James
1:25
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
2:12
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged
by the law of liberty.
James
2:8-12
8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the
scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.
9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.
11For 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.
12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall
be judged by the law of liberty.
S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 1
Exodus
Page 1105
John
14:15 Ten Commandments--Ten Promises. --The ten commandments,
Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not, are ten promises, assured to us if we render
obedience to the law governing the universe. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
Here is the sum and substance of the law of God. The terms of salvation
for every son and daughter of Adam are here outlined (MS 41, 1896).
The Signs of the Times
10-17-95
Controversy Awakened By Truth
Christ teaches that we are to recognize our neighbor in every race and condition of men. No distinction is to be made as to who is our neighbor, on the ground of poverty, or wealth, or position. The followers of Christ are to see their neighbor in any one who needs their help. "All ye are brethren."
The Lord has not established a kingdom merely for the
rich, and the one essential thing for an entrance into his kingdom is Christlikeness
of character. The Lawgiver explained the meaning of the divine precepts,
and showed that they were not arbitrary requirements, but that in the doing
of them there is life; for Christ from the pillar of cloud had distinctly
told them that those who did them should live in them. The Ten Commandments
are called in the New Testament the royal law of liberty. In obeying the
divine precepts, men will assimilate to the divine character; for the character
of God is expressed in his holy law. In substituting their own ideas, in
erecting their own standard, they will come to misrepresent the Father
and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, coming far short of Christlikeness
of character. In erecting a standard for themselves, they will cling to
their own deficiencies, practice their former habits, and fall far below
the perfection of Christ's character. But through the grace of Christ,
we should ever strive to reach the perfect standard.
The Signs of the Times
02-10-88
Be Diligent
"Christ presented the great moral standard or righteousness
to the lawyer. Every man's life must meet this test in the Judgment. Now
you are invited to look into the law of God. Take the ten commandments,
that grow out of the principles of love to God and love to man, and see
if you are in harmony with their requirements. If you are not breaking
any one of them, you may ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you;
for you are in the favor of God. The only way that you can determine whether
you are righteous or not is by examining your heart with the light of the
law and the Spirit of God. As the looking-glass reveals the defects in
your appearance, so the moral mirror of the law will make plain the imperfections
of your character, and the true condition of your heart. Those who are
looking into the perfect law of liberty, and seeking a fitness for Heaven,
will realize their need of divine help and will often be found before God
in prayer. "
The Signs of the Times
07-18-78
"Wherein would man be happier even in this life if he
should have perfect liberty to break the ten precepts of the Father's law?
God, in his great love for man gave him that law by which to order his
conduct, that he should be restricted to doing those things which would
tend, to increase his real happiness, and that of his fellow creatures
even in this life. The principles of the commandments, carried out in the
daily life ennoble and sanctify the heart and mind and give one a moral
fitness through Jesus Christ, for the society of holy angels. Our all wise
heavenly Father knew what rules were required to guard man from sin and
to regulate his life, leading him to practice such virtues as would make
him a fit subject for heaven."
Selected Messages Book 1
The Character of the Law of God
Page 218
Obedience to the law is essential, not only to our salvation,
but to our own happiness and the happiness of all with whom we are connected.
"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them"
Ps.
119:165, says the Inspired Word. Yet finite man will present to the
people this holy, just, and good law, this law of liberty, which the Creator
Himself has adapted to the wants of man, as a yoke of bondage, a yoke which
no man can bear. But it is the sinner who regards the law as a grievous
yoke; it is the transgressor that can see no beauty in its precepts. For
the carnal mind "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"
Rom.
8:7.
Selected Messages Book 1
Transformation Through Faith and Obedience
Page 347
"There are many who cry, "Believe, only believe." Ask
them what you are to believe. Are you to believe the lies forged by Satan
against God's holy, just, and good law? God does not use His great and
precious grace to make of none effect His law, but to establish His law.
What is the decision of Paul? He says: "What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. . . . For
I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived,
and {the commandment then ended?--No.} I {Paul} died.
. . . Wherefore the law is {standing directly in the way of my having liberty
and peace?--No.} holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good". Rom.
7:7-12
The Spirit of Prophecy Volume One
The Fall of Satan
Page 22
Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan, and his exulting
boasts. God declared that the rebellious should remain in Heaven no longer.
Their high and happy state had been held upon condition of obedience to
the law which God had given to govern the high order of intelligences.
But no provision had been made to save those who should venture to transgress
his law. Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of
the Creator's law. This Satan could not bear. He claimed that angels needed
no law; but should be left free to follow their own will, which would ever
guide them right; that law was a restriction of their liberty, and that
to abolish law was one great object of his standing as he did. The condition
of the angels he thought needed improvement. Not so the mind of God, who
had made laws and exalted them equal to himself. The happiness of the angelic
host consisted in their perfect obedience to law. Each had his special
work assigned him; and until
Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmonious
action in Heaven. Then there was war in Heaven. The Son of God, the Prince
of Heaven, and his loyal angels, engaged in conflict with the arch rebel
and those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed;
and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from Heaven. All the heavenly
host acknowledged and adored the God of justice. Not a taint of rebellion
was left in Heaven. All was again peaceful and harmonious as before."
This Day with God
Page 319
Dallying With Sin
It was a great sacrifice Christ made for man in dying
for him upon the cross. What are we willing to sacrifice for His love?
Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" John
14:15---not to select out one or two or nine, but the whole ten--all
His commandments must be kept. John tells us of those who pretend to love
but do not obey God's requirements. "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth
not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" 1
John 2:4. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:
and his commandments are not grievous" (chap.
5:3). . . .
Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
03-21-93
The Principles of Righteousness Revealed in the Life
"The scribes and Pharisees that were listening to his
words, thought in their hearts that he was making of no account the law
of God. But as if Jesus had read their hearts as an open book, there fell
upon their startled ears these words: "Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 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."
The heavenly intelligences look upon the human agents, and estimate their
value according to the respect and reverence they manifest toward the great
moral standard of righteousness—the holy law of God. And Jesus added, "Except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." With what excuse
could we meet the great Lawgiver over his broken law when the Redeemer
has so plainly stated its importance. The righteousness of the Pharisees
consisted mainly in a form of ceremonies. They complicated the plain and
simple precepts, and made them a rigorous burden of exactions, while they
neglected and contradicted the vital principles and spirit of the law.
This error, fatal to the soul, Christ in his sermon on the mount sought
to correct. The Pharisees in their false ideas as to what constituted the
keeping of the commandments of God, cherished malice and revenge; but Christ
taught that all malice must be expelled from the soul. The evil done to
us by another must remain unresented, unavenged. He who was an enemy was
to be loved, because God loved the sinner when he was his enemy. Jesus
taught, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: or
he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and on the unjust." Here are the principles of true Christianity,
and he presented these principles in no hesitating manner, but taught them
as one having authority. They must be imitators of God, pure and holy and
undefiled by the maxims and traditions of men. These principles were too
holy to be corrupted by the inventions of man.
