"The Law of God Is Good and Wise" (Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent, on Exodus 20:1-17)

“The Law of God is good and wise”: So we just sang in the hymn. But is it? Is the Law of God really good and wise? I mean, yes, it does set God’s will before our eyes. And yes, it does show us the way of righteousness. However, the Law does doom us to death when we transgress. And we do transgress. A lot. So is the Law of God really all that good and wise? Really, when it dooms us? When it damns us? If so, what good is it? That’s what we’re going to find out this morning, under the theme, “The Law of God Is Good and Wise.”

To do this, we’re going to look at the Law of God according to three uses that it has in our lives. “The three uses of the Law”: That’s the term that’s usually used. It’s about how God uses his Law to do some necessary things for our good. It’s about how the Law of God functions in our lives. From Holy Scripture, we can distinguish three different uses that the Law has. You probably learned them in confirmation class as “curb, mirror, and guide.” Curb, mirror, and guide: In each of these ways, God uses his Law to do good and wise things for us, for our good.

Friends, we’re going to use the hymn we just sang, Lutheran Service Book 579, to guide us through this message. So please turn there again. You may want to put a ribbon there, since we’ll be coming back to it several times. The three uses of the Law are found in various stanzas of this hymn. What’s generally called “the first use of the Law,” the curb function--you’ll find that in stanza number 4, as follows:

But those who scornfully disdain
God’s Law shall then in sin remain;
Its terror in their ear resounds
And keeps their wickedness in bounds.

The Law keeps people’s wickedness in bounds. That’s the curb function, the first use of the Law. Just like a curb on a street serves to keep traffic in bounds, so that the cars don’t go all over the place and hit pedestrians or run into buildings--in a similar way, God’s Law works to keep human behavior within certain bounds. At least for most people, in most societies, it does. You see, God has hard-wired us humans to have a sense of right and wrong within us. Romans says that God has written his law within our hearts. So all people and all societies can know that certain behavior is right and certain behavior is wrong. This is the basis for all civil laws. For example, you don’t have to be a Christian to know that murdering someone is wrong. You don’t have to be a Christian to know that it’s wrong to steal other people’s stuff. And you should know that if you violate those boundaries, you will be subject to punishment. This helps to keep bad behavior from just going totally insane and unrestrained and throwing society into chaos.

But what happens when the curb function of the Law begins to crumble? What happens when a society decides to throw off natural law, ignore it, and not reinforce the curb? Well, that’s when a given society breaks down and things get crazy. Like here in America in recent decades.

Example: God’s commandment says to honor your father and your mother, that it will go well with you and you live long in the land. In other words, a cohesive family unit is what works best for a society. But when a society throws that off, and condones things like cohabitation, divorce, having children out of wedlock--those are signs that the curb has been crumbling. And that is bad for any society. For instance, children without a father in the home are more likely to be raised without the love and the discipline they need. Teenage boys are more likely to get involved in gangs and criminal activity. You can see this on the streets of Indianapolis.

Another example of the curb breaking down: The current craziness of so-called gender ideology. I just read a quote the other day from one of the vice-presidents of our synod, Pastor Chris Esget, on this very problem. He said: “Today’s gender ideology is an assault on creation. All that is left, once you remove a Creator, is free-floating, subjective sentiment. This is the seed of today’s moral anarchy, where personal emotional preferences are regarded as absolutely inviolable.”

Moral anarchy, that’s where we are today. Gender ideology. But our Creator has designed us to use our sexuality in the way that he intends. God has created us male and female, and those are the only two options. A man is designed for a woman, and a woman is designed for a man. Our bodies are even built that way. You don’t have to be a Christian to know that. But in the last couple of decades, our society has gone crazy. People have pride in being LGBT, when it’s really something to be ashamed of. Girls are pretending to be boys, and boys are pretending to be girls. It’s just nuts. And our children are being brainwashed into thinking that this is OK. It’s not. The curb has been crumbling.

And this leads us then to “the second use of the Law.” The reason I say it leads us to the second use, the mirror function, is that when nothing is considered sin anymore, people will not realize that they need a Savior. And that is absolutely tragic and terrible.

The hymn stanza that describes the second use of the Law is stanza 2, as follows:

Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts
That we may see our lost estate
And turn from sin before too late.

This mirror function is really the most important use of the Law. Because it has eternal implications. Unless we see ourselves as sinners, condemned by the Law and in need of a Savior, we will have no use for Jesus. We’ll think we’re OK on our own. And we’re not. All of us are poor miserable sinners, no matter how respectable we may seem compared to others. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” as Romans says. Your own goodness is not good enough to save you. It will not save you from death and hell, that’s for sure. You don’t have it in you. And you need to know that, because otherwise you will be sleepwalking your way through life, thinking that you are good enough.

So we need the mirror function of the Law to alert us to our need, to alert us to the eternal danger that we face. When we look at God’s commandments, which can be summed up as “Love the Lord your God” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”--when we take an honest look in that mirror, we see that we don’t measure up. The Law of God accuses us and convicts us and condemns us as sinners. And that’s actually a good thing that we need. Because now our ears will be open to hear the good news of a righteousness that comes from outside of us.

Friends, this is where the Gospel comes in! The Gospel of Christ Jesus our Savior. Jesus, the very Son of God in the flesh. Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive you of your sins. He is the only way you will make it into heaven. He is your righteousness. He is your resurrection. He is your eternal life! There is no other! Receive him by faith, and you will be saved! And this is why, as Paul says, “We preach Christ crucified.” For this is the only medicine that will cure you of your sin disease. It is an absolutely free gift, and it is for you! Thanks be to God!

So the Law has a curb function, to keep bad behavior within bounds. That’s the first use. The second use is the mirror function, so we can see that we are sinners in need of a Savior, whom we then receive through the Gospel. And now we come to the third use of the Law, the guide function. You hear about it in stanza 3 of our hymn:

To those who help in Christ have found
And would in works of love abound
It shows what deeds are His delight
And should be done as good and right.

OK, so now you are saved. Now you are a Christian. Now you are baptized and are a new person in Christ. You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and now you want to please God with your life. How do you know which works are pleasing to him? The Law of God tells you. This is the third use of the Law, the guide function.

God’s commandments tell you which works you can be sure are pleasing to him. Again, it’s to love God and to love your neighbor. Now as a Christian you know you’re not doing these things to earn your salvation. You’re not trying to gain heaven by your works. No, that’s already been taken care of, by the work of Christ.

But you are a new person in Christ, you do have the Holy Spirit, so now how are you going to live? That’s where the commandments act as a guide for Christian living. You see, while we are new persons in Christ, we’re still battling the old Adam, that old sinful nature, hanging around our neck. And so we might be tempted to think we have to come up with some extraordinary, religious, self-chosen works to impress God and be pleasing to him. But that is not the case. Just living as a decent, honest, loving Christian, within the ordinary roles you have in life--being a good citizen, a good church member, a good family member, a good worker or employer--these common, ordinary vocations are ways in which you can serve God and serve your neighbor. When you read the New Testament epistles, you will see that Christians are exhorted to do these things. This is the third use of the Law, then, the guide function, and it is truly good and wise. Christians delight in God’s Law, because we know that this is the best way for us to live. We are not saved by our love and good works, but we are exhorted and encouraged and enabled to do them.

So, three uses of the Law, then: curb, mirror, and guide. They’re all good and wise. Each use of the Law functions in our lives for our good. But the greatest good of all is found in the precious Gospel of Christ. And so I’ll close today’s message with the stanza of our hymn that preaches this Gospel to us. It’s stanza 6, as follows:

To Jesus we for refuge flee,
Who from the curse has set us free,
And humbly worship at His throne,
Saved by His grace through faith alone.

Exodus 20:1-17 (ESV)

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

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