The Law Helps Us See Our Weaknesses

Paul describes this in Romans 7 when he says there was a time he felt “alive” apart from the law. But when the commandment came, sin was exposed for what it really was. The law didn’t create the sin. It revealed it. This is important. Once we see sin clearly, we also begin to see how impossible it is to meet God’s standard on our own.

That’s where the real purpose of the law becomes so clear. God wants us to know without any doubt that we are unable to do anything in our own strength. Galatians 3:24 tells us that the law was our tutor, leading us to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. The law shows us our need for a Savior, and then it points us directly to Jesus.

Once we come to Christ, everything changes. As born-again believers, we are no longer relating to God through rules and fear. We now have the Holy Spirit living in us. He teaches us. He convicts us. He leads us. He guides us. He empowers us to live in a way that pleases God, not out of obligation, but out of love. This is so good!

Think about how this works in your daily life. You don’t slow down in a neighborhood only because you see the speed limit sign. You slow down because you care. You’re thinking about children playing, families walking, and people you don’t want to hurt. The motivation changes. In the same way, obedience in the Christian life begins to flow from a heart that has been changed by grace.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. God works patiently, often dealing with one area of our lives at a time. I know we get impatient with the process, but don’t. You’re changing on the timetable of God! When we stumble, we don’t hide from Him or give up. We turn back to Him. First John 1:9 reminds us that He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. That truth brings both humility and hope.

The law helps us see our weakness. Grace meets us there with forgiveness and strength. Both are gifts from God, and both work together in His plan for our growth.

Be sure to approach the Scriptures with an excited anticipation. Let God speak to you. Let Him shape you. The Christian life is not about constantly battling sin in your own strength. It is about learning to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, resting in the freedom Jesus has given you.

True transformation doesn’t come from trying harder. It comes from a heart devoted to Christ. In Him, we see the beauty of God’s law and the power of God’s grace working together. And as that work continues in us, others will see it too and be drawn to the life-changing power of the gospel.

#14812, Galatians 3:24

UNEDITED FULL TRANSCRIPT

Take your Bibles and let’s open them to a few places. First of all, Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, Joshua chapter 8, and eventually Galatians chapter 3. That will be the order. Romans chapter 7. Actually, I think Joshua 8 is first, then Romans 7. Then we’ll get to it, but I don’t know. One way or the other, we’ll get them. Find all three of them.

I’ve entitled our Bible study today, “The Law is Very Good.” The Law is Very Good. Now, we asked and answered the question last time, what is the purpose of the law? It’s a good question to ask, and the answer is equally important. The grace of God does not mean that the law was bad. No, not at all. The grace of God is wonderful and glorious, and we’re enjoying it. But the law is wonderful, good, and glorious, and we enjoy it as well. Now, many will put the discussion of law and grace into the category of an either-or, but the Bible doesn’t do that. The Bible puts the discussion of law and grace, not either-or, but both. Both are very important.

Yes, the new covenant replaces the old covenant. Yes, the old covenant is very important for why God gave it. Jot it down in Deuteronomy chapter four in verse eight. It says, ‘What great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?’ Psalm 119 verse 172 says, ‘My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness.’ We will learn today that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good.

Which leads us to a question. Some of you may already be asking this. And the question would be something like, wait a minute, Pastor Ed, are you telling me that I must keep the law in order to be saved? And the answer to that would be no. It’s the exact opposite of what I’m teaching, and it would be the exact opposite of what Paul is teaching the churches in the Galatian region.

Now, I realize if you just dropped into the church today or last week and you’re brand new, you have to understand something about our church. We study through the Bible verse by verse. So for 11 weeks already, 11 studies, we have studied the book of Galatians from verse 1 all the way to where we are right now in chapter 3. There’s a lot of foundational work that we have developed that you would do well to go back and listen to as we have learned from Paul the significance of the law and also the significance of grace.

Paul is teaching the exact opposite. There was a group of legalistic men that came into the churches in Galatia and disrupted their simple faith. Now, you’ll never meet those men, but there are always people that would love to disrupt your simple faith. Just a simple relationship with God. I love God, he loves me. I read my Bible, I pray every day, and I live a life abiding in Christ. There are always those that would say, that’s not enough, that’s not enough, that’s not enough. And for this group, they came and not only said it’s not enough, they added and said, hey, if you want to enjoy God, you need to get circumcised. And he’s like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second. Not only do you need to be circumcised men, but you men and women need to complete the entire law in order to be a Christian and a follower of Christ. And the whole book of Galatians is dismantling that false teaching. It was there then, and it’s here among us now.

He not only dismantles this false teaching, but he asserts the fundamental truth of the grace of God. And what is that? That the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is sufficient to forgive you of all of your sins and save you completely. And by faith, you can enjoy God. Simple gospel. Simple gospel.

Now, Romans chapter seven, let’s look today and see at least four things God does when he uses the tool of his law. Why did God give us the law? What are four ways God uses it or four ways the law is used in our lives? Four reasons why God gave it to us. When you get to Romans chapter seven, pick up with me in verse seven there. As Paul is writing to a different group of believers and he says this, 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 had said, you shall not covet.

So if you’re taking notes, here’s point number one. Why the law? Why did God give us the law? Number one, the law defines for us what sin is. The law defines for us what sin is. That’s very important to learn because a pastor doesn’t define what sin is. A church doesn’t define what sin is. A denomination doesn’t define what sin is. A council doesn’t define what sin is. The Bible does. God, through his law, reveals God’s righteous requirement for all of creation. And he tells us what sin is. Paul says that he wouldn’t even known what sin was except for the law because God uses the law to reveal to us. We’re using the same illustration through the whole study in Galatians. I’m gonna keep using it because I want to improve your driving habits, but you gotta remember this. The law defines for you what is the right way. So you’re driving to church this morning and you see that white sign with black letters. You know what I’m talking about? The one that says speed limit. And it has a big number there. That is the law. And the law defines for you not only what the speed limit is, but when compared with your speedometer, whether you’re keeping it or not. It shows you.

Now, you could not pay attention to those signs, and it would make you a deeper sinner, but you pay attention to them, and you can see that sign just by itself. It doesn’t jump in front of you. It doesn’t flash in front of you. It’s just sitting over there to the right with a number on it, defining for you. The law defines what sin is. So when you see the number, it not only tells you what’s expected, but when compared with your behavior with your speedometer, you now see whether you’re sinning or not. It’s the same with the law. The law tells you, do not steal. That’s what the Bible, Bible says, do not steal. When you compare what the Bible says with your behavior, you’ll be able to tell whether you’re sinning or not. So for example, if you steal, you can see from God’s word that stealing is a sin. And that’s what the law does. It reveals to us, it defines for us God’s holy and righteous standard.

Now, let’s go to Joshua chapter 8. Joshua chapter 8 and read a very important passage. Joshua chapter 8. When you get there, go to verse 30. This is after the children of Israel have entered into the promised land. This is after they’ve experienced miraculous victory in Jericho. And it’s also after the disastrous failure and loss of life at the city of Ai. And the people are discouraged. Joshua, the leader, is discouraged. And notice what he does. He decides to bring the nation back to God’s word. When great failure takes place, he’s not looking for blame, and he’s not looking to point the finger. He says, I know what we need. We need to come back to your word. So the first thing he does in verses 30 and 31 is he reestablishes worship, and he builds an altar and gives a sacrifice.

In verse 32, it says, and there at that altar, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord. The stranger as well, he who was born among them, half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half were in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded that they should bless the people of Israel, verse 34. Afterward, he read all the words of the law. And this is the phrase I wanted to draw out. It’s in other places like Deuteronomy, but here in this time in Joshua, it says the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There isn’t a word of all that Moses had commanded, which Joshua did not read before the congregation of Israel, with the women, the little ones, the strangers who were living among them.

It was clear to the nation of Israel that the law dictated the pathway of blessings and the pathway of cursings. Today, we would use the language, the pathway of blessings and the pathway of consequences. There are very natural blessings that come with obedience, and there are also very natural consequences that come with disobedience. How do we know that? The law. The law tells us the pathway of blessing. I will run the course of your commandments we read in the psalm today. I will run in the way of your commandments, the path of blessing. The path of cursing or consequence is to go against what God has dictated. And that’s what God’s law does. It defines for us what sin is. Sin is the number one cause of death, pain, suffering, and sorrow. It creeps into houses, into cubicles, and into the lives of those who choose to yield to temptation. And remember this. It’s already been stated, but let me state it with emphasis here. Who defines what sin is? God does. God defines what sin is. Society cannot define what sin is. We live in an age that was predicted and prophesied that good would be called evil and evil would be called good. That’s our world today. The laws of the land do not dictate what truly is right or wrong because the laws of the land, I don’t know if you noticed lately, they change. They change with whatever administration’s there, whoever’s been voted in charge, they change.

It reminded me of a question that I always would train pastors to stop answering the wrong way. It’s a familiar question. Some of you may have even asked it yourself. And it’s simple. It’s like somebody will come and say, Pastor, is it okay to smoke pot? Now, the marijuana, for those of you that don’t know what pot, well, how do you smoke a pot? Marijuana, all right? Is it okay to smoke marijuana? The quick answer that pastors would often give would be this years ago. No, it’s against the law. Guess what? It’s not against the law anymore. So that’s an invalid answer because it’s really not a biblical answer, although it’s accurate. Like anything against the law, you don’t want like we’re going to follow the laws of the land until the laws of the land contradict God’s law. Then we always follow God’s law. So that makes sense. We’re going to follow the laws of the land. But the laws of the land are not always indicative of the morality of God. Does that make sense? You guys with me?

Yes? Okay, I just want to make sure, because if you lean on culture, culture changes its mind. Not only can you smoke pot now, but now you can engage in all the mushrooms that are available, which is really weird, but the psychedelic drugs. Because you have to understand something, and I know this might be new for you, but the government thrives when people are not alert, right? Those in charge thrive when people aren’t alert.

And so let’s go back to that question and let’s say, okay, pastor, I’m asking you right now. Is it okay to smoke pot? No. Well, why? I’m glad you asked. It’s always a good follow-up question. I will take you to a passage in the Bible where it says, do not be drunk with wine, which is an excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. To which, you know, I could already hear the answer coming back, but that’s wine, pastor, that’s wine. All right, all right, you’re right.

The precept. Whenever you’re reading the Bible, you remember this, I’m teaching you something really important on how to handle the Bible. Whenever you’re reading the Bible, you’re always looking for two things. The precept, which is the actual teaching, the passage itself, the interpretation of the passage. The interpretation of the passage I just quoted to you from Ephesians, you are right. The precept is directly to what was popular in the first century. The drunkenness that came through the alcohol of wine. You’re right. And so the teaching today would be the same. Don’t be drunk with alcohol. Very true. But instead be filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s the precept. But the second thing you want to look for once you get the interpretation of a passage is not just the precept, but the principle. Because there’s a principle behind passages. The principle in this passage actually focuses not on wine, but on the word drunk. The word drunk in the Greek has the idea of being under the control of wine. And in opposition to or in comparison to being filled with, being controlled by the Holy Spirit, here’s the principle. Do not take any substance that will remove the Holy Spirit’s control in your life. That’s the principle.

So now with that principle, can we apply that to smoking pot? Yes. Do not ingest anything. Do not smoke anything. Do not take anything. Do not snort anything. You can name it. That will remove you, believer, from being filled and empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit. That’s the definition of God, not an ever-changing government that actually will make laws that will benefit the government by making money on getting people drunk, high, and hallucinating. God defines sin. Pastors, as I mentioned, do not. We do not. I do not. I am not the final authority on defining sin. Our church and the leadership of this church is not the defining order and authority of sin. The family of churches that we’re a part of, any kind of leadership council. That is not the definition of sin.

Only God defines for us what sin is, and he does that through his word. Through his word, the law defines for us what sin is. And that’s why a culture that rejects God’s word is a culture that allows sin to take root. Filled with sinful people. Politicians have a tendency to cave into public pressure, high-paid lobbyists. People clamor for looseness, and they vote for people that will approve things that will validate their own sinful behaviors. That’s why sin takes root in a culture like ours, but not just a culture like ours. Sin has taken root. The Bible says that the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. So in a world that’s under the sway of the wicked one, we want our lives to be under the sway of the holy one. We want to walk in holiness and righteousness. And that’s why I’m so thankful for God’s word. It tells me what I need to know.

It’s an interesting season in my own ministry because I’ve seen all these invitations come to teach at men’s conferences, which brings back a memory in my life, a very important memory. As a new believer, my life was so broken, I did not know what a man looked like. I didn’t know what a godly man, I didn’t know what it meant to be a man. I didn’t know what it meant to be a dad or a husband or an employer or employee. Every facet of my life was broken because most of my life was lived under the influence. That’s how I dealt with all my problems. I just drank, I just drank, I just drank, and that created more problems. And it was when I began to open the Bible and the Bible would say to me, Ed, this is not for you. And you know how you get overwhelmed. You might be, I might be sharing my story and that’s your story. You got all these things. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know where, I didn’t have a good example. And I just don’t know. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to do this. It’s like, okay, it’s okay. Don’t take on that pressure. It’s okay. God will work on one thing at a time in your life. But I do know this, as you open up the word and you see it, you start reading it with eyes of God. You go, okay, the Bible says, don’t lie. And you start to obey that. It makes you a better man. When you read, don’t lie, and you go, okay, that’s God’s will for me. I’m not gonna lie. I’m gonna tell the truth. It makes you a better woman. God begins to change you through his word as you’re learning. So, okay, don’t be drunk. Okay, I won’t be drunk anymore. Not just because the Bible says that I’m making some decision, but that it doesn’t go along with my new relationship with God. It’s not the way he wants me to live my life.

Now, I know you’ve had people tell you that. I know you’ve had family tell you that. I recently had a brother call me and say, we need an intervention. I know there’s so many messages, but God says that. He says, this is not good for you, daughter. This is not good for you, son. And as you receive it, you become a better man and a better woman. The Bible tells me what sexual sin is so I can avoid it. The Bible tells me what societal sins are so I can avoid them. He tells me what my personal sins are and I can avoid them and I can confess them. Some of you today, even in the moment of this Bible study, you need to offer up to God what you’ve been wrestling with, what you’ve been struggling with. It wasn’t too long ago I taught a Bible study on, and one of the points that I made is you don’t have to struggle. You can confess. You can walk in the newness of life. But what we do is we begin to excuse things and we begin to rename things and we begin to show, well, no, no, that’s not me. That’s not me. That’s not me. That’s not sin. That’s not bad. That’s not that bad. And before you know it, we avoid God’s word altogether, which brings us to point number two.

Point number one is that the law defines for us what sin is. But notice at the end of verse seven, Paul said this, I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. So this is point number two. The law reveals that we’re sinners. That’s what the law does. The law, when we’re reading the Bible, it reflects back to us our behavior and we go, oh, I’m not supposed to lie, but I am lying. Therefore, I’ve transgressed God’s perfect law. And it reveals to us the areas of our lives. This is why the Bible can become very offensive sometimes. and it’s very hard to read for those living in sin. It’s a hard book to read. There is a tendency to avoid God’s loving word to us when it disagrees with our lifestyle, when it disagrees with our preferences, when it disagrees with the way we want to live our lives. That’s the whole point. It’s like God’s saying to us today, you’ve lived your whole life one way, when will you come to me and live the right way? To which I know there’s some listening and go, but wait a minute pastor, are you calling me a sinner? Yes. But it’s more than that. It’s more than that. I don’t do so from a place of judgment or condemnation. I do so from a place of equality. I’m not merely calling you a sinner; I’m letting the Bible declare all of us sinners. The Bible actually says such.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You don’t need to hear a rehearsal of my life, but I could give it to you. I could give it to you recent sins. I could give to you issues that I wrestle, that I grew up with, that I’ve laid on the altar and somehow show up in my garage. Like where did this come from? I laid that on the altar a long time ago. I know where it came from, the flesh. We’ll learn that later on in Galatians. We’ll learn the value of walking in the spirit and the lack of value of walking in the flesh. We’ll get there soon enough. But the Bible declares all of us sinners. You and me.

And because we like to hide our sin and we like to pretend and we like to excuse and we like to blame, we like to explain things away, we stay away from God’s word. But it doesn’t change its damage. The wages of sin is still death. I don’t care what you call it. You want to call it a mistake? Great. You want to reflect upon, but I tried my best? Okay. I mean, today, even some of you are going, but Ed, you’re calling me a sinner? Yeah, but I’m a good person. I believe you. I believe you when you say that. I believe that when you assess your life. We could see many behaviors in your life that are good and moral and wonderful, and we need you. We want you to be good. We need more good people in culture.

However, when it comes to your relationship with God, listen, God does not require good. God requires perfection, which makes grace all the more beautiful. Because you know as well as I do, I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect. I will never measure up to God’s righteous standard in my own efforts, that’s impossible. However, because of what Jesus Christ has done for you and me, God so loved you, and God so loved me, God so loved us that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. That is amazing. What we were unable to do on our own, God did for us. So that when you place your faith in Jesus, when you place your faith in Jesus, his perfection is your perfection. His righteousness reflects over your unrighteousness. The wrath of God has been satisfied by the righteous sacrifice of Jesus.

That’s the deepness of the theology of grace and law, that it’s important that you realize the price that was paid on behalf of Jesus so that now by faith in Christ, you keep the law because he kept the law. And that’s why when you sin, you’re uncomfortable, believer. Believers get uncomfortable with sin because God lives in you and says, we don’t do that anymore. People, what do you mean, we? Yeah, I’m God, I live in you. And we don’t do that anymore. That’s not your nature. That’s the old you. You’re a new person in Christ. And so we don’t steal, and we don’t lie, and we don’t take advantage of women or men. We’re trustworthy now. God inside of you brings about that weight of conviction, not condemnation. It’s not God’s heart to beat you up and to destroy you, but rather it’s God’s heart to bring conviction so we will flee from the sinful behavior that brings so much pain.

Now, before we move to the next point, I want to draw out what Paul dealt with very quickly here. Do you notice at the end of verse 7, he says, I wouldn’t have known covetousness unless the Bible taught me you shall not covet. Now, I don’t meet a lot of people coming up after a service, emailing me, or even calling the radio that confess the sin of covetousness. They don’t go around, I’m so coveting, I’m so coveting, but there’s a lot of coveters in this room right now. This is a big deal. These things that are hidden and under the surface that don’t necessarily come out. Some sins are very readily evident to others. Covetousness isn’t always evident, but it does deep, deep internal damage.

Let me define for you the sin. Covetousness is to desire what belongs to another or to wish earnestly for something. Now, it’s ugly sister or ugly cousin or ugly brother is jealousy. Jealousy. So you got jealousy and covetousness. Jealousy usually moves in the realm of, oh, I wish I had what you had. I wish I had, you got a new car, new, I wish I had it. But covetousness is this. I wish I had it instead of you. It’s personal. It’s personal. And sometimes covetousness will even lead to taking what belongs to someone else. It leads to other sins. It’s a serious sin that needs to be confessed and needs to be faced. Paul says, I didn’t even know how covetous I was until the Bible told me. You shall not covet.

This is the attitude that’s developed through advertising today to disrupt your peace. And hey, you need this and you need this. You won’t be full until you get this. You need this. Advertising for sure. But covetousness covers more than just things. It also develops and primarily develops in the realm of relationships. This is the essence of these fictional romance novels and movies, stirring up a discontent, soap operas. But even more than that, social media develops in us a covetousness that almost always starts with jealousy. And covetousness, listen, is the enemy of contentment. So that lack of contentment you may be dealing with today, I want you to actually seriously pray and ask God what you’re so covetous about. What do you think you’re missing that God has been faithful to you?

It’s very important that we pay attention to this. You know, I think on a simple, let me give you a simple illustration. You wake up one morning, got a day off. You do your devos, take care of everything, get ready for the day. Go down to the kitchen, pour yourself a bowl of stale Cheerios and the milk that’s one day before expiring. You got them all stirred up. You’re there. Put your sugar on it. And you’ve already done everything. So you pull out your phone and you start to look at your feed on Instagram or TikTok. And there he is, your best friend at that new restaurant with the best breakfast in town. And you’re mad. A minute ago, you didn’t mind your stale Cheerios, but now you’re upset. Look at what I got compared to what he got, and I don’t even have money to go there, and how can he do that? And before you know it, you’re all jacked up, and you were just fine with your stale Cheerios moments ago. Because what happened? It stirred up in us a discontentment. Not only that, we actually want what someone else has. And if you keep running with it, you’re just like, you know what? He should eat my Cheerios. I’m going to leave him at his doorstep, and I’m going to breakfast. Again, it doesn’t typically get lived out that way, but that’s the way sin is. It doesn’t get lived out that way, but it stirs up in us. It may happen so much you don’t even realize it.

The Bible says, here’s the truth. You ready? The truth is this. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Not that dude’s breakfast. You don’t need that person’s breakfast. It’s okay to eat your Cheerios. It’s fine. It’s nourishment for your body, taking care. It’s fine. Because godliness, you already did your devos. Contentment with your cereal, great gain. And there’s spiritual growth that happens right there in your kitchen. Or not. I wouldn’t even known covetousness. Now, this sounds familiar, doesn’t it, in relationship to others, because in Exodus chapter 20, what does the Bible say? Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s stuff, including his wife. Don’t look at your neighbor and want his stuff so that you might take his stuff, including his wife. That’s the word of the Lord.

Paul says, I didn’t know what an issue this was in my life until the Bible told me not to do it. And then you’re like, oh, that is something I need to deal with. That is something I cannot live with. That is leading me in a path that is not righteous before God.

Number three, notice with me verse eight, Romans seven. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Same illustration, speed limit sign. If there were no speed limit sign, you would never know what the speed limit is so you can drive however fast you want. That’s what he’s saying. Without the law, you don’t know that you’re breaking the law. Without the law, you wouldn’t know. Without the law, you wouldn’t know what sin is.

And then he says in verse 9, I was alive once without the law. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Now, this is interesting. And let me give you point three as we walk through these verses. Number three is the law shows us how deceitful sin is. First of all, the law shows us what sin is. Second of all, the law shows us that we’re sinners. Thirdly, the law shows us how deceitful sin is. This is amazing. The very thing that Paul thought was giving him life was actually bringing in him death. The law brought out and produced so many sinful desires. He thought he was living in reality, but in fact, he was dying. That’s deceit. That’s what sin does. Sin promises you so much, but then kills you. Sin promises you the world, and then when you go after it, you find out that it’s not the world, that’s death, that’s not life. Ruined relationships, a ruined peace. Heavy conscience. I mean, the consequences of sin go on and on and on and on and on and on. Promises much, delivers little.

Before I knew the law, I lived and you lived free from an accusing conscience. So again, back to my conversion story. Marie and I were lost, raising a little family. Don’t even own a Bible. I don’t know, we don’t have a Bible in the house. We didn’t read the Bible, didn’t care about the Bible, didn’t have a Bible in the house. So we lived in a sense of false peace. We just lived our life however we wanted to, and no connection to God whatsoever. I mean, it’s not like we were anti-God, but we weren’t pro-God either. And so here we are, got no Bible, and I’m doing good. How you doing, Ed? I’m doing great. How you doing, Ed? I’m doing great. I’m doing great. I’m doing great. I start to read the Bible. Oh, I’m not doing so great.

And then definitions started coming in why I wasn’t doing so great. God began to say, you read that in the Bible, Ed? Yes, that’s you. Oh, man. You see that guy in the Bible, Ed? Yeah, he’s messed up. No, no, no. You’re messed up. Oh, man. And all of a sudden now, I’m faced with temptations and freedom. Temptations and freedom. And you know what’s easier to do? Temptation. That’s much easier. Just avoid it, explain it, not pay attention to it, blame the Bible, blame the church, blame the pastor, blame grandma, blame everybody. Or I can obey God. And say, I hear what you say, God, that is me. But I also see what you did with that brother.

I don’t have a conscience that was accusing me because I didn’t know the Bible. But now that I know the Bible, God is showing me where peace comes from, and peace comes from abiding relationship with him. Peace comes when I trust him. Peace comes, see the law, it gives me enough to show me my need, but it doesn’t have any power. So I’m reading the Bible, and as I’m reading it, the Bible’s not jumping out and living my life for me. It’s just showing me. It’s revealing to me.

For example, when you get up in the morning, and you see yourself in the mirror, and you’re shocked at what you see. The mirror’s not gonna put your makeup on. The mirror’s not gonna comb your hair. The mirror’s not gonna put a hat on your head. The mirror just shows you, you’ve gotta do something about it. There’s that cooperation between God and his revelation, and you walking in the spirit.

And so before the law came, Paul says, I didn’t know. But now that I know, it’s awakened. And basically he’s saying this. I didn’t know I was a sinner. And I really, when I started reading the Bible, I didn’t know how bad of a sinner I really was. And it awakened all of these things now where I have to now make choices.

Again, driving. You have no speed limit sign. If there were no speed limit signs, then you could drive however you want. You can drive however you want. There’s no dictation of how fast. It’s the Autobahn down Parker Road that you can go as fast as you want. Up and down Quincy, Buckley, you can go as fast as you want. But when you see the sign, it awakens in you. And the question that awakens is, am I, you know, when you see the sign, you’re actually not so concerned about the sign. You’re not even caring about the sign. You know what you’re caring about? Is there a police officer around here? Because if I don’t see a police officer, I’ll take my chances. I’ve been driving this fast all the way here. I can keep driving. But you saw the law. It awakened in you a temptation or a choice to obey. Blessings or cursings or consequences. That’s what Paul’s saying. The more you see the law, the more sin is revealed. And the more you see the law, the more power of God is revealed in your life. And he didn’t know it.

He says, hey, look, verse 11, or excuse me, verse 10, the commandment that I thought was gonna save me, which was to bring life, that’s what he thought, I found to bring death. For sin, taken occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it, it killed me. Let me speak to the thing about speeding again. You don’t need a sign to tell you that kids play in your neighborhood. Your kids play in your neighborhood. That internal knowledge, you don’t need a sign to tell you. Just go slow. Why? Because now as a believer, you care more about others than you care about yourself. That’s why. You just think that way. You don’t need, well, what is it now? What is it now? What is it now? You live such a life where you go, I’m fine. I’m not in a hurry. I respect everyone. I’m fine. I don’t need that. But if the sign does pop up and you look, it’s not going to accuse me because I already know. My heart is, my desire and my heart and my actions are to do what’s required of me. Why? Because of love, not obligation.

That’s grace. When you begin to live out of love and not obligation, it’s amazing what will come from your life. It’s amazing the forgiveness that will flow. It’s amazing where you will just learn love covers what? A multitude of sins. And you begin to relate to each other in the agape love of God.

Which brings us to our final point before we leave. Go back to Galatians. Well, first, before Galatians, sorry, verse 12. Therefore, the law is holy. This is Romans 7. Commandment is holy, just, and good. To which we say, well, wait a minute. We’ve heard a lot of heaviness when it comes to the law. How is it good? Come back to Galatians now. It is good because the law ultimately, number four, points you to Messiah. The law reveals that you need a savior. It opens our eyes to the significance of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And there it is. We studied last time in Galatians chapter three. We learned, really, as we were studying it, we learned that.

How, if you look in chapter 3, verse 19, what purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions. Till the seed, who’s that? Jesus, the Messiah should come, whom the promise was made, pointed through angels, handed a mediator. Mediator doesn’t mediate for one, but God is one. Is a law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law that could give in life, then righteousness would have come by the law. But the scriptures confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus might be given to all those who believe. So this is basically a summary of what we just studied. The whole purpose of the law. Verse 23. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. And after faith has come, we don’t need the tutor anymore. The law served a purpose. It kept us and schooled us and pointed us in the right direction. But once the child grows up, you don’t need the law anymore. It’s like God saying, I’ve shown you your need and I’ve given you the remedy. Now it’s your choice. I’ve shown you and I’ve given to you and therefore the law is holy. And the commandment is holy, just, and good.

Paul says, the law brought about in me death. I can’t do what God asked me to do. I can’t be perfect in my life. Only a change of heart. That’s what Jesus would say to a man by the name of Nicodemus. He says, unless you’re born again, you won’t see the kingdom of heaven. You hear a statement like that today and you’re like, maybe you think like Nicodemus does. What do you mean? Born again, do I have to crawl up into my mother’s womb again and come right back out? I’m a grown man. And Jesus said, no, no, no. It’s not about physical death, a birth. It’s about spiritual birth. Physical birth is done in the physical. Your mom gave birth to you. However, spiritual birth happens from God alone. He alone can change your life, not by following an external code of rules and regulations, but by a surrendered life to Christ.

So when you’re confronted with a law that’s just, holy, and good, and you learn what it reveals, you run to the cross, and you accept his forgiveness, and you live your life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen?

Lord, thank you for your word today and the significance of these underlying theological truths that are so important, so vital. What do we do with the whole Bible? What do we do with the sacrificial system? What do we do in relationship to grace and law? And you help us understand how powerful the law is as it points us to Christ.

And so I pray, God, even some right now, and let me, as you guys are praying, I just, some of you, you know, just offer up that besetting sin. Offer up that resistance to the Bible. Just admit it to God. Just say, you know, God, you know I was angry all week, and I’ve been angry my whole life, and you promised that I don’t have to live this way, but I still do. And you just have that ongoing conversation. You’re reading and it’s a covetousness. And you’re like, Lord, that’s me. I’m coveting. I’m not content. That man described my life. How did he know? And you come to find out that the man on the pulpit doesn’t know, but God does. That you entered into a room that’s filled with the spiritual realm. And God knows everyone in here.

And I would say for those of you here listening to me, if today is the day you need to choose to follow Christ, to be born again, I want you to do that. I invite you. I can’t leave without asking you to repent of your sin and to receive the forgiveness that’s available to you through Jesus. And so if that’s you, we want to give you a public opportunity to publicly follow Christ. Just stand to your feet. I’d like to pray with you. And a pastor or a leader will come up alongside of you and be there to help follow up and come alongside of you in your life. If today you would say, Pastor, I want my sins forgiven, then just stand to your feet. We want to pray for you. The newness of life, the change of life, this high and holy moment.

For those of us that are saved, keep praying. As God moves on the room, stirring up faith, bringing about conviction. It’s a pretty powerful emotion. But God has a plan for your life and a purpose that you haven’t been agreeing with. You haven’t been participating with. It could be because you didn’t have a dad in the house. As we talk on this Father’s Day, that you just didn’t have the kind of guidance and direction that others have had, but God loves you. And here you are, he’s ready to rescue, a perfect father in heaven. Anyone here? Maybe downstairs as well, we may not see you, but that’s okay. Or watching online, listening on the radio. It’s a very high and holy moment to be born again and to come to terms. It’s like you’re doing what God’s done, coming to terms with reality and then going forth to change it. It’s so good.

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you’ll be saved. So let me help you with that. That confession is prayer. It’s like talking to God. And you can repeat after me, whether you’re standing or not. And you can ask God to forgive you right now. You can say, God, forgive me of my sins. I choose to follow you today. I choose to turn from my sinful past. I want what that pastor talked about. I want, Jesus, what you talked about, new life. Help me to turn away from my sinful past and to turn my life towards you.

And Father, I know anyone, anywhere that would cry out to you, your word promises you won’t cast them away. Your word promises that you receive them. Your word promises that you’ll change them from the inside out. So I pray over those that today, in this moment, have repented and received you. Pour out your spirit on our church, Lord. We need that deep cleansing, that deep work that only you can do. We need help with those besetting sins. We need help with those things that we may have gotten used to. I think a covetousness and just talking about it reveals so much. And we don’t want it in our lives. We want to be satisfied with you. We desire contentment. We desire godliness, Lord, great gain, to live where we are, Lord, to trust you with our lives.

So bless your church today and bless those that would turn to you by faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.