The Lawful Use Of The Law

There's one thing that we hate: it's injustice. We want things to be done right. God wants His law to be used in a righteous way.

Open with us to First Timothy chapter 1 as we discover what that exactly means. Amen. Good morning, church! Welcome to Cross Connection. If you're new, I'm Pastor Miles, the lead pastor here at the church. We're going to get into the Scriptures in just a moment. While you're standing, would you take out your Bibles and open them to First Timothy? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

First Timothy is near the end of your Bible, so open to the very last book, the Book of Revelation, and turn to the left. You'll find First and Second Thessalonians and First and Second Timothy. While you're turning there, I want to show you guys a modern miracle. Pastor Nick and our group were out in Texas, and Nick grabbed this for me at the Red Cross Disaster Relief Center. Anheuser-Busch donated these. Jesus turned water into wine; Anheuser-Busch has turned it back into water. Check that out! That's awesome! I'm amazed by this modern miracle.

So, First Timothy chapter 1 is where we're at. Chapter 1, verse 1: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. To Timothy, a true son in the faith: 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, from which 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, and manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites.

For kidnappers, for liars, for jurors, and for anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the Blessed God, which is committed to my trust. Father, as we open the Scriptures once again, we pray that You would open our hearts, our minds, and our ears, so that we may hear Your Word. We ask that we would be able to comprehend and understand it, and that it would enter into our hearts. May our lives become a part of who we are, and by Your Word and the work of Your Spirit, transform us. Make us more like You, and help us to display Your good work and goodwill in this world in a way that brings You glory. Let people see our good works and glorify You, our Father in Heaven. So God, continue that transforming work. We thank You for it, and we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may 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 Jewish zealots came, grabbed him, and started to drag him outside of the temple. As they were dragging him, they began to beat him. I guarantee you that in that moment, Paul had a bit of a déjà vu experience. Has anyone ever experienced déjà vu before? He certainly did, because two decades earlier, this same man, who is now being dragged out of the temple, was on the other end. 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 those who were killing him.

Now, the tables have turned. A couple of decades have passed, and this man, who was formerly a persecutor of Christians, is now a preacher of Jesus. He returns to that very same place. He has been gone from Jerusalem for many years, out doing ministry and planting churches. As he comes back into that place, there is a group of people who do not like him. They see him, grab him, tear him outside of the temple, and begin to beat him. Word quickly went to the authorities of the day. The city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel were under the occupation of the Roman Empire, and the Roman centurion who was...

Over the garrison of Roman soldiers there in Jerusalem, Paul became aware of an issue. The Scriptures say the story is told to us in Acts chapter 21. The soldiers ran down and moved through a mob of people, clearing the way. They grabbed a 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 expected Paul to speak Hebrew, as he was among Jews. When the centurion heard Paul speak Greek, he asked, "You speak Greek?" Paul confirmed, "Yes, I speak Greek. I'm not the Egyptian who caused this problem and killed all those men." The centurion realized they had the wrong guy.

In the process, Paul stood up and began to preach the gospel, which led to 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, intending to beat him to find out what he had said to the Jewish crowd in Hebrew, as they had no clue what he communicated. For all they knew, he could have incited a rebellion against the Romans. Upset, they dragged him in, ready to beat him, but just before they did, Paul asked, "Is it legal for you to do this to a Roman citizen?" It was not legal; they were not allowed to beat a Roman citizen in that way.

This began a six-year-long period during which Paul was essentially incarcerated. He was arrested under false pretenses, as they did not know who he was. However, after this point, there was an attack against his life, and the Romans decided they needed to protect him because he was a Roman citizen. This event, around the early summer of 58 AD, initiated a lengthy series of trials—trials before kings, judges, and magistrates—during which Paul appealed 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 several 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 and a dear friend, someone Paul had discipled in the ministry. They traveled back to the churches they had planted and ministered to, including one church in particular.

The city of Ephesus was a church that was near and dear to Paul's heart. It had a great impact during that time; many churches were planted from there. However, when Paul and Timothy 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 three of First 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."

Paul was instructing Timothy, who was probably in his early thirties at the time, to stay in Ephesus. He needed to shepherd the people, as there were numerous problems within the church. Timothy was tasked with commanding them to teach no other doctrine and to ensure that their teaching of the Scriptures was correct.

Timothy wasn't super excited about this commission that Paul was giving him. We can deduce from the letter that he was a little timid and fearful about the situation he was in, as a young pastor dealing with a messy church. Paul left for Macedonia, likely the city of Philippi, and wrote this letter to encourage and exhort Timothy on how to lead the church.

We come to the passage we are focusing on this week, picking it up in verse 8. Although we read the rest for context, it states, "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, as mentioned in the previous verse, verse 7 of First Timothy, chapter 1. They were desiring to be teachers of the law; they wanted to teach the law of God and the Scriptures, which is a commendable desire. In fact, when we get to First Timothy, chapter 3, he will say, "He who..."

Desiring the office of a bishop, the teaching position of an elder, is a good thing. These individuals had the right desire, but they were pursuing it in the wrong way. Consequently, they were not teaching correctly. Paul had to remind Timothy and those with him at that church, as well as us today, that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.

There were people preaching and teaching in the wrong way, and their errors were very clear. Wrong preaching, as we considered in the last section, produces controversial speculation and meaningless disputes. It does not bring godly edification. Paul emphasizes that wrong preaching and teaching lead to controversy and disputes, which do not build up Christians or the body of Christ. This is the very job of pastors, teachers, apostles, evangelists, and prophets. They are given for the equipping of the saints and for the building up of the body of Christ.

God has commissioned me, along with the other pastors, elders, and leaders of this church, to see you built up to do the work of the ministry. We want you to serve God with the gifts, talents, abilities, time, and treasure that He has given you. We aim to raise you up for that purpose. However, wrong preaching and teaching do not have that effect; instead, they create a church filled with debaters and disputers. This was evident when they arrived in Ephesus, where they found many skilled in debating and disputing.

This issue persists today. There have been numerous debates and disputes; I mentioned one last week regarding September 23rd. Yet, here we are, still present, because God still has work for us to do. Praise the Lord! I’m glad you came, as I might have thought you were raptured.

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 and expression of love—love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. That is what God wants to see produced in His church. However, where there is bad teaching, that will not happen.

So, point number one: there is 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, specifically in 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 recognized by their fruit. You will see the bad fruit that comes from them, such as disputes, controversy, and a lack of being built up. These are the bad fruits that stem from false teaching.

We must always be aware of the outcomes and what is being produced from the church. There are many people who do not 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?" You might respond, "We go and we hear the Word of God." It may sound weird and strange, 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 presented is wise and good by the outcomes it produces. Therefore, we want to ensure that what comes from us is good fruit. In the same passage where He said, "You will know them by their fruits," Jesus also stated that men will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That is our hope—that people will see the good fruit of our lives and recognize it as a work of God.

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 did not build up the church, were teaching from the same source material. They had the same law that Paul had and 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 part of, when Paul wrote this letter, already had a letter that Paul had written called Ephesians. Some of you have read the book of Ephesians, which is an awesome book filled with doctrine and good content. By this time, they likely even had some of the Gospels, at least a couple of them, that may have reached them.

Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, lived right across the Aegean Sea from the church in Ephesus. By this point, he had already penned the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. It is 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, some of the Prophets, and 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 texts from which their teaching was derived. However, 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 in three different languages over a span of 1,500 years. That is the Bible from which we teach. Yet, it can be taught and preached in a way that sounds totally different from church to church.

This is one of the major issues or objections that people have against Christianity today. Perhaps you have encountered this objection 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 of really bad things. There are a lot of 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?"

Has anyone ever faced that objection? Many have. It is a valid criticism because, 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 the Bible as their reasoning. They take things from the Bible and say, "Oh, I got it right there. You see, it's right there." All kinds of horrible things have been done.

So, how do we answer that valid criticism? First, I think we should recognize that it is often what is called a red herring. It serves as a distraction from the primary point. When you are having a conversation with someone about spiritual matters, they may be feeling convicted.

by the fact that they have a problem between them and God. What about all the bad things Christians have done? It's 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 bit deeper in their family tree, you'd find some of the pluribus in their family tree. You wouldn't have to go far to find out that they have a second cousin's uncle or great-great-grandfather who was a really bad dude. Should they be judged by that? They should not.

However, we should recognize that there have been those who have done bad in the name of the Bible or in the name of Jesus. Why have they done these bad things? Well, point number two on your outline: bad teaching can lead to really bad consequences. Bad teaching can lead to really bad consequences. These are both temporal consequences, right now, here and now on earth, but even more than temporal consequences, there are eternal consequences to bad teaching.

You see, the Bible taught in a bad way or in an improper way, not using the law lawfully, can cause people to do really bad things now. It can also cause people to believe really bad things now, which have eternal consequences. If they don't know the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ, then their eternal issue, their eternal place, is going to be that question. 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, and there have been groups that have promulgated racism from these very pages that we study week in and week out. We can see that very clearly: from this book, some people have condemned others, and some people have put people 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, 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.

It's taught that the teaching has a significant impact, and bad teaching can lead to really negative outcomes. These outcomes can be drastically different, not because of the book itself, but because of how the book is taught. Some have been compelled to oppress, judge, hate, fight, and even kill because of this book. Conversely, others have been inspired to love, give, serve, and help people who are going through trials and difficulties, such as those whose homes have been destroyed by floods.

This reality illustrates that just about everything in this world can be used for good or for bad. Fire can be good, and fire can be bad. Sex can be good, and sex can be bad. Atomic energy can be beneficial, but it can also be harmful. We see that many things can be used in ways that are not good, and the same is true with the Scriptures. This is why we need to be so careful to use the Scriptures correctly.

Paul emphasizes this in 1 Timothy 1:8, stating, "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, as it is such an important word. We know this truth: the law is good if it is used lawfully. There is an innate part of us that agrees with this statement. The law is good if it is used lawfully, and this understanding is imprinted within us.

Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the very first book of the Bible, tells us that we were created in God's image and likeness. Since God is just, holy, and good, He has inscribed this understanding within us. We have an inherent knowledge that the law is good if it is used lawfully. We desire things to be done right and just. However, this is a significant "if." The law is good if it is used lawfully, and it stands in a position of authority in our society. If it functions rightly, then it is good and just.

Hey, if we lived in a society where they legislated that everybody would have to have the same kind of health care, but those who legislated it didn't take that health care, we would say that doesn't seem right. If we lived in a society where we were guaranteed rights to privacy and protection against illegal search and seizure, and then those in power were harvesting all kinds of private information and holding on to it, we would say that's a problem. If we lived in that society, that would be an issue.

If there was one kind of justice for a certain group or class of people in our society, and it wasn't the same for other people, we would say, "Hey, we've got a problem with that." I'm just saying, if we lived in that society, we might have an issue with that.

Oh my, anyways, the law is good if it's used lawfully. Now, some people even stumble at the idea that the law is good because, frankly, there are some bad laws. There are some bad laws, Eric. I found this one for you in Illinois: it is illegal to have any fancy bike riding. I don't know what that is, but I think Eric does fancy bike riding. It's a good thing you're in California; none of that in Illinois.

In Connecticut, this is awesome: it is required by law that pickles have to bounce. I have no idea what that means and why that matters, but pickles have to bounce. In Georgia, this is great: it is illegal to eat fried chicken with utensils. It's got to be with the fingers!

My favorite, right here in the state of California, is that it is illegal for animals 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.

So, Paul is not talking about dumb laws; there are some dumb laws out there. When he says the law is good, what's he talking about? He's talking about the law of God, the law of Scripture. It is good if it's used lawfully. Point number three: good teachers use the good law in a good way.

To produce good outcomes, good teachers use the good law in a good way. 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?

Let's look at verse nine of First Timothy, chapter one. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, is crucial. Paul emphasizes this point because you cannot use the law correctly if you don't understand that God didn't give His law for good people, nor did He give His law to make people good. If you don't know these important truths, you will preach the good law in a bad way.

How so? I'm sure you have met, or perhaps you were, the person who was reluctant to go to church because it was clear from the church you stepped into that they made it very obvious you weren't good enough to be there. They preached the Bible, the Word, the Scriptures in a way that suggested you had to reach a certain level before you could belong. You might have heard messages that implied you couldn't stay until you got your life in order, that you had to be better, or as they might say, "gooder"—though that's not a real word.

If you didn't meet those standards, it felt like there was no place for you. I would be surprised if there weren't many of you here who have had that experience at some point in your life, or who have talked with someone who has. Their objection to Christianity often is, "I can't go there because I'm not good enough."

Some of you may have felt fearful about coming to church for the very first time because you thought, "I don't think I'm good enough to go in there; that's where all the holy people are." However, if you spend just five minutes here, you might realize, "Whoa, I was wrong! It must have been the other church down the road that had the good people. I found the deplorable Xenopus, 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 will never require you to stand up here and open a Bible to preach it from your own life in the wrong way. What do I mean? 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 they are not good enough to be around them? 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 I want them around"? Or how many people in churches 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"?

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. In your life, 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 are just piddly sinners? Because what's that called? That's called Phariseeism.

We can stumble into Phariseeism. Some of you may be asking, "What's Phariseeism?" Well, the guy who wrote this letter, Paul the Apostle, before he was the Apostle, was a Pharisee—Saul, a Pharisee of the Jewish religion. The Pharisees were a religious sect that valued their spirituality very highly; they considered themselves to be...

Holy and righteous Paul’s own consideration, his own estimation of himself, is expressed in Philippians chapter 3. He writes that according to the law, he was blameless and righteous. That was his view of himself. Pharisees, oftentimes, would not want any encounter with any non-holy person, whether that person was within Judaism or, especially, outside of Judaism. 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 touching them would render them unclean. Therefore, they never had any contact with unholy people.

I think a lot of times we can fall into an accidental Phariseeism without even realizing it. We can adopt a mentality of "stay back, you unclean sinner or leper," projecting that attitude onto others. What does the Bible say about Jesus’s relationship with sinners? He was called a friend of sinners. That is what the religious people didn’t like about him; he was a friend of sinners. Do you have any sinful friends? Jesus did.

There was a research study done a few years ago, I believe by Barna Research, a Christian research organization. They found that within 24 months of an individual becoming a follower of Jesus and going to 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 no longer hung around with anyone who was not holy. That’s frightening; it 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 that the law was not made for a righteous person. Then who was it 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, for perjurers, and for any other thing that falls into the classification that is contrary to sound doctrine. The law was made for that.

Ungodly sinners are unholy and profane. 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 1st Timothy to the book of Romans, chapter 3. As you're going there, you'll pass 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and you'll get to Romans. 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's 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; just 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 it 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; so did I. We look at things that we don't have and wish we had them, especially since Apple had their event a couple of weeks ago. I don't have that; I want that. People keep sending me messages on social media asking if I'm 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 want them. We think, "Oh my God, I have to have that." We would never know that was wrong unless the Bible said, "You shall not covet." Then we realize, "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, and we saw these waves. We thought...

It'd be fun launching off. Let's go do this! We're launching off waves, and then we see this red boat with a blue light on top coming down through the surf. What's that? I didn't know it was against the law to be riding 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 told me, and now I know. I paid the fine—a big fine. It was an expensive day of jet skiing, let me tell you. To say, "Well, officer, I just didn't know," sorry, it 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; that's what it does.

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 says, "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 win! I hope my husband's here." Or you hear a convicting message and think, "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?" You want to send it to someone. I bet you do, because 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, anyway. What do you look in the mirror for? To see what damage you did overnight, 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.

The Word of God, on the other hand, 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 1:11: "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 and culturally out of step in 21st-century American culture. What words are they? Where it says the law is for people who are sexually immoral and who practice homosexuality. In 21st-century culture, these are common and...

Accepted sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is a significant issue. What we're discussing here is the practice of these behaviors, which the Scriptures refer to as sin. The Bible brings conviction, and we often resist that conviction. Our culture promotes the idea that these actions are common, acceptable, and okay. It suggests that it's not the actions that are wrong, but rather the assertion that they are wrong. This perspective can make people unhappy and hurt their feelings. They may feel the need for a safe space or a trigger warning.

Some may respond with indignation, questioning how anyone can say these behaviors are wrong. However, I assert that it is wrong to practice sexual immorality, whether it is heterosexual or homosexual. The Scriptures clearly state that it is wrong to engage in immorality. You are completely free to make your own choices because God has made you a free moral agent and given you free will. You can practice these behaviors as much as you want, but you cannot practice them and expect to go to heaven. You cannot have it both ways.

You are free to ride that wave, but you will pay the price. This is simply how it is. Some may wonder why they cannot go to heaven. Let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 6:9, which states, "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."

This is a long list, and it could go on. You will not inherit the kingdom of God if you perpetually practice these behaviors. If you continue to walk in adultery, idolatry, theft, covetousness, drunkenness, and sexual immorality, including homosexuality, these practices are all listed in this passage. This is the bad news of the law: you can do whatever you want, but you cannot do it and expect to go to heaven. If you want to go to heaven, you cannot continue in these practices.

But here’s the awesome news...

The grace of Jesus Christ is profound. The verse immediately after states, "And such were some of you." What does that mean? It means there is forgiving grace for sinners. Some of you here today may identify with the sins listed before God. I want you to know there is forgiving grace.

Some of you were drunkards; some of you lived immoral lives, whether heterosexual or homosexual. Some of you committed adultery. We could go down the list—whatever it may be, we have all sinned. But the important part is, "And such were some of you." You were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. That is the gospel.

For some of you, that is your testimony; it is 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 is 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 makes it possible for us to be with Him in eternity.

This brings us to 1 Timothy 1:15, which states, "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 bright light on us and reveals just how blind and far we are from God.

However, it does not leave us there. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That is good news! The Bible is all about redemption. We love redemption stories; they are often the biggest box-office hits in movies. He is a redeemer who comes to seek and save that which is lost.

The law, when properly taught, leads us to this good outcome: the saving power of Jesus. However, the law, when improperly taught, simply looks at sinful people and says, "You're lost."

Condemned? You're going to hell? Unfortunately, there are a lot of lost people out there who think that’s all we do. That’s what they think about Christians: just condemning them to hell. No, we want to reach out and say, "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 for closing 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. Help us to walk in humility and grace and to give forth the same grace that You’ve freely given to us.

As we stand here in an attitude of prayer today, you may identify with some of the things that are listed here as being against God. You realize that you have sinned; you’ve 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 over here and 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 and confession, asking Jesus to forgive you. So where you are, pray with me out loud.

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?