1 Timothy 1:8-10 "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for……."

When I was a kid, the house I grew up in had a back yard with a fence around it. It was really cool to climb over that fence to get around the neighborhood. I'd save a few minutes just by running and putting both hands on top of the fence and catapulting over to the other side. Key words…"when I was a kid"!

I want you to get this today from 1 Timothy 1:8-10. THE LAW IS NOT FOR YOU, THE BELIEVER! You've been made righteous in Christ. The law is not applicable to someone who is under grace. The law is for unrighteous people, unbelievers who have not yet received Jesus. Its purpose is to bring them to the end of themselves and to help them realize that they need a Savior.

Paul makes this clear in Galatians 3:24-25, "therefore the law is our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." The law shows unbelievers that, in and of themselves, they will never be able to reach God's perfect standards. The law leads people to depend on Jesus, who justifies and makes us righteous through the finished work of the cross!

I am all for the law, but only for the reason God gave the law, to point us to Jesus. The law was never designed for man to keep, but to bring us where we belong…on the side of the fence that is safe, blessed, prosperous, and effortless…the side of grace.