How should Christian’s engage with God’s law? The truth is, the believer’s relationship to the law of God will have massive consequences in your life. It will either make you a legalist, or it will make you one of the blessed of the earth. For the Christian, the condemning nature of the law has ceased. But the commanding power of the law continues, and the Bible makes it clear that the believer is always happiest when he is under its consultation. Why? God’s law is a rule of life that teaches you how to live, and when believers keep His law, He promises great blessing. 

 

Let's talk about the Christian's relationship to the law of God because your relationship with the law will have massive consequences in your life. It'll either make you a legalist, or it'll make you an antinomian, or it may make you, if you use the law properly, one of the blessed of the earth, because there's so many promises to those who keep the law of God. It's a controversial subject. Ernest Reisinger says that the law of God is often crucified between two thieves, legalism and antinomianism. But your relationship with the law will determine what kind of citizen you are, what kind of parent, what kind of husband, what kind of father, what kind of child you are, what kind of worker you are.

And the truth is, the Bible makes it really clear that the believer is always happiest when he's under the consultation of the law. And for the believer, the condemning nature of the law has ceased, but the commanding power of the law has not ceased. And so the law is, well for one thing, it's like a guide, but it's also like a check light engine in your car, in your dashboard. It tells you, you know, when you're overheating. It's like your seatbelt, like, going on to tell you that you're not buckled up.

The law reveals sin and a lot of other things. But in this passage in Romans chapter seven, seven through 14, first of all the law reveals sin. That's in verse seven. Second, the law incites my self-righteousness. The law tells me to do something and I say, I'm not that bad.

Thirdly, the law is holy. It's pure. Fourth, the law is just, and it teaches us what is just. What is social justice? What is justice in the family?

What is justice in the state? The law is just. And the law is good, and the law is spiritual. That's verse 14. So those are the six things you learn about the law.

The law is spiritual. It goes deeper than you think. It seeps into every corner of your life. That's what Jesus said in Matthew five, that the law is very, very deep. Now, you know, here's some applications.

And the first one is in the form of a question. Has the law killed your self-righteousness? Because it was designed to be a tutor to lead you to Christ. So has the law killed you? Which means have you realized that you're hopeless without Jesus Christ because no one has ever been able to keep the whole law.

And James says if you broke one element of the law, you've broken them all. So maybe the most important question is, has the law killed your self-righteousness? Here's another application. Whatever you say about the law should be consistent with what Jesus and the prophets and the apostles said about the law. And Maybe just to summarize it all, Jesus Christ said that he came to fulfill the law not to destroy it in Matthew 5, 17 through 19.

Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, One jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled Now here's another application Every law of God will engage the soul in four things. First of all, it discloses the righteousness of God, what God is like. Second, it convicts of sin.

We already talked about that. Third, it constrains evil in your personal life and in the civil realm. You see this all through the Old Testament where God's laws are designed to constrain evil. And finally, the fourth thing that works upon your soul is that the law of God is a rule of life. It teaches you how to live.

And this is why the law is such a blessing. In Joshua 1, God promises prosperity to those who meditate on the law of God. In Luke 11 28, Jesus promises happiness to those who keep the law. In John 15, 10, and 11, Jesus promises that if you keep His commandments, you will abide in His love. So, knowing the law of God is so critical and that really brings us to the responsibility of a father.

God has given fathers responsibility to teach their children the law of God. God prioritizes men. Think of Deuteronomy 6, you shall teach them diligently to your children. What? The statutes and judgments of the Lord.

God tells Abraham the purpose of his life is that he might command his children and his household after him that they might keep the way of the Lord. And so the law of God is so wonderful, it's so powerful, it's so helpful if one uses it rightly. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture Applied is a production of Church and Family Life. Visit churchandfamilylife.com for more resources.

Thanks for watching!