"When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto
him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." Mark xii. 34.
{201} THE answer of the scribe, which our blessed Lord here commends,
was occasioned by Christ's setting before him the two great commandments
of the Law. When He had declared the love of God and of man to comprehend
our whole duty, the scribe said, "Master, Thou hast said the truth: for
there is one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with
all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and
with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than
all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Upon this acknowledgment of
the duty of general religious obedience, Christ replied, in the words of
the text, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God," i.e. Thou art not
far from being a Christian.
In these words, then, we are taught, first, that the {202} Christian's
faith and obedience are not the same religion as that of natural conscience,
as being some way beyond it; secondly, that this way is "not far," not
far in the case of those who try to act up to their conscience; in other
words, that obedience to conscience leads to obedience to the Gospel, which,
instead of being something different altogether, is but the completion
and perfection of that religion which natural conscience teaches.
Indeed, it would have been strange if the God of nature had said one
thing, and the God of grace another; if the truths which our conscience
taught us without the information of Scripture, were contradicted by that
information when obtained. But it is not so; there are not two ways of
pleasing God; what conscience suggests, Christ has sanctioned and explained;
to love God and our neighbour are the great duties of the Gospel as well
as of the Law; he who endeavours to fulfil them by the light of nature
is in the way towards, is, as our Lord said, "not far from Christ's kingdom;"
for to him that hath more shall be given.
It is not in one or two places merely that this same doctrine is declared
to us; indeed, all revelation is grounded on those simple truths which
our own consciences teach us in a measure, though a poor measure, even
without it. It is One God, and none other but He, who speaks first in our
consciences, then in His Holy Word; and, lest we should be in any difficulty
about the matter, He has most mercifully told us so in {203} Scripture,
wherein He refers again and again (as in the passage connected with the
text) to the great Moral Law, as the foundation of the truth, which His
Apostles and Prophets, and last of all His Son, have taught us: "Fear God,
and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." [Eccles.
xii. 13.]
Yet though this is so plain, both from our own moral sense, and the
declarations of Scripture, still for many reasons it is necessary to insist
upon it; chiefly, because, it being very hard to keep God's commandments,
men would willingly persuade themselves, if they could, that strict obedience
is not necessary under the Gospel, and that something else will be taken,
for Christ's sake, in the stead of it. Instead of labouring, under God's
grace, to change their wills, to purify their hearts, and so prepare themselves
for the kingdom of God, they imagine that in that kingdom they may be saved
by something short of this, by their baptism, or by their ceremonial observances
(the burnt offerings and sacrifices which the scribe disparages), or by
their correct knowledge of the truth, or by their knowledge of their own
sinfulness, or by some past act of faith which is to last them during their
lives, or by some strong habitual persuasion that they are safe; or, again,
by the performance of some one part of their duty, though they neglect
the rest, as if God said a thing to us in nature, and Christ unsaid it;
and, when men wish a thing, it is not hard to find {204} texts in Scripture
which may be ingeniously perverted to suit their purpose. The error then
being so common in practice, of believing that Christ came to gain for
us easier terms of admittance into heaven than we had before (whereas,
in fact, instead of making obedience less strict, He has enabled us to
obey God more strictly; and instead of gaining easier terms of admittance,
He has gained us altogether our admittance into heaven, which before was
closed against us); this error, I say, being so common, it may be right
to insist on the opposite truth, however obvious, that obedience to God
is the way to know and believe in Christ.
1. Now, first, let us consider how plainly we are taught in Scripture
that perfect obedience is the standard of Gospel holiness. By St. Paul:
"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God." [Rom. xii. 2.] "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision
is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." [1 Cor. vii. 19.]
"Whatsoever things are true … honest … just … pure ... lovely ... of good
report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things." [Phil. iv. 8.] By St. James: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." [James ii. 10.] By St.
Peter: "Giving all diligence, add to {205} your faith virtue ... knowledge
… temperance … patience ... godliness ... brotherly kindness ... charity."
[2 Pet. i. 5-7.] By St. John: "Hereby do we know that we know Him, if we
keep His commandments." Lastly, by our Lord Himself: "He that hath My commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me, shall
be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
him." [John xiv. 21.] And, above all, the following clear declaration in
the Sermon on the Mount: "Whosoever ... 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." [Matt. v. 19.]
These texts, and a multitude of others, show that the Gospel leaves
us just where it found us, as regards the necessity of our obedience to
God; that Christ has not obeyed instead of us, but that obedience is quite
as imperative as if Christ had never come; nay, is pressed upon us with
additional sanctions; the difference being, not that He relaxes the strict
rule of keeping His commandments, but that He gives us spiritual aids,
which we have not except through Him, to enable us to keep them. Accordingly
Christ's service is represented in Scripture, not as different from that
religious obedience which conscience teaches us naturally, but as the perfection
of it, as I have already said. We are told again {206} and again, that
obedience to God leads on to faith in Christ; that it is the only recognized
way to Christ; and that, therefore, to believe in Him, ordinarily implies
that we are living in obedience to God. For instance: "Every man … that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me;" [John vi. 45.]
"He that doeth truth, cometh to the light," [John iii. 21.] i.e. to Christ;
"No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me, draw him;"
"If any man will do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine." [John
vii. 17.] On the other hand: "He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also;"
[John xv. 23.] "If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also;"
[John viii. 19.] "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father;"
[1 John ii. 23.] "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he
hath both the Father and the Son." [2 John 9.]
In these and other passages of Scripture we learn, that though Christ
came to be the light of the world, yet He is not and cannot be a light
to all, but to those only who seek Him in the way of His commandments;
and to all others He is hid, the god of this world "blinding the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ,
who is the Image of God, should shine unto them." [2 Cor. iv. 4.] {207}
2. And if we look to the history of the first propagation of the Gospel,
we find this view confirmed. As far as we can trace the history, we find
the early Christian Church was principally composed of those who had long
been in the habit of obeying their consciences carefully, and so preparing
themselves for Christ's religion, that kingdom of God from which the text
says they were not far. Zacharias and Elisabeth, to whom the approach of
Christ's kingdom was first revealed, are described as "both righteous before
God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless."
[Luke i. 6.] Joseph, St. Mary's husband, is called "a just man;" [Matt.
i. 19.] Simeon is spoken of as "a just and devout" man [Luke ii. 25.];
Nathaniel, as "an Israelite in whom was no guile;" [John i. 47.] Joseph
of Arimathea was "a good man and a just;" [Luke xxiii. 50.] Cornelius,
the centurion, was a "religious man, and one that feared God with all his
house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." [Acts
x. 2.] And in the book of Acts generally, we shall find (as far as we are
told any thing) that those chiefly were addressed and converted by St.
Paul, who had previously trained themselves in a religious life:—At Perga,
St. Paul addressed the Israelites and those who feared God, not the mere
thoughtless heathen; and many of these followed him [Acts xiii]. At Thessalonica
a great multitude of {208} religious Greeks believed [Acts xvii]; and at
Athens the Apostle still disputed with the Jews, and with the professedly
religious persons, though he also addressed the educated heathens who lived
there. Here then is much evidence that Christ and His Apostles chiefly
sought and found their first followers, not among open sinners, but among
those who were endeavouring, however imperfectly, to obey God.
But it may be asked, Did Christ hold out no hope for those who had lived
in sin? Doubtless He did, if they determined to forsake their sin. He came
to save all, whatever their former life, who gave themselves up to Him
as their Lord and Saviour; and in His Church He gathered together of every
kind, those who had departed from God, as well as those who had ever served
Him well. Open sinners must have a beginning of repentance, if they are
to repent; and on this first beginning Christ invites them to Him at once,
without delay, for pardon and for aid. But this is not the question; of
course all who come to Him will be received; none will be cast out [John
iv. 3, 7.]. But the question is, not this, but whether they are likely
to come, to hear His voice, and to follow Him; again, whether they will,
generally speaking, prove as consistent and deeply-taught Christians as
those who, compared with them, have never departed from God at all; and
here all the advantage, doubtless, is on the side of those who (in the
{209} words of Scripture) have walked in the ordinances of the Lord blameless
[Luke i. 6.]. When sinners truly repent, then, indeed, they are altogether
brothers in Christ's kingdom with those who have not in the same sense
"need of repentance;" but that they should repent at all is (alas!) so
far from being likely, that when the unexpected event takes place it causes
such joy in heaven (from the marvellousness of it) as is not even excited
by the ninety and nine just persons who need no such change of mind [Luke
xv. 7.]. Of such changes some instances are given us in the Gospels for
the encouragement of all penitents, such as that of the woman, mentioned
by St. Luke, who "loved much." Christ most graciously went among sinners,
if so be He might save them; and we know that even those open sinners,
when they knew that they were sinners, were nearer salvation, and in a
better state, than the covetous and irreligious Pharisees, who added to
their other gross sins, hypocrisy, blindness, a contempt of others, and
a haughty and superstitious reliance on the availing virtue of their religious
privileges.
And, moreover, of these penitents of whom I speak—and whom, when they
become penitents, we cannot love too dearly (after our Saviour's pattern),
nay, or reverence too highly, and whom the Apostles, after Christ's departure,
brought into the Church in such vast multitudes—none, as far as we know,
had any sudden change {210} of mind from bad to good wrought in them; nor
do we hear of any of them honoured with any important station in the Church.
Great as St. Paul's sin was in persecuting Christ's followers, before his
conversion, that sin was of a different kind; he was not transgressing,
but obeying his conscience (however blinded it was); he was doing what
he thought his duty, when he was arrested by the heavenly vision, which,
when presented to him, he at once "obeyed;" he was not sinning against
light but in darkness. We know nothing of the precise state of his mind
immediately before his conversion; but we do know thus much, that years
elapsed after his conversion before he was employed as an Apostle in the
Church of God.
I have confined myself to the time of Christ's coming; but not only
then, but at all times and under all circumstances, as all parts of the
Bible inform us, obedience to the light we possess is the way to gain more
light. In the words of Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, "I love them that
love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me ... I lead in the way
of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment." [Prov. viii.
17, 20.] Or, in the still more authoritative words of Christ Himself, "He
that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much;" [Luke
xvi. 10.] and, "He that hath, to him shall be given." [Mark iv. 25.] {211}
Now let us see some of the consequences which follow from this great
Scripture truth.
1. First of all, we see the hopelessness of waiting for any sudden change
of heart, if we are at present living in sin. Far more persons deceive
themselves by some such vain expectation than at first sight may appear.
That there are even many irreligious men, who, from hearing the false doctrines
now so common, and receiving general impressions from them, look forward
for a possible day when God will change their hearts by His own mere power,
in spite of themselves, and who thus get rid of the troublesome thought
that now they are in a state of fearful peril; who say they can do nothing
till His time comes, while still they acknowledge themselves to be far
from Him; even this I believe to be a fact, strange and gross as the self-deception
may appear to be. And others, too, many more, doubtless, are there who,
not thinking themselves far from Him, but, on the contrary, high in His
favour, still, by a dreadful deceit of Satan, are led to be indolent and
languid in their obedience to His commandments, from a pretence that they
can do nothing of themselves, and must wait for the successive motions
of God's grace to excite them to action. The utmost these persons do is
to talk of religion, when they ought to be up and active, and waiting for
the Blessed Spirit of Christ by obeying God's will. "Awake thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee {212} light." [Eph.
v. 14.] This is the exhortation. And doubtless to all those who live a
self-indulgent life, however they veil their self-indulgence from themselves
by a notion of their superior religious knowledge, and by their faculty
of speaking fluently in Scripture language, to all such the word of life
says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked;" He tries the heart, and disdains
the mere worship of the lips. He acknowledges no man as a believer in His
Son, who does not anxiously struggle to obey His commandments to the utmost;
to none of those who seek without striving, and who consider themselves
safe, to none of these does He give "power to become sons of God." [John
i. 12.] Be not deceived; such have fallen from that state in which their
baptism placed them and are "far from the kingdom of God." "Whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." [Gal. vi. 7.] And if any one says
that St. Paul was converted suddenly, and without his exerting himself,
it is sufficient to reply, that, guilty as St. Paul was, his guilt was
not that of indolence, and self-indulgence, and indifference. His sin was
that of neglecting the study of Scripture; and thus, missing the great
truth that Jesus was the Christ, he persecuted the Christians; but though
his conscience was ill-informed, and that by his own fault, yet he obeyed
it such as it was. He did what he did ignorantly. If then the case really
be that St. Paul was suddenly converted, hence, it is true, some kind of
{213} vague hope may be said to be held out to furious, intolerant bigots,
and bloodthirsty persecutors, if they are acting in consequence of their
own notions of duty; none to the slothful and negligent and lukewarm; none
but to those who can say, with St. Paul, that they have "lived in all good
conscience before God until this day;" [Acts xxiii. 1.] and that not under
an easy profession, but in a straitest religious sect, giving themselves
up to their duty, and following the law of God, though in ignorance, yet
with all their heart and soul.
2. But, after all, there are very many more than I have as yet mentioned,
who wait for a time of repentance to come while at present they live in
sin. For instance, the young, who consider it will be time enough to think
of God when they grow old; that religion will then come as a matter of
course, and that they will then like it naturally, just as they now like
their follies and sins. Or those who are much engaged in worldly business,
who confess they do not give that attention to religion which they ought
to give; who neglect the ordinances of the Church; who desecrate the Lord's
day; who give little or no time to the study of God's word; who allow themselves
in various small transgressions of their conscience, and resolutely harden
themselves against the remorse which such transgressions are calculated
to cause them; and all this they do under the idea that at length a convenient
season will come {214} when they may give themselves to religious duties.
They determine on retiring at length from the world, and of making up for
lost time by greater diligence then. All such persons, and how many they
are! think that they will be able to seek Christ when they please, though
they have lived all their lives with no true love either of God or man;
i.e. they do not, in their hearts, believe our Lord's doctrine contained
in the text, that to obey God is to be near Christ, and that to disobey
is to be far from Him.
How will this truth be plain to us in that day when the secrets of all
hearts shall be revealed! Now we do not believe that strict obedience is
as necessary as it is. I say we do not believe it, though we say we do.
No one, of course, believes it in its fulness, but most of us are deceived
by words, and say we accept and believe, when we hardly do more than profess
it. We say, indeed, that obedience is absolutely necessary, and are surprised
to have our real belief in what we say questioned; but we do not give the
truth that place in the scheme of our religion which this profession requires,
and thus we cheat our consciences. We put something before it, in our doctrinal
system, as more necessary than it; one man puts faith, another outward
devotion, a third attention to his temporal calling, another zeal for the
Church; that is, we put a part for the whole of our duty, and so run the
risk of losing our souls. These are the burnt-offerings and sacrifices
which even the scribe {215} put aside before the weightier matters of the
Law. Or again, we fancy that the means of gaining heaven are something
stranger and rarer than the mere obvious duty of obedience to God; we are
loth to seek Christ in the waters of Jordan rather than in Pharpar and
Abana, rivers of Damascus; we prefer to seek Him in the height above, or
to descend into the deep, rather than to believe that the word is nigh
us, even in our mouth and in our heart [Rom. x. 8.]. Hence, in false religions
some men have even tortured themselves and been cruel to their flesh, thereby
to become as gods, and to mount aloft; and in our own, with a not less
melancholy, though less self-denying, error, men fancy that certain strange
effects on their minds—strong emotion, restlessness, and an unmanly excitement
and extravagance of thought and feeling—are the tokens of that inscrutable
Spirit, who is given us, not to make us something other than men, but to
make us, what without His gracious aid we never shall be, upright, self-mastering
men, humble and obedient children of our Lord and Saviour.
In that day of trial all these deceits will be laid aside; we shall
stand in our own real form, whether it be of heaven or of earth, the wedding
garment, or the old raiment of sin [Zech. iii. 4.]; and then, how many
(do we think) will be revealed as the heirs of light, who have followed
Christ in His narrow way, and humbled themselves after His manner (though
not in His perfection, and with {216} nothing of His merit) to the daily
duties of soberness, mercy, gentleness, self-denial, and the fear of God?
These, be they many or few, will then receive their prize from Him who
died for them, who has made them what they are, and completes in heaven
what first by conscience, then by His Spirit, He began here. Surely they
were despised on the earth by the world; both by the open sinners, who
thought their scrupulousness to be foolishness, and by such pretenders
to God's favour as thought it ignorance. But, in reality, they had received
from their Lord the treasures both of wisdom and of knowledge, though men
knew it not; and they then will be acknowledged by Him before all creatures,
as heirs of the glory prepared for them before the beginning of the world.
Copyright © 2000 by Bob Elder. All rights reserved.
Used with permission. See the Newman website:
http://www.newmanreader.org/index.html
