C. G. Pfander, D. D

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107. 
     If anyone should here inquire, " How is it that God did not prevent the entrance of evil into the world ? Why did He permit Satan to tempt man and to overcome him ? Why does He still permit the Evil One to perpetuate sin and misery, discord and violence on earth ? "—he will find the subject in some measure discussed in the "Way of Life" (s^ajTJ^t). Here we content ourselves with saying that God has not fully explained this matter to us, nor has human reason been able to discover an answer which is in every respect full and satisfactory. But, however much we may wish to know the reason of God's conduct in this matter, it is not necessary for us in this world to be able to understand His doings. But it is necessary for us to recognize our own lost and miserable condition and the way of escape from it. We know, as did Abraham, that the Judge of all the earth does what is right (Gen. xviii. 25). Wise men have assured us that the presence of so many temptations in this present world, and the fact that there exists in it so much misery and sorrow and suffering caused by sin, all this renders life in this lower world peculiarly fit to train us in virtue ¹ by leading us to resist and overcome temptation through God's grace, and by showing us how terrible are the consequences of sin. God Most High has given men freedom of wiil, to choose for themselves right or wrong, sin or righteousness, obedience or disobedience, freedom from the slavery of the Devil or submission to it. God has revealed His Will and His love towards us. He has shown us the right way, yet He does not compel us to turn to Him, for He desires our love, and in love, as in true Religion, there cannot be compulsion.
     
108. 
     God Most Merciful has unmistakeably taught us in His Holy Word that it is not His Will that any man should remain² subject to the dominion of Satan and the slavery of Sin. God's will is that every man should become free from the chains of sin should be cleansed from the stains of guilt and impurity, and should thus attain to the spiritual condition of likeness to God from which Adam fell, so that each man may become an heir of eternal happiness. Both the Old Testament and the New agree with universal human experience in teaching that there can be no true happiness for man until he repents of his evil deeds and with true faith turns to God, becomes free from sin, and obtains God's forgiveness. Without purity of heart no one can ever see God with the inward eye (Matt. v. 8 ; Heb. xii. 14). The truly pious man must become holy because God is Holy (Lev. xix. 2 ; Matt, v. 48 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14-vii. 1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9, 10 ; 1 John iii. 1-8). This is the teaching of the Holy Scripture : and when once we have heard this doctrine, our reason and conscience bear witness to its truth. For, as man was made in God's image and has had that image
     
109. 
     f¹ Compare Butler's Analogy of Religion, Part I, ch. v (vol. ii, p. 91, § 16 of Bernard's edition of 1900).]
     
110. 
     ^a Ezek. xviii. 23, 32 ; xxxiii. 11 ; John iii. 16; 2 Pet. iii. 9.
     
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     k
     
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     marred by sin, it is necessary that he should be formed again into a spiritual likeness to the Holy One before he can dwell with God in harmony and love and can enjoy the Divine Vision _ ¿if is^').
     
113. 
     If in this matter we compare the doctrine of the Bible with that of the other religious books of the world, we find a great difference between them on this very point. For the books of other religions teach us nothing of God's design in creating man, nothing about the need of sanctification and purification of the human heart and spirit. They teach that purity results from ablutions of the body, that forgiveness of sins is obtained through pilgrimages or sacrifices or almsgiving. Now ablutions of the body are very suitable and desirable, but they cannot purify the heart. As Christ Himself says, it is not sufficient to cleanse the outside of the cup or platter and leave the inside defiled. "Cleanse first", He says, " the inside of the cup and¹ of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also" (Matt, xxiii. 26). Good works, too, should result from love to God and conformity to His will and gratitude to Him for pardon and mercy. But almsgiving will not persuade God to forgive us our sins, for no just judge receives a bribe to pardon a criminal. The value of almsgiving and al! other good works depends in God's sight on the motive with which they are undertaken, and no one can conceal his motives from Him who searches men's hearts.
     
114. 
     In order that we may know God's Will and be able to obey Him, God Most High has given us much teaching both in the Old Testament and in the New. He has thus shown what we should do and what we should avoid. Hence, too, we find the Moral Law given in various short and simple enactments in different parts of the Bible. In the Taurat are given the Ten Commandments (Exod. xx. 1-17; Deut. v. 6-21). In later days the Prophet Micah tells us that God's law as to man's duty might be summed up thus : " He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?" (Micah vi. 8). Ignorant people often assert that Christians have no law (i*^) containing commands and prohibitions: but the fact that the Moral Law given in the Old Testament is binding upon us is a sufficient refutation of this statement. In the New Testament we have Christ's Law (ijo^) given us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt, v, vi, vii); and, besides this, He has summed up our duty for us in Mark xii. 28-31 and Luke vi. 31. Hence we see that He lays down general principles to guide us under all circumstances, instead of endeavouring, like all other lawgivers, to give particular directions for every circumstance that can arise. Whoever will attentively read Rom. xii, xiv. 1-8 ; 1 Cor. xiii; Eph. v. 1-21 ; Col. iii. i-iv. 1 will perceive how high and holy a Way has been appointed for Christians to walk in. We are told to wash our hearts before praying, not merely our hands; not to make a pilgrimage once in our lives,
     
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     but to be always strangers and pilgrims on earth, having no continuing city here, but ever seeking the one which is to come, and always drawing nearer to God in holiness ; not to pray five or seven times a day but to " pray without ceasing " (1 Thess. v. 17), i.e. so to live that we may always be in spiritual communion with God ; not to offer sacrifices of dead animals, as did the Jews, but ourselves to be "living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God" (Rom. xii. 1, 2; 1 Pet. ii. 5). From this it will be evident that the precepts of the New Testament, even more than those of the Old, are in full accordance with the glorious Attributes of the Holy and Most Merciful Lord, because they enjoin and conduce to purity of heart and of life. It will also be clear that without these things all merely external rites are valueless in God's sight, and cannot produce righteousness or lead to justification. Therefore the precepts of the Gospel stand far above the ordinances of every other religion, because they are specially fitted
     
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     k 2
     

117. 
     to effect sanctification of heart and life. They must therefore be accepted, not as the commandments of men, like those of all other religions except the Jewish, but as those of God Himself. All the precepts of the Gospel are summed up in the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. xxii. 37-39). These words are a slightly amplified quotation from the Taurit (Deut. vi. 5 ; x. 12 ; xxx. 6 ; Lev. xix. 18). They thus show how completely the Old Testament and the New agree in their teaching as to what God demands, and what is the way to walk in. God requires of us that our hearts should be so filled with love towards God, who has first loved us, that all the powers of our bodies, souls, spirits and minds, during every hour and minute of our lives, may be gladly spent in endeavouring to serve and please Him : and that, as we seek our own profit and good, so we should with heart and soul seek to do good to our neighbours. We should also remember that even our enemies are, in God's sight, our neighbours (Luke x. 25-37). By so acting we shall be obeying Christ's Golden Rule, " All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them " (Matt. vii. 12).
     

118. 
     Inasmuch as these precepts of the Bible unite man in love both to his Creator and to the whole of Adam's sons, and conduce to purity of heart and freedom from selfishness, they lead to happiness here and hereafter. They also agree with the Moral Law which God has inscribed upon the tablets of each man's heart and conscience. This is an evident proof that the teachings of the Bible are from the Creator of mankind and of the world. Hence its inspiration (¡.l+N) is clearer than the sun. Men who have not yet received the Holy Scriptures are not without a Law (¿jo^.), therefore, for God has placed this Moral Law in their hearts. Hence all men are responsible to God for their disobedience to what they themselves know to be right and incumbent upon them. The heathen are held accountable under this law, and they too must in some measure learn from their own consciences that, since they have not kept the law written in their hearts, they are sinners in God's sight and stand in need of a Saviour. The advantage of having received the Word of God, i.e. the BibLe, is that the Moral Law within receives fresh testimony to its Divine origin from it. Moreover, men who accept the Holy Scriptures have their judgement enlightened to know their duty better, and are encouraged to seek help from God to do it
     
119. 
     Holy Scripture also teaches us that to know what is right will not justify, but condemn us, unless we perform our duty (Matt. vii. 21-27 > Luke x. 25-28 ; John xiii. 17; Rom. ii. 13). It states too that justice demands that there be no defect whatever in our obedience to the Divine commands, which clearly require perfection of character and conduct (Matt. v. 48). If any man were to obey the Divine Law in every point but one, he would, in that one point, be a transgressor (Jas. ii. 10,11; Gal. iii. 10-12). So it is also with human law. The law in every civilized land forbids murder and theft. If a man is not a murderer, and steals only once, he is a malefactor, and is liable to punishment. Of Adam only one sin is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, yet that one sin brought condemnation and death. God's favour cannot be obtained by the observance of only certain parts of His Law. He who desires to please Him, and by his own acts to be justified in God's sight, must strictly and without a single failure or omission keep the whole of God's law. Transgression of the least commandment will render him a sinner, and liable to punishment and alienation from God Most High.
     
120. 
     But is there any man who has, day and night, during all his life, so perfectly obeyed God's law that he has never in any degree departed from it ? Can anyone be found who has always loved God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his mind, and who has
     

121. 
     loved his neighbour as himself (Matt. xxii. 37-39) ? Or is there any person who in his whole life has never committed a sinful act, or spoken a word displeasing to God, or cherished in his heart a wrong thought or evil desire ? (See Job iv. 18, 19; xxv. 4, 5, 6 ; Ps. cxliii. 2 ; Rom. iii. 20.) Only one such man has ever lived, our Lord Jesus Christ.
     
122. 
     Seeing then that all human beings except Christ are found guilty by the testimony of our own conscience and by that of the Word of God as revealed in Holy Scripture, is it not most fitting that we should with true penitence of heart confess before our Creator: " O Lord of Lords, most Holy and Righteous God, the purity which Thou requirest is not in us : we are deserving, O Lord, of Thy wrath and of eternal death " ?
     
123. 
     That God does punish sinners is clearly taught, in the first place, by our experience, secondly by our Conscience, and thirdly by the Word ) of God in such passages as Ezek. xviii. 20; Matt. xii. 36 ; xxv. 41; Rom. i. 8 ; ii. 8, 9; Col. iii. 25; 2 Thess. i. 9. Some persons imagine that God will pardon transgressors without punishing them, because of His boundless Mercy. But this is morally impossible, unless in some way the requirements of His righteous Law should be satisfied. Otherwise His Justice would not be perfect, nor would He be acting in accordance with what He has Himself said. It is true that God's love and mercy are infinite, but so are also His justice and His holiness. Therefore wicked doers can never be pleasing in His sight, for He hates all sin.
     
124. 
     Moreover, sin is in itself a curse and a punishment to the transgressor. No wicked man is happy, can be happy, either in this life or in the next. A man whose soul, is filled with lust, for instance, does not know what true happiness is, even here. Sin degrades man's nature, rendering men cruel, cowardly, selfish, base, and removing them far in spirit from the Most Holy God, in whose presence there is fullness of joy. " Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of
     
125. 
     sin" (John viii. 34): and the most awful punishment he can receive is the condition of eternal sinfulness, which is the state of those who finally choose darkness for light, evil for good, Satan for God (John iii. 19; Rev. xxii. 11).
     
126. 
     It is also in accordance with God's attribute of Love that He should not permit man to sin without punishment. For if men knew that God would not punish the guilty, they would day by day sink more and more deeply into the whirlpool of sin, and thus become more and more wretched themselves and a cause of misery to others. It is clear also that transgression of God's Law must bring punishment; for if not, why should the Moral Law exist, and be written not only in Holy Scripture but also in men's hearts ? No man of understanding can fancy that rebels and loyal servants of God will alike be acceptable to Him and receive the same treatment at His hands.
     
127. 
     As all men but One have fallen into sin, all deserve punishment. None of us sinful men have in ourselves power to please God, to atone for our sins, and to obtain pardon and reconciliation with God Most High. We need not merely a way of escape from th,e punishment of our sins, but, still more, a means of escape from the power and the love of sin. Punishment is a good thing for the sinner, and it often leads him to repentance. Hence sin always brings punishment. But from the eternal consequences of sin from being for eve^shut out from God's presence and banished from the love and the care of our Heavenly Father, from becoming conformed in heart and mind to the likeness of Satan himself, we need to find a way of escape. Else it would have been well for us if we had never been created.
     

128. 
     How are we to find this way of escape ? If man in his present fallen condition cannot fulfil God's perfect Law, how can he atone for his past sins, how can he become reconciled to God ? It is clear that his good works possess no merit, because God will not accept a gift from defiled hands, and still less from a sinful heart. Not only man's deeds but his words also and his very thoughts are defiled with sin. How is it possible for us, who have not even performed our own duty to God and to our neighbour, to acquire, by doing more than our duty, such an amount of merit as will avail as a satisfaction for our sins ? This, of course, is impossible. If we could fancy the existence of a man who, during his whole life, had never transgressed God's commandments, then such a person would thereby have done nothing more than his duty (Luke xvii. 10). Even such a man could not claim to have laid up a store of merit for himself or for other men.
     
129. 
     The Holy Scriptures teach us that God's Law requires of us such perfect devotion (Matt. xxii. 36-40) that man cannot, when he has fallen short of it, recover what he has lost. There are some, men who proudly and ignorantly assert that they have performed more worship and service than God demands of them. Yet the folly of such statements is manifest. In spite of their boasting, such men can never by any means assure themselves that they are justified in God's sight. They often in their hearts feel most painful doubts about their state after death. They often live in fear of death and die in great mental agony. As an instance of this we quote what Ibn Khallik&n says of Abft 'Imr&n Ibr&him ibn Yazld. He was " one of the famous Imlms and a Tdbi'i". "When death came upon him, he feared with a violent fear . . . Accordingly he said, ' What danger is greater than that in which I am ? I am awaiting a messenger who will come upon me from my Lord, either with Paradise or with Hell fire.'" He then swore that he would far rather that his soul should flutter in his throat¹ until the resurrection-day than
     
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