The Purpose of the Law

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

The other day I stopped by the YMCA in downtown Nashville. I usually visit there maybe once a month, so I have never purchase the monthly parking pass for eight dollars. I usually try to find a place along the road and fill the parking meter with change to rent the parking space for about an hour. As I got out of the truck, I noticed the parking meter was flashing. I inserted a couple of dollars worth of coins to buy an hour of parking time. For every quarter, you can buy ten minutes. A dime will buy four minutes and a nickel two minutes. I had accumulated one hour and four minutes on the meter. I knew I had one solid hour to work out and get back to the truck in the allotted time.

When I went into the facility, I kept my eye on the clock as the minutes passed. After working out on the cardio machine, I went to the free weights and did a few reps. As time slowly passed, I realized I had about ten to fifteen minutes left to get to my truck. I went to the locker room, changed, and grabbed my bag to return to the truck in much relief knowing I had exercised for the day.

As soon as I exited through the front doors, I saw a man standing beside my truck. He was dressed in blue, had a badge, and had arrived there in a golf cart with a flashing light. He was hired by Metro to parole the parking meters across town. I ran to my truck and asked him what the problem was. He said he was writing me a ticket for a parking violation. I told him that could not be possible. I had purchased the time, and I had kept up with it while working out. Even if the meter was flashing it could have only been doing so for two to four minutes which was the equivalent to a nickel or dime.

Immediately, I tried to explain my case to him. I tried to explain that I had arrived one hour prior and put my money in the meter. I was not trying to be dishonest. I even had a witness who was patrolling the YMCA parking garage. I had asked to get change from him for a dollar. He watched the scene unfold. I pleaded for grace, and he told me he was only doing his job. He said he drove up, saw the meter flashing, and began writing the ticket for one hundred times greater than the actual time would have cost me (one dime compared to $11 for parking violation.) If effect, he said the law is the law and is no respecter of persons. I tried to talk with the law and negotiate, but he said, “Sorry boss, you will have to take that up with the Davidson County Court system if you want to contest this.”

I was stuck with a fine in my hand, a flashing meter, and a witness who could only testify to my effort to keep the law. The law is the law and my time had run out in his eyes. I was a little angry, disgusted, and silenced as my mind thought of a thousand ways to justify myself (the meter was wrong, the clocks were not in sync in the YMCA, someone held me up, etc). Romans 3:19 says, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” I could contest it, but I knew I was guilty. He saw what he saw, and my plea for grace would not work with the law. The law had to be fulfilled, and I had no plea.

Let me remind you briefly, the law is the schoolmaster that points us to the only One who has dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” of the law’s demand—Jesus Christ. Oh, what a Savior who would take upon my sin and your sin and bear it alone at the cross of Calvary. He died to bear the wrathful consequences of billions of offenses against the Righteous Judge in the high court of heaven. He died to uphold God’s justice and to enable believers in Jesus to be justified in His sight.

My hope today is that you are not depending on your own goodness or works in the eyes of men to get you into heaven. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Men and women of this earth will not be given the opportunity to testify to God on your behalf about the good deeds you may have done. Your goodness is not enough. God’s verdict already stands. Romans 3:10 says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” If you haven’t already received pardon, grace, and forgiveness, run to Christ before your time runs out. You do not want to face the Lawgiver and Judge of the whole earth without a plea.

Dear believer, do you remember the day the law tracked you down? Do you remember when your heart was racing and you knew of your guilt? Do you remember when you felt the drawing power of the Holy Spirit who convicted you of sin, opened your eyes to Christ, and enabled you to say Abba Father with a heart full of peace? Do you remember the hour you first believed? The law fulfilled its purpose and gospel of Jesus Christ became the greatest message and love story you had ever heard. Now, God is with you both now and forevermore. Rejoice and be thankful!

Resistance Training

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Have you ever seen anything implemented in your life and begin to make a change? I can remember one of the first times that my basketball coach told the team to run down to a nearby graveyard and back. It was less than a mile down the road and was part of our conditioning. It seemed like 10 miles in those days, because my lungs and heart were not in that good of shape. After a while, I could tell the changes that were taking place in my body and I was actually becoming healthier and faster. What used to be a dread became a delight, because I was able to sense the freedom of running like the wind.

Change is often difficult to overcome in our lives. We can get set in our ways, cold, and indifferent. We had rather sit still and enjoy the same patterns that we have always been in. When it comes to the Gospel, we are always subject to change. The Gospel can not set idle in our lives. It will impact us and tear down every comfortable wall we have in our hearts when the Holy Spirit implants the engrafted Word and begins a work in our heart. When God begins a work in our heart, we repent and change according to His will. Actually, true salvation is a miracle of change where a dead man who is lost in sin is quickened and made alive in Christ. The Gospel has power and permeates every aspect of our lives.

While helping in revival services this past week, I watched the Gospel have it affect on many hearts. There was a 13-year old boy who heard the truth last Monday and came quickly to the altar of prayer. Within 15 minutes, Jesus saved his soul, and he said his burden of sin and condemnation had gone away. The boy who came into the church with his head down and little to say left with a smile and joy in his heart, because his sins were forgiven. The young girls and boys who played outside noticed the change immediately saying, “He’s acting like a different person!” God’s grace, mercy and peace will make a person a new creation.

The second situation that occurred was between two men who used to be at odds against each other on the streets. One of the men had been saved and called into the ministry. He was full of the Spirit as he testified to what God had been doing in his life. He had only preached a few times, and he said that in many pulpits, he felt like he was being judged by his past. He said many in the congregation didn’t seem to appreciate what God had done in his life, because they couldn’t see past the old person he used to be. He emphatically said that the old man that he once was dead, because Christ had saved his soul. The song leader, formerly being an investigator, was blessed to see God’s work and reminded him that he used to be after him while creating havoc in the streets. God’s grace had reached into his life and changed him from the inside out. After this testimony, a man in his 30s stood up in the back of the church and confessed that he used to despise the man. Apparently, they had confrontations on the street. He openly asked forgiveness from the Lord and the man who at he had been at odds with. Without hesitation, they met each other in the middle of the aisle, embraced, and were reconciled through the power of the Gospel.

How is the Gospel of Jesus Christ impacting your life today? Is there anything different in your life in comparison to the rest of the world? The Gospel of grace is life-changing. I do not mean that it changes your life once and you are saved and done. Salvation begins at a point in your life when you repent, have faith in Christ, and are declared righteous on the merits of Christ alone. Many think this is the beginning and end. However, this is only the starting point of everlasting life. At this point, you begin to life! You will not be able to walk close to Jesus and not be changed. How long has it been since you felt the pains of change? When I starting running to be conditioned to play basketball, everything in me wanted to rebel and quit. I had been used to walking. Sometimes, the Lord wants to take us to the next level through discipline that we may be able to run the race that is set before us more effectively!