What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the words law and grace
Law and grace. Now, if you ask people, or most people, they believe that these things, or the law and grace, could not coexist together
It's either you will live under the law or you will live under grace
So most people would easily say that, oh, we don't have to live under God's law
have to keep the Sabbath. We don't have to keep the food law, the appointed times of God
We don't have to. We only have to love each other because all we need is love. All we need is the grace of God and we can be saved
So most people, the prevalent thinking of most Christians today is that you are only, you only have to love God and then you don't have to follow this loss
anymore. All right. So, there is one particular passage in the Bible that seems to support this
And if you're going through this passage, at first glance, it looks confusing, all right
It looks confusing because the writer says that the law is good, and then he would explain that it is not
So in the first glance, it's kind of confusing. and he's making a contradiction out of his writings
So some people would go to his letters, actually most of his letters
some people would use his letters to say or support the teaching that God's law has already been done away
Now this is a huge topic, but I just want to focus in this one particular passage found in Romans chapter 7, verse 7
Right? Romans 7 verse 7 Let's just go through it very quickly so that
we could see what my point here that most people would kind of
be confused and use this passage to support their teaching Right, let's go there
Actually this is Roman 7 from verse 7 to 12 What shall we say then
Is the law seen? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not
have known sin except through the law for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said
You shall not covet. Verse 8. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire
For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law
So Paul was saying, I'm alive when there was no law. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died
And the commandment which was to bring life, it was supposed to give life, I found to bring death
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me
Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good
Can you get see, brethren? That it seems that the apostle Paul was saying that the law is not seen
and then at the middle of this passage is saying that, It is causing him to sin, it has caused him death
And then in verse 12, he would go on to say, therefore the law is holy, the commandant holy and just in good
So it's kind of confusing at first. So I want us to go through this verse and look it up and see what the apostle longueau really have to say about the law
And then later we will see the role that grace have to do with our salvation
So let's go to the first message here. verse. It says, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? So apparently, the apostle
poll has been accused by some people that he was saying that, oh, in your teaching, you are
saying that the law is sin. All right? So he is addressing now this issue. So he said
certainly not. Actually, this is an expression that expresses the highest, I would say that
the highest no all right You know what saying Certainly not On the contrary I would not have known sin except through the law So this is the purpose of the law for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said you shall not covet
So do you know what's the purpose of the law, brethren? The purpose of the law is to define what sin is
He was saying that I would have not known that I have seen already if I have not known what the
the law said. Okay? So the Apostle Paul is telling us that the law shows us what sin is
It tells us what is good and evil. And it tells us which way to go. It guides us, it teaches
how to behave, and it helps us to understand how we better live this life. All right. So
in essence, brethren, naturally, when you look in, when you look a newborn child and the
that child grows up, he naturally doesn't know God's law. Have you heard of a child saying that, oh, Daddy, we should go to the Sabbath service when it's Sabbath
No. Oh, Daddy, you cannot eat pork. You cannot do that. You cannot do this because they don't naturally know God's law
So the law was introduced so that we would understand what law is
All right? So let's continue. so that is the purpose of the law that's and the apostle poll used covetousness as an example he said i would have not known
that covetousness is a sin if i if i didn't read the ten commandments or one of the ten commandments
and then he said here in verse verse eight but sin taking opportunity by the commandment produced in me
all manner of evil desire for apart from the law sin was dead
so if you're looking to the verse 8 here brethren he's saying that
sin is taking advantage of the law and because of the law
plus because of the law and sin it produces in him all manner of evil
desire how is it possible brethren that sin uses the law for
the apostle pool to produce evil desire. Is the apostle telling us that the law causes him to have this evil desires in him
Is that what he's saying? Of course not, brethren. What is saying is that human beings have the
natural tendency to rebel against God's law. If you look into, if you jump into verse 15 to 20
of the same chapter, you will see here, the Apostle Paul is describing his struggle in doing
what God wants to do and what his carnal mother, carnal flesh, wants him to do
Look at here. Verse 15. For what I am doing, I do not understand
For what I will to do, I do not practice. But what I hate that I do
If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that is good
But now it is no longer I who do it, but seeing that dwells in me
for I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells
for to wills present with me but how to perform what is good I do
not find for the good that I will do I do not do
but the evil I will not to do that I practice so if you go to
Romans 8 for 7 brethren Romans 8 verse 7 says because the carnal mind
is enmity against God it is not subject to the law of God
nor indeed can be. Did you see that, brethren? So the apostle Paul was saying here that when he said
but sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire
He was saying that we have that natural tendency to break God's law
The mere fact that the law exists, he has this evil desire already
Have you experienced that, brethren? There's, let's say, speed limit, all right
There was a time that there no speed limit in let say in diversion road Okay When that speed limit was put there you have this natural tendency to break that speed limit
The mere fact that there's a law, you want to suddenly want to break it
Right? If you say, oh, what, quiet time, 10 a.m. The mere fact that is 10 p.m., sorry, that is 10 a.m
10 p.m. the mere fact that there's a law or there's a rule that it should be 10 p.m., you suddenly want to break it
That's how the carnal mind works. That's why the apostle, Paul, was saying that when he was introduced to the law, he suddenly had this desire to break it
Because, you know, he wants to break it because that's the cardinal mind
The Bible says that the cardinal mind is enmity. it is naturally hostile galit
caooy, a yahu no God's law so we should not be surprised
that a lot of people don't want God's law anymore they just want
to love grace that okay so this is what the Apostle Paul
was saying and he added for apart from the law sin was dead
what I mean said that he was saying that There was no law, there was no sin
When there's no law, there's nothing to break. But when no, there's no law, then there is sin
Sin is alive. There is now a possibility that he is going to break that law and he will commit sin
So that is what the apostle was saying. And then in verse 9, here
Some people use this as a way to say that God's law is evil and it should not be
should be cast away. That's why it's done away with by Christ. He was said in verse 9, he wrote
I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin divide, and I died
So, I reading this verse, he was saying that, okay now I was alive
No, no, no, no, no, no longer than law, okay now I. But when the commandment came
that bujah you sin and I died you know why because a lot of people think
just like the apostle Paul before he came to know Christ he was thinking that
he was a righteous man he was a good man he was persecuting the Christians
and he was thinking that he was doing God of favor that he was serving God
by killing all these Christians so when he knew the commandment through Christ
he suddenly understood that there was sin and that sin was revived
Let me just give you an ogy, okay, so that you would better understand this. There was this person who has this yearly check-up to the doctor, okay
So before going to the doctor, this person feels alive. I feel healthy, I feel good, I could not feel better in my entire life
but when he came down he came down to and he saw the result
the doctor found that he has a silent disease and because of that the doctor
said you have only a few years to live did you see that brother
all of a sudden the person feel dead mummatine now I'm a long
a long time now so once the examination result came in that's when he
found out that he's actually a sinner. So this is what is happening to Paul, that he is finding out that through the law
he slowly or he immediately see the many sins that he is committing
So that is what he was saying here. And first said, and the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death
Of course, if you are going to keep the commandments, it will bring life
It will help you to live a blessed and fulfilling life. But if we're going to break it, then there's death
It will bring the death penalty. In verse 11 for sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it killed me How does sin deceive you brethren A lot of ways Sin will tell you that it is okay to break God law
It would try to deceive you by the wealth of this world
And yet it would lead to misery. It will tell you that the sin is very, it's okay
But at the end, it would be destruction. That's how sin could deceive and kill you
And that's why in verse 12, brethren, the apostle Paul was like, just in case you didn't understand, let me conclude this with these words
Therefore, the law is holy and the commandment, holy and just and good
Does that sound like a person who wants to do away with God's law
I don't think so, brethren. So he was saying that, yes, The law would introduce you what sin is, what sin is, but at the end it is holy, it is just and good
You know what, brethren? The fault is not in the law. The fault is in us, human beings, because of our failure to keep it
Now, the law can show us what sin is, but it doesn't have the power to deliver us from sin
that's where grace comes in did you understand that brethren the law can only tell you
what is right and good but it doesn't have the power to change your heart
it doesn't have the power to change your behavior that's where grace comes in
alright so grace fill in what the law could not do and because of grace
brethren we are given the chance to repent of our sins and to do better with our lives
Let's go to our final scripture here. Efficient 2, verse 8 to 9
Efficient 2 verse 8 to 9. Sadly, this verse is being abused by a lot of people
but this is actually a very beautiful verse, brethren. Efficient 2 verse 8 to 9
For by grace, you have been saved by... For by grace you have been saved through faith
and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works
lest anyone should boast. You see, brethren, the law cannot save you
Even if you keep the law perfectly from this day up to the end of your life, which is impossible
you cannot undo your past sins in your life. So you need a savior
who needs to pay the penalty of sin, which is death. And you see, brethren
I don't know about you, but every time I think of God's grace, it just amazes me
God's grace is so incredible that because of God knows me inside it out, he knows how sinful
I am, how wretched I am and yet he chose me to be part
of his church. Did you see that, brethren? Even though we are
sinful, we are carnal, God still gave us the chance to be part of
his kingdom. And because of God, because of his grace toward us, we need to extend
the same grace to other people. We need to be more patient and more forgiving to one another
because of God's grace toward us. If we're not patawed our God's
Godin, how much more can we need to forgive one another? So that brethren is the role of law and grace
in our salvation. They don't contradict each other, but grace is there to fulfill what the law
cannot do. All right? So I hope, brethren, that you now have a better understanding of what law
what law is based on post-explanation and the amazing role of grace in our salvation
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