The Good Use Of The Law Series

Good Use Of The Law

1 Timothy 1:5-11

INTRODUCTION:

A. Video Illustration

B. As you where watching the video, what were you thinking?

1. What where you thinking about the Law? I’m talking about the 10 Commandments?

2. Consider this:

a. Addressing a national seminar of Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup said, "We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments.

b. And Bill Ricks, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock AR, gave us some surprising insight into our nation’s ignorance of the law in a message he preached, “A Gallup poll (concerning the Ten Commandments) given several years ago revealed 85% of Americans believe the Ten Commandments are still binding today. However, only 15% could name five of them. This is not terribly surprising considering the secular slide our country has had in the past 50 or so years. But what is surprising is what Newsweek once reported about supposed religious folks. Newsweek reported that of people who go to church, only 49% of all Protestants and 44% of all Roman Catholics could name FOUR of the Ten Commandments.”

C. So what about the law? The Ten Commandments?

1. Are they for today? Why are we even talking about it today?

2. Are they good or bad?

3. Should we teach them as God’s standard or should we present them as good guidelines?

4. If they are good, how should we use them?

a. To bring condemnation?

b. To enlighten people as to God’s ideas concerning morality?

5. Are they for everyone or just a select group of people?

6. In our message for this morning we will answer these questions and more, I hope.

D. This morning the title of our message is “Good Use of the Law” and our text is found in 1 Tim. 1:5-11 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

1. On our message will consider three things

a. Our reason for looking into the law

b. Our Assessment of the Law

c. And finally, Our Use of the Law

2. Let us pray and ask God to shed some light on the Law, the Ten Commandments for us this morning.

PRAY

We begin this morning by understanding

I. OUR REASON FOR LOOKING INTO THE LAW, 1 Tim. 1:5-7 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

A. If you remember: Paul had written this letter to his son in the faith Timothy

1. He had charged the young man to put an end to all the false teaching that was going on within the church at Ephesus

2. In doing so his motivation was to be love: from a pure heart, good conscience and true faith.

B. This had become necessary because some had turned from love and to making something of themselves.

1. Note the word “swerved” also translated “straying” or “wandered”

- Concerning this word, John Kitchens in his commentary on the pastoral epistles says, “It means to miss the mark, to swerve, to fail to aim at. Rienecker says “the word indicates taking no pains to aim at the right path. ”

2. In other words those who were teaching false doctrine were not concerned a bout whether or not what they said was right or wrong, they were looking to gain a following and turned to fruitless discussions using fables and endless genealogies missing the mark, the purpose for the law, totally.