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Colin Smith: When that little one is born, she looks a picture of innocence. And you hold her in your arms and you think, oh, how lovely and wonderful and perfect she is. You need to know what you've got there.

And what you've got there is a wonderful gift from God who will bring you joy and delight, and a little rebel whose heart is bent on crowning herself as Lord. That's what you got.

Steve Hiller: Well, welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. And Colin, I'm the father of two girls. They're not so little anymore. And I know you've got some granddaughters. So when we held these little girls in our arms, we were looking at little rebels, huh?

Colin Smith: That's right. Steve, that was true of you and me when we were born into the world, true of our children, true of my grandchildren. We love them so very much, but there's no such thing as being born in innocence.

There's a principle that's at work within all human nature, and it's for that reason that we need the grace and the mercy of God. And that's the reality of every wonderful new life that's born into the world.

Steve Hiller: And as a parent or as a grandparent, we realize that we actually need to teach rules. we need to enforce rules. And so there's a element, I think, where we can look at what a good parent is and look at the law of God and maybe see a parallel even there.

Colin Smith: Yeah, that's right. And there's a really important practical issue here. I mean, if parents believe that fundamentally the instincts of their children are good, that at the very heart goodness reigns, well, the natural outcome of that is going to be to say, well, let's give them everything they want because what they want is good and they know what is good.

Now, that's going to be a complete disaster because what the Bible's telling us is that's actually not what's true at the very core. Foolishness, the Proverbs say, are bound up in the heart of a child. And for that reason, there really is a place for setting boundaries and rules and having discipline within family life. These are biblical concepts, and each family has to work out how to do this.

Now, we're looking in the scriptures at a very important statement in 1 Timothy and chapter one. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. And in practical terms in family life, what that means is there do have to be some rules. There have to be some boundaries.

But don't ever think that the rules that you make for your children will be the means of leading them to Christ. It's grace that will lead people to Christ. But we're going to see that rules also play their part. So this is very, very practical as we look at the Bible together today.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's do that. Let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter one as we continue a message called Gospel Freedom. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: The law is good if one uses it properly. What then is the proper use of the law of God? I want to offer three answers. If we're not under the law but we cannot forget the law, how are we to use it properly as Christian believers? How does it function for us today? Three answers. Three proper uses of the law.

Number one, the law restrains rebels from evil. Now, I think it is very clear that that is what was in Paul's mind here in 1 Timothy chapter one. Notice what he says in verse nine. We also know that the law is not made for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and rebels.

Now, let's remember straight away that that is what we all are by nature. And that is why we need the law. We need the law in our land, we need the law in our homes, and we need the law in the Bible because we live in a fallen world and by nature, we are rebels.

And the law restrains how? The law restrains simply by threatening punishment. That's how the law works. If you do this, something bad will happen to you. And that makes the rebel think twice. Good laws, whether they be in a home, whether they be in a nation, and certainly where they are in scripture, this is what they do: they restrain rebels. Good law, in other words, acts as a deterrent.

Here's a second proper use of the law. Not only is the law given to restrain rebels from evil, but the law is given to us to lead sinners to Christ. Now, you find this in Galatians chapter three and verse 24 and 25 where it's stated so clearly. The law, Paul says there, was given, was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith.

That's why the law was given. The law was given, he says, to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith. And then he says, now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Now, what he's saying here is this. If you take God's law seriously, as opposed to superficially as the rich young ruler did, if you take it seriously and you examine yourself in the light of God's law—begin anywhere you like—you will come to the conclusion that you are a sinner.

And that conclusion doesn't come to us easily because it is our instinct to feel that we are deserving. It is our natural instinct to feel that God owes us and that what he owes us is much better than what he gave us. That's part of our rebellion. And God uses the law to awaken us to reality, which is that God owes me nothing.

What I deserve from God is hell. Me. And when you understand the law and when the Holy Spirit works the law into your own mind and heart, you will come to that conclusion too. It will completely transform your position before God. You'll cease coming before him with a clenched fist, and you will come before him with a sense of one who is utterly dependent upon mercy and grace.

Now, Paul actually tells us in the New Testament his own experience of this. You can read about it in Romans chapter seven. He says, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. And of course, you remember that as a Pharisee, the Apostle Paul was one who studied the law and even prided himself in keeping the law. So how did the law awaken him up?

Well, he tells us. It was the tenth commandment that got him. See, he was superficially thinking, well, I've not murdered and not committed adultery and so forth and so on. The tenth commandment says you shall not covet. And he says this in Romans seven, "I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had said do not covet, but sin seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment produced in me every kind of covetous desire."

In other words, he says, I was going through life thinking I was a very righteous person, then I realized that my whole life was about myself. It undid me. Now, that's what the law does. And thank God for it.

But when the law brings you to that place that Paul discovered, that Isaiah discovered in the holiness of God when he says "Woe to me," I want you to remember this: that when the law convinces you of sin, God's purpose is through that to bring you to Christ.

So make sure you get to the place where God is drawing you. The law was put in charge to lead you to Christ so that you might be justified by faith. Not so that you should be left languishing with your newly discovered sense of guilt and failure, but that by discovering this sense of guilt and failure, by seeing the reality of your own position in God, you might turn to Christ in a way you would never have done otherwise and be justified by faith.

Remember this, that as soon as the law does a work in a man or a woman's heart, Satan is crouching at the door. And when you become convinced of your own sin, the enemy will speak to you, I'm sure, something like this: "So you see that you are a sinner now, do you? So you are, and there's no hope for you."

One writer has put it this way, I found this so helpful: "When the law strikes home to a man, he stands between God and the devil. Each intends to use the law to achieve exactly the opposite goal. The devil seeks to bring a man to destruction and death. God, however, wills that he should be blessed and live." Do you see that?

When you become aware of your own sinfulness through the law and by the work of the Holy Spirit, you stand right then between God and the devil. You may be standing there right now. Satan wants to use the law to lead you to despair, for you to go out of the service saying there's no hope for me, I'm such a wretched failure, I don't even belong here.

God wants to use the law to lead you to Christ, for you to say I've found forgiveness today in this Savior and a new life in him. And there you are, you're standing right now between God and the devil.

And the proper use of the law is what? To lead you to Jesus Christ. And as often as we become as Christian believers aware of our own sin and our own failing, to do what? Despair? No, but to draw fresh near to Jesus Christ in whom our complete redemption is found. The proper use of the law is to lead you to Christ. That's God's purpose.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, a message called Gospel Freedom, one of the messages in our series Ten Distinctives of a Gospel-Centered Church. If you ever miss a broadcast in this series, you can listen online at openthebible.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app. It's a great way to listen on the go. Back to the message, here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Restrains rebels from evil. Leads sinners to Christ. Third, the law points believers to a life of love. Now, this is very important and wonderfully, wonderfully freeing.

The New Testament makes clear time and again that you can sum up the whole of the law in one single word, and that word, of course, is love. You have that in Galatians 5:14: "The entire law is summed up in a single command, love your neighbor as yourself."

Or in Romans 13 and verse 10: "Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." And you remember supremely, of course, when someone asked Jesus what is the first and greatest commandment, what did Jesus say? That you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself.

And then Jesus said all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. In other words, that really sums up the whole thing right there. Now, if you can sum up the whole of the law in one word, love, it stands to reason that when you're trying to figure out what it means to live a life of love, you can work backwards and find some explanation as to what that really looks like.

So for example, when Christ calls us to live a life of love, which is Ephesians 5:2, the law spells out for us what that means. Living a life of love means honoring my father and my mother. Living a life of love means not committing adultery. It means telling the truth. It means rejoicing in what God gives to your brother and sister without coveting what they have for yourself. That's what love means. If you envy what your brother or your sister has, you don't love them.

So I need this instruction. We are not so wise that we know what a life of love is. So I want to suggest to you as a Christian believer, read the New Testament backwards. In other words, let the Old Testament inform what is summed up in the new.

When the New Testament says live a life of love, let the Old Testament spell that out for you. Open up your understanding, guide you, instruct you, show you what it is that you should pursue, challenge you, move you in your own understanding of what a life of love actually means.

Now let's take another example. In the New Testament, Christ calls us, believers, to be generous. But what does that mean? What is generous? Well, you could read backwards to the Old Testament, and then you will find that God's people gave a tenth of all of their income to the Lord.

You may say, now wait a minute, are you making a rule? No. What I'm saying is this, I'm inviting you to use the law to inform you in pursuing the generosity to which Christ calls you in the gospel. That's why it's useful. So read the New Testament backwards.

And it follows, read the Old Testament forwards. In other words, wherever you're back in the Old Testament, you're reading a law, you'll sometimes have times when you say, what in all the world has this got to do with me? Read the Old Testament forwards. Remember that the law is not an end in itself, but it is a sign that points forward.

Now, there is nowhere that we see this more clearly than in our Lord's teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. There is a pattern there. You remember how the Lord Jesus said, "You've heard it said, but I say to you. You've heard it said, but I say to you. You've heard it said, do not murder. I say to you, don't be angry with your brother. You have heard it said, do not commit adultery. I say to you, anyone who looks on a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Now, in every case, what is happening here? Jesus is going further than the law. Think about it. The law says don't murder. Jesus says I'm taking you further. I want you to forgive your brother. And I want you to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The law says don't commit adultery. Jesus says I'm taking you further. I want you to pursue a purity of heart in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus right here is telling us how to use the law properly. It points us to the new life in the spirit.

So I think that the key question to ask of any command in the Old Testament is simply this: to what does this point me in Jesus Christ? Not an end in itself, but to what is it pointing in Jesus Christ?

The command about murder is pointing me to forgive my brother. That's not less, of course, that's more. If I forgive my brother, I won't murder him. The command about adultery points to purity of heart. That's not less, it's more. If I have a pure heart, I will not commit adultery.

Now, this principle of reading the Old Testament forwards will help us in other laws that may have different applications today. Let me just give you one or two examples from the New Testament.

The command about circumcision in the Old Testament, what does that point us to in Jesus Christ? Read Colossians 2:11 and 12. And Paul says it points to the distinct newness of life that is ours in Jesus Christ. That's what it points to, and it's a marvelous thing and it's much more, it's much deeper.

God's promise to the Israelites when he says that he will bring them into the promised land and then God's threats to the Israelites that they may be moved from the promised land, what in all the world does that have to do with me as I read it as a Christian today?

Well, it is pointing me forward to something far greater: that there is a life, a blessed life with Christ to gain, and there is a hell outside of the blessing of God for me to flee.

Command about the Sabbath pointing me forward, Hebrews in chapter four, to resting in Christ and rejoicing in God as I anticipate eternity to come. I need that today.

When you use the law properly, you will see that Christ takes you where the law cannot go. That whatever the law speaks about, the Lord Jesus Christ takes you deeper and the Lord Jesus Christ takes you further.

There is no command that you must lay down your life for Christ. You couldn't legislate that, could you? You couldn't write a law about that. But believers through the centuries have gone there, not because of a law but because of love for Christ.

There is no law that says you must liquidate assets for the advance of the gospel. Couldn't legislate that. But believers through the centuries have done that in every generation for the advance of the gospel.

There is no command that can say you must leave your home and your loved ones and take the gospel to the other side of the world, but while you could not legislate that, believers in every generation have done that because love takes us beyond the law.

Love takes us to places in devotion to Christ that the law could not reach, which is why Paul says the love of Christ sustains us, which is totally different from a wooden kind of a moralism.

So folks, as a church, we want to be a body of believers who make a proper use of God's law. Some churches make much of law. That's really the thing that gets in the central place. That's what impresses people and what they're talking about most. We want to make much of grace.

We want to live by the power of the spirit. We want the love of Christ to take us further than the law could ever go.

One illustration then we're through. Many of us, I think, will have seen the *Fireproof* movie. Have you seen that movie? It's the story, for anyone who didn't see it, about a couple whose marriage is on the rocks and the husband makes a commitment to take practical steps each day to try and rekindle the love that was once in their marriage. And there are many issues.

One of them is pornography. The computer sits in the corner of the room. The guy watches the screen in a darkened room at night on his own. The wife knows, of course, what he is doing, and she hates it. The computer in the corner of the room almost becomes a symbol of another thing that divides them.

And he struggles to overcome his habit because he knows what a barrier it is, but he keeps going back. Then one day in the film, he picks up the computer, he takes it outside, takes a baseball bat, and completely destroys the thing.

And when his wife comes back, she finds a little card on the table in precisely the spot where the computer had been. And when she opens the card, there are these simple words that he wrote: "I love you more." I love you more.

The law says don't do that. Love says I do not want to do that any longer. That is the transforming power of the gospel. And you say, where does that love come from? Because the power of temptation is very real. And the answer is: we love because he first loved us.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called Gospel Freedom. We've been looking at the proper use of the law today. And if you missed any of the broadcast, I'd encourage you to come to our website and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen on the go if you have the Open the Bible app. It's free. You'll find it at your favorite app store. Or again, listen online at openthebible.org.

Open the Bible's a listener-supported ministry, and as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of John Stott's book called *The Incomparable Christ*. And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, it's for anyone who wants to know the Lord Jesus Christ better. And it's written by one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century. John Stott was a faithful preacher, a pastor, and a scholar for over 60 years. He's one of my heroes of the faith. I love to read his writing, and never more so than when he's writing on the most central subject of all, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this book, *The Incomparable Christ*, if you've never read a book by John Stott, this is a great place to start. It's a deep dive on who Jesus is. And it comes in four parts. We see Jesus as he is presented in the New Testament, Jesus as he's been presented by the church over the centuries, Jesus as he's inspired various figures in history, and Jesus as he's presented to us in the book of Revelation.

It's just a glorious snapshot of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And I think anyone who reads this book is going to feel that they come to a deeper worship of Jesus, a deeper love for Jesus, and a deeper trust in Jesus too.

Steve Hiller: Well, we want to send you a copy of this book as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. Or again, our website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.

This program is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: At Open the Bible, we're grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the gospel around the world. And to that end, I'd like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints. You know, in the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That's a clear command, but it's not always clear how we should obey it. And this is where Global Fingerprints comes in.

Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They're focused on equipping the local church to care for children, and where there is no church, they help to plant one.

If you'd like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website openthebible.org/gf. That's openthebible.org/gf.