God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life

Chapter 5 Making Grace Amazing From the moment of my conversion, I have been vainly trying to find words to describe the insanity of a dying world rejecting God's gift of everlasting life. In a sense, man has a God-shaped hole in his head. It is only when the Holy Spirit rushes in that we receive a sound mind. We insanely run at hell as though it were heaven, and reject heaven as though it were hell itself. I am eternally thankful to God for His amazing grace, which reached down one dark night in 1972 and saved a wretch like me. We long for others to have that same thankfulness, but unbelievers cannot comprehend God's grace until they recognize their guilt. As John MacArthur noted, God's grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until the law is preached and man's corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God's grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God's law. In Romans 5.20, Paul explains further why God's law entered the scene. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. When sin abounds, grace abounds much more according to Scripture. The thing that makes sin abound is the law. Again, we can see the work of God's law illustrated in civil law. Watch what happens on a freeway when there's no visible sign of law enforcement. See how motorists exceed the speed limit. It would seem that each speeder thinks to himself that the law has forgotten to patrol his part of the freeway. He's transgressing the law only by 15 miles an hour, and besides, he isn't the only one that's doing it. Notice, however, what happens when the law enters the fast lane with red lights flashing. The speedster's heart misses a beat. He's no longer secure in the fact that other motorists are also speeding. He knows that he is personally guilty, and he could be the one the officer pulls over. Suddenly, his mere 15 miles per hour transgression doesn't seem such a small thing after all. It seems to abound. Look at the freeway of sin. The whole world naturally goes with the flow. Who hasn't had a lustful thought at one time or another? Who in today's society doesn't tell the occasional white lie? Who hasn't taken something that belongs to someone else, even if it's just a white-collar crime? They know they're doing wrong, but their security lies in the fact that so many others are just as guilty, if not more so. It seems that God has forgotten all about sin in the Ten Commandments. The sinner has said in his heart, God has forgotten. He hides his face. He'll never see. Psalm 10 verse 11. Now watch the law enter with red lights flashing. The sinner's heart skips a beat. He examines the speed armor of his conscience. Suddenly, it shows him the measure of his guilt in a new light, the light of the law. His sense of security in the fact there are multitudes doing the same thing becomes irrelevant because every man will give an account of himself to God. Sin not only becomes personal, it seems to abound. The law shows him that his mere lust becomes adultery of the heart. His white lie becomes false witness. His own way becomes rebellion in violation of the first commandment. His hatred becomes murder in God's sight. His sticky fingers make him a thief. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Without the entrance of the law, sin is neither personal nor is it a threat. For without the law, sin is dead. The sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing. Romans 7 verse 8 from the Amplified Bible. It is the commandment that shows sin in its true light, that it is exceedingly sinful. The guilty sinner places his hand on his mouth with nothing to say in his defense. As he understands the seriousness of his sins in God's eyes, he now sees his need of the Savior. In Galatians 3 24 we read, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. God's law acts as a schoolmaster or tutor to bring us to Jesus Christ that we can be justified through faith in his blood. As John R Stott said, quote, we cannot come to Christ to be justified until we've first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we've gone to Moses and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ. End of quote. The law doesn't help us, it leaves us helpless. It doesn't justify us, it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a holy God. The tragedy is that just over a hundred years ago when the church forsook the law and its capacity to bring the knowledge of sin and drive sinners to Christ, it therefore had to find another reason for sinners to respond to the gospel. Modern evangelism chose to attract sinners using the issue of life enhancement. The gospel degenerated into Jesus Christ will give you peace, love, joy, and fulfillment with lasting happiness. To Martin Lloyd-Jones, one of the most influential preachers of the 20th century, this is not evangelism at all. Quote, there is no true evangelism without the doctrine of sin and without an understanding of what sin is. I do not want to be unfair, but I say that a gospel which merely says come to Jesus and offers him as a friend and offers a marvelous new life without convicting of sin is not New Testament evangelism. The essence of evangelism is to start by preaching the law, and it is because the law has not been preached that we have had so much superficial evangelism. True evangelism must always start by preaching the law. End of quote. Sadly, we've moved away from true evangelism by preaching a gospel of grace without first convincing men that that transgresses. Consequently, many people I witness to claim to have been born again three or four times, so that statements like this are commonplace. I got saved when I was six, and then again at 12, and then I fell away and got into some real bad stuff and came back to the Lord when I was 23. It's very apparent that the person is not a Christian. He admits to being a fornicator, a liar, a blasphemer, has no sense of the things of God, but he thinks he's saved because he's been born again. He's using the grace of our God for an occasion of the flesh. For him, it's not a bad thing to trample the blood of Christ underfoot. Why? Because he's never been convinced of the disease of sin that he might appreciate the cure of the gospel. According to Paris Readhead, quote, we have gospel-hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding why they need to be saved. End of quote. Readhead simply believed that we should not prescribe a cure before we have convinced of the disease. He was not alone in this thought. D.L. Moody states, quote, it is a great mistake to give a man who has not been convicted of sin certain passages that were never meant for him. The law is what he needs. Do not offer the consolation of the gospel until he sees and knows he's guilty before God. We must give enough of the law to take away all self-righteousness. I pity the man who preaches only one side of the truth, always the gospel and never the law. End of quote. When we set aside the law of God and its designed function to convert the soul, we removed the very means by which sinners are able to see the need for God's forgiveness. Matthew Henry stated, quote, as that which is straight discovers that which is crooked, as the looking glass shows us our natural face with its spots and deformities, so there is no way of coming to the knowledge of sin which is necessary to repentance and consequently to peace and pardon, but by comparing our hearts and lives with the law. End of quote. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, noted, the man who does not know the nature of the law cannot know the nature of sin. What sin are you talking about? When David sinned with Bathsheba, he broke every one of the ten commandments, coveted his neighbor's wife, he lived a lie, stole her, committed adultery, murdered her husband, dishonored his parents, and thus broke the remaining four commandments in reference to his relationship with God. So the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to reprove him. There is great significance in the order in which the reproof came. Nathan gave David, the shepherd of Israel, a parable about something he could understand, sheep. Nathan began with a natural realm rather than immediately exposing the king's sin. He told a story about a rich man who, instead of taking a sheep from his own flock, killed a poor man's pet lamb to feed a hungry stranger. David was indignant and sat up on his high throne of self-righteousness. He revealed his knowledge of the law by saying that the guilty party should restore fourfold for the lamb and should die for his crime. Nathan then exposed the king's sin of taking another man's lamb, saying, You are the man! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? When David cried, I have sinned against the Lord, the prophet then gave him grace and said, The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. Imagine if Nathan, fearful of rejection, decided to change things around a little and added a few of his own thoughts. Instead, he says to the king, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. However, there's something that's keeping you from enjoying this wonderful plan. It's called sin. Imagine if he had glossed over the personal nature of David's general reference to all men having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. David's reaction might have been, What sin are you talking about? Rather than to admit his terrible transgression, think of it. Why should he say I have sinned against the Lord after hearing that message? Instead, in a sincere desire to experience this wonderful plan, he might have admitted that he, like all men, had sinned and fallen short of God's glory. If David had not been made to tremble under the wrath of the law, the prophet would have removed the very means of producing godly sorrow which is so necessary for David's repentance. It is conviction of sin that causes godly sorrow, and godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation. It was the weight of David's personal guilt that caused him to cry out, I have sinned against the Lord. The law caused him to labor and become heavy laden and made him hunger and thirst for righteousness and enlightened him about the serious nature of sin as far as God was concerned. In today's gospel, Authentic or Synthetic, Walter Chantry writes, It is imperative that preachers of today learn how to declare the spiritual law of God, for until we learn how to wound consciences, we shall have no wounds to bind with gospel bandages. George Whitefield, possibly the most famous religious figure of the 18th century, understood the necessity of presenting the law before the gospel. He said, First then, before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must be made to see, made to feel, made to weep over, made to bewail your actual transgressions against the law of God. When Nathan brought the good news that David wouldn't die, that God had put away his sin, do you think the guilty king was relieved? Do you think he was grateful to God for his mercy? I think he would have been unspeakably grateful. What do you think would have made him appreciate that mercy? Wouldn't it have been the fact that he, in the light of Nathan's rebuke, suddenly saw the reality of his guilt? The more David understood his personal guilt before God, the more he appreciated free mercy. If he'd been left to thinking lightly of sin, he would have thought lightly of God's mercy. That's why it's essential to expound the law, the sinner, and to make him feel his personal guilt. The sinner has sinned against God by violating his law a multitude of times, and he's an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works. The reality is that God is angry with the wicked every day, and that God's wrath abides on him. With each transgression, sinners are treasuring up for themselves wrath that'll be revealed on the day of wrath. Perhaps you're tempted to say that we should never condemn sinners by using the law. However, Scripture tells us they're already condemned. He who does not believe is condemned already. John 3 verse 18. All the law does is show them their true state. If you dust a table in your living room and think it's dust free, try pulling back the curtains and letting in the early morning sunlight. You'll more than likely see dust still on the table. The sunlight didn't create the dust, it merely exposed it. When we take the time to draw back the high and heavy curtains of the holy of holies and let the light of God's law shine upon a sinner's heart, the law merely shows him his true state before God. Proverbs 6 23 tells us the commandment is a lamp and the law is light. As the sinner sits as king on the throne of self-righteousness, deceived by sin, you ought to be a Nathan to him and say, you are the man. The more understanding he has of his sin, the more he'll appreciate the mercy of the cross. If men do not understand the law, explains Charles Spurgeon, they'll not feel that they're sinners, and if they're not consciously sinners, they'll never value the sin offering. There is no healing a man till the law has wounded him, no making him alive till the law has slain him. After Kirk Cameron first heard this teaching on the use of the law, he sent me the following email, quote, Ray, I was so fired up after leaving your place. Your teachings on the law and grace have made more sense to me than anyone else's, and I'm so thankful for what God is doing. I believe I was robbed of the deep pain of seeing the depth of my sinfulness, of experiencing the exceeding joy and gratitude that comes from the cross, because I was convinced of God's love before I was convinced of my sin. I didn't see the big problem, but by faith, believed that I was a sinner, many worse than me, but nevertheless a sinner, and repented of my general sinful selfish attitude. I never opened up the ten commandments and looked deep into the well of my own sinful heart. I never imagined that God was actually angry with me at a certain point because of my sin. Because of grace, I kind of skipped over that part and was just thankful that he loved me and had promised me everlasting life. While I think I was saved 13 years ago, I was rocked out of my chair last night, on my knees confessing the specific sins that had plagued my heart and that had never been uncovered before. I think my knowledge of the new covenant and under grace not law kept me from examining my own heart in the light of the ten commandments. The new weight of my sin is causing more pain to me, wounding my ego, and showing me how much more Jesus had to pay to set me free. Oh, the wonderful cross! End of quote. The lawless message that God has a wonderful plan for your life doesn't cause the sinner to tremble and cry out of sin against God. Though they may acknowledge that, like all men, they fall short of the glory of God, it doesn't show them the serious nature of their personal transgression. Consequently, the depth of their sorrow is in proportion to their shallow understanding of the seriousness of their sin. They do not experience a godly sorrow that's necessary for repentance. However, when we help sinners see the depth of their sin in the light of the perfect law, it makes God's grace truly amazing. Paradoxical as it may seem, the law makes grace abound in the same way that darkness makes light shine. It was John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace, who said, Ignorance of the nature and design of the law is at the bottom of most religious mistakes, warning that a wrong understanding of the harmony between law and grace would produce, quote, error on the left and on the right hand. I don't know whether any of us could claim to have a better understanding of grace than the one who penned such a hymn. What I'm saying is not some new doctrine. The use of the law and evangelism is rooted both in scripture and in church history. The enemy has hidden it, and that has created havoc within Christendom. In Striking Incidents of Saving Grace, Henry Breeden tells of a preacher in Colliery, England, who saw a number of conversions take place under his ministry. Then in 1861, a stranger passed through and conducted meetings in which, quote, there were great numbers of persons who professed faith in Jesus. The preacher then recounts the sad effects, quote, but many of them were, in a short time, gone back again into the world. Indeed, so complete was the failure that that minister who succeeded me in the circuit said, quote, there was not one single person out of about 90 who professed to obtain religion through that man's services. They continued to be a member of the Corollary Church. I had observed the same sort of thing before in regard to the efforts of such like persons in other places, and therefore I was very desirous to find out what was the cause of such failures. I was sure that the persons said to be brought in under my ministry had nearly all of them held on to their way and were then members, either in the church above or in the church below. So I set myself calmly to consider the whole affair. In doing so, I soon found that the preaching that does not address the sinner's conscience and does not strive to break the unconverted spirit down by enforcing the law of God scarcely ever leads to salvation of a soul. And these men scarcely ever preach the law. Yes, that is it, and nothing else, quote, by the law is the knowledge of sin. Let a minister get that important sentiment burned into his very soul by the light and flaming love of God, and then let him go forth and preach the truth as it is in Jesus, and many, many precious souls will soon be saved. But let him omit preaching the law and whatever else he may do, for he can accomplish many great things, yet under that man's ministry conversions will be scarce, end of quote. I couldn't give a heartier amen to that conclusion. Yes, that is it, and nothing else, by the law is the knowledge of sin. This teaching is so foundational, and yet we've failed to see its simple truth. In the next chapter, we're going to look at the importance of a sinner's motive in responding to the gospel.