The Church & God's Glorious Gospel

We must guard the gospel

Written by Paul to Timothy (pastor/elder in the church at Ephesus)

Non-Christian Culture

Followers of Jesus have always had to face unique sets of challenges and obstacles in ministering the gospel in their communities

Christians today face their own complex issues

Who would have thought a generation ago that we would have to think through biblically where we stand on cloning? Or what it means to be male or female?

WE ARE NOT THE FIRST GENERATION TO FACE COMPLEX ISSUES

Like much of Europe and Canada, America is increasingly becoming a post-Christian nation

We must remember that Jesus came, not to make bad people good, but to make dead people live

The Church of Jesus Christ existed before 1776, and if the entire continent of North America were to fall to ocean’s floor, the Church would go on!

So as organized bodies of believers, our primary calling is not to fix America’s problems and return it to the “good ole days”… so what should we focus on?

King James Version Chapter 22

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

King James Version Chapter 22

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Compare to verse 4

Matthew 28

King James Version Chapter 28

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Verse 11 speaks of this glorious gospel which was committed to our trust

Verse 3 says that we should teach no doctrine which contradicts or dilutes this doctrine

So a church should focus on these things because an organized body of believers is important because it is the church which presents God’s witness of himself to the world.

It is the church which displays God’s glory.

In the church’s membership, then, non-Christians should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that his gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.

Clear enough, right?

But consider the context of this church in Ephesus that Timothy is leading...

Mid 60s of the 1st century (20-30 years after Christ’s resurrection)

Ephesus: large, diverse, religiously complex, & flourishing commercially (think any major metropolitan US city)

Temple of Artemis/Diana located there – the cult of Artemis was especially influential

Major commercial/economic influence

“the practice of magic, sorcery, and soothsaying”

This particular pagan cult was a fertility cult in which worship was expressed by sensual and orgiastic immorality – really indescribable in nature.

No Judeo-Christian values present in general society (Not exactly 1950s “Leave it to Beaver”/ “Andy Griffith” America)

While 1st century Ephesus and 2019 American culture would definitely have their distinct looks and feels, there is an incredible amount of relevance this 2000 year old letter has for Harvest Baptist Church today!

So that’s this church… let’s verses 3-4.

Notice Paul’s first instruction to this young pastor was not regarding how to...

preach, pray, witness, behave, dress, or lead a church.

Paul’s first instruction to young Timothy was not how to preach, pray, witness, behave, dress, or lead a church. His first instruction was this: Guard the gospel! () Why? Because those things don’t matter? No. It’s because if we lose the gospel, we lose everything!

His first instruction was this: Guard the gospel!

Why? Because those things don’t matter? No.

If we lose the gospel, we lose everything!

So Paul’s first instruction has to do with guarding against false teaching. Now, false teachers in Christian churches usually don’t waltz in with blatant heresy that says “Jesus can’t save you” / “Jesus isn’t God” / “You can’t be saved by God’s grace alone”...

No, a Bible-believing church will spit that junk out right away! So does this mean we don’t have to worry about false teaching because we have the Bible? NO!

This church was a gospel-preaching, Bible-believing church. Paul himself spent 3 years – 3 YEARS WITH THE APOSTLE PAUL – they knew the Bible.

As vs 7 says, they were teachers of God’s law (the OT) and vs 4 speaks of genealogies – these false teachers were using the Bible and wrongfully dividing the Word of Truth. This is why we must demand sound preaching that exposits what Scripture is actually saying and leaves out anything that isn’t directly in the text itself. That is exactly what it means to “rightly divide the Word of Truth”

So we know they were using God’s law… If we are going to guard the gospel, we must first notice how false teachers worked back in Timothy’s church in Ephesus and how they work in 2019.

Let’s notice 2 ways we should not use God’s law and then we will look at the consequences of such usage...

We must not add to the law’s demands

We must not add to the law’s demands (vs. 4)

Not legitimate, God-inspired genealogies – This isn’t your excuse to skip over the “begats” in Genesis 😜

😜

Elders in the church became side-tracked and obsessed with extrabiblical writings, stories & myths about different OT figures (ch. 4:7 – refuse profane and old wives fables, silly myths)

Paul describes the style and motivations of these false teachers within the elders in verses 6, 7: read, then paraphrase – “Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.”

They did not set out to abandon the gospel doctrine that salvation is by faith alone, but in fact their progressive accretions smothered the gospel.

Preaching the Word: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—To Guard the Deposit The Prohibition (vv. 3, 4a)

Paul describes the style and motivations of these false teachers within the elders in verses 6, 7: “Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.”

Preaching the Word: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—To Guard the Deposit The Prohibition (vv. 3, 4a)

They did not set out to abandon the gospel doctrine that salvation is by faith alone, but in fact their progressive accretions smothered the gospel.

One author wrote: These elders in Ephesus aspired to be Christian versions of the rabbis—authoritative interpreters of the deep things of the Old Testament. In imitation of their rabbinic counterparts they spoke with assured confidence and dogmatism, though they did not know what they were talking about. The modern preacher’s version of the bluster described here is the marginal note on his preaching manuscript, “Weak point here. Look confident and pound the pulpit!” In grim reality, they had apostatized and wandered away from love into controversy, away from (what verse 5 says are) pure hearts and good consciences to duplicity and religious insincerity.

They did not set out to abandon the gospel doctrine that salvation is by faith alone, but in fact they progressively smothered the gospel by not holding it high – instead focusing on issues that could be considered secondary AT BEST. (And probably not even secondary)

Preaching the Word: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—To Guard the Deposit The Prohibition (vv. 3, 4a)

These elders in Ephesus aspired to be Christian versions of the rabbis—authoritative interpreters of the deep things of the Old Testament. In imitation of their rabbinic counterparts they spoke with assured confidence and dogmatism, though they did not know what they were talking about. The modern preacher’s version of the bluster described here is the marginal note on his preaching manuscript, “Weak point here. Look confident and pound the pulpit!” In grim reality, they had apostatized and wandered away from love into controversy, away from pure hearts and good consciences to duplicity and religious insincerity.

It was all so appealing, and it fed on the soon-coming Gnosticism in Ephesus that would flower in the second century. Their style and approach is timeless. It is spoken softly with a distant heavenly look in the moist eye: “What you believe is good—it’s a good beginning point. But there is more that those of us who have paid the price of meditation and study can reveal to you. (i.e. Adam stands for the spirit, Eve represents the flesh. One is good, the other is bad.”)

Today: You can take 666 and spell out the name of every international villain from Caesar to Napoleon to Hitler to Stalin or if your particular party is not represented in the White House – then it’s the current sitting President! “He’s the Anti-Christ!”

Have you ever

Hughes, R. K., & Chapell, B. (2000). 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus: to guard the deposit (p. 28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

FACT: God DID give us revelations of prophecy for our good and benefit, and we should study all of Scripture – including prophetic passages in Daniel, Matthew & Revelation – but study the New Testament and history of the early church… You know what you WON’T find?

You won’t find believers looking for the Tribulation, or Antichrist, or seals breaking, or trumpets blasting, or bowls pouring, or the Beast, or the False Prophet, or the Two Witnesses, or one-world religion, or one-world government...

You’ll find them looking for the reigning King of Kings - Jesus Christ!

You’ll also find in chapter 4 that these elders were teaching an abstinence from marriage and certain foods

This was not new then and it still happens today. We use the law wrongly.

We tend to impose our preferences on others, at first perhaps because we sincerely believe we are helping others… but it can quickly become extra-biblical expectations if not tempered with an understanding that only Scripture is indeed Scripture.

In the Old Testament, out of a desire to honor God and protect His Word, the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) hedged it in with extra protective laws. As the Mishnah says, “Tradition is a fence around the Law”. They loved the Law, God’s Word.

Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (pp. 20–21). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Jesus had just warned the people against the danger of spiritual light becoming darkness within them, and a Pharisee’s inviting Jesus to join him for lunch immediately afterward was not accidental or congenial—there was a hidden malevolence behind it. And Jesus knew it. “When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised” (vv. 37, 38). The omission of ritual washing was a premeditated, calculated affront on Jesus’ part. The Mishnah records what the ritual hand washing was like. This cleansing

The hands are susceptible to uncleanness, and they are rendered clean [by the pouring over them of water] up to the wrist. Thus if a man had poured the first water up to the wrist and the second water beyond the wrist, and the water flowed back to the hand, the hand becomes clean; but if he poured both the first water and the second beyond the wrist, and the water flowed back to the hand, the hand remains unclean. If he poured the first water over the one hand alone and then bethought himself and poured the second water over the one hand, his one hand [alone] is clean. If he had poured the water over the one hand and rubbed it on the other, it becomes unclean; but if he rubbed it on his head or on the wall [to dry it] it remains clean. (Yadaim 2.3)

Hand washing was important to the Pharisees, to say the least. So Jesus’ declining to engage in this ritual was an in-your-face move. Jesus was on the offensive. And when Jesus’ host indicated his surprise, Jesus launched into an accusatory speech:

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.” (vv. 39–41)

Seeing their hands still damp from the ritual cleansing, Jesus assailed their externalism. Outwardly their rituals portrayed them as generous and holy, but inwardly they were “full of greed and wickedness.”

The defining sin of these tithing, alms-giving Pharisees was love of money, greed, and that is still a telltale sin among even the most religious today. Love of money assaults the most idealistic, including preachers and missionaries. Consider the Scottish clergyman who took his wife out to dinner for their annual night out. Both ordered steak. The wife started eating hers at top speed, but the preacher left his untouched. “Something wrong with the steak, sir?” asked the waiter. “No, no, I’m just waiting for my wife’s teeth.”

Hand-washing

Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 2—That You May Know the Truth Chapter 2: “Woe to You Pharisees”

Jesus had just warned the people against the danger of spiritual light becoming darkness within them, and a Pharisee’s inviting Jesus to join him for lunch immediately afterward was not accidental or congenial—there was a hidden malevolence behind it. And Jesus knew it. “When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised” (vv. 37, 38). The omission of ritual washing was a premeditated, calculated affront on Jesus’ part. The Mishnah records what the ritual hand washing was like. This cleansing had to be perfect to be effective.

The hands are susceptible to uncleanness, and they are rendered clean [by the pouring over them of water] up to the wrist. Thus if a man had poured the first water up to the wrist and the second water beyond the wrist, and the water flowed back to the hand, the hand becomes clean; but if he poured both the first water and the second beyond the wrist, and the water flowed back to the hand, the hand remains unclean. If he poured the first water over the one hand alone and then bethought himself and poured the second water over the one hand, his one hand [alone] is clean. If he had poured the water over the one hand and rubbed it on the other, it becomes unclean; but if he rubbed it on his head or on the wall [to dry it] it remains clean. (Yadaim 2.3)

Hand washing was important to the Pharisees, to say the least. So Jesus’ declining to engage in this ritual was an in-your-face move. Jesus was on the offensive. And when Jesus’ host indicated his surprise, Jesus launched into an accusatory speech:

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.” (vv. 39–41)

Seeing their hands still damp from the ritual cleansing, Jesus assailed their externalism. Outwardly their rituals portrayed them as generous and holy, but inwardly they were “full of greed and wickedness.”

The defining sin of these tithing, alms-giving Pharisees was love of money, greed, and that is still a telltale sin among even the most religious today. Love of money assaults the most idealistic, including preachers and missionaries. Consider the Scottish clergyman who took his wife out to dinner for their annual night out. Both ordered steak. The wife started eating hers at top speed, but the preacher left his untouched. “Something wrong with the steak, sir?” asked the waiter. “No, no, I’m just waiting for my wife’s teeth.”

Command given to the Aaron & priests, the Pharisees extended it to all

After Jesus fed thousands and healed people with just the hem of his garment (), the scribes & Pharisees had one question: “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

It’s like a reporter asking a firefighter who just rescued a baby from a burning building, “Now, sir, I’ve heard that your brother eats meat on Fridays during Lent. Is that true?” What? Meat? Lent? My brother? What kind of a question is that?

Preaching the Word: Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth The Spiritually Blind Ask the Wrong Religious Questions

It’s like a reporter asking a firefighter just after he has rescued a baby from a burning building, “Now, sir, I’ve heard that your brother eats meat on Fridays during Lent. Is that true?” What? Meat? Lent? My brother? What kind of a question is that?

2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

Preaching the Word: Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth The Spiritually Blind Ask the Wrong Religious Questions

It’s like a reporter asking a firefighter just after he has rescued a baby from a burning building, “Now, sir, I’ve heard that your brother eats meat on Fridays during Lent. Is that true?” What? Meat? Lent? My brother? What kind of a question is that?

Jesus’ answer: But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”

3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

Corban

In essence, here’s where the elders in Ephesus had erred and what Paul was making sure Timothy understood: Don’t put rules and regulations on God’s people that are not in God’s Word.

We must not think the law saves

Elders in this church were teaching that obedience to the law, even some extra-biblical laws, could help one earn favor – not just with the church – but with God.

False teachers in churches rarely come right out and say “You are saved by the law.” – But standing behind the pulpit where an audience expects a “Thus saith the Lord”, when preachers in an attempt to hold people to a more righteous standard begin to say things that the Lord hath not thus said, our opinions become magnified and it the gospel becomes muddied in the minds of the hearers.

I.e. the gospel in some churches has become nothing more than a diving board into a pool of rules and laws to be obeyed. On the contrary! Mature disciples of Jesus know that the gospel is more than the diving board into Christianity – it is the very pool in which we swim!

It was to Timothy’s church that Paul wrote: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. ()

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version.,). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

It was 4 years prior to Timothy’s church that Paul wrote: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. ()

Using the law wrongly produces...

Arrogance & Ignorance among teachers (vs. 7)

confident assertions – “whereof they affirm”

What a dangerous combination! arrogance + ignorance

Confusion & Deception among hearers

Endless speculating (vs. 4) and empty discussion (vain jangling – vs. 6) ultimately deceives and confuses – when people are coming to hear the truth of God’s Word which clarifies and brings confidence

Instead of producing fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc…) hearers of teaching which misuses the law are constantly condemning themselves and others, always wondering and never really knowing if God and others are really happy with them.

The truth

So what do with it?

Should we disregard the law now that we are “under grace” (sin more because grace abounds? God forbid!)

This would also be a gross misuse of the law!

If God’s law were a road you would have ditches on either side: one side you have legalism (or at least legalistic thinking) and on the other you have an opposite but twin heresy, antinomianism (the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation)

Olney Hymns, the hymnbook composed by John Newton and William Cowper, contains the latter’s hymn “Love Constraining to Obedience,” which states the situation well:

No strength of nature can suffice To serve the Lord aright; And what she has, she misapplies, For want of clearer light. How long beneath the law I lay In bondage and distress! I toil’d the precept to obey, But toil’d without success. Then to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do; Now, if I feel its pow’r within, I feel I hate it too. Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise; Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose his ways. What shall I do was then the word, That I may worthier grow? What shall I render to the Lord Is my enquiry now. To see the Law by Christ fulfil’d, And hear his pard’ning voice; Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice.

the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation

Antinomianism then, like legalism, is not only a matter of having a wrong view of the law. It is a matter, ultimately, of a wrong view of grace, revealed in both law and gospel—and behind that, a wrong view of God Himself.

Bunyan saw the meaning of . An “inclination to Adam the First” remains in all of us. The believer has died to the law, but the law does not die. The law still exists to the believer. But united to Christ the believer is now able to fulfill the law of marriage and bear fruit!

Thus grace, not law, produces what the law requires; yet at the same time it is what the law requires that grace produces. Ralph Erskine sought to put this in verse form:

Thus gospel-grace and law-commands Both bind and loose each other’s hands; They can’t agree on any terms, Yet hug each other in their arms. Those that divide them cannot be The friends of truth and verity; Yet those that dare confound the two Destroy them both, and gender woe. This paradox none can decipher, That plow not with the gospel heifer.

So, he adds,

To run, to work, the law commands, The gospel gives me feet and hands. The one requires that I obey, The other does the power convey.

Seeing the wrong usage of the law, we must understand the right usage

To show God’s restraint of sin (vs. 8-10)

God’s law helps us recognize boundaries between good and evil so we might avoid sin

I.e. speed limit signs. Why are they there? Reckless drivers need to be restrained, not law-abiding drivers

“vs 9 – not made for a righteous man” (just) – unsaved people

The sins listed in vs 9-10 correlate with the ways mankind is prone to break the law (10 commandments)

The law helps us identify sin and restrain it in our lives. This is what Paul meant in when he said that he would not have know what covetousness was unless the law said, “Thou shalt not covet” (6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. )

6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

King James Version Chapter 7

6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 7:6–7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

John Bunyan, the notable author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, saw the meaning of as an “inclination to Adam the First” that remains in all of us. The believer has died to the law, but the law does not die. The law still exists to the believer. But united to Christ the believer is now able to fulfill the law of marriage and bear fruit!

Bunyan saw the meaning of . An “inclination to Adam the First” remains in all of us. The believer has died to the law, but the law does not die. The law still exists to the believer. But united to Christ the believer is now able to fulfill the law of marriage and bear fruit!

Thus grace, not law, produces what the law requires; yet at the same time it is what the law requires that grace produces. Ralph Erskine sought to put this in verse form:

Thus grace, not law, produces what the law requires; yet at the same time it is what the law requires that grace produces. One man said this beautifully: Thus gospel-grace and law-commands Both bind and loose each other’s hands; They can’t agree on any terms, Yet hug each other in their arms. Those that divide them cannot be The friends of truth and verity; Yet those that dare confound the two Destroy them both, and gender woe. This paradox none can decipher, That plow not with the gospel heifer.

Thus grace, not law, produces what the law requires; yet at the same time it is what the law requires that grace produces. Ralph Erskine sought to put this in verse form:

Thus gospel-grace and law-commands Both bind and loose each other’s hands; They can’t agree on any terms, Yet hug each other in their arms. Those that divide them cannot be The friends of truth and verity; Yet those that dare confound the two Destroy them both, and gender woe. This paradox none can decipher, That plow not with the gospel heifer.

So, he adds, To run, to work, the law commands, But it’s the that gospel gives me feet and hands. The one requires that I obey, The other does the power convey.

So, he adds,

To run, to work, the law commands, The gospel gives me feet and hands. The one requires that I obey, The other does the power convey.

King James Version Chapter 7

But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Preaching the Word: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—To Guard the Deposit Paul’s Concern

If we do not allow Scripture to define the church, the forces of culture will!

Bunyan saw the meaning of . An “inclination to Adam the First” remains in all of us. The believer has died to the law, but the law does not die. The law still exists to the believer. But united to Christ the believer is now able to fulfill the law of marriage and bear fruit!

Thus grace, not law, produces what the law requires; yet at the same time it is what the law requires that grace produces. Ralph Erskine sought to put this in verse form:

Thus gospel-grace and law-commands Both bind and loose each other’s hands; They can’t agree on any terms, Yet hug each other in their arms. Those that divide them cannot be The friends of truth and verity; Yet those that dare confound the two Destroy them both, and gender woe. This paradox none can decipher, That plow not with the gospel heifer.

So, he adds,

To run, to work, the law commands, The gospel gives me feet and hands. The one requires that I obey, The other does the power convey.

The law shows us what is good, but in our own power we cannot keep it.

Illustration: Our 16 month old daughter, Cali, loves to hide toys – no, not hide them around the house. She likes to hide them in her mouth. (lately she’s been fooling us - tongue). So my wife and I will notice her cheeks bulging and will COMMAND her to reveal the contents. Like Jonah from the fish’s belly, something slobbery emerges and falls into my hand. I’ll wipe it off, hand it back to her and say, “You may play with it, but DO NOT PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH.” The law has been laid down. Sin has been restrained… for now. Where’s that toy 30 seconds later? In her mouth.

To show God’s condemnation of the sinner

This is our own problem – we have been told what is right and wrong, and while we can be temporarily restrained, we fall right back into sinning. This brings us to the second use of the law.

To show God’s condemnation of the sinner

When we sin, the law like a witness on the stand becomes a testimony against us. There’s no getting around it. We have sinned. We are guilty.

We have not only disobeyed a parent who said “Don’t put the toy in your mouth”, we’ve disobeyed the eternal, infinitely holy and just Judge of all sin – God Almighty.

This realization that we stand condemned (and rightfully so) is an essential part of understanding the gospel and our need for salvation.

Not only have we not kept God’s law, according to we CANNOT keep His law.

Standing guilty before God, we look to Christ – the only one who kept God’s law perfectly – and we see that He is righteous before God.

In response, we cry out to God, “I need Him!” And that’s how we are saved. That’s the gospel. We must guard it.

Martin Luther described the law as a “hammer that breaks proud and obstinate hypocrites” He asks, “What is the purpose of this humbling, bruising and beating down? It serves to bring us to grace. So the law is a minister that prepares the way for grace.”

To show God’s will for the saved

Finally, there is a third beneficial use of the law...

To show God’s will for the saved

Having been saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, what do you do now? God’s law instructs us.

His moral law – and even to some extent His ceremonial law – reveals His character and shows us how to love God and neighbor.

When God gave Israel the 10 commandments, He didn’t sit down and figure out 10 random rules or even 10 really, really good rules – He was simply pulling back the curtain and revealing a little bit of His nature to man.

God is God alone. He knew from His vantage point that there were no other Gods – He could not allow His people to live as if there were. That would not be loving because love tells the truth.

God is the Word, and His Word is truth. Therefore, He never bears false witness (lie).

God is a loving comforter. As Jesus explained in the NT, the Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. Having just come out from under the whips of Egypt’s slave-drivers, they were used to a full-7-day work week. The Sabbath was a loving gift. (“Take my yoke upon you… my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”)

God is good and just. He does not steal or covet, etc...

God is God alone. He knew from His vantage point that there were no other Gods – He could not allow His people to live as if there were. That would not be loving because love tells the truth.

Once you are saved, the Holy Spirit indwells you and it is He alone that gives you a desire and the power to do what He says.

God is a loving comforter. As Jesus explained in the NT, the Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. Having just come under the whips of Egypt’s slave-drivers, they were used to a full-7-day work week. The Sabbath was a loving gift.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to iwalk in my statutes, and ye shall jkeep my judgments, and do them.

– “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Quote: “As we rest in the righteousness of Christ, possessed by the Spirit of Christ, compelled by the ongoing grace of Christ, we are led from the inside out to walk in God’s will. For the Christian, God‘s law is no longer a crushing hammer but a divine guide.”

Vs. 9 – Application: Instead of the false teachers’ wrong application of the law in the lives of Christians, Paul points to the law’s role in the lives of unbelievers.

Paul goes on to mention 2 benefits of teaching the right use of the law for the church...

This produces

Responsibility among teachers (vs. 4 and vs 11)

God’s plan is that teachers steward the gospel faithfully for the edification of all the church.

Love among hearers (vs. 5) – “The end of the commandment...” /

What this means in our modern day language is basically “Now the goal of this instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith .”

That is beautiful… That is what we want, don’t we? We want to be a people who love God and love others out of the overflow of a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Paul is saying that only the gospel produces this kind of result and response.

Read vs 11 – According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

At the end of the day, there is no list of rules that any pastor or preacher can make up that will help you earn favor with God. Whether your background is Muslim, secular, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, or atheist –– according to , the law of God is ingrained on your heart – whether you’ve ever read it or not.

You know the difference between right and wrong – good and evil – because God put it into your DNA.

But because of your sin nature, you cannot keep His law perfectly. You know you can’t. The harder you try, the more you realize that you miss the mark – you fall short.

However there is One Who has hit the mark and has not fallen short...

Come behold the wondrous mystery In the dawning of the King He the theme of heaven’s praises Robed in frail humanity

In our longing, in our darkness Now the light of life has come Look to Christ, who condescended Took on flesh to ransom us

Come behold the wondrous mystery He the perfect Son of Man In His living, in His suffering Never trace nor stain of sin

See the true and better Adam Come to save the hell-bound man Christ the great and sure fulfillment Of the law; in Him we stand

Come behold the wondrous mystery Christ the Lord upon the tree In the stead of ruined sinners Hangs the Lamb in victory

See the price of our redemption See the Father’s plan unfold Bringing many sons to glory Grace unmeasured, love untold

Come behold the wondrous mystery Slain by death the God of life But no grave could e’er restrain Him Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance How unwavering our hope Christ in power resurrected As we will be when he comes

Celebrate the gospel! (1:12-17)

The gospel is...

incarnational, yet undeniable

universal, yet personal

The grace of God is...

unconditional

“Grace” which requires conditions ceases to be grace

God’s UNMERITED favor

purposeful

It demonstrates God’s patience

It leads to praising God

The glory of God is...

royal & eternal

invisible & incomparable

Fight for the Gospel! (1:18-20)

In our lives

In our churches

Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s will means that He was able to die in your place – on the cross to pay for the price for your disobedience.

But

Then, rising from the grave 3 days later, He opened the way for you to unite your life and eternity with His. So that when that Judge looks your way, He no longer sees the sin that the law condemns you of – He sees the righteousness of His Son Jesus.

Your righteousness is as filthy rags, but you can be robed in His righteousness today. If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ to be your righteousness, trust Him today.

For 2000 years, the church has had a tendency to drift from what Paul called in vs 11 the “glorious gospel of the blessed God” – so regardless of who stands behind this desk, or who the next pastor of Harvest Baptist Church is, or what the next event on the church calendar is, we must guard this glorious gospel with our lives.

The Church & God's Glorious Gospel

We must guard the gospel

Context:

Guard the Gospel! (1:3-11)

1. How not use God’s law

2. How to use God’s law

Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery