The law of God is the righteousness of God. It
may not be amiss to review the proof on this point. David, in these
words, bears witness to the fact that the commandments
are themselves righteousness: "My tongue shall speak
of Thy word; for all Thy commandments are righteousness."
Ps. 119:172. Since there is no righteousness but that
of God, the commandments must be His righteousness;
but we have still more direct evidence. The prophet Isaiah
thus contrasts the things of earth with the righteousness
of God: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look
upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall
vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and they that dwell therein shall die in like
manner; but My salvation shall be for ever; and My righteousness
shall not be abolished." Isa. 51:6. In the next
verse he proceeds to tell what this righteousness is: "Hearken unto
Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in
whose heart is My law." Because the law is the righteousness of
God, it enables those who are instructed in it
to "give judgment upon good or evil."
The text says, "My righteousness shall not be
abolished." Since there can be no question but that
"righteousness" is here used with reference to
the law of God, we may properly substitute "law" for
"righteousness," thus: "The earth shall wax old
like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner;
but My salvation shall be for ever, and My law
shall not be abolished." This gives the exact meaning, and is no
more positive than we shall find stated elsewhere.
God is from everlasting to everlasting. Ps. 90:2.
As He cannot exist separate from His nature, or, in other words,
separate from Himself, and the law is the transcript
of His nature, it necessarily follows that the law exists from
everlasting to everlasting. And since created
beings, who are all subjects of God's government, cannot obey an
abstract principle, but must have that principle
clearly defined, we know that at least from the time that God
created intelligent beings as subjects of His
government, the law must have existed in written form, or must have
been expressed in definite language. And from
the beginning of His creation to everlasting ages, it must continue
so to exist.
This is exactly what we are taught by the words
of Christ in the sermon on the mount. Said he: "Think not that I
am come to destroy the law, or the prophets;
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill [to ratify, establish, or teach].
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." Matt. 5:17, 18. Here two things
are mentioned, the law and the prophets. Christ did not come to
destroy either one. He came in fulfillment of
prophecy, and also to teach the law, which he did in the sermon on
the mount. He did not, however, fulfill all the
prophecy; for some of it reaches far beyond His first advent. For
instance in Ps. 89:20-29 we read the following
prophecy concerning the kingdom of David, over which Christ, as
the Son of David, is to rule:--
"I have found David My servant; with My holy oil
have I anointed him; with whom My hand shall be
established; Mine arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness
afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before
his face, and plague them that hate him. But My faithfulness and
My mercy shall be with him; and in My name shall
his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his
right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto Me,
Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. Also I
will make him My firstborn, higher than the kings
of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My
covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed
also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of
heaven."
In verses 35-37 we read further:--
Once have I sworn
by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for
ever,
and his throne as the
sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful
witness in heaven.
Here is a prophecy that will be in process of
fulfillment as long as the sun and moon endure, even to all the days
of heaven. Now the words of Christ are that "one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be
fulfilled." Till all what be fulfilled? Evidently
till all the prophets be fulfilled, for He is speaking of the prophets,
in
connection with the law. Then, in view of the
prophecy that we just read, we know that not the slightest change
can be made in the law so long as Christ reigns
on the throne of David; and that will be throughout eternity.
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