Why The Law?

About this sermon

Introduction: Having shown the comparisons and the contrasts between the two representative men, the first man Adam and the 2nd man, the God man, Jesus, there is now a question to be answered. The question and the answer have already been touched on somewhat earlier in this letter. But now he is ready to take it head on. He knows that the question will come, what then was the purpose for God’s law? If it is really about whether we are in Adam, or in Christ, then why did God go to the trouble, so to speak, of giving law through Moses? What was the purpose for all of that? **And it is refreshing and encouraging noting that 2,000 years later the question is still being asked. Over and again it is proven that the Bible is word of God by the very questions that men ask. How does this prove the Bible? It is proof of the inspiration of the scriptures because the Bible anticipates them all. The Bible is prepared for these questions. This past week I was teaching the gospel in a Bible study and had two people ask very sincerely and very intensely this very same question. They said, “if salvation is a gift, if it isn’t a matter of how we live but whether or not we have had faith in Jesus, then why did God give commandments?” That is the very same question isn’t it? Paul knew he would face it, we know that we face it, and God gives us an answer right here. I. THE LAW WAS GIVEN BECAUSE OF SIN (vs.20) When you first read this, you could almost get the idea that God gave His law so that there would be more sin in the world. That of course would mean that God somehow wants sin to increase. We know right away that this is an error. God doesn’t even tempt people to sin. God takes no joy in sin. God hates sin. That is not what he means. So, what does it mean? The answer is found when it says that the law “came in”. It means that the law came in alongside something. It means to come in alongside. The law came in alongside of the sin that was already in the world and so it existed in relationship to that sin. It was meant to do something with respect to the sin already here. And in some way sin was INCREASED because of the presence of God’s law. In what way was sin increased? The law “increased” sin in the since that it made us AWARE of it. As I said, the apostle has already touched on this. ESV Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. That is what the law was meant to do. God gave His law so that sin would increase in the sense of our awareness. The law brought out the true nature and magnitude of sin so that we would see sin for what it really is. A. THE LAW INCREASED THE TRESPASS BY INCREASING OUR KNOWLEDGE OF IT ESV Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." How does it do this? 1. THE LAW DEFINES SIN It specifies what sin is, and so, doesn’t put the sin there, but identifies the sin in specific terms. It makes sin into transgression. (Romans 4:15) There are sins present in our children that they don’t realize to be sin until, as they grow older, they have a name for what it is they are doing. What was sin all along becomes sin in their VIEW because now it has been identified and specified.

Topics

• Obedience