Law vs. Gospel

I want you to turn back, if you
will, to the book of Romans, the third chapter, and I'd like
to read the 28th verse. Verse 28. Romans chapter 3, verse 28. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now you need meat to make good
broth, and you need something solid to make a sermon, something
solid. Well, I believe this morning
that we have indeed something solid for the message this morning,
and I hope that God will be pleased to bless this time that we spend
together. Very important that we, seeing
that we all have eternity-bound souls, that we show an interest
in the gospel of redeeming grace. And I hope this morning that
each one of us here, that God has been pleased to prepare our
hearts to come into this place and that as we sit here under
the sound of the word this morning that we'll be able to retain
that which we hear that the Lord will bless the word to our hearts
today. Now is salvation, I ask a question
having read verse 28, is salvation in Christ in any way conditioned
And that word is a very important word and I hope you'll just kind
of keep it in mind as I go along this morning. Conditioned upon
our personal obedience to the law of God. Let me read the text
one more time. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified that he has a standing before God Paul's
talking about just as if he had never committed a sin by faith
without the deeds of the law. Now, without question, salvation
is conditioned upon obedience to and the satisfaction of the
law of God. Without question, that is true.
But now listen to me now. In Matthew 5 and verse 20, Jesus
said to his disciples that except Your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. you shall
in no wise enter the kingdom of God. It's necessary that the
law of God be fulfilled and that there be an obedience rendered
unto that law and that satisfaction be given unto that law. In Ezekiel 18 and verse 20, the
scripture says, the soul that sinneth, it must die. The soul that sinneth, it must
die. Now, the law of God must be perfectly
obeyed, sin must be thoroughly punished, justice must be completely
satisfied, for without perfect righteousness, complete expiation,
that means sin being thoroughly punished and full satisfaction
given to the law of God, no sinner. No sinner could ever enter into
the kingdom of God. No sinner could ever be saved. Now that is what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for all God's elect. As our mediator, as our
representative, as our substitute. That's what he's done for us.
The Lord Jesus Christ has dealt with sin thoroughly. The Lord
Jesus Christ has satisfied the justice of God thoroughly. The
Lord Jesus Christ has died in our place, in our room, as our
substitute and representative. The salvation of God's elect
was conditioned entirely upon His obedience. Now there's that
word again, conditioned. I'm telling you that the salvation
of God's people, the salvation of the chosen of God, the salvation
of God's elect was conditioned entirely upon His obedience,
upon the obedience of the God-man, upon the obedience of the surety
of the covenant, upon the obedience of Christ, the head of the church,
entirely, but it is not in any way whatsoever conditioned upon
our own personal obedience. Insofar as we are concerned,
salvation in its entirety is totally free without cause in
us. It's totally free and without
cause in us. It is the work of and the gift
of God's free grace in Christ Jesus without the works of the
law. Romans 3 here and verse 20. Look
at what it says. These verses from verse 20 clear
through verse 28 deals with this subject. In verse 20 it says,
therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. So if you were to read on down,
and of course we read it in our opening scripture reading this
morning, all of these verses, we see here this morning that
this is clearly the doctrine of Holy Scripture. Look in Galatians
chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2 and verses
16 through 21. It would certainly, I think,
do you good if you were to turn there this morning and listen
to the reading here of this scripture. Knowing, Paul said in verse 16
of Galatians 2, that a man is not justified by the works of
the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed
in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if while we seek
to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners,
is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I
build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I through the law am dead
to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live In the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me, for I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So every aspect
of salvation, election, redemption, justification, regeneration,
sanctification, conversion, Repentance, faith, preservation, perseverance,
glorification, everything else that's necessary for eternal
glory is totally the work of God's free grace. That's what
these scriptures are saying. That's exactly the doctrine of
Holy Scripture. In 2 Timothy 1 verse 9 it says,
Who hath saved us and called us, not according to our own
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's exactly
the teaching of the scripture. Neither the grace of God toward
us, nor the grace of God in us is conditioned upon anything
we do. There's that word again. Notice
what I said, neither the grace of God toward us nor the grace
of God in us is conditioned upon anything that we do. Grace divides
the way of salvation and grace put us in the way. Grace accomplished salvation
and grace applies salvation. Grace preserves us in grace and
grace causes us to persevere in grace. Grace completes salvation
and grace crowns salvation with eternal glory. My friend, we
have to understand the message of the gospel. Paul said, we
conclude, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. We do nothing to earn. We do
nothing to merit or even influence the grace of God toward us. I
recognize that there is not a clear mind. There's hardly anyone who
has a clear mind on this subject in religion today. But I want
to emphasize this morning that we do not earn, we do not merit,
or we do not influence the grace of God to come in our direction. We are sinners lost. We are sinners
condemned. We are sinners ruined before
God. And until free favor and free
grace came into the picture, you and I were totally, utterly,
hopelessly, helplessly lost and we could never have influenced
God to do anything other than to send us to hell because we
had no merit to offer to God. We simply receive as the people
of God, as the chosen of God, as God's people receive what
God has done by faith in Jesus Christ. We simply receive it.
And even that faith by which we receive God's salvation is
the gift and the work of His almighty grace. You could not
have anything from God except it be given to you. No man can
receive anything from heaven except it be given to him, John
the Baptist said. You just don't have anything
apart from the free gift of God, apart from the free favor of
God. Now to make any part of salvation,
did you get that? To make any part of salvation
dependent upon man is to make the whole work of salvation dependent
upon man. Because then is the reward not
reckoned of grace, but of debt. Romans 4 and 4. We know that
the reward is not reckoned of debt. We know that whatever God
gives His people, He gives it to them by grace. You can read
it right there in Romans 4, in verse 4, Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. And God's
not going to owe you anything, my friend. except to judge you
for your sin if you're outside of Christ on judgment day. If you're outside of Christ when
you come before God, God will judge you for your sin. And the only way to escape that
judgment is to be in Christ, to be in the Lord Jesus, to have
your sins blotted out by His blood. Now it is evident then,
and we conclude that salvation is not in any way conditioned,
not in any way conditioned upon our personal obedience to the
law of God, but it is conditioned upon His personal obedience to
the law of God. Now, my friend, this morning
I think that that ought to bring us to the understanding, to somewhat
to an understanding of what Paul was talking about here in this
28th verse of Romans chapter 3, when he said, We conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And so salvation then is entirely
dependent upon him. Well, why was the law given?
Why was the law given? If it's not to justify, then
why was the law given? Well, we know that the law of
God cannot redeem, justify, or sanctify guilty sinners. That's
the thing that we've been saying. That's what verse 28 here tells
us. And we know also that the law was never intended to be
a rule of life for God's children in this world. Turn to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy in your Bibles, and
I want to read verses 8 and 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. And I want
you to get what I'm saying here, and these scriptures will support
it. I'm saying that the law was never
intended to be a rule of life or a means of sanctification
for the believer. I'm trying to tell you why the
law was given. Now listen to me carefully. Listen
to what these verses say. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, Paul said, that
the law is not made for a righteous man. but for the lawless and
the 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,
the law is for this class, But we know that the law is not for
a righteous man, meaning that the law was never intended to
be the rule of life for God's children, for those that are
righteous in Christ. The law can in no way affect
God in the fulfillment of His covenant mercies. Now this is
very interesting to me and you listen to what I say. The law
can in no way affect God in the fulfillment of His covenant mercies. It cannot cause God to bestow
His grace or prevent God from bestowing His grace. God's covenant
people shall obtain all the mercies revealed and promised in the
covenant of grace because the covenant was made long before
the law was given. I want you to notice Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 17. Listen to what this says. Galatians
3 and 17. And the scripture here says that,
and this I say, that the covenant, that is, that covenant of grace,
that everlasting covenant that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after
cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. Now the thing that Paul is saying
here, Galatians 3 and 17, is exactly what I've just said.
That the law cannot keep God from fulfilling his covenant
mercies to the promised seed, that is, his elect children,
and it cannot in any way prevent it, it cannot hinder him from
doing so, because God, before the law was given, promised these
things And so it cannot disannul or make the promise of none effect
because the covenant was older, the first covenant was older
than the second. Now then he tells us in this
verse here that the law was added because of transgressions To
rule over and restrain the wicked men until God fulfilled his covenant
mercy in bringing them to Christ. That's Galatians 3 verses 19
through 25. Now, all of these verses here
have to do with why the law was given. Like in verse 19 of Galatians
3, it says, Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because
of transgression till the seed should come to whom the promise
was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. And now he goes on down here
in verse 23 and he says, but before faith came, we were kept
under the law, shut up into faith, which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that
we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
we're no longer under a schoolmaster. Now then, first and foremost,
might I say, that God gave the law at Sinai to convince wicked
men and women of their guilt and their sin. Now, Romans 7,
7 says this. Look at Romans 7 and verse 7. It says, 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. And then again in
Romans 5, And in verse 20, Romans 5 and verse 20 says this, moreover
the law entered that the offense might abound. And then in the
third chapter of Romans and in verse 19, I read it to you this
morning, now we know that what things whoever 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. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Do you hear and understand what the law says? Well, read
the commandments in the book of Exodus chapter 20. Read the
commandments. The Ten Commandments is not a
list of moral ethics. It's not a code of conduct or
a rule of life. It is an indictment of justice,
if you please. It is a sentence of eternal death
and everlasting condemnation. Tell me, Paul said, ye that desire
to be under the law, do ye not hear what the law says? Now,
beloved, any man who ever hears what the law says, what it really
says, what it demands, will seek a place of refuge from the holy
Lord God who gave the law. Because everyone who hears what
the law says And what it says is that cursed is everyone who
continues not in all things that are written in the Ten Commandments
to do them. Cursed is every man who doesn't
continue in all these things. Now what we need then, we must
seek a mediator to deal with God on our behalf. Because to break the law in one
point, only one time, is enough to damn the soul for all eternity. Now I want you to hear me. You
know, you say, well preacher, why would it be necessary for
you to say that? You've said it before, why would
it be necessary for you to say that? Because there is a time
in the life of God's elect when their ears are open to hear the
word of God and it just may be that somebody may be hearing
this this morning for the first time. God forbid that we should
err in not saying what we believe the Spirit of God would have
us to say. And to break the law in one point,
only one time, is to condemn the soul for all eternity to
a devil's hell. But we, you and I, have broken
the law in every point and violated every one of God's command from
our youth up. Now the law can never cleanse. It only condemns. The law can
never save. It only slays. The law kills. The law can never give peace. It only punishes. Only Christ can cleanse. Only
Christ can save. Only Christ can give peace through
the pardon of His shed blood. So my friend, this morning if
you're here, then I'm telling you about this law. I'm telling
you why God gave the law. It was to show you your sinfulness. how wretched and sinful you really
are. Now then, we've explained that
the law cannot justify or save anybody. You're keeping of the
golden rule and you're trying to please God by trying to keep
the law. It is not our will of life, we
showed you that. It's not our basis of assurance.
It's not even a yardstick to measure our spiritual growth.
No, it isn't. Somebody said, I pretty well
got this thing under control, preacher. Well, you may think
you have, but we know in the flesh, the flesh is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be, and so it's out on you. You are not spiritual because
of your so-called conformity to the moral law. No, you're
not. This does not indicate spirituality
at all. The whole purpose of the law
is to expose our sin, condemn our sin, and to shut us up to
salvation by faith in a crucified Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, the law was given to
destroy all hope of salvation but works. It was given to destroy
that. You entertain the hope that you'll
be able to someday please God to the point where that the scale
will balance in your favor. You can do so much good that
God's going to honor that good and give you a home in heaven
for it. No, certainly not. It'll never
happen. And once a person is convinced of his sin and guilt,
his immediate response is to do something by which he may
turn away God's wrath and win God's favor. And you this morning,
if you've heard what I've said, if you broke one point of God's
law, you're guilty of all of it, and you're going to hell
because you're an offender against God's law. Now then, if you've
heard that really in your soul, you'd like to do something about
that right quick, wouldn't you? You really would. You want to
do something about it. You want to somewhere or another
get that situation cleared up. You don't want to go to hell
for your sin. No, you don't. You'd like to clear that up.
But we can never do enough to satisfy God's law. Future obedience,
what you could do from now to the time you die, will never
atone for past sin. It'll never cover up the sin
you've committed before. And perfect future obedience,
let me say, is impossible. Will not the saints of God here
testify to that? That future obedience, you can
promise all you want to, but you cannot fulfill because the
flesh is weak. Now then, the law was given to
show sinners the justice of God in their eternal ruin. God is
an absolute holy God. The law reveals the holiness
of God's character. The spotlessness of the character
of this holy God. Now my friend, listen to me.
I believe that legal conviction alone will never bring repentance,
but legal conviction is necessary. A sinner must be made to see
that he justly deserves the wrath of God. And when you read the
Ten Commandments, and you see how you've not measured up, how
you've come short of the glory of God, you come short of His
holy character, then, my friend, you feel that God would be just
if He sent you to hell. That's the purpose of the law.
And God gave the law of Sinai to show us that we have need
of a substitute. In a word, the law was given
at Mount Sinai to bring us to Christ. This is the whole purpose
of the law. God never intended it to be the
means of grace or the rule of life or a rod to punish His erring
children. The law was given to graciously
force God's elect away from all confidence in their own works
to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And once we have come to Christ
the faith, we're free from the law. Trusting Christ, the law
has fulfilled its purpose in us because it brought us to faith
in the Lord Jesus. And that was the purpose of it.
To bring us to faith. And trusting Christ We then fulfill
the law by faith in His blood and righteousness. That's what
verse 31 of Romans 3 means. Do we then make void the law?
He did something about the law. And He did something about it.
He obeyed it to the full. And you've been driven to faith
in Him because you've seen your inability. to keep that law and
to do what you ought to do. Now then, I want us to turn over
to the book of 2 Corinthians, the book of 2 Corinthians chapter
3, and to close this morning, I want to give you six things
that shows that the gospel is better than the law. Now, this
is good, I mean, I think it's good. I told you, I thought I
had something solid, and I do have. I do have. If you got a
believing heart, I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
3, and I want to give you these six things that shows that the
gospel is better than the law. Now, Paul here is comparing the
law of Moses with the gospel of Christ. and shows here the
incomparable superiority of the gospel to the law in these verses
beginning with verse 6 down through the last verse of 2nd Corinthians
chapter 3 now number one in verse 6 I want you to see this I want
to say that in the first place the new is better than the old. The new covenant is better than
the old. Who also hath made us able ministers
of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit.
For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Now the old
legal covenant declared quite simply, this do and live, disobey
and die. That was the old covenant. That was the old letter. It contains
no message of good news whatsoever. There is no good news in the
law, my friend. No, the law came by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. If you want to hear good
news, then you got to hear it somewhere else besides at Mount
Sinai. You don't hear no good news there. It contains no message of good
news, for all are disobedient. As I've explained to you this
morning, however, the new covenant says based on the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ I freely all forgive That's why the the new
is better than the old Is because no message of good news and the
message of good news is in the is in the new covenant I freely
all forgive Now then, the second thing is found in this same sixth
verse, and I call it, the first part was found in 6A, the second
part is in 6B, where it shows us that the spirit is better
than the letter. Now look at this. It says, not
of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth. So the
spirit is better than the letter. The law was called a letter because
it was a mere statement showing what was to be done and what
was to be avoided. Showing what you should do and
what you should not do. And so it was called a letter
for that reason. It demanded obedience but gave
no ability for obedience. It said this, do and you'll live. This thou shalt not, thou shalt
not, but it gave no ability for obedience. Now the gospel is
spirit. In the hands of God's Spirit,
it pierces the heart in regenerating power. Paul said in Romans 1
and 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of
God unto salvation unto everyone that hears it, to the Jew first
and also unto the Greek. Now when the gospel pierces the
heart of a sinner, It, in regeneration, it implants in that heart the
principle of righteousness, the desire to be right, the desire
to walk with God, the desire to be holy. Yea, the law of God
is printed upon the heart of the sinner. And there in that
heart, he's got there help, ability to obey the Lord and to do what
the Lord would have him to be. While in a state of unregeneration,
when a state of death as he is by nature, he has no such ability. And so my friend, the Spirit
is better than the letter because the Spirit comes into your heart
and the Spirit of God changes you and enables you to have something
there. that makes you want to do what
the Lord would have you to do. So the spirit is better than
the letter. Now then thirdly, life is better
than death. I think everybody would say amen
to that. Well, look here in six, I call this 6C. It says this
here in the last part of this, the letter killeth, but the spirit
giveth life. The Spirit giveth life. The law kills. It passes the
sentence of death upon all who disobey. As I quoted to you this
morning out of Ezekiel 18, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. It cannot impart life. It only
kills. The law cannot impart life. It
only kills. The gospel gives life. It proclaims
the message of spiritual, eternal, and everlasting life through
Him who is our life. And that's Jesus Christ. Because
Paul said, Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall appear
with Him in glory. He's our life. And so the spirit
is better because, or the gospel is better than the law because
life is better than death. All you get from the law is death.
It kills everything it touches, as old Barnard used to say. It
kills everything it touches. But the spirit gives life. The words that I speak to you,
Jesus said in John 6, are, the words I speak to you are spirit
and they're life. And so the gospel is life. Now then, fourthly, righteousness
is better than condemnation. Verses 7 through 9. Look at this. Righteousness is
better than condemnation. But if the ministration of death
written and engraved in stones was glorious, so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away.
How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness
exceed in glory. Now do you see that? The law
closely examines every member of Adam's race, and when it finds
sin, it condemns. It condemns. It pronounces the
sinner guilty and sends him to hell. The gospel comes with a
sweet message of righteousness, not ours, but Christ. And all
through that third chapter of Romans, you see where it says
that there's been a declaration of righteousness. And that righteousness
is the righteousness of Christ. By his perfect obedience, the
law was honored, justice was satisfied. All God's elect receive
a standing before God, just as if they'd never committed a sin.
They're all justified from all sin. and they're free from condemnation. And that's what Paul's talking
about. Much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory
because there is therefore now, Romans 8 and 1, no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Wouldn't it be a marvelous and
wonderful thing this morning if you'd like the publican of
old could go down to your house And I believe that you could
also substitute in for that word house there, grave. Go down to
the grave justified. And that'd be a wonderful thing
to be able to go to the grave. And I hope before God through
the imputed righteousness of Christ, through the merits of
the son of God who loved us and gave himself for us, I hope to
go to the grave justified without any condemnation, without any
condemnation. And my friend, only in Christ
can we do that. Righteousness is better than
condemnation. Now you take your condemnation if you want to,
but I want the righteousness. I say that the ministration of
righteousness exceeds in glory the ministration of death and
condemnation. Amen? I say it's better. I say the gospel is better than
the law because righteousness is better than condemnation.
It is. I'd rather be righteous, wouldn't
you, than to stand condemned. And if you're just standing in
the law, then you're condemned. Number five, hope is better than
no hope. And verse 12, notice verse 12
here, hope is better than no hope, seeing then that we have
such hope. Well, what are you talking about,
Paul? Well, the law offered no possibility of future blessings. Now, you think with me on this.
You who desire to be saved by keeping the law, hear what it
says. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
that are written in the law to do them, but the gospel announces
that we can be confidently expected of future glory based on Christ
and his work for us. Now this is very important. The
only way we got any future, brother, sister, is in Christ. If you
call going to hell future, I just don't want any kind of future
like that. And to be in a state of nature, to be under the law,
means for you to go to hell, my friend. And there is no hope
in that. But Paul said, seeing that we
have such hope. And what's he talking about?
He's talking about the ministration of righteousness. He's talking
about the fact that condemnation has been taken away. He's talking
about the fact that the Spirit has come. He's talking about
the fact that the Spirit has come and with more glory and
power than the letter has overcome and given a spiritual life. And
we've got hope. Now, where all before was darkness
and where we just every day thought of nothing but standing before
God and receiving judgment for our sin. But now in Christ, we
got some hope for the future. There's something out there,
brother, sister, for the child of God. There's something out
there for a man who is perfectly righteous. There's something
out there for a man whose sin has been put behind the back
of God never to be remembered against him. There's something
out there for the man. You can be expectant. You can
be confidently expectant as a child of God because you're in Christ. Having such hope, Paul said,
we just talk about it plainly. We don't mince any words and
we don't use big words. We use great plainness of speech
because we got hope now. Our sins have been put away.
And Christ's blood has covered our sin. It's all based on his
righteousness. Hope is better than no hope.
I'm just telling you, my friend, why the gospel is better than
the law. And anybody that'd rather hear the law preached than the
gospel, you got a problem, my friend. You just don't understand.
You just don't know the New Testament message. The New Testament message
is the gospel is better than the law. That's the message of
the New Testament. That's where we stand today in
the day of grace. The gospel is better than the
law. Because hope is better than no
hope. And then lastly, because liberty is better than bondage. Liberty is better than bondage.
I'd rather be free, wouldn't you, than be in jail? Well, if
you're in your right mind, you'd rather be free. Look at verse
17. Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. There is liberty. Now the law is cruel, the law
is harsh, the law is unbending, and the law is unsympathetic. It has no sympathy for you. It
does not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt. That's all the law says. It's
unbending. You say, well, but I mean, I
made a mistake. The law says you go to hell. The law says
you do this or else. The law says you die if you break
that law. You go to hell if you break that
law. It sets a perfect standard and
puts anyone in prison who doesn't measure up to it. That's what
the law does. If you're here this morning,
you're outside of Christ, you're in prison to the law. The law's
got you. You're in prison. But the gospel
means liberty. Where Christ is, there is freedom
from the curse. Freedom from the penalty and
the bondage of the law. where Christ is. Are you in Christ? Are you in Him? Have you trusted
Christ? Have you been driven to Him?
Have you been driven to seek refuge in Him? In Him, we're
free to approach our Heavenly Father in worship and prayer.
If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, Jesus
said. If the Son makes you free, then you're free. If you're in
Christ, you're free from the bondage of the law. And so I
say to you that liberty is better than bondage. I'd rather be in
Christ than anywhere else. I need Christ. I need to be in
Him. I've been shown my need of Him
by the law, by the demands of the law. And thanks being to
God, I have fled. I fled unto Christ for refuge from this
august, holy God who's made these demands upon me. I fled to Christ
for refuge from Him to seek a mediator between me and Him and that mediator
is Christ. And when you find Him and you
get in, you got liberty from the law and you're no longer
in and under the law. Now, there's a poem that I wanted
to read in closing here this morning that was a real blessing
to me and I hope it will be to you. And here's the poem. And the title of this is, Christ,
the One Thing Needful. Christ, the One Thing Needful. Jesus, engrave it on my heart
that thou the one thing needful art. I could from all things
parted be, but never, never, Lord, from thee. Needful art
thou to make me live. Needful art thou all grace to
give. Needful to guard me lest I stray. Needful to help me every day. Needful is thy most precious
blood. Needful is thy correcting rod. Needful is thy continual care. Needful thy all-prevailing prayer. Needful thy presence, dearest
Lord. True peace and comfort to afford. Needful thy promise to impart
fresh life and vigor to my heart. Then shall my soul with joy supreme
dwell on the dear, delightful theme. Glory and praise be ever
his, the one thing needful, Jesus is. May the Lord add his blessing
this morning. Could we have a hymn,

Law vs. Gospel

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Law vs. Gospel

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