“When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him,
Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”—Mark xii. 34.
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 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 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[1].”
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 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[2].” “Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of
God[3].” “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[4].” By St. James: “Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all[5].” By St. Peter: “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue
. . . knowledge . . . temperance . . . patience . . . godliness . . .
brotherly kindness . . . charity[6].” 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[7].” 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[8].”
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 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[9];” “He that doeth truth,
cometh to the light[10],” 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[11].” On the other hand:
“He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also[12];” “If ye had known Me, ye
should have known My Father also[13];” “Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father[14];” “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[15].”
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[16].”
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[17].” Joseph,
St. Mary's husband, is called “a just man[18];” Simeon is spoken of as
“a just and devout[19]” man; Nathaniel, as “an Israelite in whom was no
guile[20];” Joseph of Arimathea was “a good man and a just[21];”
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[22].” 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[23]. At Thessalonica a great multitude of religious Greeks
believed[24]; 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[25]. 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 words of Scripture) have
walked in the ordinances of the Lord blameless[26]. 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[27]. 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 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[28].” Or, in the still more authoritative words of Christ
Himself, “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also
in much[29];” and, “He that hath, to him shall be given[30].”
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 light[31].” 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 mooted,” 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[32].” 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[33].” 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 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[34];” 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 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 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[35]. 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[36]; 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 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.
[1] Eccles. xii. 13.
[2] Rom. xii. 2.
[3] 1 Cor. vii. 19.
[4] Phil. iv. 8.
[5] James ii. 10.
[6] 2 Pet. i. 5-7.
[7] John xiv. 21.
[8] Matt. v. 19.
[9] John vi. 46.
[10] John iii. 21.
[11] John vii. 17.
[12] John xv. 23.
[13] John viii. 19.
[14] 1 John ii. 23.
[15] 2 John 9.
[16] 2 Cor. iv. 4.
[17] Luke i. 6.
[18] Matt. i. 19.
[19] Luke ii. 25.
[20] John i. 47.
[21] Luke xxiii. 50.
[22] Acts x. 2.
[23] Acts xiii.
[24] Acts xvii.
[25] John iv. 3, 7.
[26] Luke i. 6.
[27] Luke xv. 7.
[28] Prov. viii. 17, 20.
[29] Luke xvi. 10.
[30] Mark iv. 25.
[31] Eph. v. 14.
[32] John i. 12.
[33] Gal. vi. 7
[34] Acts xxiii. 1.
[35] Rom. x. 8.
[36] Zech. iii. 4.