Ralph Barnard used to frequently
say that we ought to put a bounty on the head of preachers, 10-cent
bounty, and that was too much. And I've had reason this week
to be more inclined than usual to agree with him. I had a letter
from a dear friend of mine today, and his wife wants so much to
have some children and to have none, and some preacher. Teaching
a Bible class told them and others that this is a curse of God on
you, and they're terribly disturbed by it. Self-appointed preachers
who have no more sense than to dabble in things they know nothing
about are a crime against humanity, just a crime. And then I've had
several letters this week in which folks keep trying to bring
us back under the yoke of the law. One fellow wrote to me in
a kind of scurrilous, slanderous things. I'm used to it, doesn't
bother me much. It bothers me because other people
hear these things. He said, if we're not under the
law, why don't you just go ahead and kill somebody? Good thing
he wasn't standing in front of me. Why don't you just
have an affair on your wife? Why don't you steal whatever
you want? And in saying those things, I'm gonna tell you something.
Not only him, anybody else who makes such suggestions. They
tell us plainly the motive by which they're ruled. And they
tell us plainly what's in their hearts. What they're saying is
if it wasn't for God threatening to kill me, I'd do those things
too. But not believers. Believers are not under the law. Now I want you to turn with me
this evening to Romans chapter 11. We'll begin here, but I'm
going to have you look with me at a number of texts of scripture,
because I want you to see plainly the teaching of scripture with
regard to the purpose of God's holy law. I want to show you
the biblical use of the law in preaching the gospel. The person
who knows the proper place of the law, and understands something
about the glory of God's free grace in Christ. That person
who can rest in Christ alone for everything. Did you get that? That person
who can rest in Christ alone for everything knows the gospel. Who understands that Christ met
all the law's demands. All the law's requirements, all
the law's justice has been fully satisfied by him. But that person
who attempts somewhere along the way to mix law and grace
in any measure whatsoever as a matter of acceptance before
God has not yet learned the gospel. There are no two things in this
world more diametrically, completely opposed to one another than law
and grace. They will no more fit together,
mix and blend than fire and water. They will no more meet together,
mix and blend than light and darkness. Like oil and water,
you just, you can't get them together. Law and grace simply
won't mix. Now look at this text here in
Romans 11 and verse 4. The scriptures are so explicitly
clear that error in this regard is inexcusable and I'm absolutely
incapable of understanding it. Romans 11, I'm sorry, verse 5.
Even so then, at this present time also, there is a remnant
God always deals with remnants. Always has, always will. Remnants
are useless buddy-ins of cloth. Remnants are the parts you throw
away. Remnants are what's left over from the mass. Remnants
are kind of useless. That's the kind of thing poor
folks deal in. That's what we are. There is
a remnant of fallen humanity kept and preserved. Look at it
now. According to the election of
grace. Now read Paul's explanation.
And if by grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise, grace
is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. Now this is what he's telling
us. Law and grace have no common ground. Law and grace cannot
and do not exist together. Law and grace never cooperate. Law and grace are diametrically
opposed to one another. As soon as you slip in a little
law, you pushed out all grace. It just, you can't have any.
And yet there is an amazingly well-established opinion in the
distorted minds of depraved men that somehow law and grace will
mix. We hear it all the time. Though
law and grace are diametrically opposed to one another, the depraved
human mind is so void of spiritual understanding, so thoroughly
turned away from God, that the most difficult thing in this
world is to cause a man to see and understand and discriminate
between law and grace. Not many ever do. Man insists
on mixing that which God has positively divorced and put us
under. Because of his foolishness and
ignorance, man wants to find some legal ground upon which
he can stand before God. Something, something he can do
by which he can say, now, God will accept me. You, if you're
at all familiar with what goes on in other countries where men
and women have been raised under the vain superstitious idolatries
of Romanism, and you watch them beat themselves. You watch them
reenact the crucifixion. They don't come close, but men
actually have their hands nailed to a cross. You watch them with
their crosses and their gestures and their signs and their idols. And they crawl along the ground
and kiss the foot of some man and just adore a man. Men will do anything, anything,
except trust a substitute. Anything. I give you something
to do, You listen to me now, some of you are without Christ.
If I could give you something to do by which I could convince
you, you'd save your soul forever. If it meant cutting your hand
off, if it meant going through life lame, if I give you something
to do and convince you that this will bring you favor with God,
you'd do it in a heartbeat. But the word of God plainly declares,
salvation to be by God's free grace through Christ the substitute,
and the only way you can have him is trust him. That's all. That's all. But trusting him,
you have life everlasting. But man won't do it. He'll hang
on to anything else. Men still presume that somehow
they can lift themselves by their own bootstraps into God's acceptance. Now this is the thing which Paul
opposes throughout all his epistles. He expends every effort to destroy
every remnant of legalism among God's people. In this message,
I'm going to make four statements, dogmatic statements. And we're
going to look at many passages of Scripture. Because I want
you to see that what I'm teaching you is not Something that I have
figured out logically, something that I've gotten from a theology
book, something that I've been taught by some man. This is exactly
what God says in his word. Now, if it's contrary to what
you think, then what you think is wrong. If it's contrary to
what you've experienced, then what you've experienced is wrong.
If it's contrary to what mama and daddy taught you, what mama
and daddy taught you is just wrong. Now, I can't be any plainer
than that. Listen carefully. Number one.
I wish I could get the ear of every man, woman, and child,
every preacher in this world. There is absolutely, absolutely
no sense in which believers are under the law to God. None whatsoever. I decided this morning that I
would take the time to look up every reference to the law in
the epistles of the New Testament. Chose a hundred and sixty times.
A hundred and sixty times. I looked at every one of them
today. Every one of them. I wanted to look at them one more time.
Just in case maybe somewhere along the way I managed to miss
something. There is not a single hint of a reference in any use
of the law that the law has any application whatsoever to a believing
sinner. You mean none? Not a one? Not
a one? Look at just a few. Now these
are familiar with you, I know. But look at them. Romans chapter
6. Verse 14. Folks, say now, we're
not under the law in one sense, but we are in another. I wish
somebody would find me that in the New Testament. No, I'm glad
they can't. But it's just not there. Look at Romans 6, 14.
Sin shall not have dominion over you, because if you sin, buddy,
God's going to get you. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, because if you mess up, he's going to whip you. Look
at what he says. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. And here's the reason why. You're
not under law, but under grace. It's grace that makes the difference,
not law. Look at the next verse. What then? Shall we sin? Folks
say that all the time. Why don't you go ahead and kill
somebody? Why don't you commit adultery? Why don't you steal
whatever you want to? Your car just go out and get it. Shall
we sin because we're not under the law? That doesn't make any
sense to anybody except the fellow who lives by law. No. God forbid. We're not going to
disgrace His name. He's forgiven us our sin. We're
not going to live in disregard to Him and His glory and His
honor. We've been saved by His grace.
Look at chapter 8, Romans chapter 8. Paul tells us there's therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. To them
which walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now, if
you want to read a lot of gobbledygook, read the commentaries on Romans
8 chapter 1. or walking after the flesh, not after the spirit.
Or walking after the spirit, not after the flesh. Folks say,
now, that means that, you know, there's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ, but now, now the way we know that, the
way we know that is that we beat ourselves down and we live in
morbid dread and fear of God and we manage to make ourselves
more and more holy so that men see us and they applaud us and
we see ourselves in the mirror and say, man, I have arrived
now. That's not walking after the Spirit, Bob. To walk after
the Spirit is to trust Christ alone. That's what it is. That's
what it is. To walk after the Spirit is to
look to Christ for everything. Look at verse 3. For what the
law could not do, it never could, never was intended to, in that
it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh. How come when Christ died at
Calvary, when God made His Son to be sin for us, and He poured
out the vials of His wrath in unmitigated wrath and justice
on His dear Son, He condemned sin in the flesh? Why did He
do that? That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us. How? Who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us by looking to Christ alone as
our righteousness, our ransom, our substitute, our satisfaction
to justice. Now then, look in 1 Timothy 1.
1 Timothy 1. Verse 8. We know that the law is good. If a man use it lawfully, it's
good if you use it for the purpose for which it was given. But it's
horrible if you use it for another purpose. Knowing this, the law
is not made for a righteous man. Not made for a righteous man.
Who's that? Anybody who's in Christ. Anybody
who believes the Son of God, anybody who looks to Christ alone
and calls Him Jehovah's Incarnate, the Lord my righteousness. The
Lord not made for you. but for the lawless and disobedient.
A righteous man is not lawless, he's not 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
which is contrary to sound doctrine. All these things, they're contrary
to the teaching of gospel. I know we live in an age where
murder is acceptable. We live in an age where you can
find some excuse for it. He was raised bad. We live in
an age where adultery and fornication, men look at it and say, well,
everybody does that. I beg your pardon. That's just not so. Not
God's people. Not folks who've been made free
from the law. Oh no. We live in an age where folks,
you can't take them at their word, man says something, well,
It's all right of you. It's all right of you. He meant
he meant to keep his word, but he's he's gonna disregard it
No, oh, no. No, no those things not right,
but the laws made to protect society from such people as that
Believers live by grace are ruled by grace and their hearts have
been renewed by grace. I Was Paul opposed to the law
when he says the law? We're not under it. When he says
the law is good and holy if you use it for what it was made for,
for an ungodly man? Oh no. Read the seventh chapter
of Romans and Paul will state plainly the heart attitude of
every believer toward the law. Listen to what he says. The law
is holy. It's holy. The commandment is
holy. It's just. It's good. We know
that the law is spiritual. He says, I delight in the law
of God. And every believer does. I read
the commandments given, what's commonly referred to as the Ten
Commandments. God give me grace to be honest
with myself and honest with you. Honest with these who hear me.
There's not one word in the commandments I do not delight in with all
my heart. Not one word. Not one word. Oh,
that I could love God with all my heart, soul, mind, being,
and strength. And if I did, I'd love my neighbor
as myself. And that's the sum of the commandments.
That's what real holiness is. That's what real righteousness
is. and the believer longs for it, strives after it, and anticipates
with great joy the day when in Christ we shall be made exactly
as he is, but we live in this world looking to him in whom
we have loved God with all our heart, soul, mind, being, and
strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, and he has washed
away our sins with his blood, satisfying the justice of God
for us. The true believer recognizes the purpose of God's holy law. He highly reverences the law.
It's his desire to live in compliance with everything revealed in the
law. And recognizing the law's perfection, he refuses to seek
acceptance with God on the basis of legal obedience. I refuse. I refuse. Those who would say,
now you trust Christ and do the best you can and God will honor
it. You trust Christ and live as good as you can. Those who
would teach that bring the standard of the law down to meet your
sinful obedience. and God won't bring the standard
down. The law demands absolute perfect righteousness, and you
can't give it. You can't give it. The only one
who can or did is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the only
way you can have it is to trust him. But won't this lead to licentiousness? Won't this promote ungodliness
as people believe this? There was in England years ago
a fellow by the name of Dr. Chalmers or Chalmers, however
you pronounce his name, brilliant man, well-educated, well-educated
man. He was an Anglican preacher,
and he was a preacher for a number of years before God saved him.
Let me tell you what he said. He said, I preached morality
until there was scarcely a moral person left in the parish. I
preached righteousness and goodness until I could hardly find a decent,
honest man anywhere around me. Then God saved him. And this
learned theologian spent his time at the feet of the Son of
God. And he began preaching Christ and him crucified, salvation
by God's free grace in him. And folks believed. And they
began to live right. Began to pay their debts. Well, that doesn't make any sense.
No, not unless you've experienced it. That's all. You see, it is not
the preaching up of works that promotes righteousness and holiness
and godliness. It's the preaching down of works
and the preaching up of Christ and His grace that promotes godliness. Listen to what Paul says in Titus
chapter 3. Turn there and look at it. Titus the third chapter. But after the kindness, verse
four, and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. Now listen
carefully. Watch it carefully. Not by works
of righteousness which we have done. God's kindness, God's love,
God's mercy was not in any way attracted to you because of something
good you did. But according to his mercy he
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Now, hang on. The old preacher
said, hold on to your seat, we're gonna jump a creek. This is a
big one to jump. This is a faithful saying. Worthy
of all acceptation, this is a faithful saying. These things I will that
thou affirm constantly. Constantly. Constantly. How often are you supposed to
preach this? Every time you open your mouth. Constantly. That
they which have believed in God, preach it for this reason, that
they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain
good works. How on earth am I going to best
secure Bobby Estes' obedience to Christ in every aspect of
your life. How am I, as your pastor, how
am I best going to serve that in for your soul? Constantly
pointing you to Him who took all your sin and all your guilt
and all your blame and paid all your debt by His blood and brought
in for you what you could never bring in for yourself, perfect
righteousness before God. That's it. That's it. We don't
preach Sabbath keeping. I'm not going to. I'm not going
to. God help me by God's grace. You'll never hear it come from
these lips. We don't preach it because God forbids it. But we
keep the Sabbath. We rest in Christ the Lord. We
don't preach circumcision. or anything that's compared to
circumcision. Oh no, no, no, no. But we are
the circumcision. We've been circumcised in our
hearts by the Spirit of God. We don't preach tithing. A fellow
told me a long time ago, if you don't preach tithing, you can't
operate. If folks in this congregation
ever start tithing, we'll have to shut the doors. Oh no, God's
people give. Yeah, then God's people are not
so niggardly as to tithe on what they have. We've given ourselves
to Christ. And whatever's needed, if I've
got it, God take it. That's it. Here's the second thing, and
I'll have to just hurry through this, but I want you to get it
anyway. Every gospel preacher is faced with three great difficulties. And this one even for you believers. Hardest thing on this earth in
preaching the gospel is to get a sinner lost. I mean really lost. I've been
preaching for 30 years, better than 30 years. In my lifetime,
I've seen very few lost men. Most folks need a little help
from God. And that's what the preacher tells them they need.
Need a little help. You take the first step, gotta do the
rest. The Lord's done all he can, now the rest is up to you. You will never be saved by God's
grace until you're made to understand that without Christ, without
his grace, you're going to hell and you fully deserve it. You'll
never be saved by God's grace until you're made to understand
that you're just flat, plumb, lost. The second difficulty in
conversion is to teach a person the gospel of the grace of God
in Christ. To teach them that salvation
is by free grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone, that God
saves sinners without anything coming from them. I know I've always been taught
different from that, I thought. You remember Naaman, he went
down to the prophet's house. The prophet said, go over to
the River Jordan and watch seven times. He didn't even come out to speak
to him. Sent his servant out. And this proud man, he was a leper,
but he was proud. He thought he was somebody covered
with leprosy, just like sinners. Covered with sin, in and out,
polluted from the crown of their head to the sole of their foot.
But I'm too proud. I thought, I thought, I thought
at least the prophet would come out here you know, make a sign
of a cross and kiss a cross and lay it on my body or something,
he'd do something. Well, surely he'd do something.
Your problem is what you thought. That's exactly it. You think
God's gonna accept something in you. It's not gonna happen.
That's the way all men by nature think. Salvation by God's free
grace in Christ. And the third great difficulty
is to bring sinners saved by God's grace to rest in Christ
alone so as never to look back to the law. He said, well preacher,
now man saved, he doesn't ever look back. Which of you sitting
here has not looked back to the law probably this day for some
measure of peace, for some measure of comfort? Look back to what
you do, what you felt, what you've experienced. Our hope is Christ
alone. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive him? A helpless, guilty, doomed, damned,
unclean, hell-bent, hell-deserving sinner with nothing, nothing,
nothing to commend myself to God. I'm looking at our youngest brother
as far as I know. God help you never to grow above
that. Don't ever grow above that. When
you grow one hair's breadth above that, you've grown too much.
That's right. We look to Christ, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
He's made of God unto us everything we need. That according as it
is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now
then. Why was God's law given? Why was it given? It was given
to shut sinners up to Christ alone, that we might be justified
by God's grace in Him. Look in Romans 3. The law was
given to expose and condemn our sin, to identify what sin is. People You know, I think this
is sin. I don't give a hoot what you
think is sin. I'm so tired of religious folks
trying to dictate what's righteousness and what isn't, what's good and
what's not, what's evil and what's not. God's law identifies what
sin is. And I got big enough trouble
with that. Romans 3, 19. 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. Look at chapter five in verse
20. Moreover the law entered that
the offense might abound. Now this is what Paul's saying.
Lindsay Campbell was raised, as best I understand things,
in a very good, upright, moral, religious environment. Probably behaved pretty well.
And it's tough for a good boy to understand anything about
his sin until the law comes in and shows you what you are inside. Oh my God, I am a sinner. Now look at the next line. But
where sin abounded, grace did much more bow. Wherever
God exposes your sin, God gives His grace in Jesus Christ the
Lord. I believe I'll stop right there.
If you can get that, you've got enough. The law demands a weighty debt,
and not a cent will it abate. The gospel points to Jesus' blood,
and says he made the payment good. The law provokes man off
to ill and hardened hearts makes harder still. The gospel shows
Emmanuel's heart and melts the hardened sinner's hearts. Run,
run and work the law commands but gives me neither feet nor
hands. Much sweeter news the gospel
brings. It tells me Christ did everything. Now that's my message, and that's
my hope. I pray God will inscribe it on
your heart, for Christ's sake. Amen. Ron, let's sing number
205. Hymn number 205. Free from the law, O happy condition.