(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE EXORABLENESS^[A] OF LAW.

[Footnote A: "Inexorable"—literally not to be moved or changed by petition or prayer. Immovable, relentless. See Cent. Dict.]

SPECIAL TEXTS: "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence [from prison] till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." (The Christ: Matt, v.26.)

"Think not I am come to destroy the law I a. 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." (Matt, v.17, 18.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Essence of Law: Inexorableness is of the essence of law. There can be no force in law only as it is inexorable. What effect is to cause, in the physical world, that penalty must be to violation of law in the moral and spiritual kingdom. This is what is meant by the inexorableness of law.

The inexorableness of law is at once both its majesty and glory; without it neither majesty nor glory could exist; neither respect nor sense of security, nor safety, nor rational faith. If the idea of the "reign of law" be set aside and there be substituted for it the reign of God by his sovereign will, independent of law, even then we must postulate such conception of the attributes of God that regularity will result from his personal government, not capriciousness, today one thing, tomorrow another. Hence one of old viewing God's government from the side of its being a direct, personal reign of God rather than a reign of God through law, wrote his message from God as follows:

"I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."^[A]

[Footnote A: Malachi iii:6. For the notion expressed in the text that Malachi viewed God's government from the side of a personal reign, see the preceding verses of the chapter cited.]

And another occupying the same point of view, said:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of light—"

And then he adds immediately, "With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."^[A]

[Footnote A: James i:17.]

2. The Quality of Regularity of Law—How Secured: View the matter, then, from which standpoint you may, government of the world by the personal, sovereign will of God, or the government of God through the reign of law, the quality of regularity, that can only come of inexorableness—arising either from the quality of God's attributes, or the inherent nature of law—is necessary to a sense of security, to right mental attitude, to rational thinking and right conduct. All this becomes apparent if the matter is thought upon conversely. If a reign of law is supposed to exist and the law is not inexorable, but may be set aside, suspended, abridged, enlarged, or its penalties annulled; and these changes affected not by the operation of any fixed principle, or by some controlling higher law, but capriciously, through the interposition of some sovereign will, call it special providence or what not, then, of course, you have no reign of law at all; but the reign of a sovereign will that operates independent of law. Under such government—if, indeed, it could be called government—all would be confusion, uncertainty, perplexity, doubt, despair. Happily no such conditions exist; but instead there exists a divine government in the world, operating through a reign of law; and the virtue and value of that government arises from the inexorableness of law.

3. Where, Then, is Mercy? If, however, the exorableness of law is to be insisted upon up to this degree of emphasis, where then does mercy, which is supposed to mitigate somewhat the severity and inexorableness of law; and, furthermore, is supposed in some way to represent the direct and gracious act of God when mitigating the law's severity—where does Mercy appear? At what point does she enter into the moral and spiritual economy? A large question, this, and one not to be considered just yet, except to say that the entrance of Mercy into the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdom, is not in violation of law, but in harmony with it. In fact, as we shall see somewhat later, Mercy takes her part in the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdoms because of the existence of a reign of law, rather than in derogation of it.

4. Destructive Forces Under the Dominion of Law: When a reign of law is conceived as governing in the physical world, then the conception must include the destructive, or disintegrating forces as operating under law as well as the constructive or integrating forces, else your reign of law is not universal.

Moses stood with God and beheld the multitude of his creations: "And the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made these things; * * * and by the word of my power, have I created them. * * * And worlds without number have I created; and I have created them for mine own purpose. * * * Behold there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they with man. * * * And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come, and there is no end to my works, neither to my words."^[A]

[Footnote A: Book of Moses (P. of G. P.) i:31-38.]

This passage implies constant movement in the universe. The statement, "As one earth shall pass away and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come," corresponds somewhat to the modern scientist's notion of "evolution and devolution;"^[A] but the thing to be noted here is that not only is God represented as having created these worlds and world-systems "by the word of his power;" but also that "there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of his power." By which we are to understand that destructive as well as creating forces in the physical world operate under law. So also should we understand that in the moral and spiritual world, where there appears to be a modification of the inexorableness of law, such as comes in a manifestation of Mercy in the modification, or suspension, or the obliteration of the penalty of a law by the forgiveness of sin—for "sin is the transgression of the law"^[B]—all this must not be thought upon as capriciousness, the arbitrary act of Deity in the interests of special favorites. No; the manifestation of mercy which seems to set aside the severity of the law, which seems to soften its inexorableness by allowing an escape from its penalty, by forgiveness of sins—this is the result of the operation of law, as much so as when the law proceeds to the utmost of its severity, to the extreme manifestation of its inexorableness in the exaction of the utmost farthing of its penalty. It is not by special and personal favor that men shall have forgiveness of sins, and find shelter under the wings of Mercy. That must be obtained, if obtained at all, under the operation of law governing the application of Mercy in the economy of the moral and spiritual world; by law that operates upon all alike. Forgiveness of sins, like other blessings, is predicated upon the obedience to law, and is not based upon personal favor. "There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of the world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain any blessing from God it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated"^[C]—forgiveness of sins with the rest. It is because we live under this reign of law that the scriptures teach that God is no respector of persons. God "regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward."^[D] "Neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him."^[E] "Peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; for there is no respect of persons with God."^[F] "Call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work."^[G]

[Footnote A: "While new cosmic bodies arise and develop out of rotating masses of nebula in some parts of the universe, in other parts old, extinct, frigid suns come into collision, and are once more reduced by the heat generated to the condition of nebulae. * * * While minute and then larger bodies are being formed by this pyknotic [condensing] process in one part of space, and the intermediate ether increases its strain, the opposite process—the destruction of cosmic bodies by collision—is taking place in another quarter. The immense quantity of heat which is generated in this mechanical process of the collision of swiftly moving bodies represents the new kinetic energy which effects the movement of the resultant nebulae and the construction of new rotating bodies. The eternal drama begins afresh. Even our mother earth, which was formed of part of the gyrating solar system millions of ages ago, will grow cold and lifeless after the lapse of further millions, and, gradually narrowing its orbit, will fall eventually into the sun." (Ernest Haeckel: "Riddle of the Universe"—1900,—pp. 240, 243).]

[Footnote B: I John iii:4.]

[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 130.]

[Footnote D: Deut. xiv:17.]

[Footnote E: II Sam. xiv:14.]

[Footnote F: Rom. ii:10, 11.]

[Footnote G: I Peter i:17.]

"The collision of suns may have produced nebulae and these nebulae in turn may gradually develop themselves into suns again. It seems reasonably certain that nebulae are the stuff from which the stars are made" ("Science-History of the Universe," Vol. I; "Astronomy," p. 318).]

5. Sense of Security Under a Reign of Law: So here men stand under the reign of Law, before God. No one may hope to escape the penalty due to violation of law through favor; no one will fall under the condemnation of the law-through lack of favor with God, by reason of capriciousness in him, much less through vindictiveness, which is unthinkable in God. God will make no infraction of the law, in the interests of supposed favorites; such "blessings," whether in the providing of permanent opportunities for individuals, families, or races, as may reach through the apparent complexity of things to men; or occasional blessings such as seem to come to some individuals as special acts of providence; all will come in accordance with the laws upon which such blessings were predicated before the foundations of the world were laid; and this notwithstanding inequalities and diversity of fortunes and misfortunes that exist among individuals, families, nations, races of men. Underneath all the diversities and equalities that exist, so difficult to account for in some of their aspects, there law is operating despite all seeming incongruities; and out of all these diversities and complexities of experiences, at the last will come justice—God's justice; and men will be satisfied that it is so.

Meanwhile this reign of law, with all its inexorableness—nay, rather because of it—present and operating as well in disintegrating as in integrating processes; present in the manifestations of mercy and "special acts of providence," as in manifestations of severity in the moral and spiritual world; how splendid it all is! How satisfying! What assurance, what confidence it gives! No wonder that John Fiske, remarking upon the idea of the reign of law, said: "So beautiful is all this orderly coherence, so satisfying to some of our intellectual needs, that many minds are inclined to doubt if anything more can be said of the universe than that it is a 'Reign of Law,' an endless aggregate of coexistences and sequences."

But the deeper and truer view of things will be, not to accept this "reign of law" as God; nor mistake it for Deity—for mistake it would be if confounded with God. Let the reign of law be conceived rather as the means through which God is working to the achievement of his high purposes—God in the world, and working through law;^[A] God, the administrative Power in the reign of law.

[Footnote A: It is only just to John Fiske to say that such is his conception of the matter; for, commenting upon the effect upon the thinker who has this conception of the reign of law in the world, he says: "The thinker in whose mind divine action is thus identified with orderly action and reign of law, and to whom a really irregular phenomenon would seem like a manifestation of sheer diabolism, foresees in every possible extension of knowledge a fresh confirmation of his faith in God. From his point of view there can be no antagonism between our duty as inquirers and our duty as worshipers. To him no part of the universe is godless. In the swaying to and fro of molecules and ceaseless pulsations of ether, in the secular shifting of planetary orbits, in the busy work of frost and raindrop, in the mysterious sprouting of the seed, in the everlasting tale of death and life renewed, in the dawning of babe's intelligence, in the varied deeds of men from age to age, he finds that which awakens the soul to reverential awe: and each act of scientific explanation but reveals an opening through which shines the glory of the Eternal Majesty" ("Studies in Religion," pp. 167-8).]

It is this quality of exorableness in law, excellent and essential as it is, that made the Atonement of the Christ necessary to the salvation of man.