Law and Love

W. Carl Ketcherside

[Page 12]

     Man was made in the image of God, but that image in man was polluted, corrupted and shattered by the impact of sin. The restoration of man to his former guiltless state is the whole theme and purpose of divine revelation. Man could no more restore himself than he could make himself in the beginning. It required creation for his advent into the world; it required a new creation to make Him once more worthy to talk with God.

     The revelation of God is perfectly adapted to serve that great end. The motives which are held forth in it are the highest and most compelling ever conceived; its precepts are exalting to the human spirit; the rewards which are offered will challenge man to extend the greatest effort and make the greatest sacrifice.

     Conformity to the spirit of this revelation will transform man and render him capable of walking with God. It will restore that fellowship which was rudely severed by sin in the primeval garden, and open the gate to the tree of life. The flaming sword of the cherub will be sheathed and the hand which held it will conduct man to the glory from which he was previously debarred.

     Nothing else, then, can be so important as the familiarizing of ourselves with the great truths revealed, by which we can again bask in the sunshine of divine favor and find grace to help in time of need. This is not the task of a special group or a special clique. It is the sacred responsibility of every human being. We will not be judged in the final accounting, upon what some uninspired man has written, said or done, but upon what God has spoken in His Word. It is the bread and water of life, and we can no more sustain our spiritual beings by hearing someone talk about it, than we can remain physically alive by listening to one describe the blessings of food and drink. The word must be imbibed, digested and assimilated. It does not merely provide a way of life -- it is life!

     And it should be remembered that it is the word of God of which we must personally partake. A cookbook may describe methods of preparation, arouse gustatory anticipation and encourage you to try a recipe. But you do not eat the cookbook! So one may read about the Bible, he may devour the contents of numerous books which describe and picture it, but it is only the sacred writings which will produce a healthy personality. All other books are dead or dying because they are written by dying men; the Bible alone is a living word because it is written by the Living God!

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     The new covenant writings contain the sheet anchor of our liberty. To desert them means to revert to a state of slavery or spiritual peonage. Our hope of a better world and a better life is wrapped up in those pages. It is inconceivable that the Creator who designed the intricate synchronization of the planets, who made the majestic machine called the human body, who devised the life-giving processes called photosynthesis, would give us a revelation calculated to bring us into a state of harmony with the Infinite, and yet allow it to be so casual, haphazard and unsystematic, as to defy human reason to fathom or untangle.

     Nor does this demand a legalistic declaration of every minute and microscopic detail. Those who spend their lives in seeking to bind upon their fellows the hair-splitting technicalities woven out of the gossamer thread of imagination and speculation miss the majesty of the design of heaven as far as those who disregard it entirely and invent new approaches to fellowship which heaven never authorized. The first defeats the purpose of fellowship by rigid fences which would debar many whom God accepts; the second by removing all barriers to include those whom God rejects.

     More than anything else in these days we need a wholesome, pure and consistent attitude toward God's revelation. It is the constitution of our absent King; by it He exercises authority over human hearts. Let us once be convinced of this fact and many of the schismatic problems of yesterday will disappear. The law of our Lord exercised in reverence for Him and in charity for our fellows, will restore us to Him and to each other that we may "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."