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Satan Attacks God’s Law, Part 1
Cancelled On the Cross?
While Christ refuted Satan’s accusation that God’s law could
not be kept and that God’s character was one of stern justice, Satan now
brought forth another deception:
By His life and His death, Christ proved that God’s justice did
not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is
righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed. Satan’s charges were refuted. God had
given man unmistakable evidence of His love. . . .
Another deception was now to be brought forward. Satan declared that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of
Christ abrogated [abolished] the Father’s law. Had it been possible for the law
to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have died. But to abrogate the
law would be to immortalize transgression, and place the world under Satan’s
control. It was because the law was changeless, because man could be saved only
through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Yet
the very means by which Christ established the law Satan represented as
destroying it. Here will come the last conflict of the great controversy
between Christ and Satan.
That the law which was spoken by God’s own voice is faulty, that
some specification has been set aside, is the claim which Satan now puts
forward. It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world. He
needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept,
his purpose is gained. For “whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble
in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10. By consenting to break one
precept, men are brought under Satan’s power. By substituting human law for
God’s law, Satan will seek to control the world. This work is foretold in
prophecy. Of the great apostate power which is the representative of Satan, it
is declared, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall
persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and
law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand.” Daniel 7:25.
The Desire of Ages, p. 762-763
There was something the devil must do in order to
be most successful in his war against the law of God:
Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to
discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the word that even
the Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ
presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” To every
suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the word. In
order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the authority of
the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible
would exalt God and place finite men in their true position; therefore its
sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was adopted by the
Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation of the Bible was
prohibited. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it in their houses,
and unprincipled priests and prelates interpreted its teachings to sustain
their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as
the vicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority over church and state.
The Great Controversy, p. 51
Once it was prohibited that the common people should have
access to the Bible, what would Satan do next?
All Scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version,
including those originally quoted by Ellen White from the King James Version.—Editors
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