The Purpose of the Law

March 25, 2018

Pastor Timothy Lee

In our passage this week, Paul continues to address Timothy concerning the false teachers in the church, and we see a glimpse of the nature at what these false teachers were teaching: that right standing before God could be attained through the keeping of the law. Paul writes to affirm the message of the gospel, that the law is not to be used that way. According to Paul, the law does two things: 1) reveals our sin (1:8-13a), but 2) highlights the depths of God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus (1:13a-16). This is the teaching that the church is to be built upon, and that we are to guard. This is the gospel, that it is not by the keeping of the law that we are saved, but by the grace, mercy, and perfect patience of Christ Jesus. The ultimate purpose of the Law is to reveal the need for our Savior.