1 Timothy 1:8

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, writes to Timothy, a true son in the faith. He extends grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables or endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. Some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they are saying nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law was not made for the righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, and for burglars. If there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, it is according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which is committed to my trust.

Father, as we open the Scriptures, we pray that You would open our hearts, our minds, and our ears. May we hear Your word and be able to comprehend and understand it. Let it enter into our hearts and our lives, becoming a part of who we are. By Your word and by the work of Your Spirit, transform us, Lord. Make us more like You. Make us into the people that display Your good work and goodwill in this world in a way that brings You glory, so that people would see our good works and glorify You, our Father in heaven.

So God, continue that transforming work. We thank You for it. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

In the late spring or early summer of the year 58 AD, the Apostle Paul was in the city of Jerusalem. As he was entering the temple there, a mob of zealots gathered.

Jewish zealots came and grabbed him, starting to drag him outside of the temple. As they were dragging him, they began to beat him. I guarantee you that in that moment, this man, Paul, had a bit of a déjà vu experience. Has anyone ever experienced déjà vu before? He certainly did, because it was a number of years before this—two decades, in fact—that this same man, who was now being dragged out of the temple, was on the other end of the situation. His name wasn't Paul; it was Saul. He was overseeing the martyrdom, the death of a man named Stephen, who was a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. Saul was the one watching over this and consenting to the actions of those who were killing him.

Now, the tables had turned. A couple of decades had passed, and this man, who was formerly a persecutor of Christians, was now a preacher of Jesus. He returned to that very same place. He had been away from Jerusalem for many years, doing ministry and planting churches. As he came back into that place, a group of people who did not like him saw him, grabbed him, tore him outside of the temple, and began to beat him.

Word quickly reached the authorities of the day. The city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel were under the occupation of the Roman Empire. The Roman centurion, who was in charge of the garrison of Roman soldiers in Jerusalem, was made aware of the situation. They ran down there, as the Scriptures say, and moved through the mob of people, clearing everyone out of the way. They grabbed the man who was being beaten and carried him back to the Roman barracks, putting him under arrest. They assumed he was someone else, but it turned out he was not the person they thought he was.

As they were taking him away, Paul stopped and began to speak to the Roman centurion in Greek. This surprised the centurion, who figured that since these were all Jewish men, he must be speaking Hebrew. However, Paul spoke excellent Greek. When the centurion heard this, he asked, "You speak Greek?" Paul confirmed, "Yes, I speak Greek." The centurion then inquired if he was the Egyptian who had caused trouble and killed all those men. Paul replied, "No, I'm not that guy. You have the wrong person."

As the situation unfolded, Paul stood up and began to preach the gospel, which sparked a riot. Just about everywhere Paul went, there was either a revival or a riot, and in this case, it was a riot. When this happened, the Romans took him back into the barracks. They were going to beat him, wanting to know what he had said, since he had spoken to the Jewish crowd in Hebrew, and they had no idea what he meant. For all they knew, he could have said, "It's time to fight. Rise up against the Romans." They were upset and dragged him in.

They're going to beat him. Right before they were going to beat him to find out what he said, he asked, "Is this legal for you to do this to a Roman citizen?" It wasn't. They were not allowed to beat a Roman citizen in that way. This event begins a six-year-long period where Paul is basically incarcerated. He was arrested under false pretenses; they didn't know who he was. However, after this point, there was an attack against his life, and the Romans said, "We have to protect this guy. He's a Roman citizen."

This event, which occurred in the early summer of AD 58, starts a six-year-long period of trials and various proceedings. Paul faced trials before kings, judges, and magistrates, appealing his case to the highest court of the land, to Caesar. The Romans then moved him from Jerusalem to Rome, extraditing him there, where he spent a number of years under house arrest. Eventually, he was released.

During the period of his release, between what we call Paul's first imprisonment and his second imprisonment, he made a trip with a man named Timothy. Timothy was one of his closest co-laborers, a close friend, and someone Paul had discipled in the ministry. They traveled back to the churches they had planted and ministered to, one of which was the church in the city of Ephesus. This church was near and dear to Paul's heart and had a significant impact during that time. Many churches were planted from there.

However, when they arrived in Ephesus, Paul had not been there for almost ten years. They found a church that was in conflict, facing all kinds of issues and problems, like every church does. While Paul was there with Timothy, he knew he only had a brief period of time because he had to return to Rome to stand trial, which had not yet occurred. During this time, he said to Timothy, as recorded in verse 3 of 1 Timothy chapter 1, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia..." Ephesus is on the western side of modern-day Turkey, just across the Aegean Sea from Macedonia, which is in northern Greece today.

Paul continued, "Remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine." He instructed Timothy, who was probably in his early thirties at the time, to stay there and pastor the people. There were numerous problems in the church, and he needed to command them to teach no other doctrine, ensuring that they got things straight in the way they presented the teachings of Scripture. Timothy wasn't super excited about this.

Commission that Paul is giving to Timothy reveals that he was a little timid and fearful about the situation he was in as a young pastor of a messy church. He was given a church with lots of problems, and he was told that he needed to fix it. After Paul leaves and goes to Macedonia, probably to the city of Philippi, he writes this letter to encourage Timothy and to exhort him on how to lead this church.

We come to the passage we are focusing on this week, picking it up in verse 8, though we read the rest for context. It says, "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully." Now, why does Paul even say this? There were some in the city of Ephesus who were teaching wrong doctrine. We are told about them in the previous verse, 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7. They were desiring to be teachers of the law. They wanted to teach the law of God and the Scriptures, which is a really good desire. In fact, when we get to 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul will say that he who desires the office of a bishop, the teaching position of an elder, desires a good thing.

These individuals had the right desire, but they were doing it in the wrong way. They were not teaching correctly. Paul has to remind Timothy and those with him at that church, as well as us, that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. There were people preaching and teaching in the wrong way, and their approach was very clear. Wrong preaching and teaching produces controversial speculation and meaningless disputes, and it does not bring godly edification.

That's what Paul says: wrong preaching and teaching leads to controversial speculation and meaningless disputes, and it doesn't build up Christians or the body of Christ, which is the very job of pastors, teachers, apostles, evangelists, and prophets. They are given for the equipping of the saints, for the building up of the body of Christ. This is what God has commissioned me and the other pastors, elders, and leaders of this church to do. We want to see you built up to do the work of the ministry, to serve God with the gifts, talents, abilities, time, and treasure that God has given to you. We want to raise you up to that.

doesn't have that effect. It just creates a church that's filled with a lot of debaters and disputers. That's what they found when they got to Ephesus: a whole bunch of people who were really good at debating and disputing with others. That happens today as well. There have been a lot of debates and disputes. I talked last week about one that had to do with September 23rd. We're all still here. God still has work for us to do. We're still here. Praise the Lord! Amen. I'm glad you came because I would have thought that maybe you got raptured.

Right preaching, as opposed to wrong preaching, produces speculations and disputes; it doesn't build up the church. Right preaching builds up the church and leads to godly edification. Most specifically, we saw in the passage last week that the purpose of the commandment is love. It brings us into a greater experience of and expression of love—love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. That's what God wants to see manufactured and built from His church. But where there's bad teaching, that won't happen.

So, point number one: there’s a sermon guide in your bulletin. False teachers and false teaching are known by their fruits. This is exactly what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 7. At the end of His message there in the Gospel of Matthew, He tells us very clearly that false teachers and false prophets will be known by their fruit. You will see the bad fruit that comes from it. Disputes, controversy, and not being built up are the bad fruits that come from false teaching. We always have to be aware of the outcomes—what's being produced from the church.

There are a lot of people who don't really know what happens when you come into this building on Sunday mornings. You probably have that co-worker, neighbor, or friend who asks, "What exactly do you guys do there?" And you say, "Well, we go and we hear the Word of God taught." That just sounds weird and strange to them. But hopefully, what is taught here produces good fruit and good outcomes. Jesus said it like this: wisdom is justified by her children. You will know if what is being given forth is wise and good by the outcome—what is bred forth from it.

We want to make sure that what comes from us is good fruit. Jesus said in the same passage where He said, "You'll know them by their fruits," that men will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That's our hope: that people will see the good works produced by our church.

Good fruit in our lives will cause others to say, "That's a God thing." That's something that God has done in their lives. There is a right and a wrong way to preach and teach the contents of this book that we open every single week when we gather together. This is really important because those who were teaching in a way that brought controversy and dispute, and didn't build up the church, were teaching, as far as we can tell, from the same source material. They had the same law that Paul had. They had the same law that Timothy had. By this time, they probably even had some of the apostles' teachings codified in written form for them.

We know that the church Timothy was at when Paul wrote this letter already had a letter that Paul had written called Ephesians. Some of you have read the book of Ephesians; it's an awesome book filled with doctrine and good stuff. By this time, they likely even had some of the gospels. At least a couple of the gospels may have reached them by this point. The man Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, lived right across the Aegean Sea from this church in Ephesus. By this point, he had already penned the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. So, it's highly likely that they had at least the Gospel of Luke and maybe the Gospel of Mark, which was also an early gospel that was written.

They had the law, they had some of the prophets, and they had the writings of some of the apostles. Paul's writings had already been put forth as scripture. Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter 3 that his writings were already considered scripture. They may have had some of the gospels. So, they had the same source material; they had the same teachings from which they were preaching. They had individuals who were desiring to be teachers of the law, but the outcome was not good. It resulted in disputes and controversy rather than godly edification.

This is the truth today as well. Just as it was 2,000 years ago in the city of Ephesus, there is still this problem: we can have the same source material. We can have the same 66 books written by 40 different authors on three different continents and in three different languages over a span of 1,500 years. That is the Bible that we teach from. Yet, it can be taught and preached in a way that sounds totally different from church to church. This is one of the big issues or objections that people have against Christianity in our day. Maybe you've encountered this objection to Christianity when interacting with someone who is not a churchgoer or a follower of Jesus. They might say to you, "Well, listen, followers of the Bible over the last 2,000 years have done a lot..."

There are a lot of really bad, deplorable ideas in that book you all read and study. Look at all the atrocities that Christians have committed. How could you possibly go to a church and believe in that Bible? Look at the bad things Christians have done. Has anyone ever had that objection come to them? A number of you have. That's an objection we often encounter, and quite honestly, it's a valid criticism.

If you look at history over the last 2,000 years, you can see that many bad things have been done by not-so-good people using this as their reasoning. They take things from the Bible and say, "Well, I got it right there. You see, it's right there." All kinds of horrible things have been done in this way. So how do we answer that valid criticism?

First, we should recognize that it's often what's called a red herring. It's a distraction from the primary point. When you're having a conversation with someone about spiritual matters, and they feel convicted by the fact that they have a problem between themselves and God, they might say, "What about all the bad things Christians have done?" This is just a distraction from the main point.

The other issue is that it's kind of low-hanging fruit. The fact is, every single person you meet, if you dug a little deeper into their family tree, would have some deplorable things in their history. You wouldn't have to go far to find out that they have a second cousin's uncle's great-great-grandfather who was a really bad person. Should they be judged by that? They should not.

However, we should recognize that there have been those who have done bad things in the name of the Bible or in the name of Jesus. But why have they done these bad things?

Point number two on your outline: bad teaching can lead to really bad consequences. Bad teaching can lead to both temporal consequences—right now, here on earth—and even more importantly, eternal consequences. You see, the Bible taught in a bad way or in an improper manner, not using the law lawfully, can cause people to do really bad things now. It can also lead people to believe really bad things, which have eternal consequences. If they don't know the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ, then their eternal issue, their eternal place, will be in question.

Therefore, it needs to be preached in the right way. From this book, we know from history that there have been groups and minorities that have been oppressed. There have been groups that have been enslaved.

Groups have promulgated racism from these very pages that we study week in and week out. We know from history, and we can see that very clearly, that from this book, some people have condemned others. Some people have put others to death. Wars have been waged because there has been teaching from this book that has been off—maybe a degree or two at the start—but you move out a couple hundred miles from that degree, and you've got a problem.

In that, we need to recognize that from the same blessed book, there have been groups that have been brought out of slavery and emancipated. There have been minorities that have been freed. There have been orphanages, hospitals, universities, and charities that have been started because of the teachings found in this book. So how is it that you can take the same book and get vastly different outcomes from it? It doesn't have to do with the book; it has to do with the way that it's taught. Bad teaching can have really bad outcomes—drastically different outcomes—not because of the book itself, but because of the teaching.

By this book, some have been compelled to oppress, to judge, to hate, to fight, and to kill. But by the same book, others have been compelled to love, to give, to serve, and to help people who are going through trials and difficulties, such as those whose houses have been destroyed by floods. The same teachings of this book can compel people to do those things, which brings us to the reality that just about everything in this world can be used for good or for bad. Fire can be good; fire can be bad. Sex can be good; sex can be bad. Atomic energy can be really good, and it can be really bad.

We see that there are these things that can be used in such a way that it's not a good thing. The same is true with the scriptures, which is why we need to be so careful that we use the scriptures in a right way. This is why Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 8, "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully." Lean over, circle the word "if" in your neighbor's Bible, and put a big star next to it. "If" is such an important word. We know this truth: the law is good if it's used lawfully. We know this truth innately. Inside of us, there's a part of us that just agrees with that statement—that the law is good if it's used lawfully.

This knowledge comes from Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the very first book of the Bible, which tells us that you and I were created in God's image and likeness. Since God is just, holy, and good, He has inscribed or imprinted upon us, in our firmware, this understanding that the law is good if it is used lawfully. We want things to be done right; we want things to be just. However, this is a big "if." The law is good if it is used lawfully.

We know that the law stands in a position of authority. In our own society, the law holds authority over the whole community. If it functions rightly, then it is good and right. For instance, if we lived in a society where it was legislated that everyone had to have the same kind of health care, but those who legislated it did not take that health care themselves, we would say that doesn't seem right.

Similarly, if we were guaranteed rights to privacy and protection against illegal search and seizure, but those in power were harvesting all kinds of private information and holding onto it, we would recognize that as a problem. If there were one kind of justice for a certain group or class of people in our society, and it wasn't the same for others, we would say, "Hey, we've got a problem with that." If we lived in such a society, we might have an issue with it, right? Right.

Oh my. Anyway, the law is good if it is used lawfully. Some people even stumble at the idea that the law is good because, frankly, there are some bad laws. For example, in Illinois, it is illegal to engage in any fancy bike riding. I don't know what that entails, but I think Eric does fancy bike riding. Good thing he's in California; there's none of that in Illinois.

In Connecticut, it is required by law that pickles must bounce. I have no idea what that means or why it matters, but pickles have to bounce. In Georgia, it is illegal to eat fried chicken with utensils; it must be eaten with your fingers. My favorite, right here in the state of California, is that it is illegal for...

Animals are not allowed to mate within 1,500 feet of a school or a place of worship. This is a place of worship, so we're going to put up signs: "No mating." Paul is not talking about dumb laws; there are some dumb laws out there. When he says the law is good, what is he talking about? He is talking about the law of God, the law of Scripture. It is good if it is used lawfully.

Point number three: good teachers use the good law in a good way to produce good outcomes. This raises three important questions: What is the bad way? What is the good way? And what is the good outcome of the good use of the law?

Look at verse 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, you need to understand this. That is why Paul says, "Knowing this." The law was not made for a righteous person. You cannot use the law correctly if you don't know that God didn't give His law for good people, and He didn't give His law to make people good. If you don't know these important truths, then you will preach the good law in a bad way.

How so? Well, I'm sure that maybe you've met, or maybe you were the person who did not want to go to church because you could tell from the church you stepped into that they made it very clear: you're not good enough to be here. They preached the Bible, the Word, the Scriptures in a way that made it clear you have to reach a certain level before you can come here. You're not allowed here; you're not good enough.

Or they preached the Bible in such a way that said you can't stay here until you get your life in order. You've got to be better; you've got to be "gooder." Not a word, but I'm going to say it anyway. So you've got to be gooder. If you don't, well, Mr. Goodbar is for you. You can't come here until you get your life in order. I'd be surprised if there...

Weren't a whole bunch of you here who had that experience at some point in your life, or you've talked with someone who's had that experience? Their objection to Christianity is often, "I can't go there because I'm not good enough." Some of you were fearful to come to church the very first time because you felt like, "I don't think I'm good enough to go in there. That's where all the holy people are."

Now, if you spend five minutes here, you realize, "Well, no. Boy, was I wrong. It must have been the other church down the road that's the good people." I found the deplorables, you know. It's like, all of us. So yes, the law was not made for the righteous.

Listen, I want you to know that this is a place for unrighteous people. We all come in here totally unrighteous. We're not worthy to come before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. None of us. It's really important that we understand what the right teaching of the law is. But it's also important that we understand that you don't have to be a preacher to teach this wrong teaching of the law. You will never have to stand up here and open a Bible to preach this from your own life in the wrong way.

What do I mean? Listen, how many Christians have lived their lives in a holier-than-thou sort of way that made their co-workers, family members, friends, and neighbors feel like, "I'm not good enough to be around you"? Or how many Christians have actually said with their words, "My kids can't hang around with your kids because you're not the kind of people that I want them around"?

How many people, churches, and Christian individuals have said, "You can't come to my place on the holidays because you're not quite like me. I'm a saint; you're a sinner"? And how many non-Christians have found that the obstacle to them coming to church are the righteous Christians who aren't really righteous anyway but just kind of think they are?

Point number four on your outline: Don't preach bad law by your fake good life. That just got convicting. Because it's not just the pastor; it's not just the pulpit that gives forth bad teaching. Our lives may be the only encounter with Christ that anyone ever comes in contact with. What is my life showing to them? Am I walking around with a haughty, higher-than-thou sort of mindset?

Looking down at everybody as if they were piddly sinners around him is a mindset known as Phariseeism. We can stumble into Phariseeism without even realizing it. Some of you may be asking, "What's Phariseeism?" The guy who wrote this letter, Paul the Apostle, was a Pharisee before he became an apostle. Saul, a Pharisee of the Jewish religion, belonged to a religious sect that valued their spirituality very highly. They considered themselves to be holy and righteous.

Paul's own estimation of himself is expressed in Philippians chapter three, where he writes, "According to the law, I was blameless; righteous according to the law." That was his view of himself. Pharisees often avoided any encounter with non-holy people, whether they were Jews or, especially, Gentiles. They believed that merely eating the same food as someone they considered unholy would make them unclean. They felt that even the shadow of an unholy Gentile could render them unclean. Therefore, they would never have any contact with unholy people.

I think a lot of times we can fall into accidental Phariseeism without even realizing it. We project a mentality of "stay back, you unclean sinner or leper, from me." But what does the Bible say about Jesus' relationship with sinners? He was called a friend of sinners, and that was what the religious people disliked about him. Do you have any sinful friends? Jesus did.

A research study conducted a few years ago by Barna Research, a Christian research organization, found that within 24 months of an individual becoming a follower of Jesus and attending church, the vast majority had no more non-Christian friends. This was not because all their non-Christian friends became Christians, but because they made new friends and stopped hanging around with anyone who was not holy. That is frightening and ought not to be the case.

So, don't preach bad law by your fake good life. Paul goes on in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 9, stating, "Knowing this, the law was not made for a righteous person."

Then who was the law made for? It was made for the lawless and insubordinate, the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators and sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, and for perjurers. If there is any other thing that falls into the classification that is contrary to sound doctrine, the law was made for that. The law was made for sinners, not to make them righteous. It was made for sinners to make them painfully aware of their sinfulness and acutely aware of their need. That's the point of the law: to make us painfully aware of our sinfulness and acutely aware of our need.

I want you to see it in writing. Turn in your Bibles to the left of 1 Timothy to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 3. As you're going there, you'll pass 1 and 2 Corinthians, and then you'll get to Romans. In Romans chapter 3, look at verse 20. Romans 3:20 states, "Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight." What does that mean? You cannot make yourself right before God by your lawful good works. By the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified before God. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. It is through the law that we realize that we've sinned. That's how we come to the realization that we are sinful.

Now, turn in your Bibles over to Romans chapter 7. You're in chapter 3, so just go four chapters to the right. Look at Romans chapter 7, verse 7. Paul says, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except the law had said, had shown me. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.'"

Listen, all of us by nature covet. You did it a whole bunch this last week, and so did I. You look at things that you don't have and wish you had them. Especially since Apple had their event a couple of weeks ago, you might have thought, "I don't have that. I want that." People keep sending me messages on social media asking, "Are you going to buy that?" Stop it! Don't do that. You're causing me to sin. So, we all covet.

We all see things we don't have, and we want them. We think, "Oh my God, I have that." We would never know that it was wrong unless the Bible said, "You shall not covet." Then we realize, "Oh goodness, I've sinned. I broke the law." And you know what? You can't say, "I didn't know." It doesn't matter. You didn't know.

I was riding jet skis a little over a year ago with Pastor Jason. We were having a good old time out off of Point Loma, cruising along, when we saw these waves. We thought it would be fun to launch off them, so we went for it. As we were launching off the waves, we saw a red boat with a blue light on top coming toward us. I wondered what that was. I didn't know it was against the law to ride a jet ski in the surf. You can't ride within a thousand feet of the mean tide line. Who knew? I didn't. Some boat person is going to tell me, and you're going to send me emails. Don't. I know now. I know. I paid the fine. It was a big fine. That was an expensive day of jet skiing, let me tell you. To say, "Well, officer, I just didn't know," doesn't work. It's the law. You're not supposed to do that. I would not have known unless the law had said, "You shall not ride the jet ski in the surf."

Point number five: the law, properly presented, produces conviction of sin. I just read to you from Romans chapter 3, verse 20: "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The verse just before that, verse 19, says, "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become guilty before God." But officer, I didn't stop. You're guilty. The law reveals our guilt before a holy God and readies us for the remedy.

In Galatians chapter 3, Paul says, "The law is our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." Romans 3:20 states, "By the deeds of the law, no one will be justified." Galatians 3:24 says, "The law points you to Jesus so that you can be justified by faith." That's called the gospel. That's good news. The law was made for the lawless and the insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane.

For murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and all kinds of other things, the law was made for them. The law is intended to bring conviction. But I don't know if you noticed, we don't really like conviction. Let me rephrase that: we love conviction for other people. That's why, when you're being convicted at church, you think, "I hope my husband's hearing this." Or when you hear a convicting message, you say, "I'm going to send that to my brother." You might even email it to him this afternoon. Then you come up to the pastor and ask, "When is that going to be online?" Why? Because you're going to send that to somebody. I bet you are.

Here's the problem: your sin looks really bad on other people. But the law, as James the Apostle says, is like a mirror. You look into the perfect law of liberty, and you see what kind of person you are. How many of you looked in a mirror this morning? Listen, you don't look half bad—most of you look better than that! What do you look in a mirror for? To see what damage you did in the night. You see it so you can hopefully fix it.

The law is like a mirror; it exposes all of our issues and problems. However, a mirror has no capacity in and of itself to fix you. It just exposes. But the Word of God is living and powerful. It's not just a mirror; it's able to cut deep and transform. It directs us to the one who can transform us.

Look at 1 Timothy 1, verse 11: "The law was made for the unrighteous according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust." Where does the law lead us? To the glorious gospel of the blessed God—the glorious good news about Jesus. The law, when properly presented, produces conviction of sin, pointing to the saving, glorious gospel message of our sin-bearing Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, this passage is a stumbling block for our culture. In the passage I just read from, there are some words that are politically incorrect.

They are kind of culturally out of step in 21st-century American culture. What words are they? The law states that it is for people who are sexually immoral and who practice homosexuality. In 21st-century culture, these behaviors are common and accepted. Sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is considered sin. What we're talking about here is the practice of these things. Practicing these behaviors is called sin by the scriptures.

As I said, the Bible brings conviction, and we don't like conviction. Our culture says that these actions are common and acceptable, and it argues that it's wrong to say they are wrong. People often respond, "I don't like that. It makes me unhappy. It hurts my feelings. I need a safe space." There’s a trigger warning right over the top of this message. You may not know what that is if you're not a millennial.

So, you might say, "We can't have this. How dare you say that these things are wrong?" Well, dare I say it is wrong to practice sexual immorality, whether it is heterosexual immorality or homosexual immorality. Either way, it is wrong to practice immorality. The scripture clearly states that it is wrong.

Now, you are completely free to do these things as you wish because God has made you a free moral agent. He has given you free will. You can practice these behaviors all you want, but you just can't practice them and expect to go to heaven. You can't have it both ways. You are free to ride that wave, but you will pay a fine. That's just the way it is.

What do I mean when I say you can't go to heaven? Let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. It says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."

It’s a long list, and it could go on and on. You will not inherit the kingdom of God if you perpetually practice these things, if you continue to walk in them. Adultery, idolatry, theft, covetousness, drunkenness, and sexual immorality, including homosexuality, are all listed in this passage. The practice of these behaviors is what is being addressed.

That's the bad news of the law. You can do it all you want; you just can't do it and go to heaven. So, if you want to go to heaven, you can't continue in that.

But here's the awesome grace of Jesus Christ. The verse immediately after that says, "And such were some of you." What does that mean? There's forgiving grace for sinners. Some of you here today identify with some of the things that are listed as sin before God. I want you to know there's forgiving grace, and such were some of you.

Some of you were drunkards. Some of you were immoral in your life, whether heterosexual or homosexual. Some of you committed adultery. Some of you were liars and perjurers. Whatever it may be, some of you were that. But what? And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. That's called the gospel. You were this, and for some of you, that's your testimony. It's in the past, but it can never be in your future—not in practice, that's for sure.

If you fall and if you fail, there's forgiveness. We confess our sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. By God's grace, He makes us new, and He makes it possible for us to be with Him in eternity.

Because, and this is where we're going, 1 Timothy 1, verse 15 says, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Jesus came to save you, to seek and to save the lost. Every one of us was lost, and the law shows us our lostness. It shines a big bright light on us and shows us just how blind, lost, and far we are from God.

But it doesn't leave us there because Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And that's good news. You see, the Bible is all about redemption. We love redemption stories. Those are the biggest box office hits in all movies—redemption movies. He's a redeemer. He comes to seek and save that which is lost. And the law, properly taught, reveals this truth.

In a good way, this leads us to the good outcome: the saving power of Jesus. The law, improperly taught, just looks at sinful people and says, "You're condemned. You're going to hell." Unfortunately, there are a lot of lost people out there who think that this is all we know. They believe that Christians are just condemning them to hell. No, we want to reach out and say, "Come. Come with me to church. I want you to meet Jesus. He loves you. In spite of your sin, He wants to redeem you from it and save you." Amen?

Let's stand and close in prayer.

Father God, I thank You that You sent Your Son into the world to save us. We need Your saving power. Every single one of us standing here today is a total, abject failure, and we need Your grace. We thank You for Your forgiveness. We thank You for Your goodness. We pray, Jesus, that You would continue that work of transformation and sanctification in each of us, making us more like You, that people would see our good works and glorify You and our Father in heaven.

But God, may it never be that our lives, in a self-righteous way, condemn others. Lord, help us to walk in humility and grace and to give forth the same grace that You've freely given to us. We praise You, Jesus.

It may be, as we stand here in an attitude of prayer today, that you can identify with some of the things that are listed here as being against God. You realize that you've sinned and gone against God's standards. You've been convicted by the law; that's the purpose of the law. But it's to point you to Jesus. Jesus came to save you, to rescue you.

If you'd like to receive His forgiving grace today, I want to give you a chance to do that. It's as easy as ABC: Admit that you're a sinner, believe that Christ died for your sins, and come to Jesus confessing your sins. If that's you today and you'd like to receive His grace, would you just lift up your hand high so I can see it? Anyone here today? God bless you. I see you in the back and over here in the front. Anyone else? You want to pray to receive His grace. He said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." If that's you, just lift up your hand. Praise the Lord down here.

Anyone else? I want to lead you in a simple prayer right now, a prayer of faith.

Confession involves asking Jesus to forgive you. So where are you at with me? Out loud, while you pray, say:

"Dear Jesus, I admit I need You. I've tried to clean myself up, but I can't do it. Would You come into my life? Forgive me of my sin and help me to follow You by faith. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Bye.