I've titled the message for today,
The Law That Changes Your History. Open your Bibles with me to the
fifth chapter of the book of Romans. And read with me, if you will,
verses 12 through 14. From that portion of Scripture,
there are some significant, even remarkable observations made
where the timeline of the history of fallen humanity is concerned. For from there it says, verse
12, Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and
death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men. For all, all men have sinned."
Or in other words, wherefore means on this account. And it's through one man that
sin entered into the whole history of the habitable world. And therefore,
death entered upon all. Death by sin. Then death likewise
passed on to everyone throughout the whole history of the world
without exception. Verse 13. For until the law,
that's until the historical event of the giving of the law through
Moses at Mount Sinai, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed, it says,
or sin is not universally reckoned to be to the accountability of
all humanity when there is no formal declaration and giving
of the law, when there's no law. That doesn't mean the law doesn't
exist. Death proves that it does. Verse 14, nevertheless, that
is on the contrary, in spite of the historical absence of
the event of the formal giving of the law that judges and condemns
sin, death reigned from Adam to Moses. even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Now what's that
mean? That means that death reigned and ruled over all the posterity
and progeny of Adam, even on them that were just babies, children,
who did not sin at all in the exact facsimile of Adam's particular
transgression. They couldn't. Because Adam never
was a baby. Adam and Eve. We're never little
children and adolescents and teenagers. These verses point out to us
some very obvious and relevant realities. Namely, that since
by Adam's one sin, death reigned upon all of humanity. For all of mankind, without exception,
are in and by Adam's one sin constituted and condemned as
being sinners. That's a remarkable precedent.
But that's how serious the courtroom of heaven truly is. And this
is true even if man sins before the historical event of the experience
of Moses at Mount Sinai. which is the event that declared
the kind of sin that man committed. And this is where the formal
delivery of the law of God was given through Moses. For it is the formal declaration
of the law of God, as given at Mount Sinai through Moses, that
formally and historically reckons the guilt of sin to the account
of any and all the ones that make up all of the history of
fallen Adam, or mankind. But this profoundly sad reality
of truth serves to, at the same time, set the stage for the fixing,
the establishing within the same eternal court of Holy God Almighty,
and therefore upon the timeline of fallen in sin humanity, of
a legal precedent that in itself becomes the very just and righteous
eternal salvation of certain loved, elected, and particular
persons whom the Spirit of God has from eternity sanctified
or set apart out of all of the history of all of humanity to
be saved. Now 2 Thessalonians 2.13 in essence
says this very thing. From there it says, but we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord. Why? Because God hath from the
beginning, that is from the beginning of time, chosen you to salvation. Chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit. Setting apart. The Spirit has
already sanctified all the elect. Even the ones that aren't born
yet. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. There's the evidence that they
are truly one. They come unto the hearing of
the gospel. And they become believers because
the gospel is the power of God in their life. And the faith
of Christ is bestowed as a grace upon them. And they endorse it,
embrace it, love it, and follow it. Verse 14 of 2 Thessalonians 2
says, Whereunto He called you by our gospel. That's the gospel
with which, he says, we've been entrusted and which we preach. To what end? To the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Romans 5, 15 through 19 articulates
quite well the legality of the holy precedent of the gospel
that we're speaking about here. It says, but not of the offense,
so also is the free gift. In other words, not just as concerning
the overall effect of the one offense of Adam, that it is true
and just before God to render all of humanity guilty of sin,
by Adam's one sin, even so also it is the same holy precedent
true concerning the free gift. For it says, for if the offense
of one if through the offense of one many be dead, much more
the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man
Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and eternal Son of God, hath
abounded unto many." Verse 16. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift, it says. Or, not just as the legal precedent
of sin upon all by the sin of one, so also is the gift of eternal
life through God's eternal Son. Why? It says, for the judgment
was by one to condemnation. That is, the judgment of guilt
was upon all men. No matter where or when in history
an individual man existed and lived. Because of Adam's one
sin. When God searched out Adam and
Eve, and they were hiding in the bushes, and He found them
and discovered them, and they were guilty Every single drop of seed in
Adam was guilty. Every fiber of molecule that
made up his being and would be passed on to his progeny, he
and Eve together was guilty. And that is the source of our
guilt. the source of the guilt of every
baby that's born, every baby that's conceived, because we
are conceived in sin. That one infraction, what a tragedy. But then it says,
but the free gift, which again is by one man, Christ Jesus the
Lord, And the subsequent eternal life in Him is of many offenses. And what this means is, is not
only grace that conquers and cleanses Adam's one sin, but
also forgives, remits, sets free, even omits. That word for remission
actually has in its connotation omission. all the offenses of
all of God's elect who are born into the existence of this fallen
world in Adam. And the eternal effect of the
power that is resonant in the giver of this free gift, which
is the eternal Son of God, it says, is unto justification. Unto justification. Now, eternal
justification is the only way that this could be properly defined
and understood because of who the giver is, who the justifier
is, and that's Jesus Christ. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's Christ that died. It is
Christ that justifies. He was made to become the Messiah
that He might be the just and the justifier of all them that
are of the faith of Jesus. Romans 3 says. Verse 17. For if by one man's
offense, it says, death reigned by one, or in other words, through
one man's sin, death reigned over all men. much more, or even,
that is, to a greater degree, they which receive abundance
of grace, they which have bestowed upon
them from God an abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness." That's what the gift is, you
see. The righteousness of Christ. the righteousness of God apart
from the law. Christ was never under the law,
except as in his incarnation, he was born under the law, but
he's above it. He's the law giver, as we'll
see shortly. And the gift of righteousness,
again, by the bestowal from God. shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ
in His great grace shall reign and rule over their entire existence
from time past, present, and future to eternity. Verse 18, Therefore, as by the
offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. Verse 19, For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Herein is simply stated the law
of the Lord that we have seen even in the Old Testament is distinguished from the law
of Moses. It becomes the veritable delight,
the most valuable thing in the life of the man who is blessed
by God's grace in this world. And in the law of the Lord, it
revolves around in his mind constantly, daily, day and night. He constantly
sees the effects of the law of the Lord unfolding before him.
It takes in the sovereignty of God's grace. In all of his circumstances,
in his afflictions, and in his times of plenty and prosperity, It's what counsels him. It's
the counsel. He is counseled by the law of
the Lord. This is the law of the Lord that
is perfect, as Psalm 19.7 says, that converts the soul. It is revealed in this legal precedent
that presides over the court of holy God and that is described
here in Romans 5. And that also gives grace a legal
presence in God's court to declare a sinner's eternal acceptance
with God. Not just a sinner, I should have
put all sinners, all the chosen sinners. Because it takes the
precedent By one, the many are defiled. Likewise, same precedent,
by one, the many shall be justified. That by an acceptable atonement
for sin that has been accomplished from the foundation of the world
by the Lamb of God, The only sovereign savior substitute that
there ever was, is or ever will be. All the many of God's chosen
are in a standing of peace and blamelessness. And this is
all in accordance to the gospel of the glory of the eternal son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Romans 5, 20 and 21
go on to tell us. Verse 20 says, moreover, the
law, the law as given through Moses from Mount Sinai, entered,
came on the historical scene, entered the history of fallen
humanity. Why? Here it is again. It said over in Galatians, Why? Wherefore serveth the law? It
was added because of transgressions. It was entered on the scene that
the offense might abound. Or that sin of all kinds, sin
of every kind, doesn't exclude any kind of sin, in and throughout
fallen humanity, would be rendered much more apparent and obvious. That's why. It's like a mirror
of our depravity. That's why the mountain of Sinai
thundered. It was covered in black smoke.
Lightning flashed. The ground quaked. The people
trembled. They didn't even want to come
near it. They were told not to or they would die. Because the
giving of the law was a ministration of death. This is what verse 20 tells us,
that as sin hath reigned unto death, or that as it is true,
that sin obviously rules over all of fallen humanity, and that
everyone and everything eventually dies, even so, though, same precedent,
might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, literally
through Jesus Christ our Lord. So once again, It is this astounding
legal precedent that Almighty and All-Holy God has firmly and
eternally established, literally by His grace, that in turn changes
our wretched, sinful history so that there is nothing and there never will be anything
that can even be found in our past. We who are redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb whereby we can be blamed or found to
be guilty. Even the conscience is cleansed
and made clean and pure according to the law of the Lord. You see, Jesus indeed is the
law keeper where the law of Moses from Mount Sinai is concerned.
Romans 10.4 declares, it says, for Christ is the end, it says. Or what that means is the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only holy human person to ever exist and
pass through this world as a babe, as a boy, as a man. that was,
is, and will forever remain as being the end, or the aim, or
the goal of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's the only law keeper. And
because of this wonderful legal precedent in the law of the Lord,
he is the only law keeper that is necessary for the eternal
salvation of all the elect. For just as Adam is the head
of the household of all the human race, making the tragedy of his
one sin a catastrophe for all of mankind, Jesus Christ, is
the head of the household of all the eternally loved and redeemed
elect, making the victory of His holy life and sin-atoning
death a conquering victory for all who are chosen to be saved. Jesus is indeed the law keeper. And by the same token, Jesus
is the law giver. Oh yes. Where the law of the Lord is
concerned, from Mount Zion, He is the law giver. Jacob prophesied
of his son Judah, which is an Old Testament type of reference
to Jesus, because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. The
Holy Spirit inspired Jacob said, shall not depart from Judah,
the ruling scepter, the kingly scepter, the royal scepter, shall
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come." Shiloh means pacificator. That means one who provides peace. Jesus is our peace. Ephesians
2.14 tells us. Until Shiloh come, and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be, it says. That's Genesis 49,
verse 10. Also, both Psalms 60 and 108. Psalms 60, verse 7. Psalm 108,
verse 8. Announces to us that Judah is
my lawgiver. Referring to the Lord Jesus.
And then there is written from Isaiah 33, verse 22, For the
Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our
King, He will save us. Tremendous descriptives of our
Lord. But, exactly where is it stated
that it was eternally purposed and divinely designed? that the
Lord Jesus would be such a great and wonderful Savior, day and
night ruling over us according to the law of the Lord. The law of the Lord is most succinctly
described throughout the epistle of Hebrews. Turn over to Hebrews with me. As we noted from earlier presentations
of this truth, right from chapter 1 of Hebrews, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's eternal and only begotten Son, is contrasted from
the prophets of the Old Testament times and is focused upon as
the only one through whom God now communicates unto his people. It is He who is revealed as right
now occupying His eternal throne in heavenly glory, who left it
for only so long as it took Him to by Himself purge our sins
through suffering for us as God's acceptable holy man sacrifice
for our sins. From chapter 2, we see that His
having accomplished this atonement on our behalf, He has had all
things in all of creation put under His subjection and authority,
including the devil. In fact, one design of gaining
that kind of sovereign authority was to destroy the devil. For His coming and becoming a
man in the incarnation, was the devil's certain and complete
defeat. And it was also the saints' certain
and complete victory. To understand the law of the
Lord is to understand the sovereignty of the Lord over all His house. Chapter 3 tells us that we who
are His are His house. If we have had the grace of faith
divinely mixed into the hearing of the gospel of the glory of
the Lord preached unto us. That chapter tells us the difference between those
that wandered in the wilderness. They had the gospel preached
to them, but it was not mixed with faith. They remained in
unbelief. Chapter 4 of Hebrews declares
that the Word of God, which is the book of the law of the Lord
in its entirety, is to be the revelatory source of the truth
that Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, in the sovereign, merciful,
faithful capacity of a gracious, great High Priest over us, He becomes our confession of
Christ, that if thou shalt believe in thine heart and shalt confess
with thine mouth the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved. We are ever always under His
rule and legal authority as our eternal surety at all times. It is a great comforting rest
to truly grasp and understand this truth. He is the only, the
one holy man substitute for all of us collectively. And since
He is also the eternal Son of God, of the great Triune God,
He is involved in and governs by His law, the law of the Lord,
every minute detail of our entire existence. And that's for our
best good, I might add, throughout time and eternity, no exception,
no lapses. Then chapter five progresses
in explaining about the priesthood as we see it under the Mosaic
law and covenant, that it was officiated by fallen men just
like ourselves. Chapter 5 explains that they
were, for the most part, humble men who were appointed by God. It's true. But because they were
fallen men, they were compassed about by sinful infirmities. And they were only able to provide
a type of substitute representation and intercession for us before
holy God. They could not be eternally effective
for us in that office. That monumental task requires
a different kind of priest according to a different law. Hebrews 5 verses 5 through 10
speaks to us about our Lord. the law keeper and the law giver,
mind you, as being made our high priest. It says, so also Christ
glorified not Himself to be made to become an high priest. But He that said unto Him, Thou
art my Son, today have I begotten Thee. Does that sound familiar?
It was in our scripture reading this morning. Psalm 2, that's
verse 7. Hebrews 5.5 brings this right
smack dab up in front of us. But He that said unto him, Thou
art my Son, Sovereign God, Almighty, Elohim, Triune God, makes that
statement. Today have I begotten thee. Verse
6, As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek.
That's Psalm 110, verse 2. That's an important verse within
the scheme of things where the law of the Lord is concerned.
You'll see that. We'll see that together because
we'll note how often this verse is quoted. Verse 7 tells us,
who in the days of his flesh, in his incarnation as the son
of man, when he had offered up, literally, both prayers and supplications,
with strong cryings and tears." Can you imagine the Lord Jesus
crying out before God, shedding tears, anxiously longing to be
heard by His Heavenly Father? That just struck me as I studied
this. That seemed odd to me. I have been desperate more than
once in my life, and with tears and strong cryings, cried out
to God. Jesus was in that same emotional
throw, with strong crying and tears,
He cried out unto him that was able to save him from death. Hmm, that must have been in the
garden. He must have shed tears when
he was sweating blood contemplating Calvary. And it says he was heard
literally for his godly fear. Verse 8 says, Though he were
a son, yet learned he obedience literally
from the things which he suffered. He learned what it means to wait
obediently upon the Lord. And then it says, and being made
perfect. What's that referring to? This
is referring to being made a perfect substitute for those he came
into this world to save. He filled the bill completely
and thereby he became the author It says, of eternal salvation. I love that adjective when it's
put in front of salvation, don't you? And it's interesting that
authors write books. And the Bible is the book of
the law of the Lord. He became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. or literally believe him, called or addressed by God and
high priest after the order of Melchizedek. There's another
reference to Psalm 110, verse 2. From here, for our purpose of
answering our question that we are striving to do, we want to
jump down to Hebrews 6 and verse 17 where it continues to tell
us. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show, or literally
to reveal unto the heirs of promise, that's the elect, the immutability,
the unchangeableness of His counsel. You remember the ungodly counsel
of the blessed person in Psalm 1. By God, that person, by God's
grace, he avoids. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly. The grace-blessed believer walks
according to the unchangeable counsel of God. And Hebrews 6.17 says, and he
confirmed it by an oath. Verse 18, that by two immutable
things, which are His counsel and His oath, they're unchangeable.
Immutable means it's not able to be changed. In which it was
impossible for God to lie. Titus 1, 1 and 2 says, to the
faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which
is after godliness in the hope of eternal life, which God that
cannot lie, promise before, literally, the eternal times. Then it says, He did this so
we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge. Proverbs
18.10 says, The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous
runneth into it and is saved. We flee to Him for refuge in
order to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Or literally to
seize and not let go the hope that is right before our view.
19 says, Which hope? We have as an anchor of the soul. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. both sure and steadfast, that
is, eternally sure and eternally steadfast, which entereth into
that within the veil. 1 Timothy 1.1 tells us the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is our hope. In verse 20 of Hebrews 6, whether
the forerunner is for us entered. That forerunner is even Jesus. made an high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. There it is again, the third
time mentioned. This then brings us up to chapter
7, from where, from within, we will
finally find an exact answer to the question as to where it
is stated. that it was eternally purposed
and divinely designed that the Lord Jesus Christ would sovereignly
rule over us and that by the law of the Lord. We're not going
to get that this week. We're going to look at that next
week. It truly becomes, though, that which is our delight, the
most valuable thing in our life and walk through this world.
And the answer, in turn, will include for our illuminated understanding
that the scriptural reference to the law of the Lord includes
all the variable tenets of the gospel of God's grace which refer
to the law of faith, Romans 3.27, by which we truly believe in
Him, and the law of truth, Malachi 2.6, by which we are delivered
and preserved from any perversion of this truth, any iniquity,
and the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Romans
8.2, by which we are set free from the bondage of the law of
sin and death and the law of Christ. Galatians 6.2, by which
we fulfill the command of Christ to love one another even as he
has and does love us. May God so bless us by sovereignly
ruling over us in accordance with his law, which legally changes
or erases our sinful history.