Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. We are going to pick up with verse five. But let's begin reading in verse
one and we'll read down to verse 11. First Timothy one verse one says,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God, our
savior and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope unto Timothy,
my own son in the faith. grace, mercy, and peace from
God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee
to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou
mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither
give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions
rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do. 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 men-stealers, 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." Now,
this is what Paul just told Timothy. He said, as you pastor the Ephesians,
as you pastor there in Ephesus, teach them to not follow any
other doctrine, but the doctrine that God has given in His Word. Whatever this Word says. We don't
follow the commandments of men. We follow the commandments of
God, the commandments of God only. He said, which some have
swerved from. And he is right. Some have swerved
from this word. He said, desiring to be teachers
of the law, when they don't even understand what they're teaching.
Men are standing up trying to teach the law, having no idea
what they're even talking about. He said, the law is good, If
a man uses it lawfully realizing that the law was not made for
a righteous man, but for centers, that's who the law was made for
centers. He was made for every soul who
is contrary. to the glorious gospel of the
blessed God. Now, I just wanna read a few
verses again and let's see that that's what he's saying. Verse
five again says, 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 men-stealers,
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." He said,
that's who the law is for. Now, I want us to understand
three things from this, this morning. Number one, Paul said,
the law is good. I believe this is, if the Lord
will make it to be a blessing and not just a college lecture,
I believe this will be very insightful to all of us. The law is good. The law is not our enemy. The
law is not our enemy. You know, you get a hold of grace
and then it's almost like people say, well, that's just law. You know, like it's a bad thing.
That's just the law right there. Well, the law is good. God's
law is good. Just listen to the 10 commandments. There are thousands of commandments
in here. Just listen to the 10 commandments,
okay? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. God is saying
this. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, no idol. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt
not covet. The law is good. It's good. The law condemns the ungodly. That's good. The law condemns
murder. That's good. The law condemns
men stealing, slavery, trafficking. The law condemns that. That's
good. The law is good. Everything about
the law is good. All right, that's the first thing
we need to say. The second thing is, Paul said,
the law was not made for a righteous man. It was only made for sinners. If we want a clear understanding
of how the Lord Jesus Christ saved us, if we want to really
understand, get our minds and our hearts around how Christ
saved us, it is in that right there. The law was not made for
a righteous man. It was only made for sinners. Now, this is how salvation came
to us. Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans 3. Romans 3, verse 19 says, Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin." Every man under the law, and
I'm gonna stress the word under. Every man under the law has to
shut his mouth and stand before God in his guilt and sin. Every man or woman under the
law is a man or woman under the weight and burden of sin. If a man has no sin, All right,
if a man has no sin, he's not under the law. He's not under
the law. Where there is no law against
sin, there's no sin. Where there's no sin, there's
no law against sin. And here's the best way I know
to describe it. I've been describing it using this illustration for
years. I believe it's a good one. There's a roadway in Germany
called the Autobahn. It has no speed limit. If you
want to drive 50, drive 50. If you want to drive 150, drive
150. Either way, you are justified. There is no sin. A guy passes
you at 150 miles an hour, there's no sin. He's justified in doing
so. If a man has no sin, he's not
under the law. The law was not made for a justified
man, a righteous man. The law is not given to a righteous
man. The law does not hang over a
righteous man. It only hangs over lawless, disobedient,
ungodly sinners. And what the law does is it exposes
that sin to them. That's the purpose of the law.
That's why the law was given. Now turn with me to Galatians
4. Galatians 4 verse 3 says, But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son." God sent forth His Son, His sinless,
spotless, holy Son. Verse 3 says, were children. We were in bondage under the
elements of the world, bondage to sin. That's where we were.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His
Son, the Son of God, the perfect One, the spotless One. He is called in the Scripture,
Jesus Christ the Righteous, the Righteous One. God the Father
sent His sinless, spotless, holy, pure, righteous one. Verse four says, but when the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. Do we understand what that means? That means even though he knew
no sin, all right, let's establish the fact that this righteous
holy one was sinless. But even though he knew no sin,
he was made to be sin. Why was he made sin? Why was the Holy One made to
be under the law, under the weight and bondage and conviction of
the law? Verse five says, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. That's the reason why. He said,
I did not come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. I
came to obey it. The law was not made for a righteous
man. The law was made for a sinner.
So in order for Christ to redeem His people from their sin, He
had to be made under the law just like them. It took Him bearing
our sin for us to be adopted into the family of God. Ephesians
1 says, The Father predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. That was accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ being made under the law. And with Him being
made sin under the law, we were made to be the very righteousness
of God in Him. That's trading of places. That's what freed us from the
condemnation of the law. He made us to be righteous. And the law has no hold, it has
no dominion, it has no authority over those who are righteous. Isn't that good news? Free from
the law, made righteous in Christ, just like the autobahn. There's
no transgression of the law. That's how we stand in Christ.
No transgression of the law. The law has nothing to accuse
us of. Nothing to convict us of. He was all laid on Christ.
He was accused. He was convicted. He was punished. He was judged. So, number one,
the law is good. Number two, the law was not made
for the righteous, only for sinners. But the third thing, is this,
just because God's grace has redeemed us from the curse of
the law, do we make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. Now, here's the third thing.
The law is good, as long as a man or a woman uses it lawfully. The word lawfully means properly,
rightly. And may the Lord teach us this,
really teach him. I believe this is a very confusing
subject for a lot of believers. Are we under the law? Are we
not under the law? Do we like the law? Do we hate
the law? David said, I love your law.
Is the law our friend? Is the law our enemy? What about
the law? Well, The law was not given to obtain
life. May God turn the light bulb on
for all of us. Because I'm telling you, false
religion believes the law was given so sinners could obtain
life. The law was not given for the
purpose of obtaining life. The law was given to expose sin. Sin was happening, and God said,
here's my law. Okay? The law was not given by
God for men and women to obtain eternal life by. People are so
distressed. I pray this will be a help to
any soul who's so distressed, just so distressed, thinking,
I'm not gonna obtain eternal life. I'm not gonna obtain salvation
because I'm not obeying and fulfilling the law. Some may have themselves
fooled into thinking they are, but I don't have myself fooled. I know I'm not. I know I don't. Eternal life, salvation, it does
not come to us by the obedience of the law. The law was not given
for the purpose of obtaining spiritual eternal life. Christ
was given for that. The Lord Jesus Christ was given
by God the Father. The only begotten Son was given
for that. Using the law to try to obtain
eternal life is using it unlawfully, incorrectly, wrongly. Christ
is how sinners obtain eternal life. Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. The law is just pointing men
and women to Christ, revealing Christ, showing the character
and person of Christ. Look at Galatians 3. We're right
here in Galatians. Look at Galatians 3 verse 21. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. That means justified by looking
to Christ and hoping in Christ and trusting in Christ. The law doesn't save anybody.
Do we see that? Christ does. Look at Galatians
2 verse 21. Galatians 2 verse 21 says, I
do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If we could earn salvation
by obeying the law, then there was no point in Christ dying.
We're not saved by obeying the law. Trying to use the law that
way is using it unlawfully, not correctly. If we look to the
law for life at the expense of looking to Christ for life, meaning
if we miss Christ because we're so focused on the law, that very
law is the thing that will condemn us. Look at Galatians 3 verse
10. It says, For as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. That means you break one,
you break them all. If you didn't break one, you
would be righteous and the law would not hang over your head.
If you break one, you've broken them all. Verse 11, but that
no man is justified by the law and the sight of God, it is evident,
for the just shall live by faith. Look into Christ. And the law
is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in
them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. that the blessing of Abraham,
that promise, that covenant given to Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. So what is using the law lawfully? Our Lord perfectly, wisely, simply
told us in Matthew 22. Now put a marker in Galatians.
I'm almost done. And then we're gonna flip back
to Galatians one more time just before the end. So put a marker
here and go to Matthew 22. What is using the law lawfully? Matthew 22 verse 35 says, Then
one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, asked the
Lord Jesus Christ a question, tempting him and saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law, and the prophets. He said the first one is love
the Lord your God with all your heart. What's the great commandment
of the law? Love the Lord your God with all
your heart. And he said the second one is
love your neighbor as yourself. He said on those two commandments
hang all the law. Now let me show you how right
our Lord is. All right, let me show you how
correct He is. If you haven't seen this, I pray
this will be a blessing to you. Turn with me to Exodus 20. Again, there are thousands of
commandments, but using His 10 that He gave, Exodus 20, Look at the first four. Verse
three says, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Verse four
says, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, no idol
that would take your eyes off of me. Verse seven says, thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And verse
eight says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. All four
of those have to do with loving the Lord, our God. Know that
God's before me. Don't take your eyes off of me.
Don't take my name in vain and you remember my day. All four
of those have to do with loving the Lord, our God. The other
six have to do with loving our neighbor. Verse 12 says, honor
thy father and thy mother. Verse 13 says, thou shalt not
kill your neighbor. Verse 14, thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not lie. And thou shalt not covet. Don't
covet your neighbor's house or his wife or anything that he
has. All of those have to do with
loving our neighbor, loving the Lord, our God. and loving our
neighbor. What is using the law lawfully?
It's using it in love. Love. The whole law hangs on
and is built on love. Using the law lawfully is obeying
it out of love for God and love for each other. That's the very
first thing Paul said in our text. Promise. I am almost done. Go back to
our text. Still holding Galatians. First Timothy one verse five. Okay. This is how Paul began
this, this portion. First Timothy one verse five.
He said, Now the end of the commandment,
the end of the law, is charity, love. The end of the law is love
out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. The end of the law is love. The end of the law is Christ.
Christ is love. God is love. People say, what
do you mean the end of the law? What do you mean the end of the
law? So you're just lawless? That's
what people want to know. You mean, wait a minute, without
the law, looking to Christ only, not by the deeds of the law,
so you're just lawless? No, not at all. We're not lawless. We just use
the law lawfully in love, loving our God, loving
our brethren. I'm going to close with this
scripture, Galatians 5. Galatians 5 verse 13, it says,
for brethren, You have been called unto liberty,
freedom. The prison doors are open. You're
free to go. Brethren, you've been called
unto liberty. Only use not liberty, use not
your freedom in Christ for an occasion to the flesh. Don't
use it as an excuse to sin. Well, I'm not saved by the law,
I'm saved by grace, so here we go. Brethren, you've been called
unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another. Serve one another. With the motivation
of trying to earn salvation? No, with the motivation of trying
to love each other. Just trying to love each other.
Second Corinthians 5.14 says that the love of Christ constraineth
us. Well, what constrains us? If
we're free from the law and if the law, then what constrains
us? The love of Christ constrains
us. Love for God to desire his word. We want this commandment. We love this word. Love for God,
love for our brethren. Honestly, because of my love
for you, I don't want to steal from you. I really don't. Because of my love for my father,
I don't want to dishonor him. I just don't. What constrains me? The love
of Christ. That's all. Love, that's using
it lawfully. The law is good. Christ became
our substitute and he redeemed us from the curse that the law
had to lay on us. Therefore, for love's sake, we
use the law lawfully. All right, I pray the Lord will
make that to be a blessing. You're dismissed.