Ecclesiastes 12:13

Still, the wisdom of the upright and the folly of the fool each have their own consequences, and in the end God judges. To sum up the whole, God must be remembered, and that before weakness and old age overtake us. For the obvious conclusion of all that has been said is "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man."

A distinct division follows. Sinful man should not expect happiness except in God. "The whole of man" is to "fear God and keep His commandments." The phrase does not mean his duty. It means the one thing for man, the one principle of life. God will bring every work into judgment.

He would tell the creature of the Creator. He is not charged to proclaim grace; he is not empowered here to offer salvation. He speaks to God's creatures, who are responsible as such to Him who made them. The Creator will take notice of, and make judicial inquiry into, the actions of His creatures. This none can escape, and of this all need to be reminded.

Ecclesiastes looks at this world under the same government, in its present fallen state. It asks whether man can find happiness and rest there by any means. There is no trace of the knowledge of redemption. Nor is there any recognised relationship with God. The name used is always Elohim (God), never Jehovah. Fearing God and keeping His commandments is the whole duty of man as such.

This is great wisdom, but does it help man? Does it bring comfort to his soul? Does it give him what satisfies his heart? God is in heaven and man on the earth, he said before. There is an immeasurable distance between. And this masterly conclusion of the royal searcher still leaves God and man apart. There is not even the faintest glimmer of light. Man is a sinner; how can his sins be forgiven? How can man, with a sinful heart, "obey commandments"? What about that judgment of every hidden thing? Alas! no answer.

Alas! he thought that he had feared God and kept His commandments. Now none have fully done that; hence the necessity of the work of Christ.

Is there contradiction in the two conclusions? Not at all. Ecclesiastes deals with "man's duty" while he lives "under the sun," and with God's judgment in the very last verse. Romans presents man's complete failure and guilt, and God's justification. The entire difference consists in this — that the cross of Christ comes between the two books.

Christ confirms this, and He alone gives us far more as in Him. He lets us into heavenly things and the divine nature, in a way that no one could know or enjoy back then. But to fear and obey Him is ever right.

Sovereign grace appears. It saves him, makes him a new creation, and changes the whole ground of responsibility. It does not cancel the command — the duty of fearing God. Instead it puts him where the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled in him, and it supplies the power for that.