As I said, you see our title,
The Purpose of God's Law. Now we know that God's law really
is anything that he commands of
us. And we know that he also He'd give his law, even in the
garden, he told Adam not to eat of a certain tree. That was the
law of God. That was the command of God.
And he'd give the old covenant, the law of written on tables
of stone, the Ten Commandments, and also the ceremonial law that
gave relief. when they did disobey that law,
that they brought that sacrifice. He gave the dietary laws, but
all of these laws that he gave pointed to Christ and that old
covenant in picture and in type for the nation Israel. But I'll
go ahead and I'm gonna say some things this morning that speaks
on the law of God and its purpose. And to begin with, I'll say this. What a man considers being the
law of God and its function clearly reveals whether or not he has
a true understanding of the nature of the kingdom of God and his
righteousness. The Pharisees were the straightest religious
leaders on earth during the time of Jesus Christ as he walked
this earth. They were strict keepers of Moses'
law as they understood it. They also had reverence to many
additions and even modifications of that law, which in their mind
made it even more strict, and in their darkness made it more
desirable. They thought that an open display
of the letter of the law was to be greatly admired, and they
even sought to teach other men to respect this outward religious
display in the same fashion. The Lord despised their understanding,
and he criticized them, saying in Matthew 23, 15, woe unto you
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye can pass sea and land
to make one proselyte, And when it is made, you make him twofold
more the child of hell than yourselves. The Pharisees were typical of
the natural descendants of Abraham at that time, and really of all
men who take delight in any sort of self-righteous religious.
Those whom Paul described in Romans 10, two through three,
as having a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. The Pharisees viewed the law
of Moses as a series of codes which they should implement and
observe in order to be saved. They missed the whole purpose
of the giving of that law and being ignorant of true righteousness
They thought they could keep the law and therefore be acceptable
to God. Their understanding lives on
in the minds of those who would make the keeping of Moses' law
to be the ongoing duty of children of God. But that man who was
taught the true nature and purpose of God's law is made to repent. of ever thinking that anything
done by him or in him could ever recommend himself before God. Scripture's clear. By the law
is the knowledge of sin. All those whom the Lord is pleased
to instruct in true righteousness have no hope of being able to
keep any coded law, regardless of how simple it may seem in
the natural mind. Let's look at what the Apostle
Paul says of himself here in Romans 7, verse 7. Paul says,
what shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but
by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said thou shalt not covet. Paul now asks, what shall
we say then? Or what conclusion shall we draw
concerning God's law? In order to understand why Paul
asked the question here in verse seven, look back at verse five,
where Paul says, for when we were in the flesh, that's prior
to regeneration and conversion, the motions of sins, which were
by the law, trying to keep that law for salvation, did work in
our members to bring forth, and this is what it brings forth,
fruition to death. That's all it brings forth. Paul
here describes the effect of the law on himself and those
whom he addressed before conversion while he and they were under
the law's dominion and under its control. It's to be in bondage
to that law and being totally controlled by it, therefore tempted
to keep it in order to gain favor with God and to be saved by your
obedience to it. Paul says in the latter part
of verse five that all of those works of law aimed at obtaining
salvation only results in fruit under death. Then it says in
verse six, but now we are delivered from the law that being dead
wherein we were held that we should serve in the newness of
spirit and not in the oldness of letter. Paul has spoken of
their deliverance from the law as well as his own deliverance
Now in the following four verses, he illustrates what were the
effects of the law on himself prior to regeneration. While
Paul rejects the supposition that there was anything evil
in the law itself, he shows that by the strictness of its precept,
those precepts in the law, which excited the corruptions of his
own heart. Paul says that the law accomplished
its intended goal by convincing him that he was a sinner, and
therefore the law was the instrument of much good. For he would not
have known sin to be sin, but by that law. Paul had shown how
the law could not justify a sinner or make him righteous before
God, and that all the law could do for a sinner is condemn him. Romans three beginning verse
19 says, now we know that whatsoever, that what thing soever the law
saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of law,
by the deeds of law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law can
show us the deadly disease of sin, but it cannot provide the
cure. Can we conclude that the law
itself is sinful or the cause of sin? Paul says, God forbid. Paul then shows the first and
foremost purpose of God's law revealed to sinners, which is
to expose our depravity and the impossibility of salvation by
our efforts to keep the law. He says here in the last part
of verse seven, nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for
I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet.
Paul shows how God, the Holy Spirit, used the law to expose
not only outward sins, but also the depravity of the heart. Man
by nature, as we're born into this world, knows something of
the sinfulness of outward, immorality, outward actions, immoral actions,
and immoral deeds. But by nature, he knows nothing
of the utter depravity of our own hearts by nature. Look at
what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 17, 9. He says, the heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? Man by nature does not know that
sin is not only what he does, but what he is. Fallen human
nature is nothing but sin in the eyes of God. Paul saw this
as the Holy Spirit revealed the spirituality of that law in sins
of the heart, of evil desires, and of coveting. All of those
things deserve eternal death. Just as much as outward sinful
deeds which also deserves eternal debt. Look at what Christ says
in Matthew five, beginning verse 21. Christ says, you have heard
that is said of them of old time, thou shalt not kill and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of judgment. But I say unto you
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a call shall
be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raka, or good for nothing, shall be in danger of the council.
But whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell
fire. And in Matthew 5, 27, 28, you
have heard that it was said of them of old time, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Some of you might not have experienced
this, but prior to regeneration and early in your life, but most
of my life before God revealed the gospel to me, I heard preachers
speak about all these inward thoughts as only temptations
and not committing sin. You're just tempted. They spoke
of a temptation which was without and not within. It only became
sin when you give in to that temptation. When you are taught
these sort of false teachings, all you're doing is hiding a
multitude of sin. How in the world can you see
how and what a wretched sinner you are when sin is only sin
when it's outwardly committed? That's where Paul was before
regeneration. This is where the apostle Paul
was and until God revealed to him how that the law reaches
the inward parts of the heart, the mind, affection, and the
will. You might say, well, didn't you
see what Christ said here in these verses in Matthew back
then? Yes. I'm sure I read them, but
due to the blindness of my own heart and the other teachings,
it just covered it up. And it fit better with my theology
that I believed and was taught all of my life. Folks, it is
sinful to do an evil deed, but it is also sinful to desire to
do that evil deed. Thou shalt not covet. I'm going to say something here,
and this is off of my lesson here for a minute. I think about
this often now with a lot of politics and religion, a lot
of politics, rather. Socialism. Socialism where you
really, it's not a fact of people earning what they get, and it's
a fact that people want what somebody else has had, what somebody
else has got. They don't think it's right.
And one person might work hard and achieve great things in life,
and the other person has a problem with doing that, but they're
always wanting what somebody else has got. That's coveting. That's coveting. They don't see
that as coveting, but that's what it is, is you wanting what
somebody else has got. But I believe that God used this
10th commandment of thou shalt not covet with the Apostle Paul
that sin is not only in outward acts and immorality, but is also
in the thoughts of men, their inward desires. A sinner who
has been enabled to truly see the spiritual application of
God's law, if he truly sees what Christ has stated back here in
Matthew that we just read, he will begin to understand how
holy God is. And he'll flee to Christ for
refuge and salvation. He has no hope in himself. He'll
cry out for mercy. Now, unless God does a work in
you by his Holy Spirit, you'll never understand the condition,
your condition by nature. You'll never see your need for
righteousness outside of yourself, one that you can't work out.
You'll see that anything that you try to do all those works
of law that you do is not going to be sufficient. It's not going
to take care of it. God requires perfection. That
standard of judgment is Christ. That's clear in Acts. And that's
perfection. And none of us can meet up to
that standard. Now, you'll be satisfied with
the God of your imagination until God does His work in you by His
Spirit. You'll continue attempting to work out a righteousness of
your own, thinking all the while that God is satisfied with those
outward deeds of law. Paul ends verse seven with, I
had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust
except the law had said thou shalt not covet. And then in
verse eight here, it says, but sin taken occasion by the commandment
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, for without the law, sin was
dead. Some of these verses here might sound a little difficult,
but the problem for natural, sinful, fallen men is not the
law, but it's sin within us. The law only commands goodness
and forbids evil. The fact that sinful men have
abused the law to their own damnation, it doesn't discredit or disgrace
the law itself. Paul says, but sin taken occasion
by the commandment. Once the spirituality, once God
revealed the spirituality of the law to Paul, he then was
able to see all manner of sin within him. all manner of concupiscence,
which is any evil or unlawful desire. It was Paul's own sinful
mind and heart that took the opportunity prior to regeneration
and conversion to pervert God's law and to make a system of works
out of it. Remember, God's law revealed
to sinners has a twofold purpose. First, to expose our sinfulness. That's what the law is meant
to do, and the fact that we deserve death and cannot make ourselves
righteous by our efforts to keep the law, and also to drive us
to Christ for mercy, for grace, and for righteousness and eternal
life. Mankind by nature does not use God's law in this way. We use it unlawfully. Men by
nature have left to ourselves, we'll pervert the law in one
or two ways. We'll either openly rebel against
it, or we'll seek to be saved by our efforts to keep it. And
both are evil. Then the last part of verse eight
says, for without the law, sin was dead. Without the true revelation
of the law by the spirit of God, sin was dead. Before regeneration
and conversion, Paul thought he was not a sinner. Sin was
as though it were dead in him. He thought he was righteous before
God. Look at what he said in Philippians 3 beginning verse
four. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any
other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
more, In the flesh I more. Circumcised, he goes about talking
about all these things that he was proud of before God saved
him. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. A Hebrew of Hebrews
is touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless. Like I said, he thought he was
blameless. He thought he kept the law. Paul
had a lot of confidence in his law keeping. Sin was dead or
dormant in Paul at that time prior to God saving him. God had to stop him in his tracks
and reveal to him by his spirit that sin is not only an outward
act, but an inward thought causing him to flee to Christ, fall of
salvation. In verse nine here in Romans
seven, Paul says, for I was alive without the law once, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Before God, the Holy
Spirit revealed to Paul the reality of the law and how it condemned
him for his sin, Paul saw himself as alive, alive and deserving
of eternal life based on his efforts to keep the law. And
while a Pharisee who, though he was born under the law, was
brought up and instructed in the law, and was a strict observer
of that law, yet was without the knowledge of the spirituality
of it. Paul, as the rest of the Pharisees, religious leaders
at that time, thought it only regarded outward actions and
did not reach to the spirits and souls of men, the very inward
thoughts and affections of the mind. The law was as it was,
as it were dormant or asleep in Paul, it had not yet entered
into his heart and conscience. And while this was his case,
he was alive. He did not know that he was actually
dead in trespasses and sin. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, as
for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin. In other
words, by nature, As we're born into this world, all men, without
exception, are dead as to our understandings and our will and
our affection as it relates to spiritual things. This was a
truth that once God saved Paul by his grace in Christ, he was
well acquainted with. Before God saved Paul, he saw
himself as being blameless concerning the laws of man. and therefore
concluded that if ever any man went to heaven, he certainly
should, since, as he imagined, he lived a whole and righteous
life, free of all blame and even to perfection. Then Paul says
in the last part of verse nine, but when the commandment came,
the commandment here, speaking of the spirituality of the law,
as God revealed that law to him, who he was, until he did this and placing
that law in his heart and conscience. This was when the Holy Spirit
convinced him of sin by revealing the full extent of the law. Then
he says in the last part of verse nine, sin revived and I died.
Then he saw he was a sinner. Prior to that, he was blameless.
but when God revealed himself to him, showed him the spirituality
of the law and what demands of that law truly was, he says,
sin revived and I died. Then Paul, along with all believers
who have been regenerated and converted, was able to see Christ,
who is the true standard of judgment, that is, perfection. And at that
time, Paul was able to see his own sinful corruption. This shows
that sin is not only is not actually dead before God does his work
in the center. It only seems dead. It's dormant
within our mind. It was as it was, dormant or
asleep in the center. The sin was always there, is
always there within Paul, but once God revealed the spirituality
of the law, the apostle's sense and apprehension of it greatly
multiplied, And once Paul saw this in himself, he died as to
any hope of salvation by his law keeping. Paul found that
he was still a sinner and deserved nothing but damnation and hell
based on his best efforts to keep the law. This is what it
means to be truly slain by the law. The law is holy and righteous
and good and will only expose sin in the center. Every true
believer knows by experience the truth of all that the apostle
declares in these verses here. He knows that as soon as his
eyes were opened to discover the law and the spirituality
of it, he understands in himself the fearful working of that corruption
in his heart. He knows that the corruption
was even increased by discovery of the strictness of the law,
which makes not the smallest allowance for sin, but condemns
it. Such is the effect of law when
the eyes of the understandings are first opened by the Spirit
of God. Now in verse 10 here, it says, and the commandment,
referring back to verse nine, where Paul says, but when the
commandment came, and the commandment which was ordained to life I
found to be unto death. The law was appointed and given
to Israel to point them to the way of righteousness and eternal
life in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. It included the Mosaic
law, or the law given to Moses, which included the Ten Commandments,
along with the ceremonial law, which in picture and type reveal
Christ as the only way to obtain eternal life. This is how the
law, was ordained to life, pointing them to Christ. The law was never
given to the Israelites for them to gain eternal life by their
obedience to those precepts, nor is it given today, as we
look back at it. Romans 3 verse 20 says, therefore,
by the deeds of law, there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. and in Romans
5.20, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. The Mosaic law was appointed
and given to Israel to point them to the way of righteousness
and eternal life in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Galatians
3 verse 24, It says, wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ that we might be
justified by faith. It was appointed and given by
God, not for them to seek righteousness by their works, but to expose
their sinfulness and their need of salvation by God's grace in
Christ, the Lamb of God. The law is only ordained and
alive as it kills us. for many hope of salvation and
righteousness and eternal life by our works and drives us to
Christ and to his shed blood and to his righteousness being
freely imputed for all of salvation, righteousness and eternal life.
Before Paul saw the extent of the law, he thought it was ordained
to live based on his works to that law. But Paul says in the
last part of Verse 10 here, I've found to be unto death. The law
was ordained alive, but through sin, it was found to be unto
death. As soon then as it came home
to Paul's conscience, he found himself condemned by that law,
from which he had previously expected life by his law keeping. It then destroyed all hope. of
eternal life that he had once held based on his works of law. The law, however, which was ordained
alive, will in time be proved to have obtained its objective
in all who have been slain by it. Now verse 11 here, for sin
taken occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me.
Paul confesses, as in verse eight, that it was his own sinful mind
and heart that was controlled by self-will and self-righteousness. This is what perverted the commandment
and turned it into a system of salvation by works. And in the process, it, or sin,
deceived him. That's what deceived him, that
sin. by nature that we're all raised up in, born in, until
God saves us. That's all it does is it deceives
us into thinking that we can keep it, keep the law for salvation. Then Paul says, and by it slew
me. Even though Paul failed to see
his deception in his state as an unbeliever before the Spirit
of God revealed it to him, he found that sin, that the sin
he previously thought was dead in him, in reality very much
alive. Sin was not dead in him, but
he was dead in sin, like we all are by nature. Sin, by binding
his mind as to the extent of the demands of the law, had led
Paul to believe that he could fulfill it and obtain justification
alive by keeping the law. So sin deceived him into thinking
that he could keep it in order to be saved. The Apostle Paul,
as all of God's elect, do not stay in this unregenerate state,
being dominated by our sin nature. In time, God sends his spirit
to regenerate, convert the sinner by revealing to us the law of
spiritual application. Before God does this work in
the sinner, sin is never brought to such a test as to reveal to
Paul and all of God's elect, the law's real power and strength. But when he was enlightened to
see this, sin by the law slew him. Now, let's look at the last
two verses we'll deal with this morning, where Paul will see
his conclusion of all that we've said up until now. In Romans
7, beginning at verse 12, Wherefore, the law is holy and
the commandment holy and just and good. Was then that which
is good made death unto me, God forbid, but sin, that it might
appear sin, work in death in me. By that which is good, by that
law which is good, that sin by the commandment might become
exceedingly sinful. Here Paul proves that the fact
that he abused and perverted the law unto his own death was
not due to any fault in the law. Does this mean then that the
law is deadly? God forbid, or may it never be.
The law is holy, but it cannot make us holy. The law is just,
but it cannot justify us before God. The law's good, but it can't
make us good. This does not mean that the law
itself is a fatal commandment. The law did not cause our death
and sin. It was sin that did all of this. The reason God, the Holy Spirit,
uses the law to slay us is not to leave us dead. He reveals
the reality of sin and the exceeding sinfulness of sin to drive us
to Christ. for righteousness, for salvation,
and eternal life. The law of God is holy and just
and good. Sinners are just the opposite.
By nature, we are unholy, unjust, and evil. We're ungodly. As I
stated earlier, men by nature, if left to ourselves, will pervert
the law in one or two ways. We'll openly rebel against it,
or we'll seek to be saved by it. Both are evil. Thank God that he does not leave
us in this state, and in time, God the Holy Spirit causes us
to see the spirituality of the law, and he does this in order
to expose our sinfulness, to show us that we're sinners, and
the fact that we deserve death and cannot make ourselves righteous
by our efforts to keep the law. He reveals the spirituality of
the law, to us in order to drive us to Christ for mercy, grace,
and righteousness. Therefore, the law, which is
holy, just, and good, is not the cause of death in the sinner,
but sin is the cause of death, which by the law is exposed and
caused to be seen as exceedingly sinful. May God teach us the
true nature and the purpose of the law May he make us speechless
before its demands and strip us naked and bare in its presence
and cause us to flee to Christ for our only hope of salvation
and eternal life. May he show us our true nature,
how we're born into this world as sinners, by showing us that
by nature we're like the painted suffragette. And y'all familiar
with that is Christ talked to the Pharisees there and scribes,
and he told them, he says, on the outside, you look real. Think of this. Think of one of
these cemeteries that you've seen and how it's well-kept,
pretty grass, and you got those tombstones around, and they're
whited tombstones. That's what this sepulchre is.
Think about how it appears outwardly. And by nature, we can outwardly,
like Paul did, appear real righteous outwardly. And Christ told the
Pharisee, outwardly, you seem real clean, real clean. But he says, in actuality, what
you really look like is what's on the inside of that grave. And that's how we are by nature. And I pray that God will reveal
this, and he will, in time, to all of his elect. He did with
me, because I remember reading those verses. And I said, that's
me. That's when I was a Pharisee,
too. And I said, that's me. Well, I hope God will use this, this
message this morning. Amen.