In his sermon titled 'The Perfect Law of the Lord,' Mike Davenport discusses the nature of God's law as presented in Exodus 20 and Psalm 19. The sermon explores the existence of the law before its formal presentation at Mount Sinai, emphasizing that God's law was written in the hearts of humanity from creation. Davenport distinguishes between moral, ceremonial, and judicial laws, explaining how each relates to God's eternal attributes and the work of Christ. He argues that while the moral law reflects God's unchanging nature, ceremonial and judicial laws were specific to the Old Covenant and point towards Christ. The sermon underscores the role of the law as a guide that leads believers to Christ, highlighting its function as a tutor or schoolmaster that reveals sin and the need for justification through faith in Jesus. Davenport concludes by connecting the giving of the law at Sinai to the New Covenant established by Christ, emphasizing the gospel's message of salvation and righteousness through Jesus.

If you would turn to Exodus chapter 20, hear the word of the Lord. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother that your days may belong upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors." Oh God, we do ask that you would seal your word upon our hearts. Lord, give us grace to be not only hearers of this word this day, but to be doers of it, for thus the man shall be blessed." So God, give us help.

May Christ shine forth in the midst of all that is said. In His great name we pray, amen. Well, you may be seated. No place gives us as broad an overview of the Scriptures as Psalm 19 that we quoted a little earlier. Here the psalmist uses six different Hebrew words to describe the Scriptures.

And because the Hebrew words are different, the translators have given us six different English words. Consider them to be like the various facets of a sparkling diamond. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." The most familiar of the Hebrew words is probably the first one translated here in Psalm 19 as law. It is the Hebrew word Torah and comes from a root word meaning to teach or to instruct. Now, a careful reading of scripture would reveal that the Bible actually refers to several different laws.

The law of sin, Romans 7. The Law of Nature, Romans 2, 14 to 15. Sometimes the word law refers to the entire Bible. Various samples from Psalm 119 would reveal this. At other times it refers to the five books of Moses.

Christ often refers to the Old Testament as the law and the prophets. And in another place we read of the law of works as opposed to the law of faith that is the gospel. That's in Romans 3.27. And then within the Pentateuch itself, the five books of Moses, we have the civil or judicial laws, the ceremonial laws, and the moral laws. And I hope to touch upon these last three categories a little later.

But first, I would like to give us a working definition of the law as we will be considering it together. I've borrowed it from Wilhelmus Abrakel's work entitled, the Christian's reasonable service. He says this, the law is the rule of life given to man by God, the only law giver, to govern the disposition of his heart, thoughts, words, and conduct thereby." So what do we see in this definition? We see first the extent of the law, the extent of the law. It is the rule of life.

But we also see the recipients of the law, the recipients. The law was given to man. But we also come face to face with the author of the law, the author. It is God, the only law giver. And then fourth, the reason for the law.

What's the reason? To govern the disposition of our hearts, thoughts, words, and our conduct. Now when we think of the law of God, our minds run immediately to what place geographically? Where do our minds run? Is it not to Mount Sinai?

At what place do our minds run in terms of scripture reference? Is it not Exodus 20? Well, I want to deprogram our minds to think that way. Now, don't get me wrong. Bount Sinai, Exodus 20 are significant, but if we start there, understand this, if we start there, we may wind up in tragic misunderstanding, if not outright error.

So the first thing that I want you to grasp this morning, the very first thing is that law existed before Mount Sinai. Law existed before Mount Sinai. You have a handout in front of you that has some paragraphs from the 19th chapter of our Church's confession, the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. And it says this in the first part of paragraph one and the first part of paragraph two. That's where I want you to focus now.

It says this, God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall. So we read in Genesis 1 that man and woman were made in the image of God, in the image of God. Being created in that image included having a heart upon which God's law was written as well as a conscience that sought to bring that law to bear. Yes, that image as was first created by God in man has been marred because of sin, but the fall has not totally annihilated that image.

This being true, the Apostle Paul carries that same line of thinking into Romans 2, 14, and 15 when he states that when Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves who show the works of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness." This is that law of nature that I mentioned earlier. Paul here tells us that there is such a thing as the existence of law without the presence of law. That the work of the law so written on the heart becomes a law to those who are without the written law of God. Thayer's Greek lexicon describing the phrase, show the work of the law states that these Gentiles have within their hearts the course of action demanded by the law. They have the course of action demanded by the law.

And this course of action required by to them, this unknown law, is further brought to bear upon them by the work of their own conscience. Turn, if you would, to Genesis chapter 26 to consider another passage, Genesis 26, starting in verse 1. Genesis 26, 1. There was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar.

Then the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt, live in the land of which I shall tell you, dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. For to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Here God is reiterating to Isaac the promise made to his father Abraham. God here first points to his own faithfulness to the covenant of Abraham.

It is something of a renewal of this covenant with Abraham to Isaac now. But let your eyes fall upon verse 5. Because, God says, because Abraham Obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." this verse begs the question, what commandments, what statutes, what laws? This is approximately 360 years before God comes down to his people on Mount Sinai. It is not as if the writer of Genesis is not aware, right?

The one who received the Ten Commandments from God is the one who wrote this passage in Genesis 26. He understands the timeline. And not only that, but as Peter reminds us in his second epistle, 2 Peter 1, 21, prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Moses here is writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit when he mentions commandments, statutes, and laws. Commandments, statutes, and laws.

Well, this declares to us that law existed before Mount Sinai. But again, what commandments, what statutes, What laws? Well, a quick perusal of the book of Genesis and even the first nineteen chapters of Exodus reveals to us sins and also times of punishment that sometimes follow those sins, sins that reflect the truth revealed to us in the Ten Commandments. Consider with me the following, you shall have no other gods before me. Was this not one of the many sins committed by Adam and Eve in the garden?

You shall be as God was the promise made to them. Indeed, by eating they were placing themselves ahead of God as the gods of their own lives. You shall not make for yourself a carved image." Well, in Genesis 35, Jacob requires his family to put away the idols, put away the foreign gods from their midst in order that they might be purified and be able to worship God. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Did not Simeon and Levi profane the name of the Lord and the institution of the Lord by having the men of Shechem agree to be circumcised and then use that token of God's covenant as a means whereby to slaughter them, profaning God's name in the midst of this covenant sign.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In Genesis 2, we read that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. He set it aside. And this was the case for all mankind, and it was the reason why we read in Exodus 16, four chapters before Exodus 20, we read in Exodus 16 that God did not provide manna for the people on the seventh day because it was the Sabbath. And they were to gather extra manna on the sixth day so that the seventh day would be a day of rest.

Honor your father and your mother. In Genesis 9, we read of the dishonor Ham demonstrated toward his father Noah and the resulting curse placed upon Ham because of the incident. In Genesis 28, we find Esau seeing that his brother Jacob had obeyed his parents and had gone away. Esau took a daughter of Ishmael to be his wife simply because he knew it would not please his father and his mother. You shall not commit adultery.

Genesis 20, God tells Abimelech that it was His grace that restrained him from committing adultery with Sarah. And in the chapter before this, we read of God's judgment upon the wickedness of Sodom, a wickedness demonstrated in their seeking to carry out their sexual perversions upon the angels who had come under Lot's roof. You shall not steal. Genesis 31 reveals the theft of Rachel stealing the household gods from her father, Laban's house. Laban recognizes it as sin, as does Jacob, who declares that the one who stole the idols should be put to death.

The sin of stealing also rises out of the narrative of Joseph and his brothers in relation to Joseph's cup, a sin that was recognized not only by the sons of Jacob, but the pagan Egyptians as well. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Genesis 27 reveals the heinous nature of lies and deceptions. In that narrative, Jacob is aware of the danger of being caught in the lies being proposed by his mother. He realizes that to be caught in the lies would result in being known as a deceiver and receiving a curse rather than a blessing. You shall not covet.

This seems at the very heart of what Adam and Eve did in the garden. What did they see? What did they see? They saw this fruit and they lusted after the fruit. Why?

Because they coveted something that was God's alone. They wanted it for themselves. And that way they sinned even as Lucifer had sinned in saying, I will be like the Most High. What God has, I want. Well, this quick perusal prepares us for what the writers of the confession declare in the latter part of paragraph 2.

What did they see in this law, first written in the heart and continuing to be this perfect rule of righteousness? What did they see this law to be? Nothing less than the Ten Commandments. Look at paragraph two in its entirety. The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall and was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in Ten Commandments and written in two tables, the four first containing our duty towards God and the other six our duty to man.

So the second thing I want you to grasp this morning is the source of this particular law, the source of this particular law. In order to understand where I'm going with this, it is important to truly consider what the confession is saying. The same law, the same law that was written in the heart of man was delivered by God in Ten Commandments. Now, this use of terminology tells us both what the law is as well as what it isn't. The first law written in the heart of man is nothing less than the summary of law given in the Ten Commandments.

That law first written in the heart does not include, yet cannot include, the remainder of law given in the Pentateuch. Okay? It is indeed only those commandments written on the tables of stone. Now, the recognition of both the source of this law as well as the distinctives that we will look at shortly, will help us better understand what exactly was given at creation in terms of a law, as well as help us grasp the difference between the various laws given in the Pentateuch, differences that will also help us better understand the divisions of moral, ceremonial, and civil or judicial laws. Now, we're not leaving the second paragraph yet, but do note at this point that the third paragraph of the confession tells us that the law being described here in the first two paragraphs is to be understood as the moral law.

It says, besides this law, commonly called moral, So that's been the subject of paragraphs one and two. It's the moral law. Now, you can find Bible scholars who do not hold to divisions within the law of God. They see it rather as monolithic and without divisions. They would argue that the law, the entire law stands or falls as a whole.

But our confession would disagree as would I propose to you the Word of God. I ask you to consider the fact that what is being defined as the moral law of God is not subjective. It is not subjective. The moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments written on the two tables springs from the reality of who God is. It springs from his attributes.

The moral law reflects the being and the righteousness of God. Therefore, in relation to creation and the law first written on the heart of man, would it have been a sin for Adam and Eve to take God's name in vain? Would it have been sin to violate the seventh day of the week which God had sanctified? Would it have been sin for Cain and Abel to disobey their parents? Was it sin, and we know this because it's been recorded, was it sin for Cain to be jealous of his brother and then to take the life of his brother?

Well, I believe we would all agree that these things would have been sin or in the various instances where we read that they did actually happen and occur that they were sin. I believe we showed this to be the case earlier as we brought out examples from Genesis in the first portion of Exodus of sins against the very law that was given on Mount Sinai. But are we asking ourselves why this would be the case? Why is this the case? Why would it be sin when those Ten Commandments on Sinai came much later.

It is because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And because He does not change, neither do these moral laws that find their source in His being and His attributes. A failure to grasp this reality that an unchanging moral law flows from an unchangeable God has led some to teach that Christ's sermon on the Mount ushers in new law. It's a new understanding of the law, a ratcheting up of the requirement given by Moses. In reality, Christ was explaining the full understanding of the original law that had always been, but had never been taught accurately, at least not by the scribes and the Pharisees.

These Jews had heard it said by the mouth of the teachers, but now, Christ, the giver of that very law, He is revealing. He is declaring. He is teaching what the law has always said. In essence, He, as the image of the invisible God, is revealing the Father to us. And since the moral law is a reflection of His being and attributes, that law is being explained and understood in a deeper sense because of greater light.

As Samuel Bolton said, that which was morally good formerly is morally good now and is to be pursued and practiced. That which was formerly morally evil is morally evil now and is to be shunned and avoided. Well, paragraphs three and four of our confession highlight two other categories of law. Not only do we find moral laws, but we also discover ceremonial and judicial laws. They read as follows, besides this law commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits, and partly holding forth diverse instructions of moral duties, all which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation are by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, and only lawgiver who was furnished with power from the Father for that end, abrogated and taken away.

Paragraph four, to them also he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any now by virtue of that institution their general equity only being of moral use. So the third thing that I want you to grasp this morning is the distinctives of what we are calling the moral law, the distinctives. We've seen that law existed before Mount Sinai. We've seen that the moral law finds its source in the being and attributes of God, but now what distinguishes it? What differentiates it from ceremonial and judicial law?

Well, before we jump into the specific distinctives, it's important to make a couple of clarifying remarks. And I'm quoting from Sam Waldron in his commentary on the 1689 Confession. He notes that, in many places in the law of Moses, one may find moral, judicial, and ceremonial laws mixed together. And we realize that. There can be a mixture of all of these laws as we read certain portions of the Pentateuch.

Secondly, he says, it is also true that each kind of law, each kind, he's talking about the moral, ceremonial, and judicial, each kind of law was equally binding on the Jew and that these distinctions were not as evident to them because they were under that institution as they are to us today. With that having been said, let's consider first these ceremonial laws. These ceremonial laws were laws having to do with worship, the priesthood, the tabernacle, the furniture of the tabernacle, and the sacrificial system. These were all patterns and types that pointed to Christ and to His coming, prefiguring Christ, prefiguring His graces, prefiguring his actions, his sufferings, and his benefits. These ceremonial laws are differentiated from the moral law in the following ways.

The moral law found its source in what had always been. The ceremonial laws found their source in what was to come, both rooted in the Trinity, but moral laws upon what has always been ceremonial law on what was to come. The moral law secondly found its source that being in the being and attributes of God, who God is, the ceremonial law found its source in the work of Christ, what Christ would do. And then thirdly, the moral law, because it is based on God who does not change will never be abrogated or taken away. It can't.

The ceremonial law was to be abrogated and taken away because it was based on the finished work of Christ. It foreshadowed, it prefigured what was to be accomplished by Christ. You can think of it, you children, think of it like this. Say you get up and you're going for a walk down the street with your family, you carry flashlights because it's dusk, right? That flashlight really helps you as you go along.

Once the sun comes over the trees, do you still walk with that flashlight? You don't need it. The shadow, it was a picture of the broad daylight that was to come, that now that's taken away. The flashlight is put up because you've got the sunlight in all of this. You can't even see, you can't even tell the light's on anymore.

In a similar way, when Christ came, all of these ceremonial laws that helped the Jews look ahead to Christ no longer needed. The fulfillment is here. Now here are some passages of Scripture that help us to understand the distinctives and then point to an ending of the ceremonial laws. And as I read these passages, please note the context of the discussion, what the subject is in regard to what is being abrogated or taken away. Hebrews 10, 1, and then 8 through 10.

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make those who approach perfect. Previously saying, sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not desire nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law. Then he said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God." He takes away the first that he may establish the second. By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. What's being abrogated?

What's being taken away? The sacrificial system because the sacrifice has come. Colossians 2, 16 and 17. So let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, plural, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Again, it's not the things found in the moral law of God.

Food, drink, festivals, new moons, Sabbaths, all these feast days and celebrations. Christ has come. Hebrews 8, 4 through 7 and then verse 13, "'For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law." So here in the law we have priests and gifts who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For he said, See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. In that, he says, a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now, what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. What's becoming obsolete? What's he been talking about?

Priests, gifts, tabernacles. So let's consider next the civil or judicial laws. The confession states that these judicial laws, though often finding their roots in the moral law, they expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any now by virtue of that institution. That people and that institution being the Jewish people of the Old Covenant that found themselves in the beginning under a theocracy of God. Listen to this quote from Sam Waldron.

The expiration of the judicial law is suggested by the destruction of the Old Testament theocracy, initially by Babylon and finally by Rome under the judgment of God. Think about that. Even in the Rome, what did they do? They destroyed the temple. They destroyed the place where the ceremonial law happened.

He goes on to say, when the state expired, it is reasonable, according to the confession, to conclude that its formal civil order expired with it. Scriptural evidence for this destruction may be gleaned from Hebrews 9, 19, which speaks of the book of the covenant which contained the judicial law of Israel. It is impossible, he says, to avoid the clear teaching of Hebrews 9.19 that the judicial as well as the ceremonial law of Israel has expired. Though, he continues, the judicial law has expired yet as an inspired application of the moral law to the civil circumstances of Israel, it reveals many timeless principles of general equity, justice, goodness, and righteousness. So here are the distinctions made between ceremonial and judicial laws, but even larger distinctions you'll find made between these two and the moral law.

So here are some distinctions pointed out in our Bibles. The moral law, that is the Ten Commandments, was alone uttered by the voice of God before all the people of Israel. Exodus 20. The remainder of the law was given in private to Moses. Second, the moral law was alone written by the finger of God.

Deuteronomy 9.10. And by that finger of God, he doesn't have a literal finger, but the understanding is that God did the work and gave Moses a completed project, okay? It was written by the finger of God, that's the wording of Scripture, Deuteronomy 9-10. The remainder of the law was written by Moses as God spoke. Third, the moral law was alone ascribed in stone.

In stone. The remainder of the law was placed in a book. Fourth, the moral law was the only law placed in the Ark of the Covenant. That's Deuteronomy 10-5 and still to be found in 1 Kings 8 and 9. The book of the law containing the ceremonial and judicial portions was placed beside the ark.

The Ten Commandments in the ark, the rest of the laws in the book of the law placed beside the ark. Fifth, the moral law was alone accompanied by the terror-inducing display of the presence of God. Next, the moral law was completed there at Mount Sinai. It's a summary, but it was completed at Mount Sinai. The remainder of the law was given there at Mount Sinai as well as during the wilderness wanderings for the next 40 years and was not completed until they reached the plains of Moab right before the people of Israel entered into the promised land.

And then last, the moral law was always relevant before Sinai, at Sinai, and after Sinai. The remaining laws written in the book of the law were inextricably tied to the people's residency in the promised land, thus pointing to the facts that it was not necessary to complete the giving of all of those laws until that time arrived that they were ready to enter that land. Yet it stresses the necessity to wrap up those laws in that book of the law before they actually entered the land. So we have seen this morning that moral law has always existed and always will. We have seen that God's being and attributes are the source of the moral law, thus requiring that the moral law be unchanging just as God Himself is unchanging.

And thirdly, we have seen that God's Word draws attention to specific distinctions in the law, specifically moral laws, ceremonial laws, and judicial or civil laws. Now dear ones, I know this may have seemed tedious at times, But I firmly believe it is necessary to understand these truths, this foundation, before we move on to the general essence of the Ten Commandments and seek to grapple with their relevance here in the days of the New Covenant. We will dive into that, Lord willing, next time. But as we leave this topic this morning, I want us again to take up this law as a diamond, and I want us to study the many facets of it. As you walk away from this message, I want you to be convinced that this moral law of God is perfect.

It's perfect. It is sure. It is right. It is pure. It is clean.

And it endures forever. It's true. And it's righteous altogether. Is that the way that you see the law of God? Do you acknowledge that it points the way?

Yea, it is a necessity to the converting of the soul. It's not all that's involved. We've got to go to Christ. It's a tutor to bring us to Christ, but it's necessary. We need that schoolmaster to point us to our need in Christ.

Do you acknowledge that it points the way, that it's a necessity to the converting of the soul, that it alone makes the simple wise, that its commands, if used rightly, will bring about the rejoicing of the heart and the enlightening of the eyes. Is that your experience? But I don't want to close here. The Apostle Paul describes the law as a schoolmaster or a tutor whose job is fulfilled when it brings us to Christ in order that we might be justified by faith. If we don't come to Christ, the law has been cut off, His voice is not heard.

I came across a quote by the Puritan John Sedgwick concerning the law and gospel. In the quote, I believe he creates the proper balance, something he refers to as the golden mean. Here's what he says, such as preach not the law at all may make dead and loose hearers, and such as preach the law too far may make desperate hearers." The golden mean is to be observed. First, he says, I would not have the law to be preached alone by itself without a mixture of some of the promises of the gospel. And second, I would have the law to be preached as it was published for evangelical and merciful intentions, not for destruction and desperation, but for edification.

So I want to close by holding this gospel up before you. In a few minutes, we'll be entering into our time of communion. And there's an interesting connection between communion and the giving of the law at Sinai, and most specifically, the ceremonial and judicial law. When the book of the law in chapter 24, when the first entries into the book of the law were finished. There's some interesting connections between that time and the communion table.

And though it's a connection, it draws a stark contrast because of the connection. In Exodus 24, when the first of the ceremonial and judicial laws had been written in the book of the law, thereby inaugurating the first covenant, the old covenant, we find a sacrifice being made, blood being applied, and a meal shared together in the inauguration of this first covenant, Exodus 24. But on the night Jesus was betrayed, a new covenant was being established, a better covenant, better promises. And just like the first covenant, this new covenant was inaugurated by a sacrifice that was to be made. It was instituted in that very upper room by the blood of the covenant.

This is my blood, the blood of this new covenant. And it was inaugurated by Emil, shared together. So even all of these surroundings in the first pointed to the second. What was going to happen in that upper room? This is the new covenant, Jesus said.

Romans 8, 3 to 4 tells us the reason why this was necessary, for what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh. We don't keep this law as our standard of righteousness before God, but we walk according to the Spirit, the Spirit, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, because of the righteousness of another. In order for this righteous requirement of the law to be fulfilled in you, my friend, and accepted by God, you must rest in Christ's righteous fulfillment of the law and His sacrificial death which condemns the sin found in us. The gospel is good news because we are unable to satisfy the demands of this law in such a way to ever earn favor with God.

Impossible. The law can do nothing but condemn, but it also points us to the only one who can grant us justification by faith, and that's Jesus Christ. If you are outside of Jesus Christ, if you have never believed on Him, your need is not more obedience to the law. Your need is for a Savior who kept it all and whose righteousness can be yours. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your law. Lord, your law is holy. Your commandment is holy and just and good. And it's a reflection of who you are. Help us not to think lightly of the law.

But, oh God, may we hear the voice of this schoolmaster that can condemn us and show us our sin but points to the righteousness of another. To Jesus Christ, may we all wind up at the feet of Christ. For we've not come to this Mount Sinai which is on fire, in which breeze of the condemnation that the law brings to us as sinners, but we've come to Mount Zion. And we've come to the blood which speaks better things than that of Abel. Lord, give us grace to trust and have that blood applied to us.

In Christ's holy name we pray, amen.