Jul24-30: Justification and the Law

Teaching Points

1. What is the purpose of the law?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 3:20—by the law is the knowledge of sin.
• Rom. 5:13—Sin is not imputed without the law.
• Rom.  7:7—I had not known sin but by the law.
• Rom. 7:13—the law reveals the exceeding sinfulness of sin. 

2. What is sin?

ANSWER:

• 1Jn. 3:4—Sin is the transgression of the law. 

3. Does being under grace change the fact and obligations of the law?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 6:14, 15—Grace frees us from the condemnation of the law but does not change the obligations of the law.
• It is because God’s law is still binding that we need grace.

4. Is it God’s law that makes me sin?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 7:7—The law is not sin, but it reveals sin in the life.
• Rom. 7:12—the law is holy, just and good. 

5. What is the result of sinning and continuing to sin?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 6:23—the wages of sin is death.  

OBSERVATION:

• The law reveals the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the sin in ones life.
• The law reveals the problem and the consequences of breaking God’s law—death.
• Grace (Christ’s death for our sins and His righteousness replacing our record of past sins) removes the condemnation of the law so that we no longer face death.
• God’s law does not make us sin. Rather, sin is breaking God’s holy, just law.  

6. Is God’s grace adequate for the amount of sins committed in a person’s life?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 5:20—Where sin abounds grace abounds much more.
• God’s grace is more than enough.  

7. Can justification be obtained by keeping the law?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 3:20—No, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified.
• Rom. 8:3—The law is weak—It has no power to keep us from sinning or give us victory.
• Even if we obey from this point forward that obedience can’t take care of past sin because we still must die for those past sins. Justification is the only answer.  

8. Can I keep the law without outside help?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 7:14, 18—I am sold under sin: to will is present with me, but how to perform I find not.
• No, we are powerless on our own. 

9. Where does the power for victory or keeping the law come from?

ANSWER:

• Rom. 8:1, 2—Being in Christ walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit. 

OBSERVATION:

• God’s grace is sufficient for the greatest sinner. The greater the sins the more grace God offers to forgive and cleanse from sin.
• The law has no ability to save us from the consequences of violating it. No matter how good we keep the law from this day forward this does not atone for our past record of sin.
• Only justification answers the claims of the law because it erases our past record of guilt.
• We cannot keep the law without divine help from God.
• This outside help is found in Jesus  and choosing to walk after the Spirit not our sinful desires.

SOP

• Christ consented to die in the sinner's stead, that man, by a life of obedience, might escape the penalty of the law of God. His death did not make the law of none effect; it did not slay the law, lessen its holy claims, nor detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ proclaimed the justice of His Father's law in punishing the transgressor, in that He consented to suffer the penalty of the law Himself in order to save fallen man from its curse. The death of God's beloved Son on the cross shows the immutability of the law of God. His death magnifies the law and makes it honorable, and gives evidence to man of its changeless character. From His own divine lips are heard the words: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The death of Christ justified the claims of the law.  {2T 200.2} 
• We must center our hopes of heaven upon Christ alone, because He is our Substitute and Surety. We have transgressed the law of God, and by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. The best efforts that man in his own strength can make are valueless to meet the holy and just law that he has transgressed; but through faith in Christ he may claim the righteousness of the Son of God as all-sufficient. Christ satisfied the demands of the law in His human nature. He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined.  {FW 93.3} 
• The law of God is the only true standard of moral perfection. That law was practically exemplified in the life of Christ. He says of Himself, "I have kept my Father's commandments" (John 15:10). Nothing short of this obedience will meet the requirements of God's Word. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6). We cannot plead that we are unable to do this, for we have the assurance, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9). As we look into the divine mirror, the law of God, we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and our own lost condition as transgressors. But by repentance and faith we are justified before God, and through divine grace enabled to render obedience to His commandments.  {RC 96.4} 

CONCLUSION:

• The law reveals the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the consequences of breaking the law—death.
• The law reveals sin in the life leading one to realize his need for the Saviour and power for victory over sin. 
• The law has no power to save one from suffering the consequences of breaking the law.
• God’s grace in the plan of salvation satisfies the claims of the law and sets the sinner free from the condemnation of the Law.
• Grace also empowers the sinner to live a life of victory through Christ living in him.  

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

• When you look at the law does it awaken in you a sense of sin and a desire to get help?
• Do you realize that you need Christ’s power in your life to enable you to keep God’s holy just law?
• Do you realize that you need to experience justification by faith to erase your record of past sin and free you from paying the penalty of sin—death?
• Are you accepting Christ’s righteousness in place of your record of sin by faith?