"GOD'S RULE IS FOR MAN'S GOOD"---C.R. NICHOL AND R.L. WHITESIDE

                        "God's Rule is for Man's Good."

       God seeks the present and eternal good of man;

      Satan seeks the present corruption and eternal ruin of man.

      It must be evident to every one who believes in God, that

        whatever God requires is for man's good.

     His commands grow out of man's needs.

     "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23),

        hence God in his mercy and benevolence supplies man's

       most urgent and fundamental needs by directing his steps.

    God's rule therefore is benevolent, not tyrannical; and his

       commands are manifestations of His grace, and not antagonistic

       to it.

                           Commands and Grace.

    It is unfortunate that some religious teachers have placed the grace

      of God on the one side, and the commands of God over against it,

     thus, making them antagonistic, and have taught that if man

     obeys God's conditions of salvation he is not depending on the

     grace of God, and that if he depends on God's grace the keeping

     of God's commands is a matter of no consequence.

    But the person not blinded by false theories sees in all God's

       commands his grace or favor for man.

   God has shown man how to live; He has taught him the true

       philosophy of life.

   It is easy, therefore, to see that man's highest good and happiness

      lies along the pathway of obedience to God.