All right, turn with me, if you
would, to 1 Timothy chapter one. First Timothy chapter one. Let's
read the verses that will be our text for this Bible study. It's verses five to 11. Now the
end of the commandment is charity, which means love. Out of a pure
heart and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, that
means not put on, not faked, sincere faith, true believing
faith, 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 started
in verse five by telling us the conclusion of the whole matter.
He said, this is the end of the commandment right here. Love,
love out of a pure heart and mind and faith in God, the father,
God, the son, and God, the spirit. And that is the end of the whole
matter. That's the end of the whole matter. I want to show
you some verses and then I want to tell you something that will
clarify what that means. Look with me if you would at
1 Corinthians chapter 13. First Corinthians 13 verse one
says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
and have not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling
symbol. I'm just, just rattling off.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, men love to try to
read into prophecy and think about it. Though I have the gift
of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
And though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains
and have not love, I'm nothing. I'm nothing. Though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to
be burned and have not love, it profits me nothing. He said
in verse 13, now abideth faith, hope, Love these three, but the
greatest of these is love. About everything that God gives
faith, hope, love. He said the greatest is love. All right. Now look with me at
Romans 13. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 10 says, love worketh no ill to his neighbor,
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Verse eight says, owe no man
anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. He said in 1 Corinthians 13,
if I don't have love, I don't have anything. It's above faith. And you think about how critical
is faith? It's above faith. It's above hope. Right here,
he said, if a man loves, he has fulfilled the whole law. All
right, does that mean that all we have to do is love and we
can forget about every other commandment in the law? No. Turn with me to John 13. John 13, verse 34. Our Lord said, a new commandment
I give unto you that you love one another. As I have loved
you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples. If you have love, one to another. Our Lord said, if you love, that
will be the evidence to everybody that you belong to me. If you
have this love, this pure, particular, sincere love, then that's the
evidence that I have loved you. And if Christ loves his own,
he provides for his own and he fulfills everything that his
own needs. That's the evidence that he's
already fulfilled the law. If you possess this love, that's
what he's saying. Then that's the evidence that
it's all been fulfilled for you. This God given God produced love. That love is not what fulfills
the whole law. That's what evidences the fact
that the law has been fulfilled. Does that make sense? Turn with
me over to Matthew 22. Now what is this love? What kind
of love specifically is he talking about? Matthew 22, verse 35. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him 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. And notice that the word
Lord is capital L lowercase, O-R-D. That's Jesus Christ, 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." Now, doctrine is knowing the
truth about God. Salvation is loving the truth
about God. Knowing doctrine is knowing the
fact that He is absolutely sovereign over all things. Knowing salvation is loving the
fact that He is absolutely sovereign over all things. There is a difference
in knowing the truth about Him and loving the truth about Him. There is a difference in knowing
that I need to be in Him. There's a difference in knowing
that I need to be in Him and needing to be in Him. There's
a difference. Doctrine is a head work. Salvation is a heart work. That's what that 18 inches means.
Salvation is roughly 18 inches. Doctrine is a head work. Salvation is a heart work. Out
of the heart are the issues of life. Our fulfillment of the
law. He said all of the law is fulfilled
in this love. Our fulfillment, it only comes
from a loving union with Christ. That's the only way that any
sinner can fulfill the law. It's in Him, in what He did. We must have this loving connection,
this loving union with Him. Well, how do I know if I'm in
a loving union with Him? Am I in a loving union with Him? How can I know if I'm in a loving
union with Him? Here's how I can know. My heart
will tell on me. Don't you love watching two people
fall in love? Do you remember falling in love? Don't you love watching two people
fall in love? They are completely taken with
each other. They're the only two people on
earth. If there's a way that they can
be together, they're gonna be together. They are constantly thinking
about each other. They're constantly talking to
each other. And what they say to each other,
all of it comes right out of the heart. I love you. I need you. I don't want to go
one more day without you. I want to spend forever with you.
I want you to be mine and I want to be yours. Well, where are
we going to live? I don't care. I live in a cardboard box with
you. When that is what the heart is
crying for Christ, you are in a loving union with Him. And for all who are in a loving
union with Him, this is what He has to say to them. Alright,
look with me at Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5 verse 17, it says, Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Who is he saying that
to? you if you're in a loving union
with Him. He did not come to fulfill the
law for Himself. He came to fulfill it for His
people and that's what our text is saying to us. Go with me back
to 1 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 9 says, Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man. He didn't come down here to fulfill
the law for himself. He is the righteous man. He's
the only righteous man that ever walked this earth. So he didn't
come to fulfill it for himself. He came to fulfill it for his
love, his bride. And Paul told us right here who
that was. Alright, this is who they are.
And if we're in this union with Him, this is us. Alright, this
is us. Verse 9 says, Knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient, for the ungodly. Who did He commend His love to? The ungodly. and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
haters of parents, and for manslayers, murderers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers,
men-stealers is slave traders, that's what the word means, slave
owners. You know who was a slave trader?
I heard something on a particular man. John Newton. Yeah. John Newton. It was an amazing, the very man
who wrote Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, that saved a
wretch like me. That man felt what he wrote. This is what he said about himself.
He said, I was so vile. He said, I was such a blasphemer.
You think about John Newton. Oh, Brother John Newton, you
know Brother Newton. He said, I was such a blasphemer,
I could cuss for an hour and never say the same word twice. That's who God saved. Verse 10, he goes on to say,
for liars. Do you see yourself in any of
this? Perjured persons. Have you ever promised somebody
you'd do something and then didn't do it? If there be any other
thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, that's who the law
is for and that's us by nature. That's all of us. But because
of our union with Christ, an end to all of that has been made. An end to our sin against the
law. An end to its demands of us. And that truth And that fact
is the glorious gospel of the blessed God that's been given
to us. And that's what verse 11 says,
according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was
committed to my trust. But this is what Paul is warning
us of right here. He said, some have turned from
the glorious news of Christ, right? This glorious declaration
of what he's done concerning us, concerning the law. And they're
preaching empty lies, and he calls it vain jangling. Empty lies. Telling men and women
that if they want to be saved, they're going to have to do something
that they can't do. Look at verse 5 again. It says, Now the end of the commandment
is charity, love, love for God as He declares Himself to be
in His Word, the true and living God, love for Christ in who He
truly is and what He's done, love for His Word, love for His
Gospel, love for everything He accomplished for His people in
spite of His people with no help from His people. Verse 5 says,
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. That describes a lot of men and
women today. Look with me at Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 1, it says, brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Every time I read that verse,
it really gets me. I mean, I can stick the word
Kingsport right there where it says Israel. I pray God might
do a work here. Verse 2, he said, I bear them
record that they have a zeal of God. But it's not according to knowledge.
Only God can give that knowledge. For they, in their own flesh,
by nature, they being ignorant of God's righteousness, what
God did. That's the thing. Men and women
are ignorant of what God did. And the only way a man or woman
can learn it is if God reveals it to them. But they're so ignorant of what
God did. If a sinner ever learns what
God did, he will rest from his own works as God did from his. He'll stop. Ignorant of what God earned,
what God provided for his people and covered his people in. Verse
three says, they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. There's no pure heart
and good conscience and sincere faith for Christ, who is God's
righteousness. God's righteousness is a person.
And verse 3 says, They, being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that believeth. That is the glorious gospel of
God, what Christ did for His sinful people to redeem them. to satisfy the law for them and
to bring them back to God. That's the good news is that
everything is satisfied. Everything is satisfied. God
is satisfied. His justice is satisfied. The
law is satisfied. We're satisfied. Everything is
satisfied. If you hear a man stand up in
a pulpit and say that you're going to have to keep the law
or there's no hope for you, It's called vain jangling. It's empty
lies. Don't believe it. Don't listen
to it. Christ said it's finished. He said, you come to me and I'll
give you rest. I'll give you rest. Let me show
you that in first Corinthians six, we're almost done. First
Corinthians six. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, it says,
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God and such were some of you, but you are washed." That's good
news. What are we washed in? The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 11 says, and such were
some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. Now go back to our text and we'll
close with this. Verse eight says, But we know
that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. In our flesh,
in our flesh, all that we can do is condemn ourselves. That's using the law lawfully. If you want to use it lawfully,
open it up, read what it says, slay yourself, condemn yourself,
judge yourself, you will have then used the law lawfully. Alright? But in the Lord Jesus
Christ, now that's in the flesh, but in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in that union with Him, in everything that He did for us, all that we can do as you go
through that law, is justify us. In Him and in what He did
and what He accomplished, everything that He satisfied, if the law
is satisfied, if He is the end of the law for righteousness,
then all you can do is justify all of His people before God. He is our justification. And
seeing that in this law is using it lawfully. That's the correct
use of the law. And in that, we clearly see why
the end of the law is love. That's what he said. The end
of it all is love. That's what it produces. And
that's all that's left to do. All right, we'll leave on this
note. Here's the great question. What
must I do? What must I do? Here's the answer.
Love Christ. Thank Christ. Thank Him for everything
He's done for us. The end of the law, the end of
the commandment is love. And verse 11 says, that is the
glorious gospel of the blessed God that's been committed to
us. All right, you're dismissed.