The Gospel and The Law

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 7, 2012 under Ask the Pastor |

A member of our church writes:

“We know that the Gospel is salvation through Jesus, since by the Law nobody is perfect. So, when we preach the Gospel, do we need to discuss the Law at the same time?”

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Dear friend,

It is my belief that we definitely must discuss the law at the same time as we present the gospel. And the reason is because it helps clarify what it is that has put us in a position of needing to be saved in the first place.

One of the clearest Old Testament expressions of this is found in the great “New Covenant” promise in Jeremiah 31:31-34. In that passage, God—speaking through the prophet Jeremiah—explains why a New Covenant was needed. He said; “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. ” The Old Covenant—established through the giving of the law—was broken by the people of Israel. They were guilty before God of having failed to keep it; and indeed, they were not able to keep it. In that sense, the bad news of the breaking of the Old Covenant—and the guilt before God that resulted—is the basis of the good news of the New Covenant in Christ.

An example of the necessity of presenting the law as a part of the gospel is found in the book of Romans. Romans gives us Paul’s authoritative presentation of the gospel that he preached. He introduces his treatise on the gospel with these words: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17). The gospel he was about to present is the revealing of “the righteousness of God”. But then, he began his formal presentation with these words; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men . . . ” (v. 18). The word “for” points us backward to the previous verses, and presents us with the reason for the “righteousness of God” being revealed through the gospel. To put it another way, the wrath of God against unrighteousness in verse 18 gives us the beginning expression of the basis for the righteousness of God being revealed through the gospel in verses 16-17. Then, beginning with verse 18, and going all the way to 3:20, the case is made that all are guilty before a holy God as breakers of His law and in need of grace. In 3:20, Paul concludes his presentation of our need with these words: “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. ” But then, beginning with verses 21-23, he begins to present the gospel with these words: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . ”

Galatians is another book of the Bible in which Paul carefully defends the gospel In Galatians 2:16, he mentions how the law paves the way for the gospel; “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. ” In 3:10-11, he wrote, ” For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. ‘ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith. ‘” And in 3:19-25, he makes the matter very clear: “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. ”

Personally, I think this is a missing element in many of the presentations of the gospel that are made. The deep need that people have because of the righteous wrath of God that they are under because of sin isn’t presented to people. They’re just told to believe on Jesus without being helped to understand why they need to do so. And as a result, I think people sometimes come to Jesus more as a part of their own “self-improvement” program than as to a Savior from sin. As someone once said, in order for people to come to Jesus as they should, they first need to be introduced to Moses. What I believe this means in practice is that we need to be sensitive to where people are—and in some cases, walk people through the ten commandments and allow them to see and feel their guilt before a holy God for all the ways that they have broken God’s holy standards—as we are also, at the same time, presenting them with the good news. Praise God that we have the help of the Holy Spirit in this—and that it’s He who convicts people of sin, not us. As Jesus told His disciples; “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11).

I hope this helps.

Pastor Greg