A Christian Perspective of the Law of God

About this sermon

Is the law sin? Is there something wrong with God’s law? Is it an instrument of evil? Paul anticipates that objection, that accusation, based upon the teaching of verses 5 and 6. He said that in our unregenerate condition (while we were living in the flesh), exposure to God’s law agitated sinful passions and brought forth the fruit that belongs to spiritual death. He then, in verses 7-12, answers the anticipation question about whether his teaching practically amounts to equating the law with sin. He teaches: *The law identifies sin *The law identifies the true nature of sin. It demonstrates that sin is firstly a matter of desire for that which God forbids. The commandment concerning covetousness makes plain that sin cannot be confined merely to external action. *The law arouses sin. It arouses sinful passions, not because the law is evil, but because sin takes the law of God as a starting place for its operations. *The law exposes spiritual death, and is made use of by sin in the killing of sinners IN ALL OF THIS, PAUL MAKES CLEAR WHAT HIS VIEW OF THE LAW IS NOT. He does not see the law as sinful, and the gospel does not teach that the law is sinful. BUT HAVING SAID WHAT THE LAW IS NOT, WE MUST NOT MISS WHAT PAUL SAYS THE LAW IS. What we have in Paul’s concluding statement of verse 12, is a Christian’s view of what the law of God is. And then based on what the law of God is, Paul will answer a second anticipation question, related to the FRUIT of sin. What is the law’s relationship to death? We do not want to rush past this because in the name of Christ there are many professing Christians who hold a sub-Christian view of the Old Testament. They think that their view of the Old Testament is God honoring, Christ exalting, gospel emphasizing, when in fact it is a view that does not affirm what Paul affirms here. To say it simply, they have an attitude toward the law of God that Paul would not recognize. If we take Paul’s perspective of the law in verse 12, what is a Christian perspective of the law? This morning I want to point out 5 elements that are included in a Christian perspective of the law. THE LAW’S QUALITIES ARE UNIVERSAL (LAW AND COMMANDMENT) (vs.12) Something we notice right away is that Paul speaks of the law in verse 12 and repeats himself using the word commandment. Why does he do this? It seems that he is emphasizing that the law of God is holy in its entirety and in its parts. If you take the law as a whole — meaning the entirety of the Old Testament — or if you consider the law in terms of an individual commandment, the quality of it remains exactly the same. IT IS HOLY. The Old Testament in its entirety, and every single commandment found within it, is holy. In fact, the word commandment can be used to speak of individual requirements set forth in the law, or it can be used to speak of the law as a whole. IT IS ALL AUTHORITATIVE. IT IS ALL THE WILL OF GOD. IT IS ALL DIVINE TRUTH. Every single element of it is pure and valuable and sound. ESV Psalm 119:160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. There really is (and it is sad and unbelievable for anyone claiming a biblical view of inspiration) and attitude in some that there are silly, fanciful, easy to disregard, parts of the Old Testament, and then there are some of lasting value. But this is not Paul’s view. If he had simply said the law, the commandment, is holy, then perhaps we would say he is simply using variation in a singular description of God’s Word. But when he repeats the word holy, I think we get a sense that he is doing something more. He is saying whether you look at the Old Testament from a macro perspective, or a micro perspective, all that you find is holy. So that all that Paul says of the law of God, here, applies to all of the Old Testament. The law’s qualities are universal. Harrison and Hagner – “So very far from being identifiable with sin, “the law is holy” (hagios, GK 41), as are the individual commandments it contains. It is possible to understand “the commandment” (hē entolē, GK 1953) as a reference to every single precept of the law, but the singular form leads one to think that Paul is casting a backward glance at the tenth commandment. But what Paul says of that commandment refers equally to the law as a whole”

Topics

• Obedience