Good morning. If you're able to, open your Bible to Romans 3. We are finally going to get out of this paragraph and chapter, and things will hopefully speed up as we look at Abraham next week. However, this morning we want to think through the implications of justification by faith alone in Christ alone and our understanding of the law and how that now works for us in the New Testament. If you found Romans 3, please stand. I'm gonna read verses 19 to the end of the chapter, and we are going to think through one verse this morning. It's a heavy verse. This has been a heavy Sunday. We worked through the Trinity and Sunday school, and now I have the wonderful privilege to think through the law this morning, and it is a heavy topic. But first, hear now the reading of God's word. Now, we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stomped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction for all who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he may be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So then, what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. What kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also. Since God is one, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Here's our verse. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. Let's pray. Oh Father, we would just ask for the assistance of God the Holy Spirit this morning as we think through the work of the incarnate God the Son This one who came into the world to do what the law could not do, being weakened by the flesh. Lord, even as we see in Romans 8, that the God-man condemned sin in the flesh when he became sin on the cross. And Father, I just pray that you would help us to see what Paul is trying to teach us this morning, the reason you inspired him to add this section of scripture and even this single verse of how we ought to view the law in light of the coming of the faith, of the coming of Christ to whom the law pointed. Father, I pray that you would help us to guard from errors on one side or the other, that we would not be legalists but also that we would not be antinomian. Help us, in the words of Paul to Timothy, to use the law lawfully. Help us to understand what your purposes were and are in the law. And help us, Lord, to rejoice in Christ, the law-fulfiller. Lord, we love you and thank you. and even ask this morning that the Holy Spirit would convict us this morning of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, and that he would be pleased to even use the law of Moses, that whip with 10 nails in it, and to lash and to show us our great need of Christ, our healer. Lord, we love you and thank you for your word. And we ask that it would accomplish your purpose in and through us this morning, pointing us to Christ, enabling us to worship in spirit and truth. Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. Martin Lloyd-Jones once said that you will know that you have preached the gospel accurately if you have accusers who think that you're becoming an antinomian. Now, you probably notice I use that word in my prayer, and I've used it a couple times in the last few months. Antinomian. It means to be against the law. And it's not new. It was actually in the very Garden of Eden, if you read Sinclair Ferguson's book, The Whole Christ, he says, simultaneously, every human since Adam has struggled with one ditch or the other, and often, like a pendulum swings between the two of them, namely, how we understand the law. And there's the legalist that says that we must somehow keep the law in a way to be justified before God, but equally as dangerous is the other ditch of antinomianism. The law doesn't matter. And, as Lloyd-Jones, I think, is correct, when you preach the gospel, people accuse you of making light of the law. The law is not important. If we're saved by faith, let us sin that grace might abound. Well, Paul was not alone in this. We often will face these same accusations. And so this morning, as we think through the law, I'm trying to prepare you of how to think about the law lawfully. And don't be surprised when you preach the gospel that one is justified freely as a gift of God's grace through faith in Christ. People will say, well, then obviously the law is not important. I would argue with Paul in his words and say may it never be By no means or as the King James says God forbid the law is actually still quite important for us And I want us to see that in our text in the book of Romans and in the rest of the Bible Now what came to my mind? was actually an instance where Paul himself was accused of being an antinomian. You don't have to turn there, but it's in Acts chapter 21. It's when Paul arrives in the city of Jerusalem. And some of the believing Christians came to Paul and they said, it is heard that you are undermining the law, that you're actually teaching people that Moses is no longer important. And that's what happens when you preach about Christ alone. When you say things like this, by works of the flesh shall no, by works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Or as we saw here, that one is justified apart from works of the law. The natural fleshly response is, obviously the law doesn't matter to you, Paul. You're preaching cheap grace. While this wasn't unique to Paul in the city of Jerusalem, it was also something leveled against him everywhere he went. You can actually see that here in Paul's own letter in chapter 3. And in chapter 6, what then is the use of the law, Paul? Or you can read in Galatians, all of Paul's enemies were charging him with making light of the law. You can see that especially in Galatians chapter two. Do we then overthrow this law? Do we then make light of this law? No, actually, Paul says, understanding the gospel of justification by faith in some way upholds the law. And so, don't be surprised that as you're preaching the gospel, some people will accuse you of making light of the law or of good works. And I couldn't help but think when I was a new convert, sharing the gospel with someone quite dear to me, this very charge was leveled against me when I told this dear person who I loved and wanted to see them converted when I told him that the Infant baptism of his children meant nothing and was filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. He said what then? Are we to just do nothing and we just believe and then we can go on and sin all we want and that is your God and he blasphemed Perhaps you've had that I've had it happen many times when you're on the street with a Catholic and you try to tell them that all of their works, all of their penance, all of these things they do are worth nothing. Or when you talk with a good Muslim and you tell them that all of their works mean nothing. And you'll often hear them say, well, then your God is unholy. And I would say, absolutely not. On the contrary, preaching faith alone in Christ alone upholds the holiness of God and his righteous standard. When the unbelieving, gospel-rejecting Jew heard that Gentiles could be saved by faith alone in Christ alone, often they asked, does Paul's gospel of justification by faith denude the law of Moses? Does it upend? Does it eliminate? Does it empty it? Does it nullify it? All those words mean the same thing. Paul's answer to them and to us is simple and to the point, by no means. To the contrary, the gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ alone upholds the law. So I want us to think a little bit about that. The reason why Paul says this is because the law must have a purpose. Just think about it. If they're saying that somehow the gospel denudes the law or empties the law, it's making it of no effect, it must mean that the law has a purpose or God gave the law for an effect. And so what I want us to do is do a survey of Romans and the scriptures that back it up, a survey of what is the purpose of the law? And let me just front load application just in case you fall asleep or just in case I lose you. Do you know the Ten Commandments?" Now, right away, you're screaming, this is going to be a legalistic sermon. And I want to front load and say, do you know the Ten Commandments? And if you're a parent, do your children know the Ten Commandments? And if you pass that test, are you catechizing your children to understand the implications? of the Ten Commandments. And this is where a helpful catechism, like a Baptist catechism or the Westminster, or we went through years ago, even the New City Catechism, helps them understand what are the implications of honouring your father and mother? What are the implications of not murdering? What are the implications of not being a thief? because it has wonderful implications for the unbeliever and for us, as we'll see from this text, for the believer as well. So, let me show you from scripture the purpose of the law, because the Jews were saying God gave the law for a purpose. Actually... Turn to Deuteronomy 6. As Pastor Nathan was finishing his prayer, it hit me, Deuteronomy 6, because Paul has just quoted what we saw last week called the Shema as an impetus for missions to the Gentiles. But let me read to you the context of the Shema. You should know that's in Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy, that's the book, second giving of the law. Listen to what Moses says, because the people were saying, Paul's adversaries, Paul's critics, were saying to him in Rome, in Galatia, in Jerusalem, wherever he preached the gospel, this is what the Jew would say to Paul. You're against the law. You're opposing Moses, right? Deuteronomy means second law. Antinomy means against law. Paul, you're an antinomian. You're not understanding Moses. Listen, now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. Here's Moses giving the law, as it were, a second time to the second generation of the believers before they enter into the promised land, into Canaan. And Moses says, here is the commandment. the statutes and the deeds that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over to possess it." So God gave the law so that the people would do the law or keep the law. And Paul seems to be saying, you don't need the law. Or that's the assumption that they thought Paul was saying. Verse 2, the reason that Moses is giving the law to the people of Israel is so that you may fear the Lord your God. So there's a purpose here in Deuteronomy. One of the purposes God gave the law to his people was that they might fear him. you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long." That's another reason the law is given, which Paul picks up in Ephesians. He gives the law that our days might be long. Keep going in the text. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. The law was to be sort of a guide for how they were to live as God's holy people in the promised land. That has implications for us as well. Does God care about how we live as his people? Well, yes. So then maybe the law, Paul says, is not denuded. It is not emptied. But somehow, in some way, which we'll get there, it's fulfilled in the preaching of the gospel, in the doctrine of justification by faith. But I'm just whetting your appetite. Here's the Shema. Circle it. Highlight it. This was one of the most important verses to the Israelites. Hear, O Israel. The word here in Hebrew is Shema. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. We saw Paul quote that in Romans 3 in 29 and 30. And so the Jews thinking, OK, yeah, right, Paul just quoted the Shema. And it's in the context of the law. God has one way of salvation. And somehow, some way, this one way of salvation doesn't nullify the law. It actually establishes it. It causes it to stand in the Greek. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. That's the essence of the law. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Here it is, you shall teach them diligently to your children. That's why I front-loaded the application. Teach your children to understand the law and how it points to Christ, how it directs them in their life. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." And so what the Jew was saying is like, Paul, you just quoted Deuteronomy 6, but it seems to be that you're against it. You're talking out of both sides of your mouth. You're upholding the law in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, but you're saying they're saved apart from the law. How can you somehow champion the law and yet dispose of it? And Paul's saying, I'm not doing that. You're misinterpreting me. So from Scripture, we see that the law serves the following purposes. First, the law reveals the holy nature and demands of God. We're going to see this elaborated more in the Book of Romans. You're going to say, Ryan, where do you see that in 331? What most commentators agree on is that Paul is sort of just saying, you know, hold that thought. The gospel, preaching Christ, it does not denude the law, it actually upholds it. But just hold that thought, because I want to show you from the life of Abraham first, and then I'm going to show you later in chapter 6, and 7, and 9, and 10, and 12, and 15, okay? So law is going to be huge. If you don't want to hear me preach about the law, you're going to be very upset because Romans is dealing with the law and God's purposes of it. The first purpose, parents. This is why it's good to teach your children the Ten Commandments, because it reveals the holy nature and demands of God. You can write in your notes, Romans 7, verse 12. The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. And you're like, that doesn't say that God is holy and that God is holy and righteous and good. Yeah, but Paul's a Jew and he understood from the Old Testament into the new that the law was how God would reveal himself to his people, the ineffably holy God. How does he communicate himself? We're blowing our minds in Sunday school trying to think through God's holiness and especially in his triunity. There has to be some tangible way that we can understand as finite creatures the holiness of God. And as Calvin says, that God condescends and he lists to us the way a father or a mother with a PhD talks gibberish with their two-year-old. I'm not saying the law is gibberish. Please don't hear that. But God, who is incommunicably holy, has to somehow way communicate that to us, and he does so in the Old Testament in the law. No, he does it more clearly in Christ. We're going to see that. But the law points to Christ, and in the law covenant, he revealed himself as holy and righteous and good through his commands. Read that in Deuteronomy chapter four. Hebrews 1.1, how did God communicate himself and his works and his purposes to our fathers? By the prophets, Moses himself being one of them. Okay, let me front load another application. Read your Old Testaments. Interpret them in light of the New Testament. But so many Christians are ignorant of the Old Testament. And I don't want to take shots, but I think this is sort of one of the effects or the downstream consequences of a dispensationalism that said, well, the Old Testament is for Israel. The New Testament is for the church, and I would say, no, the whole counsel of God is for the whole people of God. And so we should be reading our Old Testaments to see what God is like. And you can see God's detestation, hatred of sin, in Genesis 3. Kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden. You can see his hatred and abomination of things like child sacrifice and homosexuality. I see that in Romans 1, but I can see it also in the Old Testament. We can see what God is like, right? It says, in many ways, in diverse times, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, including the law. Okay, we saw in Romans 3 that though you're not justified by works of law, Paul says the law and the prophets testify to it, as we're gonna see in the life of Abraham. The law reveals the holy nature and demands of God. Secondly, The law reveals our sinful nature and condemnation, our just condemnation from God. And this is where, when you read Luther or Calvin, they have the threefold use of the law. They would say the law is like a mirror. the law reveals things about us. Now, we saw in Romans 2 that God has written his law upon all of our hearts. But when you recite these laws, as I use the analogy, right, when people hear the law outwardly coming to them, it resonates with the law that God has written on their heart. And so when you're telling people, this is why when you're on the street saying murder is wrong, they get angry because they know that's another testimony from outside bearing witness with their own wicked heart, and it just gives them more to suppress. The law, parents, reveals your child's sinful nature. And the 1689 would say, even as Christians, it continues to reveal our own fallenness and drives us not only as unbelievers to Christ, but it drives us as believers to Christ. Oh, wretched man that I am. The law reveals that. that God is holy and demands perfection. And when I sin against God's law and his commandment, it drives me back to Christ, the fulfiller of the law, reminding me that my justification comes only in Christ. The law reveals our sinful nature from God, Romans 3.20. Through the law comes, we read it, comes what? Knowledge of sin. Now, of course, we have a conscience. But that conscience can be hearted. That conscience can become leathery. It can become seared, says Paul to Timothy. And so we use the law lawfully, 1 Timothy 1. Romans 5.13, you can turn there, or you can just listen to me read it from my notes, Romans 5.13. Sin is not counted as transgression where there is no law. And so I was reading a book by Thomas Schreiner. I don't agree entirely with him on all things, but it's called 40 Questions About Biblical Law, and I was, me and Matt get pretty giddy when we're talking about things like this, and we were at a conference yesterday, and so I was just saying, oh, this is so awesome. This is what Ernest Keevan said, this is the grace of law. So the Bible says we've all sinned, and we've all fallen short, or we all lack God's glory, Jew and Gentile alike. Here's the gift of the law. you've broken, you've sinned against God, we'll say. What the law reveals, according to Romans 5, Romans 3, Romans 7, the law shows you not only that you're a sinner, but that you're a rebel. It shows you the blackness of your heart. It's not just like, well, I accidentally sinned. Paul could have said that. I just sinned. But he says, when the law that I should not covet hit my heart, sin leapt like a lion and devoured me, and I realized that I am not just a sinner by act, I am a sinner and rebel by heart. Our children need to know that because it shows us our desperate need of God's regenerating grace. This is the grace of law. It's the best thing in the world. for the law, as it were, to shine like a light, saying not only have we sinned, but we've rebelled. So the pagans have sinned, and they will be judged by that, Paul says. For all have sinned without the law will be judged, or will perish apart from the law. They'll still be judged, but when you come and you say, here's what God says, and then they realize they've sinned against it, all of a sudden now, their conscience is activated. This is a good thing the law does. It reveals what is true. We are sinners. You don't need the law to say that. You are a sinner, but the law reveals it. And for the elect we trust, the Holy Spirit will drive them out from themselves, seeing themselves as a condemned rebel. It'll drive them to Christ. This is good. Romans 7, 7, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. It's a wonderful thing. Romans 7, 13, the law reveals sin to be sinful. It shows us the depravity of our hearts. Paul says, the commandment shows us that sin is sinful beyond measure. Paraphrase, it reveals our wicked, God-hating, God-defying, depraved hearts. I know this isn't flowery preaching that will invite all kinds of people to want to return, but this is what the law does. Galatians 3.20, the law makes clear what scriptures have already taught prior to Moses, that sin was in the world. Everyone is imprisoned under sin. You need to understand that. Whether the law goes forward or not, everyone is imprisoned under sin. Paul said that in Romans 3, 9. Here's our conclusion. Both Jew and Gentile are under sin. And the law clarifies that. It sort of highlights it. It puts it up on a screen. It helps to unsuppress that fact. Okay, so let's remember a review here. The law firstly reveals God's holy nature. Secondly, it reveals our sinful nature. Okay, it reveals who God is and what he demands. Secondly, it reveals who we are and how we have fallen short. God is holy and demands holiness. Right? This is why Ray Comfort, I don't always agree with all of his theology, but when he's on the street sharing the gospel, you'll notice that people are talking and getting away. And when he hits the Ten Commandments, all of a sudden, something happens. You can see that. Whether they're a Catholic, or an atheist, or a Hindu, or a Jew, something wonderful happens is now they're wrestling with God's indictment against them. They know by conscience these things are wrong and then the law comes and it basically reinforces it with God's divine imprimatur. Not only do you feel it's wrong, God says it's wrong. Not only have you sinned and not only do you lack the glory of God, the law says that you hate him, that you rejoice to rebel against him. The reason you break the law is because you're a law breaker. Thirdly, the law serves as a schoolmaster to prepare the world for Christ. Now, before we go to Galatians, that's also in Romans 3, Romans 3, 21 and 22. The law and the prophets, they are testifying, they are preparing the world for Christ. Okay, it's like a schoolmaster. The righteousness of God has been manifested. Right? And he's saying that the righteousness of God that has been manifested in Christ was prophesied. It was foretold. Actually, go back to Romans 1. I got this from a guy named Brian Rosner. I read a whole book of his on the law. I read too much this week, and so hopefully this sermon is under four hours. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. Oh, so he doesn't preach the law. Well, just hold on. Which he promised. beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, including the law, concerning his son. What is Paul saying? that the Old Testament, one of its purposes is not only to reveal who God is and what he is like, not only to reveal who we are and what we are like, but also to prepare us for the coming of Christ. Because what we'd see in the Old Testament, God made wonderful promises, which we'll call in the covenant of grace, that he would save his people by faith, that a redeemer would come into the world. And the Old Testament is preparing the world for the coming of Jesus. Right? So when you're reading the Old Testament, not just the New Testament, the Old Testament is concerning God's Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Go to Romans 16. Okay? So this is why you are reading our Old Testaments as well as our New Testaments. If that sounds legalistic, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do. It's not. Now to him who is able, 1625, now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings, that's including the law. It's been disclosed. What Moses, do you remember when Jesus comes on the scene and John and Andrew comes and he says, we found the one to whom Moses wrote about. Do you remember that? We found him. The prophet Moses talked about, he's here, right? The sacrifice of sacrifices is here. John was using Old Testament languages. Behold the lamb who taketh away the sins of the world. He's talking about the law. Actually, John himself is an emblem of the law. This one who points beyond himself to the one whom the law would be fulfilled, namely Christ. So the prophetic writings has been known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith to this God, to this only wise God be glory forevermore, amen. Okay, and so we see the third purpose of the law is to serve as kind of a schoolmaster, that is preparing the world for Christ. Not only Jew, but I would also argue Gentile as well. And you can find that in Galatians. Actually, turn there. I want to read there. I know I'm having you turn a lot, and I know apparently this turns people off. I'm going to be a little bit cross. That's okay. I want us to have a lot of Scripture in our hearts. And if you have to turn a little bit, you get some calluses on your finger, it's better than calluses on your heart. Galatians 3, verse 15. I'll start in verse. It's one big section, it's hard, right? We'll start in verse 23. You can read verses 15 to 22 this afternoon. Now, before faith came. Now, this is tricky when you're reading. Like, what? Is there no faith in the Old Testament? That's not what Paul's saying. It's literally before the faith came. And he's talking about the faith in Christ. Okay, so I would translate this, now before the one to whom faith was pointing to came. Right, so you could paraphrase, now before Christ came. Okay, because he is the end of faith. Christ is the one Adam believed in. Christ is the one Abraham believed in. Christ is the one David believed in. Christ is the one that the prophets believed in, okay? So don't read Galatians and say, what? The Old Testament is not faith? That's not what Paul is saying. Now before this faith came, I would translate, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. That was revealed in Christ. So then the law was our guardian. our tutor, until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. What is Paul saying? Well, David was justified by faith, Abraham was justified by faith, and Christ comes as the substance to which they were looking forward to. Remember we talked about being saved on credit, right? David was looking forward to Christ. His faith was in, as it were, God's promise. That's what Paul's saying here. The Old Testament is preparing the Jewish nation and the world for how God is going to save by faith. And how does he save by faith? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is the substance of that faith. And so Paul says, the law is like a guardian. It's training up a teenager so that they can become mature. Paul actually says that in the very next chapter. He says, under the law, we're like underage children. And then there's a maturity, or we become adults. And Paul is saying in redemptive history, that has come in the person of Christ. Fourthly. Okay, so firstly, the law reveals who God is and what he is like. Secondly, it reveals who we are and what we are like. Thirdly, the law is like a schoolmaster, a tutor that prepares the world for Christ, and it does so whether in the sacrificial system, in the temple, in the Ten Commandments, in the examples of Abraham, in the examples of David. All these things, when you're reading the Old Testament, they're sort of giving you hints and types and shadows. of what God was going to do in Christ, okay? So Leviticus should not bore you. Leviticus is preparing the world for Christ. The lawgiver demanding perfect obedience to the law is preparing the world for Christ, who alone could be the one who did perfect obedience to God. Is that making sense? Okay, all those commands were pointing forward to the command keeper, Christ. Okay, fourthly, the law drives us to God's gracious provision and merciful salvation through faith in Christ. Go back to Romans chapter 10. This is important. Verse four, you could read verses one to four, but I'm just gonna read verse four. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. What is Paul saying here? Christ is the goal for righteousness. Meaning what? God has always had a purpose for having people who are righteous. The law demanded that. The law demands perfect righteousness. But the law says we can't do it. And so the law pointed forward to one who could. Okay, and that's what Paul's saying here. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Why does there need to be an end of the law for righteousness? Because no one can keep the law for righteousness. And not only the end of the law for righteousness, as we see one day, is the purpose of the law for righteousness. Okay, the law says this, you must be perfect. That's what the law says, because God is perfect. The law says you must be perfect. The law says you're not perfect. The law says one is coming who will be perfect. And the law says if you trust in God's provision of a Redeemer, you will be saved, like Abraham or David or Moses or Adam. Verse 5. I memorized this last night in the NLT, and it's actually a really good paraphrase, but the ISV says, "'For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.'" It's interesting. What Moses was teaching, what the law shows us, is that if you want eternal life, you must have perfect obedience. And what Paul is saying is the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone upholds that. Are you thinking through with me? God demands perfect obedience, and the gospel fulfills that. He doesn't say, well, Dora, you tried, 95% good enough. No, God demands perfect obedience. The law says that. God is holy. You must be holy even as he is holy. That's found in Leviticus, which is in the law of Moses. You must be perfect, Dora. But Dora knows she's a sinner. So how does Paul uphold God's righteous character, his righteous standard? How does God uphold this idea that Dor is a sinner, but God is not? How does God uphold that? In the gospel. Because the Old Testament pointed forward to this law keeper who would also become sin for his people. Listen to Galatians chapter three, verses 10 and 11. for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. Why? So I'm intermingling all these purposes of the law because God is holy, right? And you're not. And if you're relying on what you do before God, you're under a curse because God is holy. To break his law is to be under a curse. And so you need somehow to not be under the curse. And Paul says the only way that is possible for sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ and being in him by faith. All who rely, literally in the Greek, for all who are of. Right? And what Paul is doing in his Galatians, he's saying there's two kinds of people in this world. Those who are of this group and all who are of this group. The Greek is there's two camps. You're either of the works of the law or you're of faith of Christ. Everyone. Born into this world in Adam is of the works of the law, and therefore condemned and cursed. The law teaches this. But then the law drives us to the law fulfiller. The law drives us to Christ, who Paul says, quoting Deuteronomy, became a curse for us. See how the law points to Christ? Even in Deuteronomy, which Paul is quoting here, he's not throwing the law out in the preaching of Christ. He's saying Christ fulfills it in his passive obedience, in his active obedience, in his going to the cross and becoming a curse, in his earning eternal life through obedience. That's all ours, and the law points to that. And it drives us to it because we realize we can't do it. God, you demand righteousness. I am not righteous. Now what, the law says, and promises a coming redeemer. And he is the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe in him. It is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things. This is where we get in and say the law demands 100% obedience all of your life. Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of law. You should memorize that. It's a quote from Leviticus in Galatians 3.11 there. You should memorize that. Because some people say, well, I'm not as bad as Hitler. I'm not as bad as fill in the blank. But what does this holy God say? Some of you children who have not called upon the name of the Lord, You grew up in a Christian home, and maybe you're not as bad as some of the other kids. Maybe when you're driving through downtown, you see the people bent over because they're strung out on fentanyl. At least you're not that bad, right? Yeah, but the law says that it's not enough that you're better than that person, because they're not the standard, you're not the standard. God is the standard. And this is stringent language. This is very precise language. Do you see it? Cursed is everyone. whether Jew or Gentile. Cursed is everyone who is not abiding, who is not remaining, continuing in all things. So if you've broken one command, says James, you've broken them all. And if you're not continuing, right, you can have a good day. I didn't sin yesterday. Of course you did, so you're a liar. But even if you didn't, one day is not enough. You need to continue in it all of your life. You need to abide by all things written, what does Paul say here? In the book of the law. So does Christ's coming get rid of the book of the law? No, it upholds it, it fulfills it. Now it is obvious, Paul says, evident in the ESV, it is obvious, no-brainer, that you can't be justified before God by the law. Why? Because the only way for you to become righteous as a sinner is by faith. Quoting Habakkuk, too far. For the righteous shall live by faith. So the fourth purpose of the law. I know it's more than Luther or Kelvin, forgive me. But fourthly, the law drives us to God's gracious provision and merciful salvation through faith in Christ. And teaching your kids the Ten Commandments, you better not just leave them with the letter. You better show them. that this ministry of condemnation is meant to drive them to the ministry of justification, 2 Corinthians 3. But you can use the Ten Commandments, which God has written on their hearts, which you are kind of clanking on them and showing them what God demands. And then they're realizing, oh, wait a minute, that if I even hate my brother, that's the same as murder. If I lust after a woman, that's the same as adultery. Like, what? and that I need to be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect? Wait a minute here. I got to keep all the commands and all of its implications for all of my life? Absolutely. But the law says you haven't, and the law says you can't, because all things are imprisoned under sin. See how rich the law is? Paul didn't have anything new. He is expounding upon what the Old Testament was teaching. God had given him illumination and revelation, but this isn't something completely new. This is something that the Old Testament had in seed form and Paul is now revealing to us in the coming of Christ and the pouring out of the Spirit. Fifth, we have two more, two more. Fifth, the law provides us with a guide to the Christian life. Turn to Romans chapter eight. I quoted this in my prayer. Okay, so verse one, we all know. Ah, verse 25 of chapter seven. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Right, because the law has condemned Paul as a sinner, but the law points Paul to Christ, the law fulfiller, right? That's Paul's wrestling as a Christian, I would hold. Okay, and so it served its purpose in driving Paul from himself as lawbreaker to Christ as law fulfiller. But that's not just in his conversion. The Holy Spirit actually has been given to the people of God to help us now live out that law. as God had always intended us. God intended that for Adam. I hope you understand that. He made Adam upright, and he made Adam to be a law-abiding, law-keeping citizen of the kingdom. And he still requires that of believers today. But how? What does it look like to love my neighbor? We quoted that in Deuteronomy 6. What does it look like to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength? It looks like the law. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. The law condemns. Or I should say maybe God through the law condemns. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. This is the verse. It's a very important verse. In order that, why did Christ come into the world? Why did he take on flesh? In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. And that means two things. God demands perfection, just as he demands perfection of you. The righteous requirement of the law, he has a demand on you, justice. And what Paul is saying, firstly, is that is met by justice in Christ. I should not be using the word justice, because I'm thinking of law. Nathan, we'll think of Nathan. So God has a righteous requirement of you, like every other person in this world. He has a righteous requirement of you. And it must be fulfilled. And what Paul says is, Nathan, if you're in Christ, That's met, because Christ met the righteous requirement of the law. He lived obediently, perfectly, kept the covenant of works, we would say. But secondly, listen to how Paul goes on to say, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. This is heavy, heavy stuff. I don't delight in this. I'm like, please, Lord, let me just preach a light text, something that's easy that people will go home with with their brains not hurting. I don't always like these heavy things, but this is the text we're in. And what Paul is saying is, the law says there's a righteous requirement. We saw that in Romans 2. There's a righteous requirement even on Gentiles. God demands a righteous requirement of everyone. And he says that's only met in Christ. And that's the law of faith. You're putting your faith in the law keeper. Interestingly though, Paul says, the spirit then is given to those who are in Christ so that we can start living the law out from the heart. Okay, and so Pastor Matt will often say that when we enter in to Christ in this new covenant, the law is not done away with. The law's not changed, but our relationship to the law has been changed. And so no longer is it as sort of something whipping us and scourging us, but the law now is a guide. The reformers said it's like a light. I prefer map. And so how are you, Anthony, now, to live out the life that God... Did God save you so you could only be forgiven and then live any way you want? No, that's not the purpose of God in creating us. He created us that we might know Him, that we might live out the life He has for us in the law. The problem is we don't have power. Paul says that the gospel gives us that power, and the Holy Spirit now enables us to live out the righteous requirements of the law. And so now, actually, in Christ, by the Spirit, you can love your neighbor the way you should. You can serve one another as you want. You can be generous and kind and forgiving. The law demanded that. It's not lessened. It's fulfilled in Christ, objectively, and it's being, let me say it again, it's fulfilled in Christ, objectively, in our justification, and it's being fulfilled subjectively in our sanctification. Does that make sense? If you don't know those words, please come and talk to me. I know this is like super heavy stuff, but the law is actually the guide that the Spirit uses. It's not just like, yeah, I'm just gonna do what I want as the Spirit leads. I've seen a lot of Christians in the name of the Spirit break the law of God. And so this righteous requirement which is shown us in the law provides for us maybe even guardrails. and keeps us within the Christian life, and it's a map or a light, and it shows us how we should live. Okay? Lastly, and I'm just going to say it quickly because it's not in Romans, but the reformers did teach this, the law acts to prevent lawlessness in society. And that's why it's not bad to have the Ten Commandments in school. It's why it's not bad to write to your MP and to say, I am a Christian, and the lawlessness in this society flows out from a wicked heart. But if you want to curb it, so the reformers said that the third use of the law was like a curb, a bit, a bridle, a restrainer. And how can you be praying, I'm not getting political, though I am? Pray that. that God's law would be a guide to people, right, who think that stealing has no consequences. We saw it in Psalm 99. God is an avenger. He's an avenger of wrongdoing. All the stealing and all the baby killing and all the blasphemy that goes on, God is an avenger of that. And society needs to be reminded of that. Okay? And I just put in my notes, see Kelvin. So you can go see Kelvin on that. Application. Do you understand the law? Spurgeon said this, a rough paraphrase justice, that he is a true scholar who understands law gospel. And I agree with him. And I think a lot of Christians, we've kind of let the law go by the wayside because it sounds legalistic. And yet, I think, I've tried to at least show you that the law is anything but legalistic. I want us to say, thinking through these applications of the law, that we would say with the psalmist, oh, how I love thy law. It is the meditation of my heart all the day. We read Psalm 1 yesterday after supper. Blessed is the man. who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his chafetz, his delight, is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers. That's what happens when you meditate on the law in light of the coming of Christ. Don't get rid of the law. See Christ as the end of the law. Use the law as a means to drive you to Christ. Some of you maybe need to be driven to Christ in your justification. Oh, that the law would drive you to Christ in your sanctification. And so one of my applications and my prayers is that you would see the law rightly, that you would use the law rightly, not as a way to earn your salvation, The law was never designed for that after sin. The law is now meant to show us who God is, what he requires, to show us we can't keep the law, and to drive us to Christ. But it also is then given to us as a wonderful tool. How do I now live? I have the Holy Spirit, I love God, I love my neighbor. Give me some practical ways, and the law provides that. Okay, and so I want to encourage you to love all of the law. Second, and I said it and I'll repeat it, learn the 10 commandments, all 10 of them. Nine is good, 10 is the best, right? And that's a wonderful snapshot of who God is, what he is like, what he demands, okay? What was my third one? Oh, catechize your children, right? If you need a good catechesis, Come and talk to one of the pastors. You can find some good ones. It's wonderful. We're a bunch of chronological snobs at C.S. Lewis, as if we just figure out Christianity in the 21st century. Maybe the reformers were smarter and holier than us. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe not. But I want to encourage you to maybe prayerfully consider catechizing your children. And then lastly, Understand what Paul is saying the doctrine of justification means everything to us it excludes boasting It includes the Gentiles, and it does not denude the law, but rather says Paul It establishes the law, or it upholds the law. I'm not going to get into the Greek word. It's a beautiful picture, though. It's presenting the law the way it should be. And you cannot keep the law apart from Christ. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. And I would ask you, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because there's only two ways of righteousness. There's Moses' way of righteousness by keeping, which you can't. And there's God's way of righteousness by believing, which you can. It's as simple as that. And I hope you'll share this with people. I hope you use the law in your evangelism. I hope you use the law in your sanctification. I hope you'll use the law in your meditation. Please don't hear me. I'm not getting legalistic. But I hope the law is a wonderful delight to you. I hope that'll be sweeter to you than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Psalm 19. I hope that it will reveal to you hidden sins, and it will drive you to Christ, and it will reveal his will to you. The law of God, says the Psalter, is good and wise, and sets his will before our eyes. I think I've talked enough. Father, we thank you for your kindness. Thank you, Lord, that you gave the law, that it was added after the promise to Abraham, and it was to drive Abraham and Israel And now us, to the seed, how the law was good, and it pointed to faith, to the law of faith. And we see that the end of that faith is Christ. He's the terminus. He is the one we must believe in for righteousness. And Father, we can't escape that Adamic tendency to try to rely on works of the law So keep us from that. Help us to use the law lawfully, not unlawfully, not to throw it out, but also not to make it our savior. May it be seen in its rightful position in light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for anyone here who is of the works of the law this morning, that you would convict them and show them they are condemned. And they would flee from themselves and they would flee from their works. and they would run to Christ and to his works and to run to his sacrifice, his propitiation, and they would run to him alone and receive salvation as a gift. Father, we're thankful that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and I pray that, Lord, that everyone here would be a believer and they would trust in Christ. Help us, Lord, who are believers, Empowered by the Spirit to carry out increasingly and unto your glory the just requirements of the law that the nations might see we are different That we live differently because we have a higher law And we have the power of the indwelling spirit. Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, build your church in us and through us. And Father, we ask your name would be hallowed on earth as it is in heaven. Your kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, and you would be glorified on earth as you are in heaven, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.