Amazing Law

Welcome to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. Today, Pastor Robert is continuing his series, Amazing Grace, with a message titled Amazing Law. I'm your host, Janae, and I'm here with my co-host, Patrick.

Hey, everybody. Well, today's message picks up where Pastor Robert left off last week when he shared about how we need to live out of relationship. We were once married to the law and now we're married to Jesus. Essentially, we've been released to live out of relationship instead of rules and regulations.

And this week, he's going to talk more about God's law and why God gave it to us, knowing he was going to introduce grace when Jesus came to the earth. You know, I always found the old laws from Leviticus and Deuteronomy to be intriguing. There were so many rules and specifics to keep track of. I can't imagine living under all of those rules and restrictions.

It sounds really stressful. It really does. But I'm excited to hear what Pastor Robert has to say about why God gave us the law.

So let's dive in. And we're in a series called Amazing Grace, and the title of this message might shock you a little bit. But the title of this message is Amazing Law. Amazing Law. Now, last week, we talked about our amazing new husband, that we were married to the law, but now we're married to Jesus. But I want to show you how amazing the law is and why God gave the law. Why did he even give the law? And if we've been released from the law, as Romans 7 says, then how do we relate to the law? And why did God give us the law?

So we're going to talk about this. But the law is amazing. Now, the law, according to Jewish tradition, would be divided into two categories, the moral laws of God and the ceremonial laws of God. Gentiles then divide those two categories as well. Under the ceremonial laws would be the ceremonial laws and then the dietary laws.

Ceremonial would include the feasts and the sacrifices and things like that, and then the dietary, you know, the things that were clean or unclean to eat. And then under the moral laws of God, Gentiles normally divide in two categories, the moral laws being the Ten Commandments and then the judicial laws. We get our laws about murder and manslaughter from the Bible. That's from the Bible. God tells the difference between murder and manslaughter, and he gives judicial laws. When you include the Ten Commandments and you take the laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the word Deuteronomy means the second law or the law the second time. So God's like, I'm going to give it to you again in case you missed it the first time.

Make sure you get this. When you add those together, all of the laws, the moral, the judicial, the ceremonial and the dietary laws, there are 613 laws that God gave. Six hundred and thirteen. But why did God give these laws? I want you to understand the law is not bad. God wants us to live moral lives. As a matter of fact, when Jesus is saying that there are going to be many people come to me saying, you know, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all these things in your name?

He said, I'm going to say, depart from me, for I never knew you. You who practice lawlessness. You who practice lawlessness. Now, again, we're not married to the law. But do you know what happens when we do get married to Jesus?

Listen very carefully. He writes his laws on our heart. So we're going to talk about why God gave us the law. Am I building some intrigue for you here? OK, never mind.

All right. So you have to understand that the only way that the Jews knew to relate to God was through the law and law keeping. That's the only way they knew to relate to God until Jesus showed up. And the Bible says that Jesus was grace and truth. He didn't do away with the law, the truth of God's law, but grace showed up also. So Jesus had to make some clarifying statements about the law.

And we're about to read some clarifying statements. All right. Paul, by the way, had to make clarifying statements also about the law. It's a lot in Romans and Galatians.

All right. So here here he is. Matthew 5. Look at verse 17. Matthew 5, verse 17. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle.

Now we've compared that to the, you know, the dotting of an I or the crossing of a T. It'd be similar to that. But one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so. Shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Notice it doesn't say he goes to hell. So this apparently is a believer.

He's called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So God is not saying he wants us to live immoral lives. He wants us to live moral lives. So let me show you the four purposes of the law.

Here's number one. The law is a master. The law is a master. Now, I told you, if you want to put a marker, Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three, verses 24 and 25 says, Therefore, the law was our tutor. And this word in the old King James is translated schoolmaster. To bring us to Christ.

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. Now, I don't know about you, but I was always afraid of teachers.

Always. It's probably because I was a bad student. And I used to have this teacher that walked around with a ruler. Any of you have a teacher like that? And she would just kind of show up at your desk and say, when was the American Revolution? And pop.

She'd just pop you like that. OK. A schoolmaster, a teacher. I was thinking about this today. John, you grew up Catholic. Is that right? And did you ever get popped by the ruler? Oh, yeah.

Have you gone through freedom ministry? OK. All right. All right. So, but how old were you when you accepted Christ? 18.

OK. So what was the law doing for Pastor John until before he accepted Christ? Now, here's what the law was doing.

The law was saying, you need to do this. You need to do this. You need to do this.

You don't need to do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. And I'm going to let the moral laws of God now.

All right. But here, let me sum up what the law was saying to John before he accepted Christ. You need Jesus.

You need Jesus. That's what the law... That's the law's job is to bring us to Jesus. Now, what does the law do for us after we get saved? Now, this might shock you, but listen, here's what the law is still saying to me to this day. You still need Jesus.

You still need Jesus. That's what the law does. The law is the teacher, you know, that walked around with the ruler. But what if you were in her class and you heard about a teacher, maybe you're in college at this time, you heard about this professor that would come and actually kneel down at your desk and would explain to you very gently and very kindly and help you understand and would stay after class and spend time with you and everyone in his class got A's.

What would you do? Transfer. Right? That's what I'm telling you. We transfer from the law being our teacher to Jesus being our teacher. So the law is a master to bring us to Christ.

Thank you for listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. Today, Pastor Robert is talking about the law God gave us in the Old Testament and how although he released us from it through Jesus' life and death, the law still has purpose for believers. You know, Jenae, it's interesting to think of the law as a teacher or a God to show us how much we actually need Jesus.

Yeah. I was so glad Pastor Robert mentioned that verse in Matthew 517 where Jesus says he didn't come to abolish the law but fulfill it because I've always found that so interesting. How exactly does Jesus fulfill the law? The first time I heard this message, it immediately made sense.

Me too. You know, without Jesus, the law is just a bunch of rules. It doesn't change our hearts or renew our minds at all. But with Jesus, the law fulfills its God-ordained purpose of bringing us to a realization of how much we need him. And Patrick, I have to say how grateful I am for teachers. Not only in this scenario we've been talking about where the law is a teacher bringing us to Christ, but also the teachers who patiently and willingly dedicate their lives to educating young people. Absolutely.

You know, I wasn't a bad kid in school, but I certainly gave my teachers a run for their money. Well, this illustration has given me a newfound appreciation for the law's purpose, and we've only just begun. Let's continue with Pastor Robert and see what other insight he has for us. Here's the second thing about the law. The law is a mirror.

James chapter 1, verses 23 through 25. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself and goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, to me that's truth and grace, and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word.

Now watch this carefully. This one will be blessed in what he does. The one who reads the perfect law of liberty, the moral laws of God through the eyes of grace, the one who does this, and he reads it and he doesn't forget it.

It's a mirror. It shows him who he really is, and he does what's in the word. Everything he does will be blessed. And that's incredible. So the law reflects the moral standards of God.

All right? The law reflects the moral standards of God. In other words, if you want to know if something is good for you or bad for you, you can read the law.

The law will help you. This is what Paul said, the way he said it, Romans 7, verse 7. He said, I would not have known. I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. So see, the law helps us understand the morals of God. And if we walk morally through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Jesus Christ, it's going to help our life then not to have train wrecks, not to have car wrecks. So that's why he gives us the moral.

It's a mirror. It reflects the moral standards of God. Now, let me explain this to you. The law reflects the parameters of God's desires, but it does not reflect the parameters of his love.

This is very, very important to understand. The law reflects the parameters or the boundaries of God's desires, but it does not reflect the boundaries of his love. Let me say it this way. Does the world, everyone in the world, does everyone in the world keep God's law? No. But does God love the world?

Yes. His desire is that people wouldn't steal, that people wouldn't lie, that they wouldn't commit adultery. That's his desire. But he still loves the person who lies, and he sent his son for that person. So what this does is it helps me understand how I relate to other people. Let's say that you have a grown child who's not walking with the Lord, and that grown child says to you, do you disagree with my lifestyle? You would say, well, it's not my desire that you live that way because, according to Scripture, you've got a car wreck headed in front of you, you've got a train wreck in front of you, but I still love you. I love you with all my heart. God loves you.

You see what I'm saying? It's like when the woman was caught in adultery. Remember the Bible says, John 1 says, Jesus was full of grace and truth. Grace and truth.

She's caught in adultery. They said, the law says stoner. What do you say? He never disagreed with the law. He did not disagree with the law.

He did disagree with Pharisees' added laws and interpretation sometimes, but he didn't disagree with God's law, never one time. Here's what he said. They said, the law said stoner.

What do you say? He said, well, you're right, but the one who's without sin, let him cast the first stone. And of course, none of them were. By the way, he qualified himself as the only one that could have cast a stone. Yes, he was without sin. But when everyone walked away, he said to this woman, does no one condemn you?

She said, no one, Lord. Listen to what he said. Now, grace and truth, grace and truth. Here's what he said.

Neither do I. That's grace. Go and sin no more. That's truth. He said, I don't condemn you either, but don't continue in this lifestyle because it's bad for you.

Don't do this. That's grace and truth. So the law is a mirror.

Here's number three. The law is a map. The law is a map.

It shows us which way to go if we want to have a good life, a joy-filled life. Psalm 119, verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. All through Psalm 119, it says your word, your laws, your precepts, your statutes, all saying, this is the roadmap. It would be like this. I'm reading the roadmap. I'm reading God's map, and I'm walking this way, but I'm looking at the map, and I get right here, and the map would say, stop, because there's a precipice there.

And then the map would say, turn right. Okay, now keep walking this way. You see what I'm saying? Adultery is a precipice. And God doesn't want you to fall off because you'll get hurt, your family will get hurt, your friends will get hurt, another family will get hurt, their friends will get hurt. That's why God says it. That's why God gives us a map.

So God's word is a map. If you want to know how to be married, it's in the book. If you want to know how to raise kids, it's in the book.

If you want to know how to run your business, it's in the book. God gives us a map of how to live a joy-filled life. Now listen to me. Here's how good Satan is.

He's turning it around. Satan has convinced many people, if you do something and it's fun, it must not be God. And God is saying, no, no, no, no. I'm telling you that living with the same woman for your entire life and loving her and laying your life down for her is the way you experience joy on this earth. Not going from person to person to person and heartache to heartache to heartache.

Welcome back. For those of you just tuning in, you're listening to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. If you've missed the first couple of messages in this amazing grace series, you can find them and many other resources online at pastorrobert.com. Well, Jenae, you know, there is so much in this message I want to talk about, but I particularly love what Pastor Robert said earlier, that the law reflects the parameters of God's desires, but it does not reflect the parameters of His love.

I mean, wow, right? I love that. The law is a moral mirror for how God wants us to live, but that doesn't put a boundary on God's love for us. He's the perfect good Father who shows us how to live and the way to go and still loves us when we mess up. I was lucky to have a great family around me growing up who often exemplified this kind of love and grace. Me too, and I am so grateful for that. Throughout this message, I'm also becoming more and more grateful for the law.

Me too. The law really is amazing. Well, let's jump back in one more time with Pastor Robert. Here's number four. The law is a measure. It's a measure.

This is number four. The law is a measure. It shows me how I'm doing, keeping the moral standards of God. Now, remember, remember, when we get saved, we're not married to the law anymore, we're married to Jesus, but remember, He says in the new covenant, I'm going to write my laws on their heart. So there's an internal compass that God gives me to be able to walk morally so I can enjoy this life, have a good life. So here's what the law does. The law keeps me in line. It helps me understand some of these things, again, through my relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Let me say it this way. Before I got saved, I was a liar. I was a liar, I lied, I told lies, okay? After I got saved, someone was asking me about something and I said to him, well, I have a problem with exaggeration. You know what God's word said to me? No, you have a problem with lying. Now, you need to understand that law keeping is not the measure of true spirituality, though.

Now, hear me clearly on this. Law keeping is not the measure of true spirituality. If law keeping had been the measure of true spirituality, then the Pharisees would have been the most spiritual. And here's what Jesus said to him. You look like a cemetery.

Pretty green grass and nice flowers, but you have dead men's bones on the inside. So there are people that haven't been saved long at all and don't even know some of the things that they shouldn't do, but they love God with all their heart. Now, they grow and they mature, but they don't know. I remember when I was associate pastor at Shady Grove Church, one of the things I did for part of the time was the young marriage ministry. And so we had this retreat and we had these young marriage and we were sitting around this campfire and we were telling our testimonies how we came to Christ. And there was a couple there had been saved three weeks.

They'd been saved three weeks, the husband and the wife. And in a minute, the guy said, ooh, ooh. He said, can I share my testimony? Can I share my testimony?

I said, yeah, share your testimony. He said, well, I grew up, said never went to church, didn't know God. And while he's talking, he reached in his pocket and he pulled his pack of cigarettes out. And he started packing. Now, if you don't know what this is, ask a former smoker.

But he's packing his tobacco. Then like he says, and I didn't know God. I didn't know one thing about God.

Then he pulled a cigarette out, started his mouth. Said, then I came a few weeks ago to church. He says, and I heard for the first time that Jesus died on the cross. I looked around.

You should have seen the church people's eyes. And one of them came to me after and said, Pastor Robert, are you going to tell him? Are you going to talk to him about smoking? You're going to talk to him?

And I said, you know what? I'm going to let the Holy Spirit talk to him about it. And I remember when I turned and walked away, I had this thought. I thought, well, what if the Holy Spirit doesn't talk to him?

And then I had this thought. Well, if the Holy Spirit doesn't talk to him, why would you talk to him then? He loved Jesus. He didn't know anything about your bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. He didn't know that yet.

And I'm not saying that we shouldn't help people grow and learn and mature. But let me say it another way, all right? I've given you four M's. You know, the law is a master, a mirror, a map.

You know, I've given you these M's, you know, a measure. I'm going to give you another M. It's not another point, but if you want to write it down, something that the law is not, the law is not a machete. It's not something that you used to hack up other people with. You know, you don't wear your hair right. Hack, hack, hack, hack.

You don't wear your makeup right. Hack, hack, hack. Or here's one that you don't believe like our church believes.

Hack, hack, hack. God never intended to be used that way. It's a measure. Helps me see how I'm doing, how I'm growing in my relationship with Christ. Okay, let me give you last illustration. I have a friend, Pastor Clark Whitten. And Pastor Clark tells this story that when he was in seminary in his ethics class, a class on ethics, okay? They took a test. And afterward, he said, now, the professor said, let's grade our test, but I don't want you to pass your test forward to me, and I don't want you to pass your test to another person.

I want you to grade your own test. And Pastor Clark thought, you know, being the brilliant person that I am, I know what he's thinking. He's thinking, okay, this is ethics, you know? And so he's gonna take our test up. He's gonna see if we graded our test correctly. And he's gonna hold up a few that didn't, as examples.

And he's gonna hold up a few that did, and mine will be one of those that did. And so he was very meticulous in his grading. The professor would say, now, if you got this part right, but you didn't say this, then you need to take half off. And so he did everything, just graded it just perfectly. And so at the end, he said, now, put your grade at the top of the test. He said, okay, everyone got your grade?

He said, okay. Now, he said, let's go to chapter two. Open your books, and let's go to chapter two. And one of the students said, wait a minute, what do you want us to do with our, you want us to pass our test forward?

What do you want us to do with our test? And the professor said, I don't care what you do with them. He said, let's go to chapter two. And they said, wait, wait, wait a minute. They said, if we don't pass our test in, how will you know how well we're doing?

And the professor said, oh, oh, I see where you come from. He said, this test, as all tests in life are, this test was not to show me how well you're doing. It's to show you how well you're doing.

Now, listen to me. The law is a test, but it's not to show God how well you're doing. It's not to show others how well you're doing. It shows you how well you're doing.

And I'm gonna take this a step further because of grace. Again, I'm gonna say a statement that might be shocking, okay, the law is the test that God does not grade for believers. Doesn't grade it. Here's the reason, because there are 613 questions. And here's what God says, okay, now I have a test.

There are 613 questions on it. Oh, and by the way, if you miss one question, you fail the test. You fail it, you get them all wrong. You get one wrong, that's what James 2 10 says. You get one wrong, you're guilty of all.

You miss them all. Now you can take that test if you want. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you this. You actually already have been taking the test and you've already failed.

Just so you know. You've already failed. Or I want you to know that my son took the test and he scored a perfect score. And if you'd like, you can have his grade. That's amazing grace. That's amazing grace. You can have his grade if you want. I love that. God's grace in replacing Jesus's test with mine is hitting me hard today.

I know I wouldn't get a passing grade on that test. Yeah, definitely not me neither. But I guess that's the point of the law, to show us how much we need Jesus and his grace, right? Well, we encourage you to take a moment and really listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you about this message. We're almost through this amazing grace series. So if you would like to get a copy of this message or any of the messages in this series, visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD.

You can get the complete eight part series for yourself or to share with a friend or family member. So be sure to visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. You can also follow Pastor Robert on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Next time, we're continuing this amazing grace series and Pastor Robert will be sharing more about whether our works matter. Thank you for listening and for your continued support for this ministry. We'll see you next time.