Law and Gospel: The Witness of the Law
Exodus 20
“A recent survey by George Gallup Jr. revealed a startling trend in our culture. According to Gallup the evidence seems to indicate that there are not clear behavioral patterns that distinguish Christians from non-Christians in our society. We all seem to be marching to the same drummer, looking to the shifting standards of contemporary culture for the basis of what is acceptable conduct. What everybody else is doing seems to be our only ethical norm…The very word “law” seems to have an unpleasant ring to it in our evangelical circles.” (Article, “The Law of God, RC Sproul)
Definitions of Law
It is important to define what exactly is meant by the term, law, in the context of the Bible. In its broad sense, it refers to the Scriptures authored by Moses, the Torah- the first five books of the traditional Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Law, in its narrow sense, refers to the list of commandments and regulations placed upon Israel in a special sense and generally the expectations of God to the whole world . (Rom.2:14: Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law). The Ten Commandments are Definitely God’s expectations and requirements to the Whole World.
Christ's relationship to the Law is that He became the perfect fulfillment of the expectations foretold in the Mosaic Books, the requirements in the Ten Commandments, the Sacrificial mandates and regulations, 613 in all. In the Person of Jesus Christ, ALL OF THESE find their fullness. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom.10:4). That is, Christ is the "goal", fulfillment, and "purpose" of the Law's demands and direction. What the Law demands IS FULFILLED and ACCOMPLISHED in Jesus Christ alone, but the Law is not abolished in Christ! (Incidentally, there are actually 1050 NEW TESTAMENT expectations and commandments (LAWS) to Christians.)
An Experiment with God’s Law
Let’s try an experiment. I’m going to cite a few passages from Psalm 119 for our reflection. Try to sort of crawl into the skin of the writer and experience what he felt when he wrote these lines thousands of years ago:
• 97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (v. 97).
(Ray Comfort said: “The psalmist didn’t say, “Oh, how I love Your ark! Or your tabernacle.” It was God’s holy Law that he loved and revered and when we give the Moral Law its rightful place, we will truly see the power of His presence—something that causes demons to tremble.”
• 111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
• 112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
• 131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.
• 143 Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight.
Does this sound most present day Christians? Do we hear people talk about longing passionately for the law of God and expressing their sheer joy and delight in God’s commandments? Sounds foreign to our culture, doesn’t it. Some will surely say, “But that’s Old Testament stuff. We’ve been redeemed from the law and our focus is on the Gospel, not the law.”
Let’s continue the experiment. Let’s read some excerpts from another biblical writer, only this time from the New Testament. Let’s hear from a man who loved the Gospel, preached it, and taught it as much as any mortal. Let’s hear from Paul:
• Romans 3:19-20: Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God ; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight ; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
• Romans 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
• 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. (Romans 7:8).
• 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. (Romans 7:12).
• 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; (Romans 7:22).
Does this sound like a man who believed the law of God has no place in the Christian life? Read Paul carefully and you will find a man whose heart longed for the law of God as much as David’s. Several things to notice here: 1. The overwhelming biblical and preserved evidence concerning both men is that THEY were BOTH sinners! Would anyone disagree with that? The evidence of their lives is that GOD exercised His Grace and Mercy to BOTH MEN. 2. Both repented of their sins and turned in FAITH to God alone in order to save them. 3. They both displayed the evidence of changed lives found in the gracious forgiveness of God, provided by the Savior: David anticipated and believed in the COMING Work of Christ and Paul believed in the accomplished WORK of Christ, and they BOTH delighted in God’s Law and God’s Word.
The Purpose of the Law of God
So what is the purpose of the Law of God for us today? Is the Law still applicable? Of Course! The Law is a perfect MIRROR. On the one hand, the law of God reflects and mirrors the perfect impeccable character and righteousness of God. (Examine Leviticus to see HOW HOLY God IS!) The law reveals the GREAT GIVER of the LAW, the Supreme Sovereign Almighty God. God is actually the Law's primary concern!
Psalm 7:7-11 says: The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
The second goal of the Law is to reveal the sinfulness of man, man’s total depravity and inability to pleas the Holy Almighty God, and so the law also acts a MAGNIFIER of the deplorable sinful nature of fallen man. The law shows that all have sinned and there is NONE WHO IS RIGHTEOUS, no not one. (Romans 3) Since man has failed in ALL attempts at keeping the Law, it follows that righteousness is not attained by the Law. Such righteousness is achieved by His blood and granted by faith alone (Rom.3:28: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Rom. 5:20-21: “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”) Jesus and the Good News offered in Him contain the full-value of the righteousness which God requires.
Chas Spurgeon said: “Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law.” The law acts as our severe schoolmaster, highlighting our severe and deadly weaknesses so that we might find seek the strength found ONLY IN CHRIST.
A second purpose for the law that it RESTRAINS EVIL. The law, in and of itself, cannot change human hearts but at the same time serves to protect the righteous from the unjust. 1 Timothy 2: 1-2 says: 1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” John Calvin said this purpose is “by means of its fearful denunciations and the consequent dread of punishment, to curb those who, unless forced, have no regard for rectitude and justice.” The law is a means of God’s mercy and grace to ALL on this present earth as a limited measure of justice on this earth, which allows ALL people to live with a measure of peace until the last and final judgment comes.
The third purpose of the Law “is to reveal what is PLEASING to God. As born-again children of God, the law enlightens us as to what is pleasing to our Father who created us to seek and serve Him. The Christian delights in the law as God Himself delights in it. Jesus said, “IF you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This is the highest function of the law, to serve as an instrument for the people of God to give Him honor and glory.” (Essential Truths of The Christian Faith by R. C. Sproul)
“By studying and meditating on the law of God, we attend the school of righteousness. We learn what pleases God and what offends Him. The moral law that God reveals in Scripture is always binding upon us. Our redemption is from the curse of God’s law, not from our duty to obey it. We are justified, not because of our obedience to the law, but in order that we may become obedient to God’s law. To love Christ is to keep His commandments. To love God is to obey His law.” (Essential Truths of The Christian Faith by R. C. Sproul)
The Law actually INSTRUCTS ALL the people of the world, but not ALL will be instructed. Many REJECT the Law of God, even as many in the Church are doing today. The church today has been largely been invaded by antinomianism, which says that the moral law is of no use to us because faith alone is necessary to salvation. Basically, these people have no regard for God’s LAW, which weakens, rejects, or distorts the law of God. The Law reveals the grateful and perfect pattern and will of God for our lives as we remain on this earth.
“The law tells us how to have a good life. (not how to be saved) It tells us how to be blessed. It tells us how to do what we were made to do… the law is the gateway to joy. This is less because, especially for believers, God sends thunderbolts down on us when we disobey Him, or rose petals on us when we obey. It is more because the law is good in itself. Obedience is blessing long before obedience brings blessing. We were made for this. David certainly needed the law to convict him, to point him to his need for Christ. But he sang, “Oh how I love your law”, (Psalm 119:97) for the joy that it brings. God’s law is not a list of pleasures we are not allowed to have, a list of delights we are not allowed to touch. It is instead pleasure and delight. Having been, while yet unbelievers, restrained, having been at our conversion convicted, having been in our walk instructed, may we be in our hearts, as we will be in eternity, ever joyful.” (RC Sproul JR., “The Three-fold Use of the Law”)
Throughout Church history, periods of revival and reformation testify there has been a profound awakening to the sweetness of God’s Law because, in actuality, the law drives us to the Gospel and drives us to STAY in the Gospel. The Gospel saves us from the curse of the law AND it directs us back to the law to search its spirit, its goodness, its beauty, and the Greatness of Our God. The Law of God is still a lamp to our feet: Without it we stumble and trip and grope in darkness.
There is NOTHING on earth that is more precious than the Gospel and there is no one sweeter in all the universe than the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and HE is portrayed, not only on the Cross and at the Resurrection, but also in the Law of God. Seek the law of God—to “pant” and “hunger” after it—delight in God’s Word and in God’s Law. In the Law are the very Words of Life.
Psalm 37: 30 says: “The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. (WHY? Because) 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.”
I. DEFINITIONS of the “LAW”
II. EXPERIMENT with God’s “LAW”
A. Psalm 119:
B. Romans 3 & 7:
III. The PURPOSE of the “LAW”
A. The Law is a perfect MIRROR and MAGNIFIER. (Psalm 7:7-11)
B. The Law restrains EVIL. (1 Timothy 2: 1-2)
C. The Law reveals what is PLEASING to God.
Psalm 119:9-16 Romans 7:7-25 Romans 8:3-4 1 Corinthians 7:19 Galatians 3:24 .
God created man to be with Him and Honor Him Alone. (Genesis 1-2)
Our sins separated us from God. (Genesis 3)
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds, only by the Son. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)
Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)
Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)
Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)
