Open your Bibles with me to the book of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1. I preached on this last week concerning the grace of edification, which has to do with God's people being built up in the faith, encouraged by the truth of God. And one of the statements that is made in this passage has to do with the right use of the law. And of course, when we talk about that, we're talking about edification. For example, I as a preacher of the gospel, preacher of the word of God, how am I to use the law of God properly in the edification, the building up, the growth in grace and in knowledge of God's people? rather than using the law improperly or unlawfully, as the scripture says here, verse eight. It says in 1 Timothy 1.8, but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. And that's why I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna use the law unlawfully or in an improper way, so as not to bear you up, build you up in the faith. When I say build you up in the faith, I'm not talking about building up your egos or our egos. I'm talking about building up your confidence, your dependence, your desire for Christ. That's what that is. Growing in grace and in knowledge of Christ. So that's what we're gonna talk about, using the law lawfully. And the first thing that we need to understand, to understand this verse and the verses following, is what is the law of which he speaks? What exactly is it? And anytime you go through the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, you're gonna see that word in the Hebrew, in the Greek. You're gonna see the word law, the law of God, or God's laws, plural, and all of that. And the context determines what the word means. Now, when we talk about law, we're not talking about suggestions. You know, somebody asked me one time, said, well, are we under the law in Christ? Well, it depends on what you mean by that. The Bible says, for example, that we who are in Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness, sinners saved by grace, we're not under law, we're under grace. Romans 6 says that. And what I believe that means is this, that we're not under a sentence of condemnation. and guilt unto death. We're under the grace of God. We're saved by grace. We're kept by grace. We'll enter glory by grace. And grace reigns through righteousness, which is the perfection of the law, which is found only in Christ. It reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So we understand that. We're not, God's people are not under condemnation. And we need to get that in our minds. And I've often said it this way, you know, when we talk about the Christian life, I don't want to oversimplify things, but the way I describe it from the scriptures is by three words. Number one is our standing, standing before God in Christ. How do I stand before God in Christ? What does God's law, for example, say about me as to my standing? And the Bible says that I stand before God totally forgiven of all my sins on a just ground. And what is the just ground? It's the blood of Jesus Christ. You understand? A lot of people think the just ground of their forgiveness is their believing, their faith, and that's not so. We do believe, that's the gift of God. That's what identifies us and separates us from the world. But what we believe is this, the ground of God forgiving me of all my sins is the blood of Jesus Christ. Faith in his blood, Romans 5 tells us. justified by his blood. And secondly, it means to be declared righteous in God's sight. And what is that righteousness? It's the perfection of the law of God that can only be found in Christ. It's the satisfaction that Christ accomplished as my surety, my substitute, my representative. And that's how I stand before God. And that doesn't change. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And what is it to walk according to the Spirit? It's to walk looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's what it is. And it's to understand that I cannot be charged legally, imputed with my sins. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified. Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, seated at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession for us. As long as Christ stands in my place as my surety, substitute, and redeemer, I cannot be charged in God's court. And when I'm brought to faith in Christ, that's when I'm exonerated in the court of my own conscience. The conscience cleansed by the blood of Jesus. And that brings me to the second word. First word is our standing before God in Christ. The second word is our state in this world. Now even God's elect, we all fell in Adam into a state of sin and depravity and spiritual death. And that's how we begin life, as unregenerated, unbelieving people in darkness, in league with Satan, enemies in our minds by wicked works. But that state changes when God, at his appointed time, takes his people, brings them under the preaching of the gospel, and gives them life, spiritual life from the dead. You must be born again. And we come from a state of unbelief, a state of darkness, a state of depravity, to a state of grace in our minds, in our affections, in our will. We're now believers. We're still sinners, still weak, all the stuff that we go through. And that brings me to the third word that describes the Christian life. And that's struggle. Standing, state, and struggle. Because from the time that God brings us into his family, calls his sheep into the fold, life is a struggle. Now that's not to say that unbelievers don't have struggles, they do. But not the same kind that we do. Our struggle is a warfare within, it's called the warfare of the spirit against the flesh. The biggest warfare we have to fight is not in the Middle East and not in Ukraine, it's within our souls. The flesh lusting against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh, and that'll continue until God calls us home to be with Christ. We leave this flesh behind. But all of that, so when we judge ourselves or we examine ourselves, we see this word law, What is he talking about? Well, sometimes in the Bible the word law refers to the whole Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. Sometimes it specifically refers to the Law of Moses or what is called the Mosaic Law or the Old Covenant. That old covenant which began at Mount Sinai, God gathering the Hebrew children together, gave them that law from Mount Sinai through Moses, that includes the Ten Commandments, all of that. And sometimes the word law will refer specifically to that. Sometimes the word law just refers generally to the whole word of God. And I use it this way, you know, God doesn't make suggestions, does he? He doesn't say, I suggest that you... No, everything God says has the force of law. That's it. I mean, he means it. And sometimes even the gospel is called a law. In fact, I believe this in James 1.25. Let me just read this to you. It says, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his day." What is the perfect law of liberty? Now the law, the bare law in itself, given to a sinner is not liberty, it's bondage. In other words, without Christ, any of the commandments of God are against me. You understand that? We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. What does that mean? It means we've missed the mark. Even as good as we try to be, the best, that's why the Bible says man at his best state is altogether vanity. The best you can be in yourself falls short of the standard of the law, which is the perfection of righteousness that can only be found in Christ. Why the Bible says Christ is the end of the law, the fulfillment of the law, the perfection of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. And so the gospel has a force of a command because there's only one way of salvation and that's revealed in the gospel. There's not two ways. It's not pay your money and take your choice. And it's not based upon you doing anything in order to gain God's favor or to get him to bless you as if you can earn something from God, it's grace, grace, grace. Now that's what it is. And grace reigns through righteousness. But where do we find righteousness? In Christ. So let me show you something. Turn back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31. Normally, when we see the word law, especially in the New Testament, pertaining to believers or the commandments or however you want to put it, it's the word of God. It's simply the word of God. It's what God says by way of commandment or whatever. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a commandment. Now, it's not salvation by works. The Bible says that man cannot be saved, he cannot be justified, which means he cannot be forgiven, he cannot be declared righteous by deeds of the law. Now, should we try to obey God in whatever He commands us? Yes, but not in order to be saved because that's impossible. That's bondage, you see. But here's something you need to see. This is Jeremiah chapter 31. Look at verse 31. Now what Jeremiah is doing here, you know, the people of Judah and Jerusalem are getting ready to be conquered by Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, and they're going to be taken off into captivity for 70 years. And then that's going to end, they're going to be brought back to their homeland, and they're going to rebuild a temple, not as elaborate as the Temple of Solomon, but they're going to have one. And what Jeremiah is telling them, that even though they're going under the judgment of God for their sins in that captivity, there's a better time coming in the future where the law of Moses will be gone, fulfilled, abrogated by way of fulfillment, and a new covenant will come in. That's why we are under the New Covenant now. The New Covenant is a covenant of grace. The New Covenant was brought in by the coming of Christ, the first advent of Christ, in his obedience unto death for the salvation of his people, and it was inaugurated at Pentecost when Peter stood and preached that great message recorded in Acts chapter two. And the New Covenant is the fulfillment in time of the everlasting covenant of grace made before time. In its essence, the new covenant and the everlasting covenant are one and the same. And it goes like this. It's not God will if you will. That was the old covenant. That was bondage. And they failed. But you know what? If we were under that covenant, we'd fail too. You don't believe that, you think too highly of yourself. So it's not God will if you will, that's that bilateral covenant. But the new covenant, the everlasting covenant of grace is God will and you will. God will and you shall. And Jeremiah tells them about that. a new day coming, a better day, where the law is not a burdensome bondage upon you, but it is actually freedom and liberty because of Christ. All right? Not because the future's gonna produce a better breed of human being. No, no. Just as sinful and depraved and rebellious as we always were, You ever notice that when you read history, you think people are better today than they were back then? You're lying to yourself. Oh no. And if you find anybody who is saved, how are they saved? By the grace of God. And grace reigns through righteousness, which is the perfection of the law. It reigns through righteousness, the law being kept perfectly, the law being satisfied in its justice unto eternal life, here's your key, by Jesus Christ our Lord. You understand that? The old covenant was given to show them their sinfulness. The new covenant is given to show us Christ's righteousness. And that's the whole difference there. But look at what Jeremiah says here, and I wanna make this point, look at verse 31. Jeremiah says this, they're going into captivity, but he's giving them an encouragement to look to the coming Messiah for salvation, not to their cells, not to their works, not to the temple in Jerusalem, not to the land, just to Christ. And he says, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob. Now the house of Israel and the house of Judah, back then, you know, The nation was divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom, which was called Israel, and the southern kingdom, which was called Judah, because Judah was the predominant tribe. They had two tribes in the southern, Judah and Benjamin. And Judah, you know, Judah was the tribe of the kings. And that's the tribe from which we see the humanity of Christ coming through. And that's why back in Israel's day, when he was on his deathbed, and he made promises to his sons, and when he came to Judah, he told them, he said, the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Shiloh meaning peace. Well, that's Christ. And then the scepter would depart. Well, anyway, he says, It's going to come on Israel and Judah. That's a united kingdom, but it's also a spiritual kingdom. And it's not just made up of physical Jews or physical Gentiles. God has a chosen people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. It's believers. And so he said, I'm going to make a new covenant with them. It's a covenant of grace. It's the gospel covenant. And he says in verse 32, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break. If you're under the new covenant, you can't break it because it's not conditioned on you. It's already been kept and fulfilled fully and completely in Christ. Then the Bible tells us that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are what? Complete in Him. By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. See, that cannot be broken because it's not conditioned on me. If it were conditioned on me, it'd be broken. And if you don't believe that, just stick around with me a little bit, and you'll see it. But it's conditioned on Christ, and He's the perfect God-man. So he says, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. In other words, God united himself with that nation, just like a husband and wife, for that time period. But Jeremiah, later on, he talks about God giving them a bill of divorcement because of their rebellion. See, that was a conditional covenant, and they broke the condition, so God divorced them. But this unconditional covenant towards us, it cannot be broken. Christ said, I'll never forsake you. I'll never leave you. That's a covenant of grace. And he said, I wasn't a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But look at verse 33. He says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with them with the house of Israel. Now here's the nature of the covenant. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts. His law. Gonna write it in their heart. Now do you think he's talking about the old covenant there, the conditional covenant? No, if it is, we're under bondage. What's he talking about, his law? His word, beginning with the gospel. He's gonna write it in our hearts, and what is the heart? It's the mind, it's the affection, it's the will, it's the conscience. It may not show up outwardly sometimes, But it's there written, imprinted with indelible spiritual ink, you might say. And you can't get away from it. That's right, you can't get away from it. Because he won't leave you. He's written it upon your heart, the law. And listen to the rest. He said, I will be their God and they'll be my people. That's a language of a marriage covenant that cannot be broken. And look at verse 34, he says, And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. And saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, I will remember their sin no more. And what that means is that God will not charge us with our sins. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? But he writes his law upon our hearts. Now go back to 1 Timothy chapter one. Now how, second thing, how is the law used? Well, it can either be used unlawfully or lawfully. And if you'll look here, look back at 1 Timothy chapter one, look at verse seven. He's talking about false preachers. Now Timothy at this time, Paul wrote this to Timothy. Timothy was at the church at Ephesus and he was being their pastor and their elder, their teacher, and Paul was, Timothy was a young man who Paul tutored and brought up under the gospel. And there were false teachers, and these false teachers, look at verse seven, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor where have they affirmed. They don't know what they're talking about. They may sound like they do. They may be able to quote Hebrew or Greek or whatever. But he says, 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. If there were a righteous person on earth, that is righteous by nature, which there's not. Now there are righteous people on earth, but who are they? They're sinners saved by grace, made righteous in Christ. So if you know Christ, if you're a believer, you're a righteous person. But you're not righteous because you worked hard at it. You're not righteous because you gave your heart to Jesus. You're not righteous because you've been baptized. And you're certainly not righteous because you're a preacher. You're righteous because God has freely and fully imputed righteousness to you by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. For Christ, Romans 10, four, is the end of the law, the fulfillment, the perfection, the finishing of the law, that's what that means, for righteousness to everyone that believe it. That's the revelation of the righteousness of God in the gospel, Romans 1, 16 and 17. What is that righteousness? It's the entire merit, worthiness, value of the obedience unto death of Christ. the surety, the substitute, the Redeemer of His people. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. So if you're a sinner saved by grace, Christ is your worthiness and you don't have any outside of Him. You understand? So the law wasn't made for a righteous man. If a person were naturally righteous, he wouldn't need the law because he's not going to break the law. You know, have you ever said about your children, I'm going to lay down the law? They're going to find out this is not right behavior. Well, if they were obedient perfectly already, you wouldn't have to lay down the law. Because they're not going to break it. Now, of course, we know our children are going to break the law. We've broken it. The law was made for the lawless and disobedience, the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayer. That's why we have the law of the land. We've got criminals. They need to be held in check. Verse 10, he goes, whoremongers for them that defile themselves with mankind, men stealers, liars, perjured persons. See all that, he's listing. there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." And of course the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit is the only hope that we sinners have because it drives us to Christ. So how is the law used unlawfully? Let me give you a good example of that pertaining to the old covenant. Look at Romans chapter nine with me. I'll give you a few examples of this. Using the law unlawfully, how does that happen? Well, look at Romans chapter nine, verse 31. Now this pertains to the law of Moses. that the nation Israel was under for about 1,500 years. It ranged from Mount Sinai, where God gave it to Moses, to the Hebrew children, to the cross. And then it was abrogated, then it was fulfilled, it was abolished. Now we've never been under the old covenant. Now don't get me wrong, there are preachers today who try to bring people under the old covenant or parts of it. When they say, you gotta keep this part or you're gonna go to hell or whatever, they say. But that law of Moses was given to that nation specifically to hold them together. This was God's way of holding them together as a nation until Shiloh came, until Christ came. And when Christ died and gave up the ghost, you remember what happened in the temple? The veil. that separated the holy place from the holy of holies, was torn in two from top to bottom, which shows that God's the one who did it. And the way into the holiest was made plain by Christ, because of Christ. But look at what Israel did with that law. Verse 31 of Romans 9, but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. They were trying to be righteous, But they didn't make it. They didn't attain it. Verse 32, wherefore, that means why. Why didn't they make it? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. They used it unlawfully. Now what is it to seek righteousness by faith? It's to seek righteousness in and by Christ. Do you understand that? Get that in your mind. To seek righteousness by faith does not mean to seek righteousness by our believing. In other words, I believe and therefore God accepts that as righteous. No, we believe that Christ is our righteousness. Now I'm not just splitting hairs there. That's important. To seek righteousness by faith is to seek it in Christ. in and by the glory of his person and the power and success of his finished work in his obedience unto death. He is my righteousness. But they used that law, and that law, Paul said it was a schoolmaster to drive them to Christ. Think about that law. You had the Ten Commandments, which was a moral code, and which we all fall short, all right, Then you had the ceremonial law, which was the priesthood, the sacrifices, all of that, which were all types of what? Christ. They brought lambs and slaughtered lambs, shedding blood, and they presented them unto God. Well, what is Christ to his people? He's the Lamb of God. He's our lamb. He's the spotless lamb. So all of that. But rather than see God's grace and see Christ in that, they sought righteousness by their works. And it says in verse 32, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. Who's the stumbling stone? That's Christ. When Christ came along and told them the reality of it, they stumbled. Remember how he told them the reality of it? He said, I didn't come to break the law, but to keep it everywhere, jot and tittle. And he said this, he said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. He told them in John chapter five, he said, you search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify of me. He says, you think your hope is in Moses. meaning the law, keeping the law. But he said, Moses will be your judge. You haven't kept the law. So here it is, it says, they sought it and they stumbled when Christ came along. Rather than embracing him and believing him, like we all do by nature, they rejected him. And that tells us something here. If you don't reject the true Christ of this book, As the Lord your righteousness, who do you have to boast in? Yourself? Oh, I made the difference. I believed, but they didn't. Oh, no. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. You attribute that to God. And he goes on to say, verse 33, as it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Look at chapter 10 there, verse one. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Well, why would you call Israel lost, Paul? Well, he said, I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. They're religious. but not according to knowledge. You mean they gotta know something? Well, apparently. What do they have to know? Well, look at verse three. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, and we've already seen that's by their works, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. They wouldn't submit to the righteousness of God. Well, what is the righteousness of God? Look at verse four again. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. They've rejected Christ. Now that's a good example of using the law unlawfully. But let me give you an example. Turn back a page to Romans chapter seven of using the law lawfully. Now, verse four, Romans seven. Paul writes, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law. Dead to the law? Well, that means that the law, you're not under the law. That means the law cannot condemn you. The law cannot inspire you or motivate you. How does the law motivate people? It's either threats of punishment or loss of reward. Isn't that right? And if that's what you believe, you either become a legalist or you become a mercenary or both. But you're certainly not a willing, loving, bond-servant of Christ. But he says here, you become dead to the law. Now, how did you become dead to the law? Well, look at the next words. By the body of Christ. That's how a sinner becomes dead to the law. Because Christ died. I read that in the opening. We died with Christ. He died for his people. He was buried for his people. He was raised again for his people. He's now seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us. And who is he? 1 John 2 and verse 2, Jesus Christ the righteous. That's a good place to be. Isn't that right? Because the father can find no flaw in Jesus Christ the righteous. He's our great high priest. And the names that are written on his breastplate is every one of his sheep which God chose and gave him before the foundation of the world. Names written in the Lamb's book of life before the world began. So you become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, when we were unregenerate, in darkness, unbelief, The motions or the passions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Normally what I believe that's talking about is man's efforts to save himself by his works. That's fruit unto death. It won't work. But verse six says, but now we're delivered from the law. that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What is that newness of spirit? That's obedience motivated by God's grace, motivated by God's unconditional love, motivated by gratitude. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. And that's how the law is used lawfully. So let me conclude with this. What are the uses of the law? Number one, the Holy Spirit uses the law to expose our sinfulness, our depravity, our lack of righteousness, and the fact that it is impossible for any of us to be saved, to be justified, to be sanctified by our law keeping. But it drives us to Christ, that's the second one. and exposing our sins in the power of the Spirit, He drives us to Christ for all salvation, for all forgiveness, for all life and righteousness, and He will not let us go anywhere else. I used to have a friend that went to this church and somebody would come in visiting He'd look at that person and he'd tell me, he'd say, you know, I believe the Holy Spirit's working with that man or that woman. I'd ask him, I'd say, well, how do you know that? Oh, you know, well, there's only one way you can know if the Holy Spirit's working with a person. Where do they find relief? Where do they end up? Because if it's anywhere but Christ crucified and risen from the dead, Christ our righteousness is not the Holy Spirit. because he will drive you to no one else for salvation. And then thirdly, uses the word of God to guide us in the New Testament to show us how to follow our Lord and Savior as motivated by grace and love and gratitude with an aim towards what? Glorifying God, not ourselves. We don't seek to obey God, to draw attention to ourselves. And that's what that verse in Matthew 5 16 means. When he talks about let your light shine before men that they might see your good works and do what? Give you the key to the city? Build a statue? No, glorify your father which is in heaven. The light is not our works, the light is the gospel of Christ. And that's what we want people to know. Somebody comes up to you and say, well, I saw you help that old lady across the street, and that was good. And that's OK. Help all the old ladies you want. But listen, listen. And that's all right. But if you're a believer, you want people to know, look, that's not my righteousness. That's not my salvation. Christ is. You see what I'm saying? That's when you let the light shine. And that's the right use of the law of God. All right.