?
Many believe that only Christ could have obeyed that law and 
only because He had special powers that have not been made 
available to us.  Certainly it is true that Jesus is the only 
One who lived without committing a single act of disobedience.  
His reason for living that perfect, victorious life is laid out 
in Romans 8:3, 4.  "For what the law could not do, in that it 
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the 
flesh, That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in 
us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."
Do not miss the point that Jesus came to condemn sin by His 
perfect life in the flesh in order that "the righteousness of 
the law" might be fulfilled in us.  What is that righteousness?  
The Greek word "dikaima" is used here which means, literally, 
"the just requirement" of the law.  This can only mean that 
Christ won His perfect victory in order to make the same victory 
available to us.  Having conquered the devil, showing that in 
the flesh the law can be obeyed, Christ now offers to come into 
our hearts and share the victory with us.  Only by His strength 
and indwelling power can the requirements of the law be 
fulfilled by anyone.  Paul said, "I can do all things through 
Christ which strengtheneth me."  Philippians 4:13.
Not one soul can ever keep one of those Ten Commandments in 
human power alone, but all of them may be kept through the 
enabling strength of Jesus.  He imputes His righteousness for 
cleansing and imparts His righteousness for victorious living.  
Christ came in a body of flesh like our own and depended wholly 
upon His Father in living His life to demonstrate the kind of 
victory which is possible for every soul who will likewise draw 
upon the Father's grace.

Judged By the Law

Now, a final question about the subject of the law:  How many of 
the Ten Commandments does one have to break in order to be 
guilty of sin?  James says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole 
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.  For he 
that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill.  Now 
if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a 
transgressor of the law.  So speak ye, and so do, as they that 
shall be judged by the law of liberty."  James 2:10-12.
Every individual will be judged at last by the mighty moral code 
of God's law.  To break one is to be guilty of sin.  The Bible 
indicates that the Ten Commandments are like a chain with ten 
links.  When one link is broken, the chain is broken.  So it is 
with the law.  Those who stand in the judgment will have to meet 
the acid test of the Ten Commandments.  If a practicing thief 
should seek entrance into the kingdom, he would be rejected.  
This is why Paul says thieves will not inherit the heavenly 
city.  Furthermore, the Bible specifically declares that liars, 
adulterers, idolaters, and covetous men will not be in the 
kingdom.  Why?  Because the Ten Commandments forbid those 
things, and men will be judged finally by that law.  Not one 
person will be admitted into heaven who is willfully violating 
any one of the Ten Commandments, because breaking one is 
breaking all.
Someone might object that this is making works the basis of 
entering the kingdom.  No.  It is really making love the 
qualifying factor.  Jesus said that the greatest commandment of 
all is to love God supremely.  He also said, "If ye love me, 
keep my commandments."  John 14:15.  Those who practice any 
known sin are really confessing that they do not love God with 
all their heart, soul, and mind.  So it is the lack of love 
which shuts them out; not the act of disobedience which exposes 
that lack.  Only when love is motivating the obedience does it 
become acceptable to God.  Any other work is man's vain attempt 
to earn salvation and to deny the efficacy of Christ's atoning 
sacrifice.

Ransomed for What?

A dramatic illustration of the law-grace doctrine is seen in the 
story of the slave auctions in old New Orleans long ago.  Two 
planters were bidding for an old Negro slave who kept shouting 
his rebellion from the auction block.  Finally, one of the 
planters won the bid and took the slave in his wagon back to the 
farm.  Throughout the journey the defiant black man declared 
that he would not work for the new owner.  When they arrived at 
the plantation, the planter dropped the shackles from the newly 
bought slave and said, "You are free to go.  You are no longer a 
slave.  I bought you in order to give you your liberty."
According to the story, the old man fell at the feet of the 
planter and said, "Master, I'll serve you forever."
In like manner, we were all held in the bondage of sin, 
condemnation, and death.  Christ then paid the price to secure 
our freedom from that hopeless slavery.  Lovingly He tells us 
that the reason He made the sacrifice was to set us free.  What 
should our response be?  Every ransomed child of God should fall 
at His feet and say, "Master, I love you for what you did for 
me.  I'll serve you the rest of my life."
Think it through for a moment.  Jesus had to die because the law 
had been broken.  Sin demanded death.  If the law could have 
been abrogated, the penalty of sin would have been set aside 
also.  "For where no law is, there is no transgression."  Romans 
4:15.  So strong was the authority of that unchangeable law that 
God Himself could not abolish it--not even to save His own Son 
from death.
The old, old story of the two brothers is almost a perfect 
illustration of both law and grace in operation.  The older 
brother was a judge.  His younger brother was brought before him 
as a transgressor of the law.  From all the evidence it was 
clear to all that he was guilty.  The court was tense.  Would 
the judge mete out justice in such a case?  The judge  looked at 
his brother and sternly declared him guilty.  Then he stunned 
the court by imposing the maximum fine.  But immediately he left 
the bench and threw his arms around his brother and said, "I had 
to do it because you are guilty.  I know you cannot pay the 
fine, but I will pay it for you."
The point of the story is dramatic in its impact.  The brother 
was forgiven, but the penalty was not.  It had to be paid.  But 
by paying the maximum penalty, the judge not only did not 
abolish the law, but he greatly magnified it.  He demonstrated 
that its binding claims could never be voided.  In the same 
sense, God would not and could not abolish the law to save His 
beloved Son.  It cost something to uphold the law and pay the 
maximum penalty.  No one will ever know how much it cost the Son 
of God.  But how thankful we should be that His love was as 
perfect as His justice.  In His own body He bore the penalty, 
satisfied the law, and justified the transgressor.
Can't you see that no greater demonstration could have been made 
to prove the permanence of the Ten Commandments?  In all the 
universe God could not have displayed a more convincing and 
irrefutable argument in favor of His law.  Yet, in the face of 
this tremendous exhibition, misguided millions of poor, feeble 
men belittle the government of God by belittling His law.  They 
seem not to understand that the law is only a reflection of His 
holiness and righteousness.  To speak of its abolition is to 
border on treason against the divine government of heaven.
Look into that holy law right now for a divine revelation of 
what God wants your life to be.  Confess that you have no 
strength to live up to that perfect standard.  Then turn your 
eyes to the only One who has kept that law perfectly and who 
desires this very moment to enter your life with enabling power.  
He will fulfill the righteousness of the law--the just 
requirements of the law--in you, so that you can say with Paul, 
"Christ liveth in me:  and the life which I now live in the 
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and 
gave himself for me."  Galatians 2:20.

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