LAWLESSNESS
LAWYER
17
addition to Jeremiah's doctrine of the New Cove- nant or Ezekiel's doctrine of the renewed heart and the washing of re<j;eneration, Jer SP'"^-, Ezk 36^"^), nunle the external ritual everything, and took no account of lieart-religion, were on that acc-ount conijiared to those who should cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, and he utterlj* careless as to the condition of the inside. If, on the other hand, the heart were purged from evil thoughts and wicked inclinations, then the life wouhl correspond, as the tree is known hy its fruit, and God's law would be fultilled in the spirit of it. The Law of God appeareil thus as the per- fect law of liberty, the worship of God in spirit and in truth. In a word, true religion and tnie morality, the teaching of wliich in all their par- ticulars is the grand purpose of the Law of God, are from tirst to last a nuitter of the heart. Let the heart be pure. Let it be truly turned to God, in simple faith casting aside every care and anxious thought of the world and things of time, and trust- ing that God will deny His children no good thing, temporal or spiritual, of which, as their Father, He knows them to stand in need, and there is the secret of the fulhlling of the Law. All else follows from that. The pure in heart see God, the poor in spirit are already inheritors of the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 6^'->-'^ V'"^).
Jesus taught essentially the same truth when, in controversy with the Pharisees, He summarized the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. So far from repudiating as a mere matter of Pharisaic casuistry tlie question often agitated among the scribes as to whether there were any command- ments which in themselves summed up the teach- ing of the whole Law, He was ready to discuss such questions with them ; and when, in response to His definition of love to God and one's neigh- bour as the essential commandment of the Law, a scrilie commended His answer, and said that such love was 'more than all whole burnt -ott'erings and sacrifices,' He declared that he was not far from the Kingdom of God (Mk W^--^).
On the same principle, Jesus at once defended His disciples against the charge of Sabbath-break- ing, and vindicated His right to perform works of l>eneficence on the Sabbath day, by appealing to the spirit of the ordinance. Like other parts of the Law, He showed that this was only an expres- sion of Gods beneficent will for tlie good of man, a provision for his temporal and spiritual welfare. Therefore in the case of the cripple at Bethesda, He declared that, as God's providential govern- ment of tlie world recognizeil no distinction be- tween the Sabbath and other days, so Christ Him- self, as Son of God, must, like the Father, seek man's benefit even on the Sabbath. Again, as Son of Man, He no less emphatically asserted His right to interpret the Sabbath law in the interest of man, for whose l)enefit it was framed (Jn 5''"^-, Mt 12i-« Mk 2^-=* i Lk &-'^). See also artt. Ac- commodation", Authority of Christ, Law, etc.
LiTERATCRE. — Creiiier, Bib.-Theol. Lex. it.i\ vccun : Grimm, Lrx. Son' Ti'Mamenti, s.v. litw? ; Comin. of Merer and .Alford ; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus, i. 2(51-313, ii. 3-2t> : H. .J. Holtz- iiKinn. Lehrbuch der ST Theol. i. 29-45, 116-146; Bevschlag, ST Theolooii, i. 37-40, 97-129 ; Weiss, BihI. Theol. of XT, i. 107-120 ; Brigijs, Ethical Teaching of ChriM. 143 ; Gore, Sermon on Mount; Briioe. Kingdom of God, 6;i-S4 ; Dykes, ManifeMo of 'he King [ed. 1S67J, 203-329 ; 'cf. also Literature at end of pre- ceding article. Hr(;H H. Currie.
LAWLESSNESS.— The service of God beconie.s perfect freedom through the work of the Holy Spirit restoring the Divine image more and more in the heart of man. This libertj' cannot there- fore be <a licence for lawlessness. St. Augustine's maxim, ' Love, and do as you like,' derives its truth from the principle that love is not the VOL. n. — 2
abolition but the recapitulation of all the Divine law for mankind. The love of God and the love of man constitute the essence of the Law's de- mands and the Prophets' promises (Mt "22*). It is not the Law which Christ denounces, but traditional excrescences and emptj- forms (Mk 7'^). These traditional excrescences gave opportunities for hypocrisy, a condition detested by the Lord (Mt 15^"^). The empty forms distracted attention from vital concerns (Mk 7^). The scribes and Pharisees were losini; all sense of proportion in the duties of the refigio"^ life (Mt 23-^ Lk If-*-). The exponents of the Law were erring, yet the Law itself stood as a Divine ordinance (Mt 23*, Lk 16'"). The commandments are necessary to eternal life (Lk IS-""). Xay. not one tittle can pa^s away from the Law (Mt 5'*). Perfect and com- plete obedience will be demanded of men (Mt 5"). Not less but more will be expected of the disciples of Christ (Mt 5). And yet Christ's yoke is to be easy (Mt 11-^^'). So there is a paradox, the solution of which lies in the recapitulation of the entire Law as consisting in the love of God and the love of one's fellow - man. The revelation of the guiding principle summing up the Law renders light a burden which the Pharisees made heavy (Lk II'**). ^Mechanical conformity to a legal code is thus avoided. The conscience of man finds exercise and discipline. This point is emphasized in the Western addition to Lk 6* ' U man, blessed art thou if thou knowest what thou doest.' In His technical breaches of the Sabbath the Lord knew what He did (Lk 14'^). Yet the legalists took advantage of these to charge Him with lawlessness (Jn Q'*"). Nevertheless, He came fulfilling all righteousness (Mt 3^^), and appealing to the Law in the face of temj)tation (^It 4"'"^'^). When He cleansed the Temple, He vindicated His action from Scripture (Lk 19^). There was no lawlessness in His pattern life of perfect obedience to God (Jn 15'"). Lawless efi'orts at good, however strenuous, are not acceptable (Jn lOM. Indeed, St. John sums up the matter in the words, ' Sin is lawlessness' (1 Jn 3*).