PAUL made a very significant statement when he declared, in his second epistle to the Corinthians, that "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." The words quoted maybe applied to all the formalities of the Christian religion, the mere perfunctory following of which is of no more value than a formal compliance with the rites and ceremonies specified by Moses. That many adherents of Christianity in their efforts to aid humanity have displayed the unselfish love and kindliness to be expected of a true Christian cannot be questioned; but that more of the spirit of Christ is necessary in our relations with one another must be evident to all. It is refreshing, in this connection, to read the Bible accounts of those who were able to rise above selfishness and bring forth in their lives a measure of the divine nature. In reviewing some of the outstanding incidents in their careers, one can but be inspired and uplifted; for, although the stories have been told countless times, they never grow tiresome through repetition, but inevitably find a response in the human heart because of the fact that they exemplify man's true nature as the reflection of God, infinite Love.
Abraham's kindly counsel to Lot, when their herdmen quarreled because the land upon which they had settled seemed insufficient to support the two companies, and his attempt to prevent the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, notwithstanding the sinfulness of their inhabitants, reveals a spirit of Christliness that was natural and spontaneous with the patriarch. While he is reported as yielding to the rite of sacrifice, it is plainly evident that his worship of God was from the heart, and that his concession to such a ceremony was in no sense superficial. Until, possibly, the time of the exodus, it would appear that his simple worship was carried on by his descendants. This would seem to be implied in the case of his son Isaac, in the beautiful picture given in the Bible account of his meeting with Rebekah; for he is described as having gone out into the fields at evening to meditate, when he saw the party coming which brought to him his future wife. Jacob, purified by his trials and exile, was led to the same simple worship; and it was his communion with God, divine Love, which enabled him at Peniel to see his brother Esau, from whom he had been estranged for many years, as though he had seen God's image and likeness instead of a sinful, hateful mortal, and thus to heal the rupture between them.
With the exodus of the great body of Israelites from Egypt, however, there seemed to arise the necessity for a system of rules to guide and govern the people; and Moses received through divine guidance that code of laws which to the present day may be traced in both civil and ecclesiastical statutes. These laws were intended to keep up the Israelites' plane of thought; but, as time went on, they were only superficially obeyed. To such an extent did the people fall away from the spirit of these laws that Isaiah declared mere formal compliance with them to be abomination; the solemn meeting, under such circumstances, he termed iniquity; while he interpreted true religion as the ministration of love and justice and obedient fellowship with God—the very religion of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Elijah, jealous for the Mosaic worship of God, went so far as to instigate the execution of the priests of Baal in order to protect such worship. While a fugitive because of this rash act, he learned the lesson that the elements of the carnal mind to which he had yielded, and which were typified by the destructive elements of earthquake, storm, and lightning, had no part in God, whose gentle and harmonious ministrations were expressed in the "still small voice." This fact was no doubt apparent to Daniel; for, when cast into the den of lions because he worshiped God in accordance with the teachings of his fathers, and contrary to a man-made law, he laid his deliverance, not to the fact that he had complied with the Mosaic law, but to the Christly elements in his consciousness, the possession of a loving, forgiving spirit, without blame in the sight of God and man.
