Chapter 60
The
Purpose Of God’s Holy Law
"Now
we know that what things 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.” Romans 3:19
The person who knows the proper place of the law and
the glory of God’s free grace, the person who can rest in Christ alone for all
that the law requires and all that justice demands, knows the gospel. But that
person who mixes law and grace, in any measure whatsoever, as a matter of
acceptance before God, has not yet learned the gospel aright.
No two things in the world are more completely
opposed to one another than law and grace. They are as opposite as light
and darkness. They can no more agree than fire and water. Like oil and water,
law and grace simply will not mix. The Scriptures are explicitly clear in
asserting this fact (Rom. 11:5-6).
Romans
11:5-6 -- “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of
works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
Yet,
there is an amazingly well established opinion in the distorted minds of men
that law and grace will mix! Though law and grace are diametrically opposed to
one another, the depraved human mind is so void of spiritual understanding, and
so thoroughly turned away from God, that the most difficult thing in this world
for man to do is to discriminate between law and grace. Man insists on mixing
that which God has positively put asunder. Because of his foolish ignorance,
man wants to find some legal standing before God. This is the thing that Paul opposes throughout all of his epistles. He expends every effort to destroy
every remnant of legalism among God’s people.
Free from the Law
In Christ, all who believe
are free, totally free from the law. That fact cannot be stated too
emphatically. There is absolutely no sense in which believers are under the
law.
The word law is used
160 times from Romans through 1 John. Not once, not even once, in those 160
references is there a single hint that the believer is in some way, to some
degree, for some reason, motivated by, ruled by, under the dominion of, or
obligated to the law. Let’s look at just a few of the plain, obvious statements
of Holy Scripture dealing with this, the most persistent of all heresies.
Romans 6:14-15 -- "For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid."
Romans 7:4 --
"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth
fruit unto God."
Romans 8:3-4 -- "For
what the law could not do, 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: That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit."
Romans 10:4 -- "For
Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth."
Galatians 3:24-25 --
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no
longer under a schoolmaster."
1 Timothy 1:8-10 --
"But we know that the law is good,
if a man use it lawfully; Knowing
this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile
themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars,
for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound
doctrine."
Was Paul
opposed to the law? Did he think the law was an evil thing? Certainly not! In
Romans 7, he shows us his own and every true believer’s attitude toward God’s
holy law. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good…We know that
the law is spiritual…I delight in the law of God after the inward man.”
The true believer recognizes
the purpose of the law; and he highly reverences the law. It is his desire to
live in perfect 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. It is our reverence for the law that keeps us from trying to
live by the law. It is the perfect holiness and strict, unbending demands of
God’s law and justice, which drive us to Christ. This is not licentious
doctrine, but holy doctrine.
C.
H. Spurgeon once illustrated this fact by telling his congregation of the
experience of one he identified as Dr. Chalmers, who
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 the
man. He began preaching Christ crucified and salvation by the free grace of God
in him, and things changed. That is exactly what Paul told Titus would happen
whenever the gospel is faithfully preached.
Titus
3:4-8 – “But
after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared, Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm
constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
We do not teach sabbath
keeping because God forbids it; but we keep the sabbath rest by faith in
Christ. – Christ is our Sabbath. We do not teach circumcision because our
Lord forbids it; but we are the circumcised. – God the Holy Spirit has circumcised our hearts by the saving operations
of his grace in the new birth. We do not teach tithing because God
plainly forbids us taking anything from anyone by constraint of law. “God loveth a cheerful giver!” But all
believers give. We give ourselves to
Christ. – Giving themselves to Christ, God’s elect cheerfully give of their
means to support the cause of Christ.
Three Great
Difficulties
Seeking the conversion of
sinners, endeavoring to persuade men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we
are faced with three great difficulties.
The first real difficulty in
conversion is to get a person lost, really
lost. The hardest thing in the world to find is a sinner who is
really lost. I know that all who are without Christ are lost in the sense that
all are under the wrath of God; but few know it. There are very few men and
women walking the streets of any city anywhere in this world who know they are
lost, so thoroughly and completely lost that no religious rite or ceremony, no
system of works, no law, no code of morality can do them any good. As Joseph
Hart expressed it in one of his hymns, --
"What comfort can a Savior bring
To those who never felt their woe?
A sinner is a sacred thing;
The Holy Ghost hath made him so."
There are many who will
admit that they are weak, and need a little help. There are some who will even
admit that they are sinful, and in need of some atonement. But there are few
people in this world who will acknowledge that they are totally and eternally
lost, in need of salvation by pure grace alone. Only the Holy Spirit can
produce a lost sinner. The first thing that must be done is to get a man lost.
Only real sinners seek real grace. Only God the Holy Spirit can convince a
sinner that he is a sinner, lost, undone, and under the curse of God’s holy law
without Christ.
The second real difficulty
in conversion is teaching lost sinners
the gospel of the free grace of God in Christ. There are few people in
this world who have ever heard the gospel, and fewer still who ever really
learn it. The gospel of God’s free, sovereign, saving grace in Christ proclaims
salvation to lost sinners without anything in return from them, -- requiring
nothing from them. Salvation is the free gift of God, from beginning to end.
Even repentance, faith, and good works are gifts of his grace.
It is very difficult for
proud sinners to learn the gospel, because it is opposed to our pride. It is
opposed to our wisdom. It is opposed to our religious prejudices. It is opposed
to our traditions. The gospel contradicts everything the natural man thinks
about spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:9-16). God’s way is always exactly the
opposite of man’s way.
The third great difficulty
in conversion is bringing lost sinners to rest in Christ alone, trusting him
alone for everything they need for acceptance with the holy Lord God (1 Cor.
1:30-31). We must rest entirely upon Christ. We must never grow beyond that. We
are to live all the days of our lives trusting that same grace and love that first
took us in. We are chosen, redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and kept by
grace alone. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk ye in him" (Col. 2:6).
“Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come:
And I hope by Thy good
pleasure
Safely to arrive at home.”
We place
no hope whatsoever in our obedience to the law of God. We have neither
salvation, nor sanctification, nor reward by our obedience to the law. We trust
nothing but Christ alone; and we trust him for all things. Everything God
requires from and gives to sinners is in Christ (Eph. 1:3-14).
One Purpose
The law of God has but one proper use spiritually. I
grant, the law restrains unrighteous men from behaving as they would were there
no penal consequences for their offences (1 Tim. 1:8-10). But spiritually the
law has only one proper, lawful use. It was given for only one purpose. It was
not given as a code of moral ethics. It was not given as the believer’s rule of
life. It was not given as a motive for Christian service. It was not given as a
measure of sanctification. It was not given to be the grounds of our assurance.
It was not given as a basis for reward in heaven. -- The only purpose of God’s holy law is to identify, expose, and condemn
man’s sin, shutting him up to Christ alone for acceptance with God.
Romans
3:19 -- "Now we know that what things 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."
Romans
5:20 -- "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
Before
any sinner is converted, he must be convinced of his sin and guilt. That is the
only lawful use of the law. Before any man is given the newness of life in
Christ, he must be slain by the law. The
law is God’s deep, cutting plow, by
which he breaks up the fallow ground of a sinner’s heart and conscience, and
prepares the soil of his heart for the gospel. This plowing is a difficult, but
necessary process. Yes, there must be more than legal conviction; but legal
conviction is an essential part of gospel conviction (John 16:8-11).
Our Only Hope
The sinner’s only hope
before God is free grace, -- free grace flowing to chosen sinners upon the
ground of righteousness fulfilled and justice satisfied. This is Paul’s
doctrine. This is the doctrine of Holy Scripture. This is the doctrine of the
gospel.
Romans
3:19-31 -- “Now
we know that what things 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. 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. But now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time
his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By
what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law. Is he the God of
the Jews only? is he not also of the
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing
it is one God, which shall justify
the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through
faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
God the Holy Spirit
inspired the Apostle to say exactly the same thing to the saints at Galatia. He
means for us to get the message.
Galatians
2:19-21 -- “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. I do not
frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
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 oft to
ill,
And hardened hearts makes
harder still.
The gospel shows Immanuel’s
heart
And melts this hardened
sinner’s heart!
“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!