Is God’s Law Good? Jamie Rasmussen 8-25-2013

This past Sunday at Scottsdale Bible Church, Head Pastor Jamie Rasmussen preached a sermon based on Galatians 3:15-26 called “Is God’s Law Good?”

Pastor Jamie Rasmussen started by reminding us that last week’s sermon was about “Faith alone in Christ alone” which focused on our salvation.  This week we looked at what happens next.  After we are saved and our salvation is secured, what about God’s law?   Is it good?  Does it still apply?  Does our behavior matter since our salvation is secured?

If we had to sum up the sermon in one key takeaway sentence it would be this:

Righteousness STILL matters!

The question asked in Galatians 3:19 is “Why then the law?”  Pastor Jamie Rasmussen broke it down into 3 “R’s.”

1.  To REVEAL that we sin and need a savior.

Jamie shared a story about when he was a teenager.  He messed up bigtime, and the whole school was talking about it.  His mentor…who had been sharing the Gospel message with Jamie…found out.  He didn’t try to cover Jamie’s error.  Instead, he asked him this:

“How do you feel about what you did before the Lord.”

Jamie credits that response to radically changing his life.  That moment was pivotal to his salvation….because his sinful actions weren’t glossed over.  Instead, they did the job they were MEANT to do…reveal Jamie’s need for a savior!

2. To RENEW us as followers of Jesus in our commitment to righteousness and holiness.

We are now empowered by the Holy Spirit.  We follow laws out of gratitude FOR our salvation, not because we’re trying to “earn” our salvation.  Pastor Jamie quoted a commentary:

“And once we come to the law motivated by gratitude, we are better in our obedience of the law than we ever were when we thought that our obedience might save us” -Tim Keller, Galatians for You

3.  To RESTRAIN all humanity from going off the deep end in their behavior.

Using 1 Timothy 1:8-10 as a reference, Pastor Jamie Rasmussen made the point that we are held in check by the law.  That we are given a basic moral compass…even if someone doesn’t believe in Jesus, they still have a moral compass in which they live to benefit society.

Our Takeaways:

As usual, we were completely blessed by Pastor Jamie’s teaching.  We totally “get” this message, since it’s one that confirms the basis of Living Life 180.  When we are IN Christ and OF Christ, then we live a life 180 degrees different than what the world teaches.

We liked the analogy Pastor Jamie used regarding the law:

God’s law is like the Judge – Humankind are the prisoners – Our sins are the jailers.  And Jesus Christ…He’s the one that frees us all.

Watch Pastor Jamie Rasmussen’s Sermon Here.