PLEASING HIM

Let us make absolutely certain the ordering of the law and the gospel. Certainly, when we speak of the two, law usually is the first word because the law was revealed before the coming of Christ. In addition, before we can comprehend our need for grace, we must be made aware of the law which is still the school for grace. In these senses only can we as Christians still speak of law and grace. However, since the announcement of the gospel of grace, that word ordering is reversed for the Christian. We might properly speak of grace and law, because in Christ Jesus that is indeed the true perspective.

Thomas Watson insists that in two respects the law is indeed abolished for the Christian. In respect to justification and in respect to the curse, the law and its effects are set aside in the atonement of Jesus Christ. How then do we get to the teaching in our confession which you see before you?

"Therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments."

"have not lost their relevance in the new covenant. ... we cannot properly discuss this law without also speaking continually about liberty and liberation. The prologue prevents us from turning the Decalogue into a set of prescriptions used to order slaves around. They are instead rules of life for liberated people, people who must not be foolish enough to fall back into slavery."

"Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith."

In my youth, I heard tales about the ministers of the old United Presbyterian Church in North America. It was commonly said that they were boring, that they didn't know how to work an audience, they broke all of the rules for public speaking. Then why did people love them so? They were pastors who dearly loved their flocks, and contrary to the wisdom of today, they put the purity of the message before the vainglorious popularity of the messenger!

When I learned to speak publicly, my most important teacher was Winston Churchill. From him I learned to type my sermons in large type which could be read from the pulpit. At my first church, I even copied his method of highlighting the appropriate motions and emotions. Churchill would write in at a weak point, "pound the podium", "raise your voice" or even when appropriate "shed a tear". It worked, we went from seventeen to seventy worshipers in less than nine months. But when push came to shove, the messenger was more appreciated than the message! There is no room in Christ's true Church for false prophets, actors, charlatans and scoundrels. Isn't this what Paul is warning Timothy against in this opening chapter?

We come now to a great dividing truth in Christ's Church in all times. Look at verse eight, which is our theme for the day.

"We know that the law is good, if one uses it properly."

"The picture we get from 1 Timothy 1 is that the law is good, but difficult to teach and subject to misuse. ... it is hard to give the law its due and not seem to prejudice the gospel, or to teach the gospel and not prejudice the law."

What we have to do in defense of both grace and law is to use each appropriately. Because of the law we learn our need for grace. Because of grace we need the guidance of the law to live a life pleasing to our Lord Jesus. To paraphrase my Baptist commentator, Pastor Reisinger: The commandments are good in the sense, that they have become a rule of life for Christians. The law is good because it is the instrument that the Spirit of God uses to convict sinners. Third, we see in our passage today that the law also has a social use to restrain the worst that mankind can do to one another.

One more important item before we close. Let us consider the proper and improper uses of the law of God briefly. While there are quite a few, let us be content with three of each for today. Again, Pastor Reisinger is of immense help in ordering these notations.

First and worst in the unlawful use of God's precious law is when men use it for justification - seeking acceptance before God by law keeping. This heretical abuse promotes the idea that men and women, boys and girls are in fact capable keepers of the Covenant! This heresy is the exact opposite of the gospel of grace announced to us in and through our Lord Jesus Christ and in the whole of Scripture. Those "churches" that preach this means of salvation are no more churches of Christ than the synagogues of Satan at the time of Christ. By contrast, the primary purpose of the law is to bring us to Christ. Paul saw this great purpose after he embraced Christ. He then announced that his whole life study of Judaism properly understood, prepared him for accepting the grace given in and through Jesus of Nazareth.

A second misuse of the law is to use it merely as ammunition in unfruitful and unprofitable disputes. If we do not teach Christ by the law it is an unlawful use of the law. In our passage from Timothy, the genealogies and controversial myths reminiscent of several Jewish books that did not make the cut for inspired writings may be the source of controversy. In our time, the endless churning out of millennial vistas easily come to mind! I recently received some email advertising a renowned bible scholar whose site claimed she had found the heaven star and that the world would end on Pentecost Sunday next spring. Over the years I have grown very fond of the Westminster's minimal teaching on the subject of Christ's return. Once I knew a minister who retired early to delve into these things full time. In all this fruitless seeking Him here, there and everywhere - the Lord of heaven and earth is missed completely and too many people, like the virgins waiting with their lamps, will miss their invitation to great feast at the end of the age.

A more profitable use of the law is to point always to the majesty and glory of God who was and is revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like a magnet which is always pointed to true north, the only purpose of preaching is to preach Christ. A while back, I received an advertisement from a company that specializes in helping busy, lazy or incompetent preachers with their weekly chore of preparing a sermon. This particular advertisement promised to draw the sheep into the fold like flies to honey. They promised a weekly upbeat message to encourage the faithful that God truly wanted them to enjoy His promises week by week.

A more helpful mailing came free from Covenant Seminary. It was a book on preaching Christ from both testaments. Either someone thought it was worth the expense to send out to a lot of ministers or for obvious reasons it didn't sell to the evangelical ministers who prefer other topics to feed their goats.

A third misuse of the law is to overthrow the doctrine of sanctification where the power to change must come from the Spirit! C.S. Lewis tried time after time to quit smoking, but in the end realized that the bad habit he had acquired remained to remind him that there were some small sins quite impossible for self improvement remedies. Yes, by the power of God, we who are called to Christ are relieved of the most glaring and worst worldly sins, which we must constantly guard against. But it is only by His power that we are kept faithful to Him and His kingdom.

Reisinger concludes his thoughts on our subject today with this observation:

"The special use of the law among Christians is that it makes Christ more precious to us. He perfectly obeyed all of its precepts for us. This shows us how much we are bound to Him for doing what we could not do, both in His life and in His death."