founded on the permanent relations of men, and therefore, were in- tended to be of perpetual obligation, which many have repudiated as peculiar to the old dispensation. Such are some of the laws relating to marriage, and to the infliction of capital punishment for the crime of murder. If it be asked, How are we to deter- mine whether any judicial law of the Old Testament is still in force ? the answer is first, When the continued authority of such law is recognized in the New Testament. That for Christians is decisive. And secondly, If the reason or ground for a given law is permanent, the law itself is permanent.
4. The fourth class of laws are those called positive, which derive all their authority from the explicit command of God. Such are external rites and ceremonies, as circumcision, sacrifices, and the distinction between clean and unclean meats, and between months, days, and years. The criterion of such laws is that they would not be binding unless positively enacted ; and that they bind those only to whom they are given, and only so long as they ■continue in force by the appointment of God. Such laws may have answered important ends, and valid reasons doubtless existed why they were imposed ; still they are specifically different from those commands which are in their own nature morally obligatory. The obligation to obey such laws does not arise from their fit- ness for the end for which they have been given, but solely from the divine command.
Mow far may the Laws contained in the Bible be dispensed with?
This is a question much discussed between Protestants and Ro- manists. Protestants contended that the Church had not the power claimed by Romanists, to relieve men from the obligation of an oath, and to render marriages lawful which without the sanction of the Church would be invalid. The Church has neither the authority to set aside any law of God, nor to decide the cir- cumstances under which a divine law ceases to be obligatory, so that it continues in force until the Church declares the parties free from its obligation. On this subject it is plain, (1.) That none but God can free men from the obligation of any divine law, which He has imposed upon them. (2.) That with regard to the positive laws of the Old Testament, and such judicial enactments as were designed exclusively for the Hebrews living imder the theocracy, they were all abolished by the introduction of the new dispensa- tion. We are no longer under obligation to circumcise our chil- dren, to keep the Passover, or feast of tabernacles, or to go up
270 PART ni. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
three times in the year to Jerusalem, or to exact an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. (3.) With regard to those laws which are founded on the permanent relations of men, such as the laws of property, of marriage, and of obedience to parents, they can be set aside by the authority of God. It was not wrong for the Hebrews to spoil the Egyptians or to dispossess the Canaanites, because He whose is the earth and the fulness thereof, authorized those acts. He had a right to take the property of one people and giye it to another. The extermination of the idolatrous inhabitants of the promised land at the command of Joshua, was as much an act of God as though it had been effected by pestilence or famine. It was a judicial execution by the Supreme Ruler. In like man- ner, although marriage as instituted by God was and is an indis- soluble covenant between one man and one woman, yet He saw fit to allow, under the Mosaic Law, within certain limitations, both polygamy and divorce. While that permission continued, those things were lawful ; when it was withdrawn, they ceased to be allowable.
When one Divine Law is superseded by another.
The above classification of the divine laws, which is the one usually adopted, shows that they differ in their relative dignity and importance. Hence when they come into conflict the lower must yield to the higher. This we are taught when God says, " I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." And our Lord also says, " The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," and, therefore, the Sabbath might be violated when the duties of mercy rendered it necessary. Throughout the Scriptures we find positive laws subordinated to those of moral obligation. Christ approved of the lawyer who said that to love God with all the heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, " is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices."
Perfection of the Law. The perfection of the moral law as revealed in the Scriptures, includes the points already considered, — (1.) That everything that the Bible pronounces to be wrong, is wrong ; that everything which it declares to be right, is right. (2.) That nothing is sinful which the Bible does not condemn ; and nothing is obligatory on the conscience which it does not enjoin. (3.) That the Scriptures are a complete rule of duty, not only in the sense just stated, but also in the sense that there is and can be no higher standard of
t*.] PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES. 271
moral excellence. Romanists, on the contrary, teach that a man can do more than the law requires. There are certain things which are commanded, and therefore absolutely obligatory ; and others which are recommended, but not enjoined, such as volun- tary poverty, celibacy, and monastic obedience. These are held to be virtues of a higher grade than obedience to explicit com- mands. This doctrine is founded on the erroneous views of the Church of Rome on the nature of sin, and the grounds of moral obligation. If nothing is sinful but voluntary, i. e., deliberate transgression of known law ; and if the law is satisfied by volun- tary action in this sense of the terms, then it is conceivable that a man may in this life render perfect obedience to the law, and even go beyond its demands. This is also connected with the distinc- tion which Romanists make between mortal and venial sins. The former are those which forfeit baptismal grace, and reduce the soul to its original state of spiritual death and condemnation. The latter are sins which have not this deadly effect, but can be fully atoned for by confession and penance. But if the law of God be spiritual, extending to the thoughts and feelings whether impulsive or cherished ; and if it demands all kinds and degrees of moral excellence, or complete congeniality with God, and con- formity to his image, then there is no room for these distinctions, and no higher rule of moral conduct. The law of the Lord, therefore, is perfect in every sense of the word.
The Decalogue.
The question whether the decalogue is a perfect rule of duty is, in one sense, to be answered in the affirmative. (1.) Because it enjoins love to God and man, which, our Saviour teaches, in- cludes every other duty. (2.) Because our Lord held it up as a perfect code, when he said to the young man in the Gospel, " This do and thou shalt live." (3.) Every specific command elsewhere recorded may be referred to some one of its several commands. So that perfect obedience to the decalogue in its spirit, would be perfect obedience to the law. Nevertheless, there are many things obligatory on us, which without a further revelation of the will of God than is contained in the decalogue, we never should have known to be obligatory. The great duty of men under the Gos- pel, is faith in Christ. This our Lord teaches when He says, " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." This comprehends or produces all that is required of us either as to faith or practice. Hence he that believeth shall be saved.
272 PART in. Ch. XIX.— THE LAW.
Rules of Interpretation. Theologians are accustomed to lay down numerous rules for the proper interpretation of the divine law, such as that negative pre- cepts are to be understood as including positive, and positive, negative ; that, in forbidding an act, everything which naturally leads to it is comprehended ; that, in condemning one offence, all others of a like kind are forbidden, and the like. All such rules resolve themselves into one. The decalogue is not to be inter- preted as the laws of men, which take cognizance only of external acts, but as the law of God, which extends to the thoughts and intents of the heart. In all cases it will be found that the several commandments contain some comprehensive principle of duty, under which a multitude of subordinate specific duties are included.
§ 2. Division of the Contents of the Decalogue.