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East Ridge SDA Church

Frank Fournier

Why the Law?

Blessing to be here, special blessing to see Sue and Shirley and Gwen.

Having completed a series of studies, it's a blessing to me to know that there are people out there who are really still interested.

Who want to know what God wants them to know, and who can make a total surrender of their hearts to Him.

I invite you to turn with me to Galatians chapter 3.

I suppose you've seen the title in your bulletins, Why the Law?

I don't know if it's an obsession with me or what, but I keep on studying the plan of salvation, trying to understand the law in relation to grace and faith and all of these things.

And I'm hoping always that the Lord will give us something to chew on.

A man by the name of John Bunyan, most of you know that he's the author of Pilgrim's Progress, wrote a little poem, I don't know if it was more than 1 stanza, but I know 1 stanza.

It's right here in my notes, it says this, and he's writing, Run John, run!

The law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings, it bids me fly and gives me wings.

I read that this week and I thought, oh, I just got to recite this thing, although I had to read it, it wasn't exactly a recitation.

The law demands obedience, but there isn't much the law can do, can't even lift a little finger to help us to keep the law.

The gospel on the other hand promises a Savior and the Savior that it promises can save us from our sins.

There is power in the Savior that the gospel presents to us And so we need to focus on the Savior and on the promise and on the gospel what God has given to us.

I had you turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3, we're looking at verse 19 interestingly enough that question is asked right there in Galatians chapter 3, we're looking at verse 19 wherefore, that is why then, serveth the law?

And it answers, this is Paul answering the question that he asks, it was added because of transgression.

The law was added and that's the answer to the question why the law?

And it was added and the question is to what was it added and why was it added?

Now certainly it was not added to save us.

Well, that's kind of a strange thing to say for sure everything that God has done is for the purpose of driving us driving us in the direction of finding salvation but you cannot be saved by the Law.

For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more a promise.

And by extension, we can ask the question, how are you and I going to be saved?

And when we think of promises, who is it that fulfills the promise?

Is it the 1 who has made the promise or the 1 who is the recipient of the promise?

Now it's true that when there is a promise, sometimes there are conditions to the promise, conditions that need to be met, but in the end it's still the 1 who makes the promise that has to fulfill the promise that he has made.

You may have little children and you may promise to bring them to the corner store for an ice cream cone the little child may be 3 years old, he doesn't have a penny to his name he has no way to get to the store there's nothing he can do about getting that ice cream cone except fulfill the promise, I mean fulfill the condition and the condition may be you need to straighten out your room.

You go and straighten out your room and if you straighten out your room, I'll get you an ice cream cone.

In the end, that child cannot fulfill that promise himself.

He's got no money, he's got no way to the store, and just got no way to fulfill the promise.

You still have to fulfill the promise because you made the promise.

And it's the same thing as far as the plan of salvation is concerned.

I don't know if you realize how impossible this thing is.

And I hope that by the time we're done this morning, we're going to see.

And I'm sure that many times as I have spoken here, that I have...

Don't we know that it's impossible to save ourselves?

Yeah, it's amazing to me that in spite of knowing that it's impossible, there are many of us, myself included, that works on keeping the law so I can be saved.

Now we've already seen and I don't know if we read all the way here.

Wherefore then serveth the law, it was added because of transgression.

And so we know that it was added to something.

So let's see how this thing plays itself out.

Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 5 Deuteronomy chapter 5 we're looking at verses 1 to 6 in Deuteronomy chapter 5 Moses called all of Israel and said to them, Hear O Israel the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day that you may learn them and keep and do them.

And the Lord the Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb." Now the word Horeb here is where Sinai is So he's talking about Sinai when it says Horab.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horab.

So You need to realize that what we're talking about is post-Sinai, post-Ten Commandments.

Now I want you to notice what it says in verse 3.

"...the Lord made not this covenant with our fathers..." Did you catch that?

"...but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.

I stood between the Lord and you at the time to show you the word of the Lord for you were afraid by reason of the fire and went not up into the mount saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and so what I want us to focus on right here is what we read at the beginning of verse 3, the Lord made not this covenant with our fathers.

So here we have God making a covenant with the children of Israel that is different from the covenant that he made beforehand, before before Sinai, before with that he was making now with the children of Israel.

Well it's not hard to understand, to know the covenant, because if you go to verse 7 all the way to verse 21 all he does there is recite the 10 Commandments all over again.

They get to Sinai and when they get to Sinai the Law is what?

Look at verse 22, I think you can see it there very carefully, very easily.

These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire of the cloud and the thick darkness with a great voice and he added no more...

And he wrote them on 2 tables of stone and delivered them unto thee And so clearly we see here that what was added was the 10 Commandments and it was added to the covenant that God had made with our fathers before.

Why were the 10 Commandments added to the covenant that God made with Abraham?

Well, because, if we can go back and we will read that further on, but I can recite this thing, It says in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

God did not have to add the 10 Commandments to the covenant that he made with Abraham because Abraham believed God and it was added unto him for righteousness.

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Why the Law?

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