The Lawful Use of The Law

Q: What does the Bible say about the purpose of the law?

The Bible teaches that the law exposes sin and drives us to Christ for salvation. The law serves multiple purposes in the life of a believer. Primarily, it exposes our sinfulness and incapability of achieving righteousness through our own efforts, as Paul emphasizes in Romans 3:20, stating that 'by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.' Instead, the law acts as a schoolmaster, or pedagogue, leading us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). Thus, the law demonstrates our need for God’s grace and mercy, showing that we cannot save ourselves and must rely entirely on Christ's redemptive work.

Q: How do we know the law cannot save us?

The law cannot save because it only condemns; no one is justified by works of the law. Paul declares in his epistles that the law is incapable of achieving salvation. In Romans 3:20, he writes, 'by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight,' highlighting that the law's function is to reveal sin rather than to provide a means of salvation. The Scripture concludes all are under sin, emphasizing the completeness of mankind's inability to fulfill the law (Galatians 3:22). The law exposes our guilt and our need for a savior, illustrating that salvation must come through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our attempts to obey the law.

Q: Why is understanding the law important for Christians?

Understanding the law helps Christians recognize their need for grace and the gospel. For Christians, understanding the law is essential because it reveals the holiness of God and the depth of human sinfulness. The law serves to illustrate what God requires and highlights our inability to meet those standards. This awareness drives believers to seek Christ, who fulfills the law on our behalf. Paul argues that the law is a 'schoolmaster' that leads us to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24), thus establishing our dependence on grace rather than our own works. This understanding fosters a deeper gratitude for God's mercy, knowing that Christ has satisfied the law's demands for us.

Q: What role does the law play in the life of a believer?

The law instructs believers on holiness and reliance on grace, guiding them towards Christ. The law plays a formative role in the lives of believers, serving as a guide for understanding God's character and moral requirements. While it is essential for instructing believers on holiness, it simultaneously reveals their inadequacy and inability to fulfill these requirements on their own. As Paul articulates in Romans 7:7, he needed the law to understand sin. Consequently, as believers acknowledge their shortcomings and sinful nature through the law, they are naturally drawn to Christ, the source of their righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The law, therefore, emphasizes reliance on grace and not self-effort.

The law is good if a man use
it lawfully. Lynn, I'm going to be home tomorrow
night at 6 p.m. sharp. If dinner is not on the
table waiting for me, you're not eating. And while you're cooking, you
better love me while you're doing it. And you better be doing it
willingly or I'll make your life miserable. You better spend at least an
hour reading the Bible tomorrow and an hour in prayer or probably
something bad will happen to you. You'll have a wreck or get
sick or something like that. And if you don't give, God will
take out what you're not giving somewhere else. He'll get his.
And by the way, You better forgive me. That's what Christians do. You better be forgiving to me.
Where's your grace? And if you don't forgive me,
God won't forgive you. And you better submit to me and
you better do so willingly. Now, if you'll do all these things,
I'll be nice to you. I'll just be good to you. I'll
be the best husband you'd ever heard of. But if you don't, watch
out. Now this is what is called law. What is the law? The Ten Commandments,
yes. The Pentateuch, all of the commandments
that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, yes. All the different
requirements in the scripture, yes. The civil law, the ceremonial
law, Let me tell you, show you what
I believe the Bible, what I know the Bible means by law. Would
you turn with me to Galatians chapter four? Now, did you notice when I was
talking to Lynn, I said, if you do these things, I'll be nice. I'll be a good husband to you.
I'll do everything you need. But if you don't, I won't. If you will, I will. If you don't,
I won't. That would be a summary of law.
Galatians chapter four, Paul says in verse 21, tell me
you the desire to be under the law. You know those people that actually
desire to be under the law? Do you not hear the law? For it's written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. Now you know the story. God had
promised Abraham and Sarah a child. God's promise. God never goes
back on his word. He's never failed to keep a promise,
has he? He told Abraham and Sarah, you're
gonna have a child. Now, many years have passed.
Sarah has not yet had that child. And she was barren. Might as
well face the facts. So she said, obviously the child
is not coming through me, but for God to be able to fulfill
his promise, we need to do our part. See that Egyptian woman
over there, Hagar, you go into her, we'll do our part. God's
promise won't be fulfilled unless we do our part. You go into her
and she'll have a child and that will be our child. So God's promise
will be fulfilled with our help, but it will be fulfilled. Now let's go on reading. Verse
22, it's written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a free woman. Remember he later on had one
by Sarah, according to God's promise. But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh. There wasn't anything
supernatural about it. But he of the free woman was
by promise, the promise of God. This is what's going to happen.
God promised that it took place, even though she was already gone
through menopause. She still had a baby supernaturally
because God promised it. Now, Hagar, nothing miraculous
about it. She was a young lady able to
bear children. Sarah, it was a miracle by God's
promise. Verse 24, which things are an
allegory And who would have ever thought that that story, reading
Genesis chapter 16, was given to teach us the difference between
law and grace? I would have never thought that. But Paul tells
us that's what it is. Now remember, everything in the
Old Testament is given to teach us something of the gospel. And
this story is given to teach us the difference between law
and grace. Now go on reading. Which things
are an allegory, for these are the two covenants. Hagar and
Saran, Ishmael and Isaac. The one from Mount Sinai, which
genders to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar, now listen
to the language here. This Hagar is Mount Sinai. Hagar is the law. Now, what was going on here? Sarah said, Abraham, I know God
made this promise, but we need to do our part, and the promise
won't be fulfilled unless we do our part. So get to work. What does God call this under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? He says, this is Sinai. This is law. Now, if any part of salvation
is dependent upon the sinner first doing something, It's law. It really is that simple. You
know, the message that's preached most everywhere. God wants to
save you. Christ died for you. God loves
you. God's done everything for your salvation, but you won't
be saved unless you, and then fill in the blank. That's law. That's all it is. It's law. Salvation
by law. Now look back in our text at
verse 7 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul speaks of those who desire
to be teachers of the law. Understanding neither what they
say nor whereof they affirm. Now I believe that would describe
most preachers, don't you? Desiring to be teachers. having no understanding of what
they're saying nor the implications of what they so confidently affirm. But, Paul says, we know that
the law is good if a man use it lawfully. Now when he's speaking
of the law being good, he's referring specifically to the giving of
the law at Mount Sinai. Remember when God came down and
the finger of God wrote down the law in tablets of stone?
What a sight that must have been. You can read all about it next
is 20 through 23, all the rules and regulations, the civil laws,
the ceremonial laws, the sacrificial laws. It's all there in the giving
of the law and you can't separate it. You can't separate it. I've
heard people say, well, we're not under the moral or we're
not under the ceremonial law anymore, but we are under the
moral law. What gives you the right to separate that? You know,
even in the 10 commandments, there's a ceremonial law. It amuses me when I see all these
people fighting to have the 10 commandments up where everybody
can see them. Man, if you're gonna stay consistent, that means
if somebody breaks the Sabbath, you need to stone them. Is that
what you want? You know, you're putting up the
10, we have the 10 commandments posted. Well, all it does is
continue. If you're going to be honest in any way, the Sabbath
breaker is to be stoned. Does that not count? That's part
of the 10 commandments. And that lets us know that the
ceremonial, the sacrificial, the feast days, the moral law,
none of it can be separated. It's one law. It's God's holy
law. Now, we know that the law is
good. It's glorious. It reflects the
character and requirements of God. The law is good if a man
use it lawfully. I love God's law, don't you?
I delight in the law of God after the inner man, and I love God's
law. The law is good if a man uses
it lawfully. Now what is the lawful use of
the law? Well, we ought to try to keep
it. Have you done? If that's the lawful use of the
law, you failed miserably. And I failed miserably because
we haven't kept one commandment one time. Why try to keep the
law? Well, I hear you talking, but
you don't do it. You don't do it. That's a lot of words. Well, I believe we can use it
as a rule of life. How to live. Well, okay, let's
use it as a rule of life. Do you stone the Sabbath breaker?
You can pick up the first stone. What about that one caught in
adultery? You can stone him. The law says to do it. You can
stone him. What about yourself? You can
throw the rocks at yourself. That's what you deserve if we're
consistent with God's holy law. Is that the right use of the
law? As far as that goes, if somebody says the law is our
rule of life, we just read in that scripture, you're not under
law. You're under grace. That's a powerful statement.
Now, how are you going to get the law being your rule of life
when it says you're not under law? You're under grace. Paul
said, the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's
my rule of life. I do love God's holy law. What
is the lawful use of the law? First, I have to understand what
the law cannot do. Now let me give you three things
that the law cannot do. First, the law cannot save. It can't save. By the works of
the law, the scripture says, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. That's what it does. It exposes
sin. What the law could not do, Paul
said, 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. What the law could not do, it
could not save. Secondly, the law cannot give
power to obey. It demonstrates to us what God
requires, but it gives no power to obey. It leaves us where the
Lord left that one fellow who said, what's the greatest commandment
in the law? And he said, well, that's to
love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. He
gave that answer, and I think he felt pretty good about himself.
I gave the right answer. And the Lord said, Thou hast
answered rightly, this do, this do, and thou shalt live. That's where it leaves us. Okay,
you know the right answer, you know the right thing to do, do
it. The law gives no power to obey. And thirdly, the law cannot
forgive. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. It's a just and holy law, and
that's why all it can do is condemn. You see, grace is not in the
law. I want you to listen to this
scripture. The law was given by Moses, John 1 17. The law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. There's no grace in the law.
Well, what is the lawful use of the law? Turn with me to Romans
chapter three. I want to read several scriptures
regarding the lawful use of the law. Verse 19. Now, we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. Am I under the law or am I under
grace? Now, this is speaking to those
who are under the law. What's it say? 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. All excuses, all self-indication,
all justification stopped. No more seeking to justify yourself. And all the world may become
guilty before God. guilty as charged. 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. Now there is the law for use
of the law. When your mouth is stopped and
you stand before God guilty, subject to the judgment of God.
I think what David said, that thou mightest be clear when you
speak and justified when you judge. That's what happens when
we read the law rightly. This is the lawful use of the
law. Turn to Romans chapter five, verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. Now this is not the way the natural
man thinks. We have law in order to check sin, in order to restrain
sin, to keep it from happening. That's why we have laws. Man,
we couldn't go out in the street if we didn't have laws. What kind
of anarchy would we be living in if we didn't have laws? Yet
Paul says that, and I'm not advocating not having laws. I'd be afraid
to go out in the street with you if there wasn't any kind
of protection. But yet when Paul talks about God's holy law, the
10 commandments, whatever, The law entered that the offense
might abound." Now, when I use God's holy law
lawfully, I see that sin abounds in me. I see that it overflows. I see that that's all there is. The law entered that the offense
might abound. Has my mouth ever been stopped,
guilty as charged? Now that is the lawful use of
the law. Look in Romans 7. Here's the good use of the law.
Look in verse 10. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I
found to be unto death. Now this is a good thing when
you die like this. Look back up in verse 7. What
should we say then? Is the law sin? Now God's law
exposes sin, it makes sin abound. This is one of the amazing things.
You put somebody under law and they're going to come out swinging.
They're just going to do it. You put somebody under law, they're
going to, it just creates, and we're going to see that from
this passage of scripture. It actually creates more rebellion. Look
what he says in verse seven. What should 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, evil concupiscence, evil desire,
except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. And this is amazing. All I've
got to do is say, don't covet. And what do you do? Don't covet. It's forbidden. What do you do? It rises up in your heart. Verse
eight, but sin, taking occasion, and that's a military term, using
as a base of operation, the commandment, God's holy law. Sin, using as
a base of operation, the commandment, God's holy law, wrought in me
all manner of concupiscence, lust, evil desire, for without
the law, sin was dead. He was lying dormant. I didn't
know what I was. For I was alive without the law
once. I thought everything was fine. But when the commandment
came and I saw what God's law really was, what happened with
sin? It revived. And I died. And the commandment, which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, O the deceitfulness
of sins, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was that then which
is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin, it might be seen to be what it is, working
death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sin. Now that's the right use of the
law. When sin becomes exceeding sinful, and you see yourself
as exceeding sinful. Do you see yourself as exceeding
sinful? I mean to where it just comes
out your pores, it over abounds in everything you do. Somebody
says, now you're just being too negative. Why do you dwell on things like
that? If you see who the Lord is, you'll know that's true about
yourself. It's a hard heart that doesn't
see that about themselves. exceeding sinful. That's the
right use of the law. And beloved, that's why I need
grace. Oh, how I need God to choose
me. to elect me, how I need God to
justify me freely by His grace, how I need God to redeem me and
pay for my sins, how I need God to give me life, how I need God
to preserve me and keep me from falling. I need, all I need is
grace. That's what the law teaches me.
It teaches me that I'm exceeding sinful and how I need His grace. Beloved, grace isn't a doctrine. It's the gospel. It's good news
to me. And that's understood if you
understand the law. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
Now remember, the law is good if
a man uses it lawfully. Here's the lawful use of the
law, Galatians chapter 3, verse 21. Is the law then against the promises
of God? Is it messing things up to where
we can't be saved because of its strict requirements? God
forbid. For if there had been a law given
which could have given life, Verily, righteousness should
have been by the law. If that was the Lord's intention
for people to be saved by keeping the law, we could have been saved
by keeping the law, but that was never His intention in the
first place. That's not the purpose of the
law. It's not to enable you to be good. Verse 22, But the Scripture
hath concluded all under sin. You know what that means? That
means sin's over you. It's over you. The Scripture
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, but before
faith came, now there's a time when we didn't know anything
about what it meant to trust Christ. We were kept under the law, shut
up under the faith which should afterwards be revealed, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. Now this word schoolmaster, when
we think of a schoolmaster, we think of an old guy with a black
cape on or whatever it is, nice or maybe even a little bit mean,
but that's not what the word means. In the Greek culture,
there's what was called a pedagogue, a more wealthy family. If you
had a son, you'd hire a man to follow him around. And that man's
job was if the fella got out of line, get him right like that.
Beat him, hit him, knock him out. I look at Richard, look
at Zach and think, I need one of those. Pedagogue. Can you imagine what
a miserable life that would have been if you had a pedagogue?
I mean, it was just following you around everywhere and they
pay him to do that. Don't let him get out of line,
beat him. The law was our pedagogue to
drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of the law.
to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ. If I say what the law
means, you know what? I flee to Christ. Lord, have saved me. Let me be covered in the blood.
Let me have your righteousness. Save me. And let's go on reading. Wherefore, verse 24, wherefore,
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that
we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
what's it say next? We're no longer under a schoolmaster.
We don't need a schoolmaster if we have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look what Galatians 5.18 says. But if he be led of
the Spirit, you're not under the law. Someone who is led by
the Spirit of God is not under the law. Now let's go back to
our text in 1 Timothy 1. Verse 8. 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." Now, that is a believer a righteous man.
Answer that honestly. Is a believer a righteous man?
Yes, I have the very righteousness of Christ. Believers are always
called the right, you hear the righteous and the wicked. A believer is
a righteous man. Remember Lot, just Lot, that
righteous man and his righteous soul. A lot of other folks wouldn't
have said that about Lot, but God said that about Lot because
he was a righteous man because every believer is a righteous
man. The law is not made for a righteous
man. but for the lawless and disobedient or insubordinate,
to the ungodly, the irreverent, and for sinners. For unholy,
unlike the Lord Jesus Christ, and profane, accessible, able
to be bought. For murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers. For manslayers. For whoremongers. For them that defile themselves
with mankind. Homosexuals. For men-stealers. Slave traders. People that would
go in and steal people and sell them. For liars. For perjured
persons. People who lie under oath. And
if there be any other thing that's contrary to sound, doctrine. Now, who's the law for? It's not for the righteous. It's
for the people described right here. Now, all I say, if I want
to be under law, is that I don't know the Lord. That's all I say. The law was
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and the irreverent. Now see, all sin is opposed to
sound doctrine, and not using God's law lawfully is opposed
to sound doctrine, wholesome doctrine. And here's what sound
doctrine is, verse 11. Anything that's contrary to sound
doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which
was committed to my trust. Now here's sound doctrine. The
gospel. The glorious gospel. of the blessed
God. That could just as easily read
the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Now what is the
glory of the blessed God? You remember when Moses said,
Abbasid, you show me my glory. He said, I'll make all my goodness
pass before you, my capacity to save rebels who worship golden
calves so quickly. I'll proclaim my name before
you. All his attributes are used in
the salvation of his people. His name is who he is. His sovereignty,
his justice, his holiness, his love, his grace, his wisdom.
Every attribute of God is used in the salvation of the sinner.
I'll proclaim my name before you. I'll be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. And I'll show mercy on whom I
will show mercy. That's the glory of the blessed
God. But let me ask you this question. Do you find the gospel
glorious? Do you find it glorious how God
can take somebody like you and make you perfect before Him and
that's really what you are? Do you find that glorious? Do
you see the wisdom of God magnified in the way that He's made a way
to be just and justify the ungodly? It's glorious. The glorious gospel
of the blessed God. Now, do you see that the gospel
is the gospel of God? Is the gospel you're listening
to right now the gospel of Todd? Or is it the gospel of God? You
see, if it's the gospel of Todd, it won't do you any good or me
any good. That's just a man's opinion. Who cares? Is it the
gospel of Todd? Or is it the gospel of the blessed
God? The glorious gospel of the blessed
God. That's sound doctrine. And notice
how Paul said in closing, which is committed to my trust. Now listen, every believer here,
every believer, do you know that God has entrusted to you that
which is most precious to him? That's, that the Lord would entrust to
me that which is most precious to Him. And He gave me a sacred
trust. And He gives every believer a
sacred trust. Don't say, well, there's no significance
to my life. What? You've been entrusted with
the Gospel? Yes, there's much significance
to your life. The Lord has entrusted to you
that which is most precious to himself." The glorious gospel. Paul said, it was committed to
my trust. You know what that means? I'm
to believe it all. What does a man have to believe
to be saved? Everything that God says. I mean
that from the depths of my heart. If there's anything God says
and I don't believe it, you know what I am? I'm an unbeliever.
A believer believes everything God says. Oh, believe all this
gospel that is committed to your trust. And I'm to preach it all. God forbid God forbid that I
would ever try to hide any portion of God's truth in order to save
my own skin or to enable to help myself in some way. God forbid. Timothy, preach the word. I don't care what it is. If it's
what the word says, preach it. Preach it. That's what we do
when the gospel is committed to our trust. And we stand for
it against its enemies. against those who would deny
it. We stand for the gospel. We make our stand in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, if I'm not set for the
defense of the gospel, I'm not saved by the gospel. Paul said
he was set for the defense of the gospel. This is a gospel
worth dying for, isn't it? And it's certainly a gospel worth
living for. We're set for the defense of the gospel. And if
this gospel has been committed to my trust, oh, how I want to
adorn the gospel with my life. I want to make the gospel beautiful
with my life. I want to be someone who forgives
from my heart. I want to be someone who's merciful.
I want to be someone who is a true friend. I want to be someone
who honors the Lord Jesus Christ in my life. I want to be an obedient
child, don't you? I want to adorn, that's what
I said, adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. And this gospel that's committed
to my trust, I want to spread it. Don't you want everybody
in the world to hear the gospel? I want everybody in the world
China, Afghanistan, Lexington, Kentucky, Catlettsburg, Kentucky,
doesn't matter where, I want everybody to hear the gospel. And this is our responsibility.
This is the reason the Lord left us here. Lord could have brought
us right into glory as soon as he saved us, he could have. But
he left us here for this purpose, for the spread, for the proclamation
of his gospel to all men. What a sacred trust to have the
gospel committed to my trust and to your trust. May we, by
grace, believe it all, preach it all, defend it against its
enemies. Not that it needs our defense.
You know what I'm saying. I mean, the Lord, we can't, you know
what? Hope you know what I mean. Adorn
it in our lives. and spread it for the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's the right use of the
law. When I use the law rightly, it'll
make me think of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Let's pray. Lord, we don't ask to see how
bad we are. We don't really want to know
all of that, Lord, but we do ask that you would show us enough
through your law to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ and
to look nowhere else but Him for our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And Lord, we're amazed that you've
committed your gospel to our trust. And Lord, we ask that
you would enable us to be faithful to that sacred trust that you've
given us. Bless this message for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen. What page you got, Paul? 205. That's a good one. Free from the law. 205. Stand
and sing.

The Lawful Use of The Law

What does the Bible say about the purpose of the law?

How do we know the law cannot save us?

Why is understanding the law important for Christians?

What role does the law play in the life of a believer?

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The Lawful Use of The Law

What does the Bible say about the purpose of the law?

How do we know the law cannot save us?

Why is understanding the law important for Christians?

What role does the law play in the life of a believer?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

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