INTRODUCTION: To many, the gospel is the “good news,” while the law is the “bad news,” and the best part about the good news is that we no longer have to listen to the bad news. Is this what the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary was all about? Does the law offer anything to the born-again Christian? To find the answer, we turn to God’s Word. 1. Through what do we receive salvation? Romans 1:16; 2Timothy 1:10 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 1Corinthians 1:18 2. On what basis was Abraham accounted righteous? Romans 4:3 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 3. By what means did the patriarchs and the prophets receive God’s approval? Hebrews 11:1-2 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 4. What did the ceremonial law of the Jews contain? Hebrew 10:1 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ Colossians 2:14-17 5. What were these “good things to come” which the ceremonial law foreshadowed? Hebrews 9:11 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: Christ, as Sacrifice and Priest, was the great reality, and the gospel was the objective point of the faith of believers under former dispensations. 6. Did those of the patriarchal age have knowledge of sin? Genesis 4:7, 20:9 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: It should be noted from the foregoing reference that it was not just believers who had knowledge of sin, but the heathen/pagan as well. 7. By what means must they have gained knowledge? Romans 3:20; 7:7 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 8. Christ saves believers from their sins under the Christian dispensation; but does His blood atone for sins committed in the old dispensation? Hebrews 9:15 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: The blood of Christ was needed by believers the same in the old dispensation as in the new. The first promise made to man, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, was as truly the gospel of Jesus Christ as was that preached by Paul. 9. Is the gospel limited to the New Testament era? Galatians 3:8; Hebrews 4:2 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: We have learned from the foregoing Scriptures that from the earliest age men were convinced of sin, and that their knowledge of their sinful condition could be learned in no other way than by a moral rule – God’s law. The good news, or gospel, gave them hope in the coming Messiah who would take away their sins.) 10. At the first coming of Christ, what good tidings did the angels announce to the shepherds? Luke 2:10-11 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 11. In Gabriel’s pre-announcement to Joseph of Christ’s birth and name, what did the angel say Christ would do? Matthew 1:21 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 12. On what condition was He to save them? John 3:16 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 13. Did Jesus expect to put away the law of God in order to save men? Matthew 5:17-18 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: He came to fulfill the law; that is, to carry out its design. The law was ordained to life (Romans 7:10). Had man never broken the law, he would not have been a sinner, and would therefore, from the first, have lived eternally. Now Christ fulfills it, or carries its design into effect; that is, he gives life to the believer in Him. If the law could have been done away with after man had broken it, he would not then have needed Christ’s atonement, for it is the law which condemns him to death. Christ could not remove the law in the least, for His mission was to pay the penalty that the law required of the sinner. 14. Then if we have faith in Christ through the Gospel, how does that affect the law? Romans 3:31 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ NOTE: The fact that Christ’s atonement is necessary to save one from eternal death shows the law is still in force. When one asks Christ to save him, he acknowledges the power of the law to kill him, and thus the law is “established.” The law must exist with the gospel; otherwise the gospel has no reason for being. 15. Have any people at any time ever been saved by keeping the law? Romans 3:20 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ Galatians 2:16 16. So what is the purpose of the law, other than a sentence of death for not keeping it? Galatians 3:24 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ Romans 7:7 17. How does the natural man view the law of God? Romans 8:7 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 18. What does man become when he receives the gospel of Christ? 2Corinthians 5:17 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 19. How did Jesus refer to this experience? John 3:3 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 20. How does this change take place? Hebrews 10:16-17 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 21. How does James refer to this law that is written on the heart? James 2:12 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ 22. Into whose image are we changed? 2Corinthians 3:18 THE BIBLE SAYS: ______________________________________________ When we come to Christ, He forgives our sins. Then, as we behold Christ in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit reproduces in us the character of Christ, writing His law in our minds and hearts, and we are empowered to keep His law perfectly. Thus, we are born again as new creatures, children of the heavenly King. This is the power and object of the gospel that upholds the law and forms the character of God within us. What is your decision today? MY RESPONSE TO CHRIST IS: □ YES □ UNDECIDED Email us at: admin@thebiblesays.net