Use Of God's Law

    I Timothy 1:8, "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully." With reference to the Old Law, the Jews did not use it lawfully.  In verse 7 Paul states that some were teaching the Law even though they didn't understand what they were saying.  The Law was good but only if used in a lawful way.

    Today we are under the New Testament (Hebrews 8:7, 13; Col. 2:14).  The principle, however, is still the same.  An illustration has been given comparing God's law to that of a dentist's mirror.  With the dentist's little mirror the dentist is able to see cavities and other problems with a person's teeth.  But whatever problems the dentist finds he does not use the mirror to correct the problem.  If a tooth needs to be drilled, the dentist uses a drill and not the mirror.  The mirror reveals the problem but it can never repair it.

    God's law reveals the problem of sin.  It cannot, however, fix the problem.  The answer to the problem of sin is Jesus Christ.  He came down to this earth, lived a life of humility and service, and died a terribly cruel death on the cross so that we could have the opportunity of life eternal. I Peter 2:24, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." He bore our sins so we could have life.  He gave His life for us.  We can be saved by His suffering.  "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6).  He gave His life for us even though we didn't deserve it.  "...though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (II Corinthians 8:9).  He gave up the rich glory of heaven and came down to this earth.  We can now become rich in a spiritual sense because of the sacrifice that Jesus made.  Jesus is the answer to our problem.

    When we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ we are fixing our problem of sin.  Just studying the Bible and knowing what it says is not enough.  It takes action.  James said that we must be doers of the Word and not merely hearers only (James 1:22).  If you don't obey Christ, the gospel does you no good.  God has a specific use for His word.  It is the pattern for us to follow (Phil. 3:16; II Timothy 1:13).  Let us make for certain that it was not given to us  in vain.

                                                       --Shane Williams