I’m currently preaching through the book of I Timothy at my church.   A couple of Sundays ago we covered Paul’s initial charge to Timothy against false teachers.  Of the many things that he says the false teachers are getting wrong, perhaps the clearest is that they’re not using the law rightly (I Tim. 1:7).

But Paul says in I Tim. 1:8 that “we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.”  So how is the law to be used ‘lawfully?’  I suggest at least two ‘lawful’ functions of the law for us:

1. The law should show us our sin.
   →Paul says in Rom. 3:20 that “through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
2. The law should send us to the Savior.
   →The NASB says in Gal. 3:24 that “the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ.”

The complete sermon is available here for download.

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