"The Law is Good" June 16, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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All right, you may be seated. Please take your Bibles out for your

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New Testament reading. Act 17.

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Now when they had passed through Amphipolis in Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the

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Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the

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Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, saying, this

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Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined

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Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading woman.

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But the Jews were jealous and taken in some wicked men of the rabble. They formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

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And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them.

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And they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying, there is another king,

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Jesus. And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

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And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

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The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

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And when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now, these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

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They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

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Many of them, therefore, believed, with not a few Greek woman of high standing as well as men.

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But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

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Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea. But Silas and Timothy remained there.

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Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens. And after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him, as soon as possible, they departed.

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Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he seen that the city was full of idols.

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So we reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

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Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, what does this babbler wish to say?

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Others said, he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching

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Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

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For you bring strange things to our ears. We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean.

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Now, all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

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So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

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For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown

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God. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

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The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

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And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods in the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek

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God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is not actually far from each one of us, for in him we live, we move, and have our own being.

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Even as some, as your own poets have said, we are indeed his offspring.

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Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

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The times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance by raising him from the dead.

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Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said, we will hear you again about this.

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So Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed, among whom also was

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Dionysus the Aropegite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Let's pray.

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Lord, we thank you for your word, we thank you for your gospel that saves souls from hell and from sin, and we gain an entrance into heaven by belief in your son, the way you have provided of his death upon a cross in the resurrection.

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We thank you for your word of the church and for revealing yourself to us.

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In Jesus Christ's name do we pray, amen. In 1

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Timothy chapter one, verses three to seven, Paul urged

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Timothy to remain at Ephesus and to instruct certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.

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Paul's teachers had infiltrated the church and were promoting speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

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So instead of advancing the work of the Lord God through the proclamation of the gospel, the false teachers were advancing controversy, discord, and contention.

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This all stemmed from a lack of love and an overabundance of pride.

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The false teachers had swerved or departed from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

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Love was not the aim of their charge. And by swerving from the source of love, a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, they had wandered off into vain and empty discussions.

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The false teachers greatly desired to be known as teachers of the law, but they did not understand what they were saying and the things about which they made bold and confident assertions.

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The false teachers at Ephesus were arrogant, they were ignorant, and they were without love.

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This was the reason why Paul was writing this letter. Paul continues his instruction to Timothy in verses eight through 11.

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Let's look at the text together. Starting in verse three. As I urged you when

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I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

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The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

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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.

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Verse eight. 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 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.

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In accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which

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I have been entrusted. In verse eight, Paul anticipated a potential objection from his opponents.

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Paul, why do you have such a low regard for the law? Why are you teaching against the law?

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What is wrong with the law of God? Well, in contrast to the certain persons who desire to be teachers of the law but were without love and without understanding,

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Paul said, now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.

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Paul was not opposed to the law so long as it was used in a lawful manner.

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The law of God must be used as the Lord God intended it to be used.

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The law indeed is good but only if it is used in a lawful manner.

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So, what is the proper use of the law? What is the lawful use of the law?

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How are we to use the law of God in a lawful manner? Well, there are three lawful uses of the law.

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Firstly, the law is used lawfully when it is used as a standard of behavior.

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The law of God instructs us how we are to live for God's glory. It teaches us what is pleasing to the

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Lord God and it teaches us what is displeasing to the Lord God. The 10 commandments are a copy of God's will.

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The law teaches us what sins to avoid and what duties we are to pursue.

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Without instruction, without the law of God, we would all be lost. We would not know the will of God.

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We would not know the requirements that the Lord God demands, nor would we know the character of the

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Lord God, who is the law giver. The law of God gives us direction.

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It is our moral compass. It is our true north. Secondly, the law of God is used lawfully when it is seen as a restraint.

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The law of God restrains the wickedness and sinfulness of men. The law of God informs man's conscience so that the sinner has a heightened sense of what the

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Lord God requires and what he forbids. The law's commandments with their accusation of guilt and their threat of punishment will discourage people from sinning against the

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Lord God. Man's heart is not changed, but his actions are restrained.

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They are muzzled by the fearful denunciation of the law and the resulting dread of punishment.

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Thirdly, the law of God is used in a lawful manner when it is used to reveal our sin and our need for a savior.

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1 Timothy 1, nine and 10. Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient.

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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.

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The law of God does not apply to those who are just, but to those who are unjust. The law of God does not apply to those who are righteous, but to those who are unrighteous, to those who are living lawless and sinful lives.

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At Ephesus, the false teachers in some way were distorting and perverting this truth.

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Blinded by their arrogance and ignorance, the false teachers presumed their efforts and their righteousness would suffice to please the

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Lord God and merit salvation. Paul rebukes this notion.

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The law was not made for a righteous person, but for the opposite. It was laid down for the unrighteous.

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One of the complaints and reasons why the scribes and Pharisees were so vehemently opposed to the

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Lord Jesus Christ and grumbled against him was the company he so frequently kept.

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Why must you continually eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

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Luke 5, 31, Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

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I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The law was not laid down for the righteous.

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The law was laid down for sinners. The law was laid down to call sinners to repentance.

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It was laid down for 13 different types of people. The law was laid down, verse nine, for the lawless and 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.

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The first three pairs of offenses, the lawless and disobedient, the ungodly and sinners, and the unholy and profane, seem to address offenses made directly against the

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Lord God. Violations and transgressions against the first table of the 10

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Commandments. Exodus 20, verses three through 11, you shall have no other gods before me.

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You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

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You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous

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God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

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You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

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Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a

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Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant, or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates.

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For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day.

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Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. The following six offenses, those who strike their fathers and mothers, murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, seem to address offenses against our fellow man.

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Violations and transgressions against the second table of the 10 commandments. Exodus 20, 12, honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that the

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Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

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Then to ensure that all other bases are covered, Paul adds and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

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So not only was the law laid down for the 13 types of people previously mentioned, the lawbreakers, it was also laid down for any thought, word or deed contrary to, opposed to, differing from sound doctrine.

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Every sin mentioned, every violation of the 10 commandments runs contrary to sound doctrine.

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Sound doctrine is nothing more than healthy doctrine. It is teaching that promotes good spiritual health.

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It is teaching that accords with godliness. It is teaching that accords with the words of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Sound doctrine promotes humility. It promotes holiness.

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It promotes conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The false teachers and their false teaching at Ephesus accomplished none of these things.

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The unsound and unhealthy teaching at Ephesus produced cravings for controversy.

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It produced quarrels about words, envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions and constant friction among those depraved in their mind and deprived of the truth.

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Even though they thought themselves righteous and above the law, Paul reminded them of the law to bring about conviction of sin.

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The law was laid down for those who act in a manner that is contrary to sound and healthy doctrine.

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This is the intent of the law. The intent of the law is to reveal sin and to reveal unrighteousness.

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Specifically, it is intended to shut every mouth concerning one's own righteousness.

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The law of God renders speechless those who think they have met the high and holy standard set by the

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Lord God. It renders speechless those who believe they are good enough for the

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Lord God. Romans 3, 19, 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.

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For by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

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Through the law comes knowledge of sin. The law reveals man's utter sinfulness.

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It reveals his spiritual poverty. It reveals his spiritual bankruptcy. All men are born sinners.

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All men are born spiritually dead with an inclination towards evil and an inclination towards hostility toward their creator, the

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Lord God. Romans 8, 7, for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

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It does not submit itself to God's law. It cannot. The nature of man is opposed to the

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Lord God. The mind of man is not set on keeping the will of the Lord God, but on keeping the will of self.

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The mind of man is set on the flesh. It serves the flesh. It obeys the flesh.

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It worships the flesh. In all men, the law of God reveals this disastrous flaw.

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It reveals this great spiritual defect. If it had not been for the law, none of us would have ever known sin.

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You see, without the law of God, no one sees sin for what it truly is, a transgression, a violation, an egregious offense against a thrice holy

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God. Romans chapter seven, verse seven. What then shall we say?

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That the law is sin? By no means. Yet, if it had not been for the law,

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I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had said, you shall not covet.

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But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.

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For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

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The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it, killed me.

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So the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

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Through the law, sin seizes an opportunity and it produces in us all sorts of wickedness, all sorts of immorality, all sorts of corruption.

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In telling us not to do something, the law triggers our sinful flesh and we think about it.

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We think about it deeply, repeatedly and consistently. And then we begin to plot and scheme as to how we can commit the very thing that the law has just condemned.

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In junior high, I was a member of our school's choir. And I wasn't overly fond of singing, but the choir took three days off every year to sing at a competition and three years off of school, or three days away from school, sounded pretty good to me.

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And one day the choir director was handing out a signup sheet for some event and right before he handed it out, he said, if you're interested in attending, sign your name, but don't waste my time and sign something silly like Donald Duck.

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And then he handed me the clipboard. Sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment produced in me rebellion.

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I took the clipboard and in bold letters on the top of the page, I wrote Donald Duck. The prohibition to sign a silly name awakened a sinful desire and I acted upon it.

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If it had been handed, if I had been handed the clipboard and nothing was said about signing a silly name,

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I would have just passed it along. Why? Because apart from the law, sin lies dead.

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Beloved, this is what the law of God does. It provokes our wickedness.

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It provokes our unrighteousness. It provokes our sin and our fleshly desires.

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So instead of wanting to keep the law of God, we want to break the law of God. Instead of pleasing and obeying the

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Lord God, we want to please and obey ourselves. Instead of living to the glory of God's praise and honor, we live for our own praise and honor.

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Pastor and theologian Donald Gray Barnhouse remarked, the law of God is like a mirror.

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Now the purpose of a mirror is to reveal to you that your face is dirty. But the purpose of a mirror is not to wash your face.

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When you look in a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you do not then reach to take the mirror off the wall and attempt to rub it on your face as a cleansing agent.

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The purpose of the mirror is to drive you to the water. The law of God reveals our sins, but it cannot save us from our sins.

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It was never intended to save us from our sin. It is a mirror that reveals our spiritual apathy.

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It reveals our spiritual blindness. It reveals our persistent transgressions and the impending judgment of the

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Lord God upon us. The law cannot save us from these things.

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It reflects, it highlights, and it manifests our sin, but it cannot save us from our sin because it was never intended to do so.

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The law of God is unable to achieve salvation for us. It is powerless to declare us righteous.

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It is powerless to purify us. It is powerless to reconcile us to the Lord God.

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This is one way that false teachers frequently misuse the law of God. This is how the false teachers at Ephesus misused the law of God.

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They used it in an unlawful manner. They used it as a means of justification and as a means of acceptance with the

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Lord God. Every other religion is a works -based religion.

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If you do certain things, you can earn a right standing before the Lord God. If your good works outweigh your evil works at the end of your life, then you will be saved, but you will not be saved if your evil works outweigh your good works.

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And this seems to be a just system. It makes perfect sense because good works deserve reward and evil works deserve punishment.

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The problem with a works -based system of salvation, the wrench that is thrown into this system and stops it cold is man's utter depravity and sinfulness.

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Mankind is so inherently sinful, there is no good in him.

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As our confession states, article six, paragraph four, all actual transgressions proceed from this original corruption, referring to the sin of our first parents,

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Adam and Eve in the garden, Genesis three, by which we are utterly indisposed.

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We are rendered unfit for good. We are disabled and made opposite to all good, opposed and antagonistic to all good.

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We are wholly inclined to all evil. In a works -based system of salvation, the problem isn't just that your evil works may outweigh your good works.

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The real problem is that there are no good works, only evil.

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Romans 3 .10, as it is written, none is righteous, no, not one.

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No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside.

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Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one.

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But how can this possibly be? No one does good, not even one?

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There seems to be a lot of good in the world. A soldier lays down his life for his country.

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A donation is given to help out the less fortunate. A kind word is exchanged between strangers.

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Are none of these things to be considered good? From a human perspective, all of these things are good.

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But in Romans 3 .12, no one does good, not even one. The goodness in view is goodness as the

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Lord God sees it, not man. The infinite, eternal, unchanging, omniscient

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God of wisdom, justice, and truth sees things very differently from you and I.

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In the book of 1 Samuel, Samuel the prophet was sent to Jesse the Bethlehemite to anoint a king from among his sons.

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1 Samuel 16 .6, when they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, surely the

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Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.

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For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the

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Lord looks on the heart. Certainly, mankind can do many good works if a human standard is judging those good works.

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But what happens when the Lord God judges those works? What happens when the

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Lord God looks upon those good works? What happens when the Lord God looks upon the heart behind those good works?

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What happens when the Lord God exposes the thoughts, intents, and motives of a man's heart?

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The Lord God sees not as man sees. The Lord God sees and knows all things.

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Jeremiah 17 .9, the heart is deceitful above all things.

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The heart is desperately sick. Who can understand it? Verse 10,

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I the Lord search the heart. I the Lord test the mind. I the

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Lord give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

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The truth of the matter is this, every supposed good thing that an unregenerate person does is thoroughly corrupted and tainted by his sinfulness.

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Romans 8 .8, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Isaiah 64 .6,

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we have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

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We fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away. Sin has thoroughly corrupted the heart of man.

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Sin has permeated our entirety. Sin resides at the very core of our being.

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Everything we think, everything we do, even our very best deeds are tainted by sin.

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Man looks upon the outward acts and judges them to be good. The Lord God looks past the outward acts to the motives that lie behind those outward acts.

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He looks at the motive and the intent of the heart. And because man's outward acts proceed from his heart, his rebellious, unbelieving and unregenerate heart, the

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Lord God judges those acts as evil because they are not done for his glory.

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Thus all of man's so -called righteous deeds are like a filthy and polluted garment in his sight.

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You see, the good works that the unregenerate perform are not motivated by a love for God.

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They're not motivated by a desire to please God. They're not motivated by a desire to glorify

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God. Instead, their motivation is self -interest. It is self -promotion.

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It is self -glory. Which is why the Lord God proclaims none is righteous.

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No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside.

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Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one.

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The unbeliever is unable to do any good. The unbeliever is unable to make himself right with God.

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He's unable to justify himself before God. So the law of God reveals these truths and points us to something outside of ourselves.

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Galatians 3 .24. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.

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The law was our guardian. The law was our schoolmaster. The law was our tutor to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

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God's holy, righteous, and good law is like a sharp needle that prepares the way for the gospel thread.

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If a man does not know the nature of the law, then he cannot know the nature of sin.

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And if he does not know the nature of sin, then he cannot know the nature of our glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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The law cannot pardon your sin, but it does point you to the only one who can,

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Jesus Christ. Romans 3 .21. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction.

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For all 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

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God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

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This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had previously passed over former sins.

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It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

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The Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. He kept the law of God.

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He kept all of the law. He kept it externally in his actions and he kept it internally in his heart.

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The Lord God put Christ forward as the propitiation, as the perfect and sinless sacrifice who would stand in our place and absorb the full and righteous wrath of the

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Lord God. The death that we deserve, the death that we earned,

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Jesus Christ died in our place as a substitute. Colossians 2 .13,

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and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

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God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

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How did he do this? Verse 14, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

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This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

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Every one of us owes a significant amount of debt to the

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Lord God. In our transgression and our violations of the law, day after day, month after month, year after year, our sin continues to increase and compound.

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In our short lives, we rack up an enormous amount of debt.

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And there is a record kept, a record kept of every one of your sins, a record of every one of your transgressions.

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There exists a certificate that has your name on it, and it contains your final balance.

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The accounting of your debt is airtight. It is without error, it is without mistake.

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And this record of debt stands in opposition against us. This record of debt is hostile because it justly and impartially condemns us to judgment.

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It condemns us to an eternity in hell. Romans 2 .15,

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they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.

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On that day, when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

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Hebrews 4 .12, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

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And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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This judgment awaits every man, every woman, every child without exception.

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All secrets and all things hidden will be exposed and placed upon the balance.

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But for those who turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, for those who receive the

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Lord Jesus Christ, to those who repent and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the

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Lord God does something truly remarkable to this hostile certificate. He cancels it out.

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He wipes it away. In his love and holiness, the Lord God took the record of our sins.

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He took the certificate of debt that was in opposition to us, that vehemently stood against us, and rather than justly condemning us to an eternity of his wrath, he took the certificate of death and he put it in the hand of his perfect son, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, and he drove a nail through it into the cross. Whose record of sin was on that cross?

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My record. Whose hands were nailed onto that cross? Not mine.

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The Lord Jesus Christ. In my place, with my record, which contained the accounting of every one of my sins, was nailed through his hands.

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Christ was my substitute. Christ was my sacrificial lamb. It was Christ who appeased the righteous wrath of God.

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It was him who paid the price of my ransom. It was him who made a once enemy of God into a beloved son.

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This is the only way to cancel the debt that you owe to the Lord God, by it being put into the hand of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and being nailed to the cross, and him alone bearing the whole burden, the entire penalty, and the full wrath of God on your behalf.

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And do you know what is then left of your record? Nothing. Not a trace of it remains.

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It is no longer opposed to you. It is no longer hostile. It cannot be held against you.

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It is gone. The life, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ achieved salvation.

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Once for all, the debt has been paid. And this is something that the law could never do.

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To those of you who are in Christ, you have been forgiven. Psalm 32, one.

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How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

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In Christ, transgression is forgiven. In Christ, sin is covered.

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In Christ, we are given new life. The law is good, but it cannot do any of these things.

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Thus, the law is to be used, 1 Timothy 1 .11, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed

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God with which I have been entrusted. The law is good when it is used in accordance with the gospel.

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The gospel is good news. It's great news. It is glorious news.

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It is the glorious news that Christ Jesus has fulfilled the law. It is the glorious news of God's great mercy and grace.

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It is the glorious news of God's love, care, and concern. It is the glorious news of being pronounced not guilty.

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It's the glorious news of being adopted into the family of God. It's the glorious news that we are redeemed, forgiven, justified, and reconciled to the

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Lord God Almighty, our loving and compassionate heavenly Father. Beloved, always remember, always remember that at one time, at one time, you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

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You walked according to the course of this world. You followed the prince of the power of the air.

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You followed the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. You lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind.

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You were by nature children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind. But God, because of his rich mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, we were made alive together with Christ.

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By grace, you have been saved. We have been raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages, he might show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness in Christ Jesus.

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For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing.

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It's the gift of God. It's not a result of works that no one should boast.

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The law cannot save you. The law was never meant to save you. It can only show you your sin and show you your desperate need for a savior, which is why it is a necessary component of the gospel.

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Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone because of the work of Jesus Christ alone.

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He alone kept and fulfilled the law of God. Beloved, the more we look into the mirror of the law, the more we will realize our sin and be reminded of our need for a savior.

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And the great and gracious love of our father God who provided a means for salvation through Jesus Christ.

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The law of God now instructs us as to what is pleasing to the Lord God. We follow the law and we love the law because it reveals the law giver who is our heavenly father.

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Beloved, this gospel of the glory of the blessed God was entrusted to Paul and it is also entrusted to you.

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So know it, believe it, live it, rejoice in it, and boldly proclaim it.

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And begin your proclamation with the law. Just make sure that you use it lawfully.

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Let's pray. Our father, we thank you that even though we were dead, even though we had no inclination, no desire to follow you, you saved us by your grace because of Jesus Christ.

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Lord, we can't even fathom how great your grace is. In your mercy,

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Lord, you met us where we were at. You spoke truth into our lives, the spirit drew us, we heard it, and Lord, you have accomplished salvation in our lives.

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And Lord, we pray for those who may not know you. We pray for those who are trusting in something other than Christ Jesus for salvation.

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We pray, Lord, that the law would reveal this error, that would reveal their sin, that would point them to the

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Lord Jesus Christ, and that they too would be saved by grace through faith because of Christ.

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Lord, none of us are worthy for salvation, but we are worthy now because of Christ, because we are in him.

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His righteous robes cover us. And Lord, for this, we thank you. So help us live a life that is consistent with our calling.

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Help us to walk in a manner that is pleasing to you, that is worthy of the calling to which we have been called.