Believing Jesus Why Legalism is so Sinful
Ben Arbour did us all a great service transcribing these great words by Dr. Piper. Thank you Ben. This concept is extremely key. Ben is writing some great stuff over there, so please check him out. Here are Dr. Piper’s words. I am not blockquoting it to make it easier to read.
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If You Want to Love, You Must Die to the Law
If you want to be a loving person, the way to pursue it is to die to the Law and to pursue a vital, all-satisfying union with Christ. Romans 7:4 says, You also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. Notice the exchange: die to the law and belong to the one who was raised from the dead, that is, Jesus. This leads, Paul says, to bearing fruit for God. And the preeminent fruit of the Christians life is love. Therefore the key to love is to die to the law and embrace Jesus Christ by faith as the Savior and Treasure of your life.
But this does not mean that the Law aimed at something other than love, Romans 13:10 says, Love is the fulfillment of the law (NASB). So it seems that death to the Law means something like: Stop using the Law unlawfully. Thats the way Paul talks in 1 Timothy 1. There are folks who want to be teachers of the Law but they do not understandwhat they are saying (verse 7). What are they doing wrong?
Paul explains in 1 Timothy 1:5 that the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and good conscience and a sincere faith. So Pauls gospel ministry aims at the fruit of love. People who love from sincere faith are in sync with the gospel.
Where does this love come from? He says it comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. In other words, the way to pursue love is by focusing on the transformation of the heart and the conscience and the awakening and strengthening of faith. Love is not pursued first or decisively by focusing on a list of behavioral commandments and striving to conform to them. That is what we must die to.
Then in 1 Timohty 1:6-7, Paul describes some men who dont understand this and yet are trying to use the Law for moral transformation. They are making a mess of it. He says, Some men, straying from these things [that is, from heart, the conscience, and faith], have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understandwhat they are saying. So their error is a misuse of the Law. They are trying to teach the Law, but they are turning aside from matter of the heart and conscience and faith. And so they are not arriving at love.
Is then the Law at fault? No. Paul absolves the Law, by saying in 1 Timothy 1:8, But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully. The lawful use of the Law is to use it as a pointer to the gospel of the risen Christ, which awakens love. Paul confirms this in verse 9 by saying, Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless, rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners. What does he mean? He means that the Law does not need to do its job for those who are united to Christ by faith and are bearing the fruit of love. It needs to do its job by confronting sinners with the fact that their lives are contrary to the gospel and that they must pursue the gospel of the glory of the blessed God and belong to the one who was raised from the dead.
Paul says, with a sweeping statement in verses 10-11, that the Law is for pointing out, and convicting people of, whatever is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. This is very significant. Notice the connection between the Law and the gospel here. Who is the Law for? It is for the lawless, rebellious, the ungodly and sinners, that is, for those whose lives are not according to the glorious gospel. That is, for those who do not love. For love is the aim of Pauls gospel (verse 5). The point is that the Law does not produce lives that accord with the gospel. Used lawfully, the law sends us to the gospel. Thats the point of Romans 7:4 you must die to the Law [as a way of producing the fruit of love] and be united to Christ by faith so that you might bear the fruit [of love] for God.
In other words, according to 1 Timothy 1:5-11, the Law is meant to accuse and convict people of breaking the gospel! The law is forwhatever is contrary tothe glorious gospel (verses 10-11). The law of commandments is not the first and decisive means of fruit-bearing for the Christian. Rather the Law brings us to Christ so that, as Romans 7:4 says, you might be joined toHim who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit [of love] for God. Oh let us embrace the risen Christ!
Life is too brief to waste it romancing the Law of commandments. That marriage will not bear the offspring of love. Make haste to Christ. Let the Law be, not the wife, but the humble matchmaker between you and Jesus. Dont fall in love with, and dont hate, the humble go-between. Die to the Law. Belong to the living Christ.
Open the eyes of our hearts, Father, to see the precious and limited role of Your Law in bearing the fruit of love in our lives. Lead us into deep and personal union with Jesus. Let this relationship with the living Christ transform our minds and wills so that we want what He wants and hate what He hates. Make us, by this union, radically loving people. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
The way certain men preach the word of God makes my heart burn with passion for Jesus. Two such men that did that during my time in college are Neil McClendon and Matt Chandler. Since then they have taken up senior pastorates. I’ve been enjoying their preaching again though their churchs’ podcasts.Neil’s church’s podcast is here on 
