Chapter 3. — Love — the Fear of God.

BOOK 2.—OUR DUTY TO GOD.

CHAPTER 3. — LOVE — THE FEAR OF GOD.

HAVING shown that the Bible must be our standard and guide on the subject of morals, we are now prepared to inquire for the outline of our duty as set forth in that volume. On this subject writers on morals have differed in their plans, but they have generally contemplated “the whole duty of man” as embraced in three grand divisions:

1. Our duty to God.

2. Our duty to ourselves.

3. Our duty to one another.

The particular classification we may adopt is not important, provided all our duties be embraced, and each be presented in its true light. In the largest acceptation of the terms, our duty to God would cover the entire circle of our obligations; for all our duties to ourselves and to our fellow-creatures are founded upon the revealed will of God; and, by neglecting any of them, we are rebelling against the divine authority and treating God’s commandment with disrespect, and, of course, coming short of “our duty to God.” Therefore it is clear that he who performs his whole duty to God, in this broad sense of the word, must also perform his duty to himself and to all other persons.

Nevertheless, as there are some duties which pertain more directly to God alone than others, it may be useful, as a matter of convenience in discussion, to adopt some classification on the subject. And we can conceive of no division of duty which commends itself to us so forcibly as that adopted by our Lord when he enunciated the two great commandments of love to God and love to man as comprising the entire law. “On these two commandments,” said he, “hang all the law and the prophets.” In presenting this grand epitome of the Decalogue, our Saviour was only carrying out and affixing his own sanction to that more ancient division upon the subject which had been so clearly intimated in the original communication of the law at Mount Sinai. The two tables of stone — the first comprising our duty to God, and the second our duty to man — exhibited in a tangible form, more durable than marble, this grand classification of morals. Doubtless the mind of our Saviour adverted to this fact, as he adopted the same division while substantially reissuing the Mosaic Decalogue in that beautiful and more comprehensive edition set forth in the two great commandments to which we have referred. Therefore we conclude that the entire system of Christian morals is embraced under the grand divisions of —

I. LOVE TO GOD.

II. LOVE TO MAN.

Or the same thing is more largely expressed thus:

1. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

2. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

We need not stop to show how complete, and yet how plain, is this classification! It is too obvious to be controverted, that he who fulfills these two commandments must necessarily not only perform his duty to himself, but he must fully discharge every conceivable obligation of every kind whatever.

We now proceed to consider more particularly —

OUR DUTY TO GOD.

I. The first duty we owe to God is LOVE. Indeed, in the full sense, love comprises all duties; but there is a specific sense in which love may be viewed as separated from other duties. Contemplated in this acceptation, love to God implies —

1. A due appreciation of the divine perfections.

That is, we must love him for what he is in himself. Having a just conception of the purity and excellence of the divine essence — the harmonious unity of all the divine attributes and their beautiful exhibition of every conceivable phase of goodness — the affections of the soul flow toward God in emotions of approval, admiration, and delight. Thus, the “heart and the flesh crieth out for the living God,” saying, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.”

2. As we contemplate the divine goodness, whether exhibited in the works, the providence, or the redeeming mercy of God, this love assumes the form of gratitude.

Our duty of loving God, in the sense of gratitude, is far more than a mere sentimental admiration of the disinterested benevolence of Heaven, as seen in all his works and ways. It implies an inwrought spiritual apprehension of his redeeming, regenerating, adopting, sanctifying, and saving goodness. It is in this profoundly deep and spiritual sense of the phrase that the Psalmist exclaims: “I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications;” and St. Paul says: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead;” and St. John declares: “We love him, because he first loved us.”

3. Love to God implies, unreserved and filial submission to his authority, and obedience to his commandments.

The Psalmist uses the term in this sense, when he says: “Great peace have they which love thy law.” In the same sense our Saviour uses the term, when he says: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” And again: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” And St. John says: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” And St. Paul declares: “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”

From this clear and scriptural view of the duty of the love of God, as an internal principle of grace imparted by the influence of the Holy Spirit, and absorbing the affections and molding the life, being essential to the “keeping of the law of God,” how meager and defective must be the teachings of nature, as a standard of morals; and how important must it appear that we adhere, on this subject, closely to the teachings of the divine word!

II. The second duty, under this head, which we shall notice, is THE FEAR OF GOD. This implies a reverential awe of the Divine Majesty, and a dread of displeasing a Being of so holy and excellent a character; and is entirely distinct from that servile, tormenting emotion, which the guilty, unrenewed heart may feel, resulting from the apprehension of punishment for sins committed. It is a filial, tender, and respectful emotion, fitly illustrated by that lovely regard which an affectionate, dutiful child may feel for a worthy