We're going to be in 1 Timothy chapter 1 here this morning. Early on in our study on Paul's letter to his apprentice Timothy and looking at what we've called house rules. Family terminology pervades Paul's letter, and he's very concerned with the church thinking and acting as the family of God according to God's standards and God's guidelines, God's values. And so we're looking at God's house rules. I'm assuming that you're somewhat familiar with the situation in sub-Saharan Africa. We know of the plight of poverty and famine. There's certainly a lot of things happening there spiritually as well, a lot of explosive growth in the church there in that part of the world. But there's also a thread of teaching that has been quite destructive. It's what we would call the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel. It teaches that financial blessing or prosperity is the will of God for Christians, and that faith, giving, and Christian living will increase one's material wealth. And sociologists have done a number of different studies regarding this. seeing just the impact of this teaching. And certainly this teaching would have come as quite a shock to the Apostle Paul, wouldn't it? And Peter and the rest of the disciples who died penniless. That didn't seem to be a part of what God had promised to them in this life. But sociologists have looked at this and considered some of the ripple effects from this type of teaching. And there are many. One, though, is pragmatism. It leads to pragmatism. It leads to sort of a lessening of ethics and a desire to sort of prosper at any cost. After all, this is kind of what God has designed for me, and so I'm wired that way. I'm thinking that way. How can I benefit? How can I achieve wealth? It shapes the mindset of the believer. It also stunts the development of Christian character. how much of our character, how much of our understanding of Christ is born out of suffering, out of hardship, out of struggle. Generally, we look back at the times in our life when we learned the most. We wouldn't want to go through those times again, but we would generally identify them as the hard times in our life. And certainly that's true. The scripture has a lot to say about suffering and its role in the development of Christian character and how in our suffering we enter into the suffering of Christ. And so certainly this teaching of the prosperity gospel stunts the development of Christian character. And at a very practical level, it keeps people in poverty. People in Malawi, for example, live on less than a dollar a day while church leaders fly in private jets and maintain multiple estates throughout the country. It has had significant economic ramifications for the people of Sub-Saharan Africa. All of this just flowing out of one one slightly twisted doctrine, right? I mean, we know that God does bless faithfulness, right? God has promised reward. God does reward His servants. And so if we just take that truth and we push it and emphasize it in a certain way, a very subtle shift and yet a whole host of different distortions and ramifications that come out of that. And I think that's partly what Paul's getting at here with Timothy at this particular text we want to look at today. He's been noting that they've been given a charge, they've been given a stewardship, they've been given some family responsibilities. And Paul's very concerned that the church stay on track, that they do the things that God has called them to do, that they live as his children in the world. And he knows that there's going to be certain distractions that are going to come along, not necessarily bad things, but things that are going to keep them from doing what they're supposed to be doing. And then he gets into this area of false teachers. And there's some strains of doctrine, some strains of teaching that also will contribute to them getting off track. And a little shift here and a little shift there, and before you know it, there's some significant ramifications in terms of how the church is living. And so that's what we want to look at here today, 1 Timothy 1. Let's look to the Word of God. I'm going to begin in verse 5. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. So Paul says, my aim here, I'm wanting to get you back on track, right? Verse five, my aim in all of this is love. Love constitutes God's house rules. It's how he expects us to care for one another, to serve one another, to pray for one another. This is what ought to mark the people of God. And yet there's been some teaching that has come into play here that's gotten some of you off track. So see how he makes that connection between what he's calling them to do and some distorted doctrine. And of course, it's centered on the law. This leads him into a discussion about the law, the things that he felt were being taught wrongly had to do with the law. Now, not the law of Rome, right? Not the law of the United States, but specifically here, of course, he's referring to God's law, to the law of Moses. This is what was being taught and taught incorrectly and really causing some problems. Certain persons in the church, influential persons, probably elders, probably teachers of a Jewish persuasion were emphasizing the law, were touting the law, were calling people to achieve certain accomplishments through observance of the law. And this was very concerning to the Apostle Paul. It was something that had to be addressed. These people were quite insistent, told that they were making confident assertions. They issued dogmatic requirements, but their teaching was not correct. They were misinformed and off base. Now it could be that as we hear this introduction that you're beginning to tune out a little bit. Here we're talking about the Jewish law. You know, I'm not really into the Jewish law, Pastor. It's not a big thing I'm enamored with. This doesn't seem to be really relevant to me, right? But there's kind of a core issue here, and that is what is the role of human accomplishment? This is really what's being discussed. This is really what is at stake. These people were proclaiming some kind of works righteousness, that you earn your standing with God by what you do, by observing the law, by buying into the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic law. And this is certainly an issue that is alive and well. Not necessarily regarding the Jewish law, but there are many who believe that you get to God through good works. That if my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, that I will have standing with God. I can always point to people who are worse than me and take some comfort in the fact that at least I'm not doing that. Right? That's a mindset, a philosophy of works righteousness, that I am earning my standing with God. So that's really the root issue here. And while here it has to do with the Jewish law, that's certainly a philosophy that we need to confront in our own lives, in our own church. And so Paul wants them to develop a proper understanding of the law, a proper understanding of human merit, of human achievement, of human works, of good works. How do we view those things? It's very important. It's very important. So that will be our task. We're going to look at three things that we need to understand about the law that Paul unpacks here in this text. First is this, that we must understand that the law is good. We must understand that the law is good. Verse 8, now we know that the law is good. Now we would obviously know that the law, God's law, is morally good or right, right? It reflects the moral character of God, reflects His righteous standard. But Paul chooses a very particular word here to communicate that God's law is not only morally good and righteous, but it is beautiful and beneficial. It is it is wonderful We read in the Psalms Craig read some out of the Psalms here this morning about God's Word God's law We read there that the law the psalmist says the law is a source of delight Chapter 1 verse 2 the law of the Lord is perfect Reviving the soul it is life-giving Proverbs or Psalm chapter 19 the law keeps you from slipping Like a handrail, right? On a slippery surface. You have something to hold on to. That's the law. It is really good. It is beneficial. It contributes to human flourishing. The law is full of wondrous things, Psalm 119. The psalmist there in that chapter says, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. I mean, the law is good, and we ought to have a robust love for God's law. Of course, these individuals who were touting the law believed that, at least to a certain degree. They believed the law was good, that it was valuable. They held it in high esteem. And Paul sort of affirms them, their commitment to the law, before he goes out to correct them. But I don't think that we usually think of God's law in this way. We need to hear this, that God's law is good. We might understand it as necessary, but we rarely think of it as beneficial, as something to be desired, as something we long to meditate on. We're big into liberty. and having the freedom to do as much as we possibly can do without any sort of restriction. We've couched the law in certain ways in our culture, in our time. We skirt around the heavy demands of the law, view them as oppressive and antiquated and culturally bound. I mean, these are Jewish things. These are not things that really have much importance for me. They're Old Testament concepts and we live in an age of grace. I have news for you, the law is good. Here's Paul, a follower of Jesus Christ, writing to a church of believers in the city of Ephesus, and he says the law is good. I hope you agree with him. Number two, we must understand that the law is intended to expose our sin. We must understand that the law is intended to expose our sin. And here's where the rub comes. This is where Paul now begins to offer some correctives towards this group of teachers. It is beneficial, it is good when used correctly, when used appropriately, when used for the purpose God intended. when it's used lawfully. When the law is used lawfully, Paul says. When it's used according to God's guidelines and standards. The church has historically recognized several main purposes for the law. As they look at scripture and try to discern what is the role of the law, they've listed several things. They've noted that it's intended to convict us of sin. And that's really what Paul's focusing on here. We would say that's the first use of the law. It makes us aware of our sin. That's what we might call the theological use of the law. It's what it's doing in the human heart. And then the church has also recognized historically that the law was intended to maintain order. It had a civil function, a function for society to create order, and harmony. And then there's a third use of the law that is somewhat debated, and that is that it is intended to guide us in our response to God's grace. In other words, even for the believer whose sin has been exposed, whose turn to Christ, the law still has a role in helping me understand God's heart, God's standards. And it helps me to know how to respond to God's grace. That's the third use of the law. John Calvin probably developed it most eloquently and addressed that. Jesus claimed that He had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law, to breathe life into the law, according to Matthew 5. But in any regard, no matter whether you agree with the two uses of the law or the three uses of the law, in any regard, the law was not given so that I could feel good about myself. It was not given so that I could earn my salvation. It was never given as a means of works righteousness so that I could gain standing before God. So that I could somehow step boldly to the gates of heaven and demand entrance based on my resume. That was never the intent of the law. The law was never going to save. And here in this text, All is focusing on that first use of the law, that it was intended to expose our sin. It was a mirror to help us see ourselves as we truly are. Makes us realize our true condition before God. This is not the only place that Paul talks about this. One of the other really clear passages is Romans 3, verses 19 through 20. I think we have this here in the notes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin. That's it. That's the first use of the law. That's what Paul's talking about here. And just in case they miss it or still think that they're above the law or that they are not indicted by the law, Paul goes ahead and lists out the law in a very systematic way here, reflecting both parts of the law. The Ten Commandments reflect our love, God's standards as it pertains to how we relate to Him. And then the latter portion of the Ten Commandments speak to His standards for how we relate to one another. So sins related to God and sins related to each other. And that's exactly what Paul does here as he begins to outline the comprehensiveness of the law and how it leaves us all guilty. Talks about the lawless and disobedient, the ungodly and sinners, the unholy and profane. This is speaking about those who reject God's authority. Those who live as if there was no God. That's what ungodly means. To live as if there was no God. To live without God in our consciousness. To go about doing my things as if God didn't exist. those who speaks against those who are scoffers, those who openly deride God, mock Him. And this really captures the first four commandments, to not have any other gods before Him, to not create any graven image, to not use His name in vain or with disrespect or in any way that would lessen who He is. And then he says, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, clear reference to the fifth commandment, honor your father and your mother. Talks about murderers from the sixth commandment. Talks about the sexually immoral and men who practice homosexuality, the seventh commandment. Both heterosexual sin and homosexual sin involves sexual activity outside of a God-ordained marriage relationship. So he includes both of those, and again, in part because these were things that were prominent in first century Roman culture. These were things that he's citing, he's drawing examples of, of what was happening in the culture. It's good for us, though, to view homosexual sex in a list In other words, it's not the only sin. It's listed here even in the category of sexual sin as one of several different types of sexual sin. And we can sometimes be guilty in standing against homosexual activity of sort of isolating it and making it the one true test. And we see it here, as in several other passages, listed along with a number of other sins and perversions of God's design. Enslavers, Eighth Commandment speaking, sometimes translated as kidnappers, either refers to the slave trade, which was very prominent in Roman culture, or to those who would take young children. that type of trafficking was going on in the first century as it is still going on in various parts of the world today. Liars and perjurers again reference to the ninth commandment and then this blanket statement whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. So you get to the end of that and no one should feel unscathed. Noah's, my son Noah's soccer team gave up two early goals yesterday in the game. In the first five minutes of the game, it looked like it was going to be a bit of a lopsided loss. But they battled back, and they got a goal right before halftime, and then picked up another goal midway through the second half. So they're tied, and they have great defensive play towards the end of the game, and work the ball up the field. All set to kind of make that final strike to complete the comeback, right? And except for one little boy who's about 30 yards off sides. I mean, he was way down there. He was ready to get the pass and make the goal. But of course, you can't do that. It's a bit of a complex rule in soccer. Hard for young children, especially, to grasp what is off sides. But this little boy is way down there beyond where he's supposed to be. And he's off sides. And the play is whistled dead. There was that opportunity, right? It was just one boy out of the nine of them, it was just one of them that was offside and it's a pretty minor, I mean, come on, it's a pretty minor infraction. But it only takes one penalty, right? Whistle that play dead. It doesn't have to be a personal foul or you take somebody out or punch them in the nose. It's just one penalty and the play is nullified. And the Bible talks about sin that way. It talks about the law that way. That to offend in one point is to be guilty of all. I've never murdered anybody. I've never done some of these things on this list. To offend in one point. Lying is put right in there with sexual sin. And any violation of any of these commandments leaves us deserving of God's judgment. These again are somewhat culturally conditioned. Paul's giving a bit of a commentary on the Ten Commandments. He's flushing them out in terms they would understand in their first century culture. And we could come up with our own list. We could talk about cheating on tax refunds, and we could talk about pornography, and we could talk about all sorts of different categories of sin and how these sins take expression, but the point is that none of us comes through unscathed. If we're honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that we are sinners. So we must understand that the law is good, and we must understand that the law is intended to expose our sin. It's not intended to make me feel good about myself. It's intended to make me realize that I'm a beggar, that I am completely deserving of God's judgment and His wrath. Number three, we must understand that the law functions in harmony with the gospel. The law functions in harmony with the gospel. Verse 11, it goes on and lists all these aspects of the law, how the law exposes our sin. And then verse 11, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Here we read that the law is laid down in accordance with or in conformity with the gospel. We are not able to, based on Paul's teaching here, pit law against gospel. Those are not two antithetical categories. The law leads us to the gospel. The law exposes our sin, but it doesn't leave us there to just wallow in discouragement and despair. It points us to a Savior. It shows us that God has made a way for us to be alive, to be made alive through Jesus Christ. Paul says it another way in Galatians 3. He says, so then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. The law was our tutor. One translation says it was our schoolmaster. The law was the one who had us by the collar and was making us do our homework and bringing us to grace, bringing us to Christ. Very unique way here in which Paul describes the gospel. The law is in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. The gospel is primarily God-centered. The gospel unveils the glory and majesty and holiness and the greatness of God. It makes us see God for who He really is. And it makes us see us for who we really are. It makes us feel our need for grace. And it directs us to the God of blessing. The God who is the source of every good thing. Who is the source of every good gift. Of every grace. The God who stands desiring to forgive. God who desires a relationship with us, the God who desires to do good to us. This is His gospel. Unfortunately, we've been guilty at times of shrinking the gospel, of making it about us. The gospel is about me not having to go to hell. The gospel is about me. The gospel is about God. The gospel is about His greatness and His glory. Yes, in the midst of all that, He extends forgiveness to us, but it's about Him. It's about me serving Him. It's about me coming under His authority. It's about me entering into His family and living as His child. It's about us living as His church, as His people. It's acutely God-centered. Pilgrim's Progress, hopefully you're familiar with Bunyan's allegorical account of the Christian life. He describes Christian on his journey. He has, you remember, the heavy burden on his back, and he's struggling, and he leaves home in search of the celestial city, in search of some relief where he can get rid of this burden that is on his back. And you'll remember that the first place he has to come to before he can get on the proper road is the narrow gate. It's a bit of an uncomfortable place. He has to leave everything else behind. He can only fit through and squeeze through and has to get down and it's pretty uncomfortable and work his way through that narrow gate, leaving everything else behind before he can get on the road of life. And that gate really represents the law. It represents an acknowledgment of sin, a death to self. You can never experience and you'll never see your need for God's grace until you've come to that narrow gate, until you've confronted the law, until you've honestly stood before the Word of God and heard its pronouncement and understood God's standard. You'll never recognize your need for grace. We must understand that the law functions in harmony with the gospel. Now as we close, I want to just summarize. I think we're prone to sort of fall off the wagon in one of two ways. One, we emphasize the law and promote it in illegitimate ways. That's what Paul's concerned about here. We must guard against any attempt to promote salvation by works. That we earn our standing with God. We are only able to be saved by grace. Grace alone. And the law leads us to the gospel. It leads us to the God of blessing. So we need to guard against that. That would be one danger for us, that we overemphasize the law and promote it in illegitimate ways. We make too much of it. But I think there's another danger here, one that probably in our culture we're more susceptible to, and that is that we undervalue the law and disregard it altogether. We're generally not fixated on the law in our culture, in our time. We have no place for the law. It is an antiquated, irrelevant, Old Testament concept. And we interpret grace as an excuse to do whatever we want to do. We label any rigid standard as legalism. But we should, according to Paul, see the law as good. We should want to observe God's unchanging moral law in response to His great grace. We should hold one another accountable. We should be clear in our convictions and biblical standards. Well, the point in all of this here that concerned Paul was the ripple effects of this teaching, right? We talk about the teaching, we talk about being clear, understanding what the law is, what it does, what it doesn't do, what it was intended for, what it wasn't intended for. But Paul felt like this teaching on the law was distracting them from love, from really living out the household ethic of love. How does that work? How did this vein of teaching impact their ethics and their behavior? I would suggest to you that you and I will never serve out of a place of pride, accomplishment, and self-sufficiency. We will never serve. We will never sacrifice. We will never give ourselves towards loving other people when we are in a position of pride and self-sufficiency and personal accomplishment. You and I will only love when we have come to a proper understanding of our sin and a proper appreciation of God's grace. We'll only love when we realize that we stand guilty and condemned before God. And it was only by the grace of God that I stand here today. We'll only serve when we Realize, you know, that person is not just bugs me. They just get their life together. I stand in some sort of position over them. I'll never serve them in that mindset, will I? I'll only serve when I realize that I'm just as sinful as they are. I'm just as guilty before God in my own merit as they are. It's only by the grace of God. It's only when I have a proper understanding of the gospel and how law relates to gospel that I will be in a position to love. The one who has been forgiven little loves little, Jesus said. The one who has been forgiven much loves much.