The Law of God

Tonight we're doing lesson eight, which is our last study in anthropology, and it's the law of God. Next week we're going to be starting a new study, and it's going to be studying what we call the fall of man, or how man sinned and fell from his state of grace. So we'll be studying that in detail, the doctrine of sin, next week. When you think of the law of God, what has that to do with man? How does that actually fit into anthropology? It may not seem like it fits at all at first glance, but by the end of the night you'll see that it has everything to do with anthropology.

When we say the law of God, "law" in the English word actually goes back over a thousand years. It traces from Old English to the Scandinavian language of Old Norse, and it means "to lay down." The idea behind that would be that in ancient times you would lay down a boundary, or you lay down a signpost, a guidepost, or a guide stone, and it would be permanent. It would mean to display something, to display your intention that that's your property, or this is a boundary that you should not cross.

So that's where we get the idea of the law of God from. Sometimes we talk in that same manner. We'll say, "Well, I'm going to lay down the law." Have you ever done that as a parent? Your kids get a little bit rowdy and it's like, "Okay, we're going to lay down the law here." Well, the law of God is simply a disclosure of God's character. It's God disclosing, laying down who He is. When theologians talk about the law of God, they normally do it in two different ways. We call the first elemental law, and God has disclosed Himself. He has laid down truths about Himself and the elements of His creation. We talked a little bit about this when we discussed bibliography and we discussed general revelation. If you remember, we read in Psalm 19 how the heavens declare the glories of God. Night and night, day and day, they're constantly speaking, declaring His handiwork and His greatness. We can learn a little bit about God from what we call the laws of nature.

I have an uncle who's home with the Lord now, but he was a boy in the 1940s and Superman was all the rage then, both in comic books and on the radio shows. As any boy, he was enamored with Superman, so he made himself a cape like Superman, put it around his neck, and he crawled up on top of the barn and he jumped off so he could fly like Superman.

He learned very painfully what we call the law of gravity. It cannot be cheated. It's a permanent law. It's a law laid down. When we talk about the laws of nature, though, really we're talking about God's providential care, right? His normal, ordinary habits — the laws of nature — disclose facts about the character and being of God.

When theologians talk about the law of God, they also talk about what they call enacted law or published law. Sometimes they call it positive law, and it's simply God's law in the form of decree. For example, in the Old Testament we find the Ten Commandments. Many of you memorized them as a child. Perhaps you have them up on your wall somewhere, right? You might be even more familiar with Jesus' great commandment, right? And then the second commandment. The great commandment is to love God with all you are and all you have. And the second commandment is alike to it — just to love your neighbor as yourself. And so that is God's law that has been enacted, that has been declared, that's been shown to man through the prophets or through the apostles saying, "Thus says the Lord."

When we read through the New Testament, we see many different references to the law of God. For example, sometimes the law of God is referred to as shorthand for the Ten Commandments. Sometimes the law of God is shorthand for the first five books of the Old Testament — what we call the Pentateuch. Sometimes the law of God is shorthand for the entire Old Covenant or the Mosaic system. So we see it used in very different ways, but we're going to be looking at all that tonight as we discuss the law of God and how it relates to man.

So let's begin with Bible point number one. The law of God is simply an expression of the nature of God in the form of moral requirement. That's the first blank: moral.

In other words, God's law shows us what He requires of us as moral beings. The law is a transcript of God's holy character. That's the second blank: holy character.

God doesn't make law, nor is He subject to law, but rather God is law and the source of law. That's the third blank: the source of law. In other words, God doesn't just make a law by simply saying it and then His random expression becomes law. He declares who He is. His law — God is a God who is true, so therefore we're not to lie. God is a God of love, so therefore we're not to hate. God is a God of purity, so therefore we're to live pure lives. So His laws simply are a transcript of His character.

Every transgression of the law is thus a stab at the heart of God. To reject God's law is to reject God Himself. That's the fourth blank: reject God Himself. So the first blank is moral, the second blank is holy, the third blank is source, and the fourth blank is reject. Because the law is just a transcript of His character, if you disobey His law, you're disobeying the Lawgiver. You're shaking your fist in rebellion at God when we break His law. So therefore to transgress the law is to betray God. It's to go against God's stated purposes for our lives. If you remember R.C. Sproul, he used to talk about — he would quote a Catholic theologian, a very brilliant man, who said that sin is cosmic treason against God. It's man wanting to dethrone God and put himself in the place of God and to say, "It's my way, not Your way."

Psalm 19:7–9 shows an interplay between God's law and its intended target, mankind. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Just briefly looking at that, we can see that God's law is directed to us. It has an audience in His creation. It's intended to reveal who He is and what pleases Him to His people. Just a little note, by the way — this passage, if you want to hear a great exposition of it, you're in for a treat. In a couple of weeks, Mr. David Colson is going to be preaching on a Sunday morning and this will be his text. So I'm anxiously looking forward to hearing that expounded upon.

The application is this. How is sin a personal — that's the first blank — a personal betrayal against God? God is the second blank. Because God is a personal being and we are personal beings, and we're supposed to be made in His image, made for Him and to obey Him and to worship Him and to know Him and to walk in harmony with Him. How is sin then a personal betrayal against God?

Isn't that exactly what it is on its face? It's to take the love of the One who's given us life, who's given us breath, who's endowed us with our wonderful elements of personality — our resolute mind and our relational actions — and to use those instead of for serving Him and honoring Him, to serving ourselves, to serving the world and serving the flesh, to serving the devil. So it's a betrayal of our personal God.

Look what Jesus says in Matthew 5:48. He says, "Therefore you shall be" — what? — "perfect, just as your" — who? — "Father in heaven is perfect." So we are to reflect the character of God. The Father's perfect. So we're to be perfect. We are to be holy. We're to be without sin. First Peter 1:15–16, "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" The standard of our holiness is the very character of God Himself, and He wants us to conform to His character.

Look at Paul's writing to the Thessalonians here. First Thessalonians 4:7–8, "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but" — who? — God. "Who has also given us His Holy Spirit." Again, to reject the law is to reject the Lawgiver. To break the law is to take a stab at the very heart of God.

Let's look at Bible point number two on the front. The law of God is innate. Now that's a big word we don't use a whole lot, but that simply means built in or inscribed. It's part of the elemental makeup of mankind. The law of God is innate in humanity, who is made in the image of God.

Because we're made in the image of God — we talked last week about how the image of God is both a moral and a personal image. It's a personal image in that we are made to be like God. We are made to be able to reflect on God and on ourselves and on our environment, on others. We're made to be self-determining, to be resolute, to act upon the things that we reflect upon, and then to relate to this world that we live in. That's the very image of God's personal being. That separates us from being a rock or being a tree. And that part of God's image, which we talked about last week, is indelible. Sin doesn't erase that. But we also were created in God's moral image.

When man was originally created, he was made to have sympathies for what God has sympathies for, to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. In the fall, we lost that. And so we talked about Blaise Pascal last week — how he said, "Man is both the glory and the scandal of the universe." He's the glory of the universe in that he has such great personal potential to do all kinds of great things, to build things, to relate to folks, to make the world better, but he doesn't. He spends those personal powers on his own pleasure and on his own self, because he doesn't love God. He doesn't naturally love the things of God because his love is bent away from God and towards himself.

When we say that the law of God is in reality innate in humanity who is made in the image of God, what we simply mean is this: God's nature, His laws, are actually built into us as human beings. We were created to be moral beings and we know what is right and we know what is good because of our creation. If we're created in the image of God, even in fallen man, doesn't that mean that even fallen man still is a faint image of God?

For example, God is Father, right? He's revealed Himself as Father. As humans, can't we relate to that, because don't we have fathers? Now, maybe your father isn't a very good father, wasn't a very good father, but that doesn't mean you can't conceptualize what a good father is. God is the perfect Father, the heavenly Father, the one who is altogether true and altogether just. So because we're made in this image, we can conceptualize that God is our Father.

We all have known people that you respect or admire. Maybe you've known a soldier who has laid down his life for his country, and you admire that. Maybe you've seen people who are very virtuous. It doesn't mean they're perfect, but they've done great things for society and you admire that. Well, doesn't that point to One who is perfect, who is altogether virtuous and altogether true? Man is made in the image of God, so he's a faint reflection of God's perfect majesty. So we have an idea of the morality that God requires and the potential of mankind — what God intended us to be.

And Bible point number two: all men bear witness to the existence of God's law. The obligation to obey — that's the second blank — to obey God's law and to be conformed to God's holiness is based on man's original ability and gifts bestowed on him at creation. Man was made to relate to a holy God. He was made to walk with God. He was made holy, not just morally neutral, but he had a bent of his affections, a bent of his will towards God that was supremely set on God. And in this way, man can be in harmony with God and they can walk together in the garden. That's the way that God created mankind. So we read last week, "God made man upright," Ecclesiastes says, but we've all turned aside into our own ways. We've chased after other devices.

Because man was created holy — that's the third blank — we must be like God — that's the fourth blank: like. Because man was created holy, we must be like God, or we cannot truly be man. In other words, if man is supposed to be a finite reflection of the infinite God, unless we're holy, we'll never live up to our potential, to what God designed mankind to be — to be a reflection of the perfect image of God.

Look at Romans 2:14–16. "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them, in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." We read this passage a few weeks ago when we discussed man's conscience. But what I want you to focus on is verse 15: "the Gentiles who show the work of the law written in their hearts."

He's not talking here about the Ten Commandments; he's not talking here about the Great Commandments. He's talking here about the very character of God, in whose image we are made. The law that is enacted, the summary of the law, tries to summarize the character of God, but we are made to reflect the very image of God, and that is something that cannot be changed about us. We will always bear that even though we are fallen. We were created to be moral beings even though we act immorally. Even though we do not achieve or point to the end that we were designed for — we often point to ourselves as another means — that law of God is written in our hearts. What we call elemental law: just as the law is written in nature, law is inscribed in the heart of every man and every woman and every child.

When you talk to a person who's lost, you speak to their conscience. Their conscience knows there is a right and wrong, and their conscience demands that they obey the right, and it tells them not to do what is wrong, because that part of God's image is indelible. It's part of the personal image of God that is not eradicated by sin. It's always there.

John 1:9 is, of course, from the Gospel of John. It speaks of Christ. It says, "That was the true light which gives light to every man."

Christ was the true light that gives light to every man. Think about this to kind of blow your brain. Does not Colossians say that by Him all things were created and for Him and in Him all things consist? Christ is the very Mediator of creation. He is the image of God, the exact expression of the invisible God. We read that from Hebrews chapter 1 last week.

So Christ is the light of every man. He is the moral image of God that is indelible in our heart. We know, because we were created in His image, that He is the standard by which we must judge ourselves. We can't judge ourselves by moral relativism — "Well, Uncle Buck isn't so bad. He's a good guy compared to him. I'm doing all right." No, we compare ourselves to Christ and Christ alone. He is the light that gives light to every man. That means every single person, saved or unsaved, has within their hearts the law of God written there, and the Holy Spirit is imparting impulses to them, working with their conscience to draw them to God and to say, "This is the way. This is the truth. This is life. It's Jesus Christ."

Romans 1:18–20 — we often talk about this passage, as we did when we discussed general revelation, talking about nature. We can see God in nature; therefore man is without excuse. And we say general revelation is enough to convict man that God is holy and man is accountable to God, but it's not enough to save him. But it's beyond just the rocks and the trees and the mountains. It's in the creation of you as a created being in the image of God. When you read it carefully, you'll see this: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Verse 19: "Because that which is known about God is evident within them." Here he's not talking about the external creation. He's talking about you, created in the image of God.

"For God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse." You're without excuse because every time you look in the mirror, you are seeing a finite expression of the infinite God, because God created you in His image. That image is not eradicated by sin. It's defaced, but not eradicated.

The application is this. Practically speaking, what testifies that men ought — that's the first blank — ought to do what is right — the second blank? What? Our conscience. Exactly right. Our conscience testifies that we are created in the image of God and we know what is right and we know what is wrong and we ought to do what is right.

But point number three: God's law is over all men. It's not just over Israel. It's not just over the church. It's over all men at all times. The first blank is all, the second blank is all. It forbids every sin — that's the third blank. It requires every virtue — that's the fourth blank.

Omissions, which means failing to keep God's law, what He's commanded you to do — as well as commissions — are condemned by it when we break His law and we actively rebel against His law. When you think about it, because the law of God is a transcript of His character, what did we learn when we studied the nature and attributes of God?

Is not God immutable? That was one of the attributes we studied, which means that God doesn't — what? — change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So the law of God is not a sliding scale — "Eh, I'm going to go easy on Jimmy this week, but next week I'm going to be hard on him." The demands are always there. God doesn't have favorites. He's not a respecter of persons. "Well, you in America, we're going to look at you one way. We're going to treat these people over here a different way." God's law is universally applied to all men.

We also talked about God's nature and attributes. We said that God is the living God, and He's the God who cannot cease to be. God's law is eternal, because it's a reflection of His nature. It's a reflection of who God is. It's a transcript of His character. Psalm 119:96 says, "I have seen a limit to all perfection." Speaking of all men — we can strive and try to be perfect, but we're going to fail, because we are finite beings. "But Your commandment is without limit."

God's commandment has no limits because His nature is unlimited. It's in God's nature. We discussed the infinity of God — that boundless supply from within. God is altogether pure in every part. He's not just a little pure, altogether pure. There'll never be a time when He hasn't been pure. There'll never be a time when He will not be pure. He always is. And so that law commands that same conformity from us.

Psalm 2 is a great messianic psalm. It says, "Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?" These are people plotting in rebellion against God. "The kings of the earth set themselves and rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed" — against the Messiah. So they are rallying their forces and their vigor to rebel against God. "Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us." They want no restraint. They don't want the law to tell them what to do. They want to be self-determining and have God have no say in it.

Verse 4: "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh." Is God worried about that? Not at all. "The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure." Because His law cannot be set aside. His law is immutable because He is immutable.

Application is this. Remember, God can't change — that's the first blank — or cease to be. God can't change, or cease to be — that should give you great comfort as Christians. That God does not change and He cannot cease to be. And that His law will never cease. We sometimes wonder, when are we going to see justice in this world? We see the poor oppressed. We see widows taken advantage of. We see people walked on. We see evil reigning sometimes and seeming to get away with it. We have great confidence to know that God's law never changes and eventually all sin will be held accountable by it.

Bible point number four: God's law is spiritual. That's the first blank. It demands not only right acts and words but also right — that's the second blank — right dispositions and states. It demands not only outward conformity but inward conformity to the holiness of God. The first blank is spiritual. The second blank is right. The third blank is inward.

God's law is spiritual. It's not only concerned with our acts and our words but with our attitudes. Isn't that what Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount? He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not murder.' But if you hate your brother" — now, hate isn't something you can see necessarily. It's a disposition of our heart. It's the way that we're thinking about our brother. We're despising our brother. You can despise your brother with a smile on your face. People do it all the time.

But God sees. And He's concerned about that. So the law is spiritual. He says the same thing about adultery. He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'" — which is great; you shouldn't have your neighbor's wife — "but if you're lusting after someone or coveting after something that isn't your own." Isn't that an inward disposition of our heart? Isn't that a spiritual failing? So the law is spiritual. It demands not just outward conformity but inward conformity to the holiness of God.

The Pharisees were masters at outward conformity. They had all kinds of rules that they had made so that they would not break the law of God. For example, on the Sabbath day they were told that they were to rest. Well, how did they figure they could keep from breaking the law? They figured there has to be a reasonable number of steps that you can take on the Sabbath day. And so they quantified that. And then they said you could take those steps to get to food, because if you're hungry — your ox is in a ditch, so to speak. So what they would do is, if they wanted to go see a friend on the Sabbath day, they would count the steps the day before, place some food at the end of the maximum steps you could take. Then they could count more steps and place some more food there. And so they would walk, pick up the food, walk, pick up the food, to get to their friend's house, so they could traverse on the Sabbath day.

They were also concerned about a certain way of washing their hands that they believed would make them clean — it had to do with a specific amount of water measured from an eggshell that they would drip from the third finger down to their elbow and then from their elbow down to the third finger, and they would say that their hands were clean. So man's inventions — these outward things to keep the law. But what did Jesus say? What words did He have for the Pharisees? Very strong words, because they were so concerned about their outward compliance that they weren't concerned about their spiritual or inward compliance.

Matthew 23:27–28 says this: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." All throughout the city of Jerusalem, where there were grave stones, they would paint them white so you wouldn't touch them, because if you touched them as a faithful, zealous Jew you'd be considered ceremonially unclean. So they painted them white and they looked pretty on the outside. What did He say on the inside? They're full of dead men's bones. He took that familiar analogy and He says, "That's what you are. You look like you are adhering to the law outwardly, but inwardly you're far from Me."

The application is this. Can our thoughts — that's the first blank — and intents be hidden? "Hidden" is the second blank.

You can hide your thoughts and intents from men sometimes, right? Not all the time. I guarantee, my mother's up in heaven now, but when she was here, you could not hide your thoughts or your intents from her. She could read you like a book — a godly woman. She was the oldest of eight siblings and she was a school teacher to boot. She was a widow who raised my brother and me from when I was a boy, and she was like a human lie detector. She could see right through your veneer. But some people are pretty good; they may be able to fool you.

But can you fool God? No. He sees the intents. He sees your thoughts. He knows your heart.

But point number five: God requires perfect — that's the first blank — perfect holiness in man as a condition of harmony — that's the second blank — with His holy nature. He requires perfect holiness in man as a condition of harmony with His holy nature. We just read, "Be holy as I am holy," says the Lord. "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." So if we want to be in harmony with Him, we have to be like Him, and He's commanded us to be like Him.

With the first transgression of the law, all hope of obtaining divine favor — that's the third blank: favor — by perfect obedience is lost. It's out the door. With the very first transgression, Adam and Eve ruined it for us. Well, we ratified their decision as soon as we could. We've ruined it for ourselves as well. We can't blame them. We have chosen willfully to rebel against God, and we do that every time we sin, because again, to sin against God is to take a stab at His heart. It is a personal betrayal of our Creator.

With the first transgression of the law, all hope of obtaining divine favor by perfect obedience is lost. God's law reminds man of the height from which he has fallen. It drives man to despair of himself and to turn — that's the fourth blank: to turn — to Christ for righteousness and salvation. Because the law shows us, like a mirror, our sinfulness. It shows us our failings. It shows us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It then points us to the One in whose image we are made. It points us to Christ for salvation, for reconciliation, for us to be renewed in the image of God.

Look at Galatians 3:23–24. "But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. The law was there to keep us, to guard us, to protect us and to lead us to faith. Therefore the law was our tutor" — verse 24 — "to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The law was our tutor, our schoolmaster, our pedagogue. In Roman times, the pedagogue was a person who was hired by wealthy parents to be their child's personal bodyguard, to escort them to school. Going through the city of Rome — it was a big city and a dangerous city.

Unattended minors walking through the city would be in danger of some of the wickedest things you can imagine in the heart of men. And so what the schoolmaster, or the pedagogue, the guardian, would do was bring them safely to their schoolmaster, safely to school. And the law was designed to bring us safely to Christ, to show us our need of salvation, our need for a Savior, and to show us that Christ alone can restore us into His very own image.

Second Chronicles 34:19. "Thus it happened, when the king heard these words" — speaking of Josiah — "he heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes." Why did Josiah tear his clothes when he heard the words of the law read to him?

He was convicted. Guilty as charged. The law was doing its work. It was smiting his heart. It was saying, you are a sinner. You are in need of forgiveness. You must turn to God. Romans 3:20 says, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." It says it clearly there: the law can't justify you. It can't save you. It can't make you right in God's eyes. By the law is the knowledge of sin. What the law does is it points to you as one who has fallen from grace, one who was created perfect in the image of God in Adam, but who has fallen because of sin.

Romans 5:20 says, "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."

God's law stirs up within us our rebellion, because we don't like to be told what to do. But where our rebellion was stirred up, guess what abounds much more? Grace. God's grace is greater than our sin. His grace is unmerited favor — we don't deserve it. Look at Romans 7:7. "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law said, 'You shall not covet.'" So the law is there to act as a guardian to bring us to Christ.

The application for number five: let's look at Romans 10:4. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

Isn't that beautiful? Christ is — I'm sorry, I was reading the Bible point for number six, the reference for number six. I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself, but it's very apropos. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The law points to Christ and finds its fulfillment in Christ, because Christ is the embodiment of the law. He is the only One who has perfectly fulfilled the law, because the law is just a transcript of His character.

Let's look at Bible point number six. The law of God is summarized and applied to men in Holy Scripture.

All of Scripture is designed to show us the character of God and to show us our unworthiness of Him. The perfect — that's the second blank: perfect — embodiment and fulfillment of this law is seen only in Jesus Christ.

John tells us, "In the beginning was the Word" — which again is the reason, or the logic, the idea of God — "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Speaking of Christ, He is the full expression of God. He's the perfect embodiment of the law. When we want to know what the law says, I tell you what, you can look through Leviticus all you like, but you're going to see the fullest expression of it in the person of Jesus Christ.

That's why we look to the Messiah. The book of 1 Corinthians says He is the wisdom of God to us. Christ is the fullest revelation. The written law is a partial revelation of God's character, but Christ is the fullest revelation of God's holy character.

Look what Paul says in Acts 13:36–39. "Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins" — speaking of Christ — "and by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." You could try to keep the law of Moses, but it would not justify you. To justify means to make right with God. The law of Moses cannot make you right with God.

But Christ is the One who is greater than Moses. Christ is the One who is the perfect embodiment of God's law. The New Testament tells us in the book of Hebrews that with the changing of a priest, there comes a changing of law. Christ is God's law revealed to us. He is the Lawgiver. In Christ, it's through faith in Him that we are justified, not through faith in keeping the law, because we can never keep the law. We don't have the capacity in and of ourselves to keep the law. But in Christ we're justified. Not only are we declared right, but in union with Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, to restore our hearts, to change our desires, so that we now want to keep God's law. And we strive to keep God's law. It doesn't mean we're going to do it perfectly, but our hearts are renewed — our affections, our will, our minds — set on Christ because the Holy Spirit lives within us. And it's through Him that we are justified, through Christ and Christ alone.

Application is this. By what standard do you compare yourself? Worldly speaking, we compare ourselves oftentimes to our neighbors, right? "Well, they've got a bigger house than I've got, or they've got nicer cars than I've got." Or maybe here in the church you say, "Well, that family, this seems so put together. The kids are always obedient and they're always smiling. My home is a wreck compared to that." And so we compare ourselves to others naturally. But who is the standard that we must compare ourselves to? Jesus. Exactly. If you look hard enough, you'll find the fault in anybody. But you can look all day long and you will never find a fault in Christ. He's the perfect Lamb of God, without spot and without blemish.

Bible point number seven. Some laws in the Bible differ in that they were ceremonial or special injunctions, God being temporary in nature. So some laws, while they do disclose facts about the being of God, were not intended to be eternal laws. They do reveal eternal truths, but they were designed to be temporary in nature.

Examples include the dietary laws of Israel. When you read through Leviticus, it talks about — I'd be in trouble if I was living by those laws. I love me some barbecue pork. And I've been known to drink a glass of milk while I eat some steak at the same time — that's good stuff. Give me a bag of barbecue pork rinds and I'm a happy man. That would have been a no-no in the Old Testament. But those were temporary in nature. Also, the whole Mosaic system — the sacrifices that were to be made, the wave offerings, the grain offerings, the scapegoat, the Day of Atonement. Why are those temporary? Where do they find their fulfillment? In Christ. They were pointing towards Christ to begin with. They were shadows, but the substance was Christ. Issued by God for spiritual tutelage — which means training — and fulfilled in Christ.

He alone says when they cease to be binding on us. So they were designed, again, to lead us — as all the law is — to Christ. And they're fulfilled in Christ, and He alone says when they cease to be binding on us.

Look at Colossians 2:16–17 as an example of this. Paul, with apostolic authority, says — "Thus says the Lord," here — "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of" — what? — Christ. Exactly right. Those were temporary by design, to lead us to Christ.

Look what Jesus says. "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to" — what? — "fulfill. For surely I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle will by any means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." We've talked about the jot and tittle being the smallest parts of the Hebrew alphabet — very tiny little markings. But not the smallest part of the law would fall to the wayside. It would all be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Application: where do we turn to interpret God's law? In other words, if some of God's law is fulfilled in Christ already, such as the Mosaic system and such as the dietary laws, how do we know that? Where do we turn to interpret God's law?

The Word of God. Exactly right. Remember when we studied bibliography, how it led us through the interpretation of Scripture, and one thing that we talked about was the analogy of faith — letting Scripture interpret Scripture. We interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. We interpret all things and their fulfillment in Christ. And so if the Apostle Paul writes saying, "Let no one judge you in festivals or food or drink or Sabbaths or new moons — these were shadows and they find their fulfillment or their substance in Christ" — then we take Paul's word for it, and we have a peaceful conscience about it.

Bible point number eight. God's law both demands and protects. The first blank is demands, the second blank is protects.

We know God's law demands: "Be holy as I am holy." "Don't do this." "Do this." But doesn't it also protect? If you keep God's law — such as "Thou shalt not steal" — how does that protect you? You walk into the wrong house, you might get your head blown off, if you're trying to take something that's not yours. What about bearing false witness? Doesn't that not only protect you from having to remember all your lies, but doesn't it protect other people as well — that you don't bear false witness about their character?

"Yes, Abigail?"

"Protects you from getting spanked."

Yes — honoring your father and your mother. That can lead to serious consequences if we don't honor our father and our mother.

It's been said that the law is like tracks to a train. It's there to guide the train — it's there to guide us. To leap the track isn't to find freedom. What happens to that train? It finds ruin. It wrecks. So man needs law. It's not just to restrict us, so to speak. It's there to protect us. The law is not only for ownership but also for care. Law is God's transcript of holiness, as well as a partial revelation of His love. His law keeps us alive. It keeps us from doing things that displease Him. It keeps us from hurting ourselves, and it keeps us from hurting others.

In grace — that's the third blank — we find God's chief revelation of love — love being the fourth blank — Jesus Christ. Christ saves us not by ignoring law, but by graciously satisfying it — that's the fifth blank: satisfying it. So the law demands and protects. It's a partial revelation of His love in that it protects us and keeps us. But we find the full revelation of His love not in law, but in grace. And the embodiment of that grace is Jesus Christ. And we see the grace of Christ not in ignoring law, but in fulfilling it. Didn't Christ love the Father perfectly, so He did all things to please the Father?

And then He loved us so much that He laid down His perfect life for us, to take the moral requirement of the law — that we must be punished — and to take that from us, because He died in our place, in our stead, on our behalf. So Christ doesn't just ignore the law; He totally fulfills the law. And in grace, He shows us what the law cannot show — the full revelation of His love. The law partially reveals His love, but grace fully reveals His love in Jesus Christ.

John 1:17 is a great verse. "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Grace and truth — the full revelation of God, the true and full picture of God, including His love and all His attributes beyond just His holiness — are seen in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." The law of the Spirit gives us life, and that is greater than the law of Moses, the law of sin and death.

Application: why do we need law and how can we obey it? Let's answer the first question first. Why do we need law? What if we didn't have law? What would society look like?

"Baltimore."

Yes. Think about right up here on Route 50. We have stoplights, stop signs. What if there weren't any stoplights or stop signs? We'd probably never get home tonight, right? Traffic would be snarled. Law is there for protection. It shows us God's care in our lives. How can we obey it, though? Because fallen humanity is not inclined to obey God. His moral nature has fallen in sin — which we're going to begin discussing next week — and that affects every part of us. It affects our mind. It affects our will. It affects our affections. So how do we find the power to keep God's law? We know we don't have it in and of ourselves. Where do we find that?

"Following Christ."

Following Christ — exactly right. The minute that we put our trust in Christ, He renews our heart. He takes that heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. He pours His Holy Spirit upon us, who empowers us to keep His law, who changes everything about us and makes us new. "Whosoever is in Christ is a new creation," a new creature. "Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new."