Okay, so I guess I'll go ahead
and get started. And if you would, let's be turning
to 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. And I'm gonna read verses eight
through 11 of 1 Timothy 1, eight through 11. 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. You know, before the time that
God opened my eyes, you know, there were some doctrines, election,
you know, this may not be something that necessarily everyone else,
you know, had this problem, but God brought the doctrine of election
to my eyes before he opened my eyes. And I hated it. And, you
know, I didn't think it was anywhere in the scripture, but when God
opened my eyes, I could see election all throughout the scripture.
The same thing is true of the law. And I didn't mean for this
topic to come up with such force to me when I first started looking
at these things. But I now see this all over this
book. I want to be clear, it is not
my purpose to denigrate the law of God. God most assuredly gave
us the law for a specific reason. I hope to show that. Although
I hope we all know here that it takes God Almighty's power
to believe it. We read here that the law is
good, but let's hold on just a minute. It is good if a man
use it lawfully. This is not saying if we do not
use it lawfully that the law is no more wholly just and good.
That is not what it's saying here. It's saying that it is
good to use the law when you are teaching men and women about
it. if you use it in your teaching lawfully, meaning you tell them
what the purpose of the law is. If you do not do this, then it
is not good to use the law. If you tell them it is good for
something it is not used for, then it is not good. It is not
good for the one teaching it, and it is not good for those
hearing it. If a man uses the law to tell us that we can gain
righteousness before God, That is not good, is it? God tells
us this in Romans 10, 4, for Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. This is a very
key point in which we all pass over because of the striking
finality of this point. We see that it says here, the
end of the law for righteousness, and rightfully so. I'm not trying
to diminish what's being said there, but we oftentimes, me
being one of the biggest offenders of doing this, but we see the
striking comment and we do not give heed to the rest of it.
First of all, it is Christ who is the end of the law for righteousness,
but it is also true that this is only to everyone that believeth. But this is also true. If a man
used the law to tell us that we can live however we please,
no matter what God tells us, this is also bad, isn't it? Romans 6 says, what shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? If you think you are given by
God to absolutely disregard all that Christ did, then you are
deceived. The law of God has a purpose,
and God gave it for a specific purpose. God has brought so many
passages to my eyes once I started looking at these things. I will
be upfront with you, though. I still know very little, and
I wished I knew more. So let's look at this morning
as we read in our text, let's look at who is the law not made
for? Who is the law made for? What
does this mean to us? So who is the law not made for?
It tells us in our text, 1 Timothy 1, 9, knowing this, that the
law is not made for a righteous man. Now this seems quite simple
enough of a statement, and it is. But it brings up a question
in my mind. Who is righteous? I read in scripture
there is none righteous. No, not one. If no one is righteous,
then the law must be made for all. The answer to this is yes,
it is. I know some may think I am being
wishy-washy or back and forth, because I've said I will take
on the accusation of being antinomian when it comes to the law of God,
the Ten Commandments. But hold on just a little bit
and you will see what I'm talking about. I think most of you know
where I'm going. None of us, as we are born in
Adam, are righteous before a thrice holy God. We are told that even
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. We know
this at Sovereign Grace Chapel. There's not a one of us who being
born from Adam can say we are righteous before God. However,
There is one man who can say that. There is one man who is
righteous before a thrice holy God, Jesus Christ the Lord, who
we are told is the righteousness of God without the law. Because of this, we know the
law is not made for Jesus Christ. Scripture confirms this, and
we have all heard this recently. Romans 3, 21 and 22 we read. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God is by
faith of, and this means it is his, it is who he is, and this
is a righteousness that is without the law. Jesus Christ manifest
a perfect righteousness as a man. So it is evident the law was
not made for him. And the scripture tells us that
it was not made for him because the law was not made for a righteous
man. So who is the law made for? Continuing
on with 1 Timothy 1, verses nine and 10. 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. This is who the law is made for. very clear right here in this
passage. Now, who are these people? The
law is for everyone born of Adam. But if you go ask men and women,
are you these things? Most are not going to tell you
that they are one of these things, but there are some. There are
a few people who will admit this to you and they will not do this
by their own power. They will do this by the power
of God if he enables them to see what they are. Now don't
get me wrong, all of mankind is these things. They just cannot
see it about themselves. What God uses in grace to show
them who he is, he has chosen in his son what
they are. God uses, in grace, this law,
in grace, to show them who he is, who has chosen in his Son
what they are, the law. Romans 7, 7 we read, 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. When we see the law
sent by God in grace, it will show us we are not holy. It will, in fact, show us we
are unholy. It will show us we are not righteous. It will, in fact, show us we
are unrighteous. It will show us we are not good.
In fact, it will show us we are evil, and that continually. Galatians 3.21 we read, 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. This tells us here that life,
that is righteousness, could not come by the law. It could
not come by it then and it cannot come by it now. If it could have
come this way, Paul tells us, then righteousness should have
been by the law. The fact is we are spiritually
dead as we are born in Adam. The reason we cannot keep the
law is because we are dead in trespasses and in sin. What does
it go on to say in Galatians 3 verses 22 and 23? But the scripture
hath concluded all under sin 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. To have life is to have righteousness. To have spiritual life is to
have righteousness. That is the indication in the
verse we just read. Do we get life from the law?
Absolutely not. We are told it cannot give life.
The law is weak through the flesh. This flesh cannot do or keep
God's holy law. And I will keep saying this.
The scripture is talking about the 10 commandments. This flesh
is dead in trespasses and in sin. Now there are a lot of people
who will agree with what I just said, even those who cast out
aspersions about someone being an antinomian. They will say
this flesh cannot keep the law. I have more to say on this later.
What is the reason we were given the law? What does scripture
tell us why the law was given? Romans 5.20 we read, moreover
the law entered that the offense might abound. Sin was already
there because death has passed upon all men, which we read right
there in Romans 5. The law entered so that the offense
might abound. The law being brought in this
flesh just rebels even more. So much so that the offense abounds. What else do we read about the
law and what it does? We've already talked about it
a minute ago, and it's used by God in grace to his people as
a schoolmaster. But what does this schoolmaster
do? Romans 3.19. Now we know that what thing 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. The law of God gives no man any
reason to boast before God. No man will be able to say to
God, I kept your law as you required me to do. If God sends you his
law in grace, it will shut your mouth so that you know you have
nothing to boast in. You will come to see and you
will only see this by grace, but you will see I cannot do
this. Romans 3 20 we read, 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. We know
sin by the law. The law is in fact what gives
sin its strength. That's what scripture says. But
we have one more thing that I want to mention that the law does.
Second Corinthians 3.9. For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, the law, the 10 commandments ministers, it is the servant
of God to minister death to the hearers of it. But what does
Paul say in Romans 7, 9? For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. The law kills us. That is, it
kills his people. If we are dead, and we are, if
we have sinned against God and his holy law, and we have, what
is the benefit to me of the law? What does this mean to us? I mean, it would seem that we
are in a predicament, wouldn't you say? We are in a tight spot
and we cannot get out of it ourselves. This is when we read and God
opens our eyes to passages such as the following, which gives
us a beacon of hope. 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath
made him sin for us who knew no sin. For what purpose did
he do this for us? That we might be made the righteousness
of God God giving us his law and by
us, I mean those who God, he chose in Christ from before the
foundation of the world. But those he came and died on
that tree for so that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. But God in grace sends us his
law and it shuts our mouth and it kills us. It does this up
to a certain point. What point would that be? Galatians
3, 24 through 26. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith unto Christ. It's up to this certain point,
and then you see Christ, then you're no longer under that. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. Once God in his power sends us
his gospel and we believe Jesus Christ by that faith he gives
us, then that law is no longer needed by us. It has done what
God intended for it to do. But we know that as we are born
into this world, we are just like everyone else. We are the
children of wrath even as others. but we also read in 1 Corinthians
6 verses 9 through 11. 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 revelers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. God saved
us by his Son, Jesus Christ, being made a curse and sin for
us. He then sends us his gospel whereby
by his Spirit we see Jesus Christ. the law taking us right up to
that point as God has appointed. But by his gospel, we then see
this clearly, Romans 3, 21 and 22. But now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that
believe, for there is no difference. So we know as we've just went
through all of this, that the law is not made for a righteous
man, but it is made for evil men. We know we are evil as we
are born in Adam and we can do nothing to change that. God's
law condemning us before his throne, causing us to bow down
our faces in the dust in fear. But God is in sending his son
and him being made sin for me that I might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He then sends his gospel and
by faith given of God, and it is the very faith of Christ,
which by his faith he manifested he is the righteousness of God
without the law. This faith given to us, then
what does God do as we heard last week, Romans 4, 3? For what
saith the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. How sweet that sounds. I believe
God and he counts that for righteousness. So that means I'm righteous before
God, right? The law was not made for a righteous
man. Now listen, I know we still have
this flesh and it will never keep God's law. But if we are
one of his, we are a new creature in Christ Jesus. That new creation
is perfect and righteous. God does not then now give us
his 10 commandments to obey and keep. It is not made for a righteous
man. If something is perfect and when
God makes something, it is perfect. And being perfect means it is
absolutely righteous. then there is no law made for
that man. God's gifts are perfect and there
is no law for the gifts God gives to his people. There is no law
for those. If I walk after the spirit, I
will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That is a promise
given by God in his word. So if someone is telling you
that once you are saved, That is, once God reveals himself
to you in the gospel, then he expects you to start walking
after his law. They are not using the law of
God lawfully. The scripture is clear what God
gave the law for and who he gave the law for. We also know that
He has changed us. Although we still have this flesh,
we are not ruled by it, by the grace of God. Acts 15, eight
through 10, we read. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? The law is a yoke that we nor
they are able to bear. God's people cannot bear it,
and those who are not God's people cannot bear it. The problem with
those who are not his people is they just don't know about
it. They don't know they can't bear it. If we're looking to
Christ by faith, and if we have faith, it will be looking to
Jesus Christ. Then we are not looking at the
law at all. It cannot give life at any time. We are to look to him who is
our life, and in believing him, God counts that to us as righteousness. Back to our text for just a minute
in 1 Timothy 1, verses five and six. 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." What is it that Paul says is them
swerving and turning aside? Verse seven, desiring to be teachers
of the law. But there is a problem with them
doing this. Understanding neither what they
say nor whereof they affirm. The law was good. That is the
law is good to teach. If you use it lawfully, if you
say about the law, what God says about the law, it is not made
for a righteous man. The flesh is not righteous. This
world is not righteous. So the law is made for that.
Jesus Christ is righteous. And he is even a righteousness
that is without the law. Because of what he did, we are
made the righteousness of God in him. We are given faith, and
God counts that to us as righteousness when we believe. So we are righteous
as well. That is, God's people are righteous,
so the law is not made for them. All the law does is shut our
mouth, and it kills us. Let us always endeavor to use
the law lawfully. Amen. Dear Lord God, thank you
for allowing your servant to put
forth words to glorify your name, dear Lord. I pray that you give
me the strength to do that, and may it be that you attend your
words, dear Lord, by your spirit. Because if someone just hears
me, dear Lord, they're hearing nothing. Be with those who are
traveling, be with those who are sick among us, dear Lord.
Comfort them. Give them improvement, dear Lord,
so that they may feel better, dear Lord. Thank you for everything you've
given us, dear Lord. You do all things right. All
these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.