Gods Sabbath

T HE S OURCE OF E VERYTHING

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individual the freedom to apply His principles to their lives if they so choose. Because God wants to give us His light and life, He makes every possible provision for us to be trained thorough ly in His ways. Therefore, if we fail to learn or practice His prin ciples, the fault lies entirely with us, and never with God. When we break our connection with God, we destroy ourselves. So when we violate His law does that also destroy us? God’s word tells us that “sin is the transgression of the law.” ( 1John 3:4, KJV) and “the wages of sin is death” ( Romans 6:23). Every time we break the divine law we rob ourselves of life. The more we continue in this direction, the more rapidly we age and the soon er we die. These facts could lead to the erroneous conclusion that if breaking the law takes away life, then keeping it will restore life. Consequently, some people devote their lives to keeping the law and teaching others that the solution to every problem is found in its strict observance. What they fail to understand is that the law can never give life. The apostle Paul stated this truth clearly: “If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.” Galatians 3:21. But there is no law in existence “that could impart life.” To look to the law as the source of life, is an extreme position, which is untenable. But we must beware of rejecting this ex treme only to accept another—the casting aside of the law alto gether. This equally extreme position cannot be justified either, for while the law has no place as the life giver, it still has a vital place as the life preserver. To put it succinctly: connection with the infinite Source gives life; obedience to the divine laws pres erves this life; and disobedience destroys it. In the final analysis, it is separation from the Source that is the ultimate cause of death. This is proved by the fact that if Ad am and Eve could have continued to eat from the tree of life aft er they had sinned, they would have lived forever as immortal sinners. That was why God denied them access to the tree after their transgression. “And the L ORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.’ So the L ORD God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” Genesis 3:22, 23.