Sunday Sermons
The Law of the Lord
Joel Belz recently noted that if our culture continues on its present course, “sooner than we can imagine, the national motto by which we’ll settle every difference will be that dismaying question: ‘Who’s to say?” (World Magazine, 12-13-2003, p. 6). In other words, “Who am I to tell somebody else what’s right and what’s wrong?” This attitude has not only permeated our culture but has infected the religious world as well, with churches saying such things in their advertisements as, “We are into relationships rather than rules”. Yet in this lesson I want to talk about the rules, because God often talks about His rules, and we want to explore the question, “Why has God given us a law and rules to follow?”
God’s Law Defines Right and Wrong
There are general statements such as, “Cease to do evil, learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:16-17); “Abhor what is evil; cleave to what is good” (Romans 12:9), but the question often asked is, “what constitutes good and evil?”, and “how can we tell which acts fit into each category?” The Bible makes it very clear that man is unable on his own to accurately decide what is good, what is evil, what is truth and what is error (Jeremiah 10:23). In fact, man is often absolutely sure about the wrong things (Proverbs 16:25). In school we often studied past cultures in which people offered human sacrifices and did other barbaric and cruel things. The truth of the matter, without the influence of God’s Law on our present culture, we would probably still be doing those things. Man on his own would have never arrived at the moral standard found in the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:9), and it takes a study of the Bible to really learn the difference between good and evil and what makes one act right and another wrong, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). “All Scripture is inspired of God and profitable for... training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
In America, where the moral standard of the Bible has been so much of a part of the fabric of our culture and laws, we tend to take it for granted that one is simply born knowing the difference between good or evil. Yet when people remove themselves from sound doctrine, it is absolutely amazing what they no longer believe and the myths they are accept (2 Timothy 4:3). George Barna did a recent poll off people who claimed that they were “born again” Christians and these are the results: 26 percent believe that all religions are essentially the same, 35 percent do not believe Jesus rose physically from the dead (Romans 10:9), 52 percent do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, 45 percent do not believe that Satan exists, 10 percent believe in reincarnation, 29 percent believe it is possible to communicate with the dead, 33 percent accept same-sex unions, 39 percent believe it is morally acceptable for couples to live together before marriage. Now these are people who claim that they have made a personal commitment to Christ and expect to go to heaven because they have accepted Jesus. After seeing these statistics, one writer noted, “New Christians, like babies, need to be fed, taught, and cared for; otherwise, they will die in their cribs” (World Magazine 12-6-2003, p. 33). Yet those who claim that they are atheists seemed to be just as confused. Half of all atheists and agnostics say that every person has a soul, that heaven and hell exist, and that there is life after death. One out of every eight said that they believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior probably makes life after death possible — even though they do not believe in Jesus Christ. We should not be shocked at such contradictory positions because the Bible told us long ago that man is blind apart from God’s law.
The Law reveals what is sin
“For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20); “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law” (Romans 7:7). Please note that Paul claims that he needed the Law of God to help him understand that coveting was wrong, we are not born inherently knowing good from evil. God’s law is the primary means by which God reveals sin to be sin. The same is true for the New Testament that reveals what is righteous or godly living (2 Timothy 3:16), as well as exposing sinful conduct and attitudes (Galatians 5:19-21). In the book of James, the New Testament law is compared to a mirror into which a person may look to see the kind of person he ought to be and what is he presently is at the moment (James 1:22-25).
The Law encourages good and discourages evil
From the very beginning of time God has always attached rewards and penalties to His rules. In Genesis 2:17, the threat of death for disobedience was intended to deter Adam and Eve from violating His law. We find the same encouragement for righteousness and deterrence against unrighteousness in the New Testament (Romans 2:6-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The problem is that when a man or woman allows themselves to become selfish, the restrictions found in God’s law instead of deterring evil, actually incite the sinner, as Paul notes “While we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law” (Romans 7:5); “Sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind” (7:8). “The mind set on the flesh is death” (Romans 8:6). “Since the very essence of sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), the sinful heart delights to know the law just so it can flout it. The word here(lawlessness), means not merely transgression of the law but more basically opposition to the law. It is rebellion against law, a rebellion against authority, a demonic zeal for autonomy, and for a false freedom from law of all kinds” (God the Redeemer, Jack Cottrell p. 269).
Remember that James noted that God’s law is a mirror so we can really see ourselves accurately. If we resent God’s restrictions, if we desire a liberation from His rules, then we are walking according to the flesh, and are certainly not spiritual. Sadly, many modern churches are assisting people in such rebellion. Many professed Christians want to attend a place where there is no accountability, they are allowed to believe what they want, even holding on to beliefs that are opposed to Scripture, which is exactly what Cottrell labels as a demonic zeal for autonomy.
God and His Law
Go back and note what Isaiah said (Isaiah 2:3). In this passage, God’s paths and His ways are the same as “the law” and the “word of the Lord”. Too many professed Christians are quite indifferent towards God’s commands in Scripture, as if they are not binding today. “They disdain so-called ‘letter of the law’ and embrace a false freedom in which the only ‘imperative’ is a nebulous subjectivity euphemistically known as ‘love’. Such an approach may begin as an honest misunderstanding, but it is always secretly fed by the sinful tendency toward lawlessness. What must be understood is this: since God’s law is the outward expression of His own holy nature, any rebellion against law is also a rebellion against God personally. It is a condemning of the holiness of God when we charge the law of God with rigidness. We cast dirt upon the holiness of God when we blame the law of God, because it shackles us, and prohibits us our desired pleasures; and hate the law of God, as they did the prophets, because they did not ‘prophesy smooth things’. We are contrary to the law when we wish it were not so exact, and therefore contrary to the holiness of God which set the stamp of exactness and righteousness upon it” (Cottrell pp. 269-270).
Carefully note how God places Himself and His law. They are inseparable as far as love, respect, and defiance are concerned:“Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11); “Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God” (Romans 8:7). The Holy Spirit here forcefully argues that no subjecting oneself to the law of God is hostility toward God. “This is why James says, ‘For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all’ (James 2:10). There is a sense in which all laws are one, in that they are all identified with the will or nature of the Lawgiver. No matter which arrows of sin we launch, and whether it be one or many, they are ultimately come to rest in the heart of God” (Cottrell p. 271). Thus, after committing adultery and being exposed, David said,“Against You, and You only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). “Sin is cosmic treason. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, ‘God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do” (The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul, p. 151).
Law and Love
Are not mutually exclusive, rather if we truly love God we will keep His law (Deuteronomy 30:16; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3 “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments”). The reason for this is as noted previously, we cannot separate the Law from the Lawgiver. If we truly love the Lawgiver, we will not only obey His law, but we will love it. The description of the righteous or godly man is that he delights in the law of God (Psalm 1:2), and that he loves God’s commandments (119:97). Cottrell asks the very pertinent question, “If the psalmist loved the Old Testament Law that is inferior to the New Covenant, how can the Christian do anything less than love God’s law today?” Loving and delighting in God’s commands is nothing more than the Law being written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). Thus anyone who criticizes or downplays the keeping of God’s commands is demonstrating that they do not love God and the Law of God is not precious to them (Psalm 126:126-127).
Law and Relationships
It is sheer ignorance to claim that relationships are more important than the rules that God has given. Divine commands govern and make relationships possible (Romans 13:8-10). The most important relationship that a person could ever have, is a relationship with God, but this relationship is conditional and is based upon following God’s law, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6; 3:7-8; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Psalm 119:1). Note that remaining blameless, holy, and pure, is dependent upon following or keeping God’s commands. Remember, sin is committed not just against law but against the Lawgiver, so also is obedience to law not just to the commandments as such but to the Lawgiver Himself. We obey not just in blind commitment to some impersonal and abstract norm, but we are obeying the Creator. People also seem to be conveniently overlooking the fact, that love itself is a “command”, or a “rule” (1 John 3:14-18). In fact, Jesus called “loving God” and “loving others”, to be “commandments” (Matthew 22:40). All of this means that the more we truly love God, we will love His law and hate disobedience of it in others but, especially ourselves.
