The Law of God: Guiding Grace, Not Legalism

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When we think of the law of God encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, we're thinking of something that is even more than that. We're thinking not simply in terms of legislation but in terms of Revelation. But in as much as the Ten Commandments give to us that apt summary, it is an expression in specific detail of God's will and purpose for the life of humanity. [00:04:04]

The law of God, particularly the Ten Commandments, is a revelation of God's will and purpose for humanity. It is not a means of salvation but a guide to living a life that glorifies God. Understanding this helps us appreciate the law's role in pointing us to Christ, who fulfilled it on our behalf. [00:04:04]

The duty which God requires of man is obedience to his revealed will. Question 40: What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? Answer: The rule which God had first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law. Inevitable question: Where is the moral law similarly comprehended? Answer: The moral law is similarly comprehended in the Ten Commandments. [00:07:19]

There are two essential perils that confront us in relationship to these things. On the one hand is the danger of dealing with the law in such a way that we embrace a form of legalism, essentially an approach to things which conceives of the idea that salvation is dependent upon observing various laws and fulfilling various regulations. [00:11:21]

The legalist sees the law as the solution, and the antinomian sees the law as the problem. John Stott, always helpful, says legalists fear the law and are in bondage to it; antinomians hate the law and repudiate it. With that said, now the question still remains: What does Paul actually mean when he says you are not under law but under grace? [00:12:47]

We are not as believers under the law as a means or as a way of justification. We're not under the law as a way of justification. Again, Galatians points with this. Galatians 3:11 clearly says Paul, no one is justified before God by the law. Now, one of the ways in testing whether in our lives we have confidence in the finished work of Christ. [00:14:09]

The only safe and true answer is to point away to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Galatians, as having become a curse for us, he has become a curse for us. Therefore, the law has no authority to accuse the child of God nor to instill in us the fear of final condemnation. We have been saved in Christ from sin's guilt, not by obedience to the law. [00:15:38]

We are not under law as a means of justification, nor are we under law as it relates to Mosaic legislation. This is one of the ways in which people often stumble as they read the Old Testament. Well, what are we supposed to do with a ceremonial and the judicial law? Well, again, that was what Paul was addressing in Galatians. [00:17:06]

The believer gives up looking to the law in terms of any of this ceremonial legislation and mosaic material. That's why we're not doing the sacrifices. That's why we're not going back to these things. That's why the Council of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 was so crucial because they were hammering out these very issues. [00:18:48]

The reformers were quick to point out that, as we said in the outset, the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God, actually are a specific summary statement of how the world is able to work perfectly according to the plan of the Creator. In other words, if you just think about it every so often, I say to somebody in a department store. [00:19:48]

The law of the Lord is perfect. There's a reason why the Ten Commandments are in the rotunda, where the Supreme Court says there's a reason why British jurisprudence and American law is as it is. It was because at the outset of things, the founders of the nation agreed with the reformers about the civil and political place of the law in establishing the bounds of a civilization and of a country. [00:21:04]

God's law is sometimes accused of being a restrictive means of control that takes all the fun out of life, but as we'll see tomorrow, it's actually a loving means of protection. [00:24:31]

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