We Must Share God’s Law and Gospel

The great theologian and reformer, John Calvin, studied law before his conversion and service to the Lord as a pastor and teacher. He later wrote and taught on the use and purpose of God’s law:

1] It shows the way of perfect righteousness and also reveals to us how great is our sin.

2] It helps to restrain evil and maintain order in society.

3] It continues to guide believers in terms of our duty.

This is a very helpful summary that guides us in terms of our duty both to share God’s law and the gospel. God’s law is perfect, but it cannot provide salvation because no man save the Lord Jesus Christ can keep it perfectly.

Many Christians rightfully are concerned about sharing the gospel. We know that the gospel alone is what changes sinners from rebels to servants of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16-17). However, too many Christians ignore the proper purpose of the law. Although all men have been created in God’s image and know that there is a God and are aware of His power (Rom. 1:20), God did not just tell people to rely on their inner sense of right and wrong. God created our conscience, but He still determined to reveal His law to Israel, which, when properly understood, is applicable today.

This means that we cannot just sit back and hope that people will trust in Jesus. The reality of man’s sinfulness must be proclaimed along with the horror of God’s judgment. The hope and promises of the gospel must also be shared.

When we see wicked laws instituted at the state and federal level, laws that go against God’s law, we must speak out. The shedding of innocent blood through abortion cannot be tolerated. We cannot simply hide behind the fact that we ultimately want people to be converted and remain silent on the key issues of the day.

We live in a diverse nation, but morality cannot simply be determined by public consensus. The source of law is the God of all societies. We have witnessed a very long but demonstrable legal, moral, and religious revolution as, increasingly, the basis for the law has less to do with God and everything to do with public sentiment. This is not acceptable for those who know the truth.

Francis Shaeffer was once asked the question, “What would you do if you met a really modern man on a train and you had just an hour to talk to him about the gospel?” Shaeffer replied:

I’ve said over and over, I would spend 45-50 minutes on the negative, to really show him his dilemma – that he is morally dead – then I’d take 10-15 minutes to preach the gospel. I believe that much of our evangelistic work and personal work today is not clear simply because we are too anxious to get to the answer without having a man realize the real cause of his sickness, which is true moral guilt (and not just psychological feelings) in the presence of God. (Will Metzger, Tell the Truth)

In an earlier article, I mentioned the 2022 State of Theology conducted by Ligonier and LifeWay Research. That survey showed that on some matters, evangelical Christians overall have a correct view:

94% of evangelicals think sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin and 91% think that abortion is a sin. However, other questions continue to indicate confusion on important matters.

For instance, 37% of evangelicals believe that gender identity is a matter of choice, and 28% believe that the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.

On these two key issues, our world is going crazy, and over a quarter of evangelicals have little problem with the direction. We very much need the correction and guidance found in God’s Law on all these issues.

We must not be ashamed of God’s truth; rather, we must boldly and lovingly declare what God’s law states concerning sin and seek to share with sinners their only hope of salvation in the message of the gospel. In this way, we stand against the false message of tolerance, and we guard against hypocrisy.

Let’s commit to being faithful in sharing God’s law and gospel.