The Proper Use of the Law

Preached by Pedro Rodriguez on March 11, 2012

1 Tim. 1:8-11

Paul was slanderously reported to be antinomian.
Stephen was martyred for allegedly speaking against Moses.
Legalism: an approach to living in which a person tries to follow a set of standards to obtain a desired goal. Acceptability based on performance. It leads away from Christ.
Antinomianism: it means against the law. States that the Christian is free from the law because of reliance on Christ.
This letter, written by Paul, about A.D. 65, after his first imprisonment, probably from Macedonia, to Timothy, to warn him about false teachers.
Paul is aware of the impending end of his ministry. He cares about what the next generation will face.
He wrote 1 Timothy, then Titus, then 2 Timothy. They are called the Pastoral Epistles.
Paul may be warning about more than one group of false teachers.
Vs. 4: rather than God’s work—a plan involving a set of arrangements, purpose, or scheme. God’s work is by faith, contrasted with the false teachers.
Vs. 7: they wanted to be teachers of the law, experts in the Old Covenant.
Law here refers to the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch, Torah).
The law is not for the righteous. Romans 3:21-26
Through the law, we become conscious of sin.
Law vs. Grace debate.
Contrast is not between the law and the gospel. We are not under law, but under grace.
Gal. 2:21
“If righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died in vain.”
The Bible does not separate the law into civil, moral or ceremonial categories. We do that.
The law is for the unregenerate.
The vice list is similar to the Ten Commandments, the first few relating to our relationship with God, the rest to our relationship with people.
What is moral law, what is not?
The whole law is fulfilled in Christ.
What to do with the Sabbath command in the new covenant?
The New Testament takes up the whole law, except the Sabbath.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is not just reinterpreting Moses; He is making new law, as the Lawgiver. “But I say unto you.”
The Christian is to live to a higher standard than the Jew ever did.
Love fulfills the law when we love God and others.
The law of works and the law of Christ are binding on the believer.
Legalism and antinomianism are extremes.
We are under grace and under the law of Christ.
The unbeliever is under wrath and under the Law of Moses. He is obligated to keep it.
Gal. 3:24,25 The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. We no longer need the tutor.
In a church, you may write a new constitution. When the new one is in place, it nullifies the old. Yet you may still see many aspects of the old in the new
We have a different relationship to the law because we are justified by faith.
Vs. 14: Paul, formerly a blasphemer, had grace poured out on him. He was passive.
The law of Moses has condemning power. It shouts, “Guilty! Guilty!” Only Jesus can save.