Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit (Part 3)

Continued from yesterday . . .

So preacher, I beg you, please don't destroy the biblical meaning of grand concepts such as grace, love, forgiveness and salvation by failing to preach law, wrath, sin and hell. Their very definition hinges on a correct biblical understanding of these truths. This is highlighted in the following account of an interaction between Jesus, a sinful woman, and a pharisee.

One of the Pharisees asked him (Jesus) to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."

And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."

Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."
(Luke 7:36-47)

If you really want to love God a lot like the woman who washed Jesus' feet then perhaps you need a deeper understanding of your own depravity and unworthiness. This in turn will serve to magnify Christ's redemptive work on the cross.

God's law serves four functions for those of us in the New Testament era:
1.It stops the sinner's mouth from justifying itself;
2.It helps the whole world realize that they are guilty;
3.It brings the knowledge of sin; and
4.It acts as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
(Romans 3:19,20, Romans 7:7, and Galatians 3:24).

When preaching God's law it is important to remember that it is a mirror and not a stick. It shows us our utter inadequacy and inability to please God. It is designed to drive men to complete surrender rather than improved behavior. To bring us to the point where we are through with ourselves, where we seek a substitute, where we hunger and thirst for righteousness - it is then that God's grace becomes wondrous. It deepens our gratitude and sense of wonder at how amazing grace really is.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

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Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit (Part 2)

One of the reasons mentioned in Friday's post was that the law is necessary to bring the knowledge of sin. The Apostle Paul confirmed this point in his letter to the church in Rome "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet.""(Romans 7:7).

It is popular to suggest that everybody knows that they are sinners. But do they really? Scripture teaches us that "every man is clean in his own eyes" and "proclaims his goodness". Sure most people will concede to doing a few wrong things but grace is never amazing to them because they've never contemplated the severe depth of their sin. A give away for this point is that these people often ask the question how can a loving God send people to hell and why is there evil?

I'll allow Voddie Baucham to answer this point.



Continued Tomorrow - Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit - Part 3

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Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit (Part 1)

Recently I did a post called "Amusing Grace" where I discussed the futility of trying to preach about God's grace without unpacking the issue of sin. Grace by definition is unmerited favor and without explaining sin people will never grasp why God's favor is unmerited (ie they don't deserve it) and why they need God's grace. It is the knowledge of our depravity that goes a long way towards making grace truly amazing.

I John 3:4 gives us the biblical definition of sin "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law". So if sin is the breaking (or transgressing) of God's laws then it follows that you would need to explain God's law to at least some extent in order to bring home the reality of sin and how serious it really is. Also, if repentance is necessary in order to receive salvation then it is God's moral law that brings the realisation of exactly what we need to repent of.

The word "law" is a hot button among many evangelicals and is prone to produce knee jerk comments such as legalism, works righteousness, and old covenant. But are these labels reasonable or are they actually sweeping something crucial under the carpet.

To be continued Monday - Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit - Part 2

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