To The Law and To The Testimony...

to the law and the testimony

Listen to the Blog: To The Law and To The Testimony

47:34

The testimony is the self revelation of God. It represents God’s heart desire,

which is also God’s requirement - or we may say, God’s standard. His

standard reveals Himself, showing us what a God He is. When this testimony

comes to man, it becomes law. On God’s side, it is testimony, but on the

human side, it is law. The Lord Jesus comes to bear witness to the Father;

the Holy Spirit comes to bear witness to Christ; we are to maintain the

testimony of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. The witnessing of

Christ is none other than telling people who God is in Christ and what Christ

is. It behooves us not to sin against this testimony.

God’s people are to speak from the place of their purpose. It is in this light

that we speak as God calls us to come up hither and He will show us what

we are to say. The purpose must be in the power and the knowledge of God.

The words spoken are to be in accord with our calling. We speak the truth

of God’s word by faith. Faith is not about feeling comfortable, it is speaking

God’s word authentically. What it commands, what it asks, what it directs.

Not just the soothing and the pleasant and the peaceful, but also the warning,

the revealing, the specific...diminishing not a word. The only truth to be

spoken is God’s truth. That’s why it’s so important to always search the

scriptures and ask God to continually give us wisdom according to His will.

And it helps to learn through conversations with believers in our search for

understanding.

When we speak, we are to provide a comprehensive vision to the reality of

God. Our words are to offer suggesting answers to the questions that arise

in the course of examination as others enquire for detailed evidence of the

things of heaven. Our speaking is to call forth an investigation into every

expression of God allowing those who hear to search for the explanation of

the nature of the connection between the heavenly and the earthly realities.

Our speaking is not just the utterance of words. It is the approaching of the

Holy Spirit advancing the desires of God that our vocal performance is far

deeper than the natural. Our spirit within us, begotten by the Holy Ghost,

discerns and communes with Him, and receives from Him answers of peace.

It is a spiritual business from beginning to end. When we speak to the law

its’ aim and object end is not with man, but to reach to God Himself. In order

to such testimony, the work of the Holy Ghost Himself is needed. The

testimony is the solemn declaration as by a witness under oath. We are to

be the firsthand, outward sign of authentication of the truth of God. If

testimony were of the lips alone, we should only need breath in our nostrils

to speak. If testimony were of desires alone, many excellent desires are

easily felt, even by natural men. But when it is the spiritual desire and thes

piritual fellowship of the human spirit with the Spirit of God, then the Holy

Ghost Himself must be present all through it, to help infirmity, and give life

and power, or else true testimony will never be presented, but the thing

offered to God will wear the name and have the form, but the inner life of the

truth of testimony will be far from it. The interposition of the Lord Jesus Christ

is essential to the light that brightens the law and the testimony. Through

this crucified and risen person the veil is entirely taken away and we are shut

in with the living God. To the law and to the testimony, without the Savior,

our words are an insult to Deity. Our speaking is to be intended and offered

as an acceptable sacrifice to God. We are purposed to take these words

and handle them as God shall give us ability. Our text speaks of a throne -

the throne of grace. According to the law and the testimony we are reminded

that our Father is infinitely greater than ourselves. In our speaking we

remember that the mercy seat is the throne. In our speaking we are claiming

the promises of God. It is God’s word in our mouths. God’s law and

testimony are not dated. They are forever present. Without the living

guidance of His Word, we can’t move an inch in the direction of God. It is

the light of the law and the testimony whereby we can understand and fulfil

all God’s divine purposes. The word is carried from God to us to others. And

it comes with God’s own creative power. When we speak the truth of the law

and the words of the testimony they contain all the power needed for its own

fulfilment. It is God speaking, and it is done! God’s word does not exist

independently from God. It is alive and incorruptible. It can never be

destroyed or defeated because it possesses all the qualities of God Himself.

Our recourse must be always to speak directly in every case. We must make

good use of our bible. We are counseled as to what is required of us

according to the law and the testimony. We must make this our standard,

conform to it, take advice from it, make our appeals to it, and in everything

be overruled and determined by it. If there be any of the word of God not

concurred with, evinces that there is no light in the one who speaks. They

do not understand themselves. To reject, to not accept any of the divine

revelation through reasoning is followed by a spiritual darkness. When we

speak the law, the testimony, we receive the very life of God as He plants the

seed of His Word inside us. Everything in His plan and purpose for our life

comes within our reach.

The light, that is by the law and the testimony, is that creative life spoken by

God when He said let there be...today, by exactly the same power, God

keeps on sustaining all things, and accomplishing His eternal will of salvation

in His people who speak accordingly. When understanding the law and the

testimony we understand God purposing His will. The Word declares it -

speaking out the Father’s purpose. The Spirit performs the Father’s will by

working out every detail of His plan. It is futile for people to attempt to resist

God, for He always fulfils His will. This is the awesome experience of God’s

people. Letting the word work in us by giving it access to the deepest parts

of our being. This means allowing God to search our heart and to expose

those things which displease Him. It is an awesome experience. We accept

with all humbling of self the infallible authority of the word of God. This

renders an ever-increasing effectiveness of our faith. The light emitted from

the law and the testimony will fulfil His word to us. All His promises will be

given us. He will accomplish His good-and-perfect will in our life. The

goodness of the law and the testimony gives abundance to our spirit as it

moves us beyond the thoughts and inclinations, ideas and opinions of the

world. We are grounded in the endurance of the truth by faith. It is with the

law and the testimony whereby all devices and attacks of the enemy will be

thwarted. Every word of the law from God, every word of the testimony of

God which we truly receive in our spirit begins to reveal itself in our thoughts,

our deeds and our words as the light that is the life to those who receive and

confess Christ. Speaking the law and the testimony means that our minds,

our hearts, our mouths, our spirits are in full agreement with God’s word.

This is the working of the conviction of our faith. By this faith, we enter deeply

into the marvelous presence of God. The Holy Spirit – God’s covenant gift

for all believers – both grants us access to God and begins to inspire us so

that God’s words become our words, His law our law, His testimony our

purposed reality. Our speaking to the law and the testimony furthers our faith

declarations in the utterances of our amens in the spirit-inspired agreement

to the truth of God’s word; our hallelujahs in the highest form of spirit directed

joy; and our maranathas in the witness we share with the Spirit to the hope

of Jesus’ return. That which is gifted to us swells up in the praise, the hope,

the confidence in God. Our obedient actions to the law, our declarations of

faith to the testimony fulfills the related needs in our life to justify the calling

of God purposefully as His election. We are so made able to offer scriptural

truth to impregnate the spirit of others with the seed of His word. This is the

light that is life. If the spirit does not agree with the word of God, it is a dark

spirit, unbalanced with the truth. A dark spirit presents chaos and destruction

from the inside. Such depravity is God-dishonoring, Christ-denying, man-

exalting doctrines. It is exempt from the understandings associated with the

heavenly realms. It is what actually happened when Adam fell in the Garden

of Eden as recorded in Genesis. Adam, being wrong at the fall, was wrong

of all. The law of God was iniquitously disclaimed. And so we thank God for

the law and the testimony that gives light. This truth provides the exception

for all to be saved through the representative act of the last Adam – the Lord

Jesus Christ. Through one came transgression. Through one came

justification.

We are exhorted to keep God’s testimonies in the same way as we are

required to keep His word, precepts, law, statutes and commandments. It

may sound a little strange to our ears when we say we must keep God’s

testimonies. But we find in the bible that His testimonies are of the same

nature as are His word, precepts, law, statutes and commandments. The

two tables of stone on which His law was inscribed are called the two tables

of the testimony. The testimony bears witness to the kind of God we have

as over against the sort of life we humans live. When it is placed in our heart,

such a testimony convicts us of our unrighteousness, our falling short of the

divine standard. But while it remains in the Lord’s hand, it reveals what a God

He is. Testimony, therefore, is the self-revelation of God. It is God’s speaking

concerning Himself. It is not our giving testimony. We must profess

assertively that this testimony is a spiritual reality, that which is ultimately

reality. Whoever fails to touch the ultimate reality does not touch the

testimony. Strictly speaking, no one can bear witness for God save Jesus

Christ, since from eternity to eternity the divine testimony is given by God

Himself. God, His Son, and the Spirit alone can tell us what He is. But in the

law, in the testimony we bear witness to our Jesus...whom is the Light. To

testify for God requires of man that we touch God Himself so as to be able

to speak the words which God asks us to say. Man can speak only after God

is known, seen and revealed to us. Only when we have touched this ultimate

reality are we able to speak the testimony. And so, we know why we are

given by God the revelation of Jesus Christ. Thank God that our witness

does not rely upon man’s word or doctrine or teaching, because it is Christ

himself who has come forth to show us God. A testimony may become a

doctrine, but a doctrine can never become a testimony. When testimony is

given, commandment may come upon us to obey; yet this commandment is

not the testimony. For this testimony is, but more than a matter of experience.

It is touching the Lord Himself. Manward, yes testimony is indeed

experience; nonetheless, the term experience is far too inadequate when

discussing testimony. Because testimony is a matter of touching the Lord,

He alone can testify for himself. Since there is none greater than God, He is

the only One who can bear witness for Himself. Read Psalms 119.

Testimony is of such immensity that it is not easily comprehended by our

mind, because it is God Himself speaking, and by which He reveals Himself

and also His demand. Whoever touches this divine testimony has in reality

touched God Himself. To the law and to the testimony...Hear this intense truth...

whatever touches the character or the way of God touches His testimony.

God will have His absolute character manifested. And

that which misrepresents His character sins against His testimony.

Whenever God’s testimony is involved, He will not overlook the full event;

the motive, the thought, the words, the deed, the situation, the

consequences. Whatever defames or falsely represents Him, He will

immediately deal with it, since it affects His character, His position, even His

very self. When we speak according to the law and the testimony, we are

speaking more than simply receiving the resurrection life; it also speaks of

the working of the cross in men’s lives. The cross is a great subtraction, in

that the old creation must all be taken away. How can the testimony of God

be maintained if the rod fails to bud, if the rock is struck twice with wrath and

the old creation does not fade away? And so, we may say that God opens

just one door by which we may enter in. All who do not come in through that

door must die. We must preserve the law and the testimony. God does not

want Himself misunderstood. Our faith must be so Christ-like that our belief

in God is to be such that we know He is the “I Am” to be sanctified in the eyes

of all Israel. We must not complicate God since to sanctify God denotes to

set Him apart, to display the characteristics of God. Moses’ loss of control

over his temper this one time affected God Himself. God’s displeasure with

Moses was as though the Lord were saying, “in your action you have drawn

Me into your disobedience; you have not sanctified Me and honored Me with

My rightful place.” While His servant was angered God was at the very same

time still working. He caused the water to come forth from the Rock. Moses

spoke not to the law and the testimony. His action confused the people about

the situation. Moses had definitely dragged God into this awful mess, with

the result that the Israelites might have thought that the Lord was a God who,

like Moses, lost control of His temper. God was therefore complicated by

Moses. Whatever we do that involves the power of God is to conclude to the

people that God is God. We are to do nothing against His character, His

testimony. The consequences of this are far too serious to be overlooked.

Moses was not allowed to enter Canaan. Oh, do let us learn a lesson before

the Lord. There are many things which we must let God work out. Those who

do not know Him deeply enough often try to help Him. Were we to spend a

little time considering the end of those people in the past, shown for our

admonition, we would notice a great principle, which is, that we cannot afford

to sin against the testimony of the Lord. Whenever anyone does a thing

which sins against God’s character, God’s authority, God’s way, God’s plan

or God’s testimony, he will be chastened by God. For He is never careless

about His testimony. He will ever and always vindicate Himself as the holy,

mighty and living One. Because of this, may we tremble with fear before Him

and never attempt anything frivolously.

We must ponder over the fact that when God chastens us to vindicate

Himself, Satan can no longer accuse? In chastisement God shows the

enemy that He, who is our Father, our God, has no part in the matter, thus

preserving His holiness. For this reason, our first reaction under

chastisement should not be asking for relief but asking for help to sanctify

God. Each time we come under chastisement of this nature, we may tell

brothers and sisters that this is due to our offending God in a certain matter.

Our word may sound simple, but our doing this will uphold the fact that the

Lord has had no part in the matter. Why cry? Because the discipline is too

severe? Because there is hardship? These are not for crying. We ought to

see that God’s chastisement, as severe and hard as it may be, is His

vindication of Himself. Since His name is upon us, He can easily be

complicated by us. And hence He has to extricate Himself from any adverse

involvement which our actions may bring about. During the time of such

chastisement let us bow our heads and worship God, saying: I will gladly

accept such discipline; I will gladly stand on such ground. The more we

submit ourselves under God’s disciplinary hand the more He is vindicated,

and therefore the quicker discipline of this kind will pass away. This is as the

prophecy of our gathering is purposed.

Leviticus 26:40, 41

The import of the law and the testimony spoken in the word that gives light

is part of the Lord’s way, the learning of which will enable Him to be glorified

in our doings. May the blood cover our words, for they touch upon a most

serious theme. The testimony of Jesus Christ concerning himself together

with the word, “Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right

hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Why did they not

accept this testimony given by the Lord Jesus? What was their secret

thought? They had no intention of reasoning whether or not He was truly the

Son of God because they considered His confession of being the Son of God

to be one of guilt. Their aim was not at proving a fact according to the word,

it was instead one of finding an excuse for condemning. Hence immediately

after the Lord Jesus acknowledged himself to be the Son of God, they judged

His word as blasphemy and condemned Him. This showed they had no

intention of finding out whether this Man was truly the Son of God; their sole

concern was to kill Him on the ground of whatever He said which could be

used against Him. They knew not the law, neither the testimony of God.

They were children in the blindness of the darkened minds. The Lord Jesus

was condemned because of this testimony. He was sentenced to death not

because of what He was but because of what He testified as to himself.

According to the opinion of the council, truth should not be attested to. They

tried every means to overthrow this testimony, and finally they resorted to

human power to put the Lord Jesus to death. We are to give an excellent

testimony to the truth when our person and service are called into question.

Ours is an uncommon path if we are to be seated at the right hand of Power.

All who follow Him must pay attention to His testimony. Who Jesus is – this

is the foundation of the testimony. The first aspect of the testimony of Jesus

Christ is concerned with His Person. He is the central theme of the bible.

He is the mystery of godliness. Christ has done things which exceed any

power of man and that are impossible to him. He is God, therefore He acts

like God. However, Christ does all things for man. He joins himself to man

by becoming flesh. He becomes one of us, therefore He can be our

Representative. His life, His work, His death, burial, resurrection and

ascension, and His present position and work in heaven are all

representative in nature. And hence the testimony of Jesus Christ includes

His relationship with man in whatever He represents both now and before.

This is the light of men. That we know his relationship to God’s eternal

purpose. From Genesis to Revelation, today, the testimony of Jesus Christ

is deposited in a vessel which is called the election, the body of Christ. And

it is deposited in the following fashion: first, this testimony is the sum of all

the revealed truth; and second, this testimony is the power of the truth as

incorporated in the true people of God. For this testimony of Jesus Christ as

set down in the servant of God is the same truth which the Holy Spirit has

wrought out in Jesus Christ. It is therefore not a kind of objective truth for the

mind to comprehend but is that truth becoming our life, our nature and our

experience through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. And thus the

testimony is deposited in that vessel which is the election. The Holy Spirit

reveals and incorporates this testimony in the people of God, which is the

body of Christ. And we who have believed in Jesus are members of this body.

The Lord Jesus is our Representative at the right hand of God. There He

represents us in all which God may require of us, be it moral or spiritual

perfection. We are perfect and complete in Christ before God. God has

already found a perfect man in the manhood of Jesus Christ. He has

reckoned the Lord’s perfection to be ours, He has put the Lord’s perfection

into our accounts. He has no more need to find a perfect man, because He

has already obtained that Man. It is now the work of the Holy Spirit to impart

that Man’s perfection to us. Through our faith and obedience the Holy Spirit

is able to impart Christ to us. And thus Christ becomes a part of us. This

requires the work of the Holy Spirit’s revelation and incorporation. Not an

ideal, nor a theory, neither a creed. We will perceive the difference if we have

really seen. We therefore insist on the need for the Holy Spirit’s revelation

and incorporation by the law and the testimony. Concerning what the Lord

Jesus has done on the cross, it too needs the revelation of the Holy Spirit to

make it our portion. We must see that the Lord Jesus not only died for us but

also died as us. Has the Spirit of God given us such revelation that we know

that when Christ died we too died, that when He was buried we too were

buried, that when He was resurrected we reappeared in Him? On

resurrection ground the judgment is over, and there is no more

condemnation. This is the law...this is the testimony...this is that light that we

speak!

The law and the testimony are of a supernatural element. God actually

superintended the production of the Book. Its unity is the unity of a Divine

plan and its harmony the harmony of a Supreme Intelligence. In speaking

the truth of the whole law and testimony and in arranging the precepts by

reason, we can understand how Moses' grand anthem of creation glided into

Isaiah's oratory of the Messiah; that by and by sinks into Jeremiah's plaintive

wail, which swells into Ezekiel's awesome chorus, and changes into Daniel's

rapturous harmony; and closes with John's full choir of saints and angels.

One presiding mind planned the whole of the law and of the testimony. And

this Mind purposed the workmen and the work that would see that there was

agreement with what went before, and what should come after as the

carrying out of the grand plan. Everything in agreement with everything else,

because the whole word was formed in the thought of God. Herein is the

law and the testimony expressed. The whole bible is the history of the

kingdom of God. Israel represents that kingdom. All centers about the

Hebrew nationality. With our origin and progress as a peculiar people of God

being the main historical portion. Prophecy, which is history anticipated,

takes up the broken thread, and gives us the outline of our day when the true

Israel shall take its place among the nations to speak the law and the

testimony in the time of the final warning to issue forth to the world. In this

warning is increased light; the decline of spiritual life; the unity between the

beast, its image, and the world; a civilization that is wholly worldly; parallel

development of good and evil; apostasy on the part of God's people; and the

concluding judgment.

To the law and to the testimony, when we speak this word it is so elastic and

flexible as to contract itself to the narrowness of ignorance, and yet expand

itself to the dimensions of knowledge. None will have excuse for lack of

understanding. The word of God has select terms which hold hidden truths

that shall disclose the inner meaning to accommodate reality, that would be

the best solution to give understanding to the most difficult problem. Who

was Jeremiah's teacher in astronomy?...the law and the testimony. Not one

of the books of the bible could be lost without maiming the body of truth

herein contained. Every word fills a place. None can be omitted. Every word

is the most complete exhibition of the providence of God. It teaches a divine

hand behind human affairs; unbiased freedom of resolution and action as

consistent with God's overruling sovereignty; and all things working together

to produce grand results. The word exhibits God's providence and is meant

to teach us of the power that, though unseen, moves and controls all things.

The word is full of illustrations of grace. The sinner has run away from God

and robbed Him besides. The law allows him no right of asylum, but grace

concedes him the privilege of appeal.

Let us hear the context of the law and the testimony. Daniel fits into the

Revelation as bone fits socket. Leviticus explains, and is explained by, the

epistle to the Hebrews. The Psalms express the highest morality and

spirituality of the Old Testament; they link the Mosaic code with the divine

ethics of the gospels and the epistles. The passover foreshadows the Lord's

supper, and the Lord's supper interprets and fulfills the passover. Even the

little book of Jonah makes more complete the sublime gospel according to

John; and Ruth and Esther prophetically hint the Acts of the Apostle. When

we come to the last chapters of Revelation, we find ourself mysteriously

touching the first chapters of Genesis; and as we survey the whole track of

our thought, we find we have been following the perimeter of a golden ring;

the extremities actually bend around, touching, and blending. We read in the

first of Genesis of the first creation; in the last of the Revelation, of the new

creation, the new heaven and the new earth; there, of the river that watered

the garden; here, of the pure river of the water of life; there, of the Tree of

Life in the first Eden; here, of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the

Paradise of God; there, of the God who came down to walk with and talk with

man; here, we read that the Tabernacle of God is with men; there, we read

of the curse that came by sin, here, we read: "And there shall be no more

curse." To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this

word, it is because there is no light in them. The life of God is in His word.

It is a seed hiding the vitality of God. Is it a sword? Yes, but a sword that

omnisciently discerns and omnipotently pierces the human heart. Hold it

reverently; for we have the living word in our life. We speak to the Word, and

it will answer us. We hear the heart of God. The creatures of darkness will

assault this Word, and vainly seek to put out its eternal light. We are to hold

forth as the Word of Life and the Light of God, in the midst of a crooked and

perverse generation.

Love and law are closely connected. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Love

is about acting in a way that is consistent with the commandments of the law.

The word counsels God’s people in our diligence in obeying the

commandments..."love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul and with all your mind" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". This

kind of love, called agape love, is self-sacrificing, deliberate, and active, and

it's directed toward everyone, including enemies. It's not based on emotions,

but rather an act of the will, and it's about promoting the best interests of

others and working to bring them good. Love includes justice, and biblical

love never falls short of what justice requires. Because God is love, love is

over law. We do immeasurably more because we love. That moves the

motive for obedience from “doing” to “being”. Love is a choice in a

relationship. The real strength of love is compatibility and communication.

The word of God says, “speak the truth in love”. To the law and to the

testimony we share difficult truths with others in a loving way. The word says

we are to love in deed and truth. Take seriously all truth. It is the light that

illumines the law and the testimony. The great testimony to the world is

God’s love...for He so loved the world and while we were still sinners, His

Son died for us. Faith in God's love is central to our faith. It’s a confidence

that goes beyond our circumstances. Why we speak the law and the

testimony? So that others who doubt and have questions can experience

true, God-designed love and come to faith. Studying God's word can help

people understand this connection and how to live it. And then the testimony

of the love of God begins to reveal itself in a most specific way. They learn

of an everlasting love that draws them with lovingkindness. God is never

deterred by circumstances or the confrontation by His enemy and ours, from

seeking the lost, and bringing all believers into a deep relationship, and

knowledge of His love. How could it be otherwise, since the believer’s

highest good is Christ Himself? To know and experience this love of God,

though we are limited in our capacity to fully grasp and understand it, is God’s

greatest testimonial expression in drawing us to Himself. How then do we

know that He loves us? To the law and the testimony He works to draw us

to Himself, working through circumstances to create a thirst, and hunger, that

can only be met by Presence. The thirst and hunger that He gives is the

demonstration of love with its first and foremost objective being to save the

soul. This is why Christ’s life is that light spoken in the law, in the testimony.

The magnitude of this love is as deep as Christ’s desire and resolve to bring

us into fellowship with Himself that we may have salvation. It is by this love

that we proclaim the testimony. It is the very word of God. The grace and

truth of the law. The manifestation of God in the flesh. The show of love at

the cross. Redemption, freedom, justification, atonement. It is the

confidence that God performs the work for us while transforming us by the

indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There is no reliance upon self in proclaiming

the law and the testimony. It is a power that comes from God.

That we are not to stumble or fall, God binds up the testimony and seals the

law among His faithful people that we not lose our attachment to it. We are

speakers for God. The ministry of intercession shows that our Savior is

constantly performing for us. He has given us his word and we are sanctified

through the truth of that word. The repetition of the testimony and the law in

Isaiah suggests an aspect of God’s revelation. The law of the LORD is

perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise

the simple. God's testimonies instruct us what to believe, and His law

instructs us how to behave. God secures His word in the hearts of His

people, and God now calls us to attend to that authoritative standard for

doing the law and faithfully expressing the testimony of God’s holy justice

and free grace. Those who abandon the authority of the scriptures condemn

themselves to wander in darkness.

The law and the testimony are not an unknown thing. It may not be well

understood. Every human being in the world, every child in our family, every

person that we work with, everybody in our neighborhood has an inborn

knowledge of God, according to Romans, and an inborn knowledge of the

moral law of God. This means, among other things — the implications are

many — that when we are speaking to the law and to the testimony to people

about faith and about why we live the way we live and what God expects of

us, we are not starting from scratch with people. There are profound things

already in their hearts that God may make use of to help them see what we

are saying. There comes a time when we understand the principles of our

creation and who we are. Suddenly these things are illuminated to us and

the cords of our hearts do vibrate. This is the time when testimony enters

into our very souls and we know beyond a question of a doubt that God is

our father - that He lives, that He is a reality, that we are literally His children.

Those who will strive to do God’s will and keep His commandments will

receive personal revelation as to the divinity of the Lord’s work in bearing

testimony of the Father.

The law of God has fallen on hard times. More accurately, it has fallen on

hard hearts. Misunderstanding about what the law does is the cause. Not

knowing God is not understanding the permanence of His law. The

testimony speaks to the source of God’s law, the uniqueness of God’s law,

the goodness of God’s law. It is the light of the law and the testimony that is

not only showing the truth of life, but it is also the light that is searching for

the fugitive sinner. This law, this testimony exposes sin and its

uncomfortable results. But this light most surely cast a powerful radiance

upon the place of refuge where the guilty conscience can be cleared. That

place is Jesus Christ. When the light of the law casts its glare upon Christ,

all it sees there is His perfection, perfection freely and fully given to sinners

who trust in Him. The law of God, the works of which are written upon the

hearts of men, functions to restrain iniquity and order life. This is how the

Holy Spirit operates in “common grace”. We are to help others to gain that

testimony which is most vital in their preparation to know truth as it is in the

word of God. The word of God is enough for both what is done in the law

and what is believed in the Testimony. It provides a standard for judging any

teaching or claim, stating that if someone doesn't speak in accordance with

the Word of God, it's because they lack light. From where to you get your

wisdom? Go to the scripture.

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📖 Applying the Study

For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

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