The Law
Reveals Man’s Need for Christ
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou
shalt not covet.
Rom 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but
when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it slew me.
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is
holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto
me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that
which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
- Is God’s Law Sin? – vs.7a*
- God forbid (absolutely not)! The law
reveals the nature and character of sin. By its light we can see how
devastatingly dark and evil we are.
i.
This is why a presentation of the law in the beginning
of our sharing the gospel is so important. The Puritan’s and George Whitefield
described this as ‘law work.’
1. Galatians 3:20-25
- The Law Without Christ, Brings Only
Awareness of Sin. – vs. 7b*
- Paul says that he couldn’t fully fathom
the horror of lust without the law to condemn it’s evil. In other words,
Paul’s struggle with lust made him aware of his desperate need of a
Savior.
i.
Romans 3:20
- The Law Without Christ Brings Only More
Desire to Sin. – vs. 8*
- Inherently man is rebellious, when you
give him more rules, he digs in his heals and resists. The law of God,
although holy, is used by sin as a base of operations to take over the
unrepentant heart. Only the blood of Christ can redeem and cleanse the
heart of man.
i.
Titus 1:15
- The Law Without Christ Brings Only
Death. – vs. 9-11*
- Paul does not mean in verse 9 that
there was a time when there was no law. In fact, there never was a time
when some form of God’s law did not exist. Even in the garden God gave
commandments. What he actually means here, is that he lived as if there
was no law, unaware of its prohibitions and consequences. – vs. 9*
i.
Galatians 1:14-16a
- While God has ordained the Law to be a
gift of life for mankind; Paul’s sin nature perverted it, through his own
deception, to increase the power of sin in his life. – vs. 11-10*
i.
You can be saved by following the law perfectly.
Unfortunately, there is no one, other than Christ, who has done that.
1. Romans 10:5; Exodus 19:5; Leviticus
18:5; Deuteronomy 6:25; Luke 10:25-29; Galatians 3:21-22
- The Law in and of itself is Holy, Just
and Good. – vs. 12*
- Psalm 19:7
- How Could Something Good, Do So Much
Harm? – vs. 13*
- It is not that the Law of God that is
bad, but that sin is so strong. Sin is truly a powerful foe. – vs. 13
i.
We cannot make it to Mount Calvary by going to Mount
Sinai – it is only by surrendering at Mount Calvary, that we can fully
appreciate what we have been given at Mount Sinai.
1. Romans 8:3-4
- What then is the Answer to the Problem
of the Insufficiency of the Law?
- Rest in the sufficiency of the
atonement of Christ on the Cross or as Paul puts it later in chapter 7:
“Thank God Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.”
i.
It is only when we believe that Christ’s work in us is
already completed, that we can have true victory over sin. As long as we
continue to try to work at earning God’s approval by any other means we will live in defeat. The Law
cannot justify us, and the law cannot sanctify us. Someone who believes
that they can sanctify themselves by their own self effort does not understand
the power of sin. Their self-effort will only lead to legalism.
1. Romans 7:24-25
2. Galatians 3:1-14
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