Jesus' Use of the Law in Evangelism
by Massimo Lorenzini
We live in a day of moral relativism. This is not news to you. You see it all around you. This is the view of ethics that says there are no absolutes. What's right for you may not be right for someone else. And what's wrong for you may not be wrong for someone else. While the roots of this go further back, our nation experienced the shift from a Judeo-Christian ethic to moral relativism during the 1960's--during what many call America's cultural revolution. The 60's was the decade of the hippie and revolution and rebellion. The banner that generation was "Free Love!" In other words, love without restraint, without boundaries, without rules, without definition--total subjectivism. The Ten Commandments began to lose their place as the nation's bedrock of ethics.
But the spirit of the age we see around us is nothing new. Moral relativism existed during the time of Israel's history recorded in the book of Judges where we find the twice-repeated saying, "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21-25).(1) Using biblical terminology, moral relativism is lawlessness. In the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul described how lawlessness would prevail before the return of Jesus Christ:
1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
So we should not be surprised to see the world embracing lawlessness for it is bound up in the heart of man and today our culture actively instigates it. We see it all throughout our culture--Outback Steak House's slogan is "No Rules, Just Right." What does the concept of having rules or not have to do with steak? Or the bumper sticker that says, "My karma ran over my dogma." Our culture values freedom from all restraints--and it is especially inimical to any type of Judeo-Christian worldview and ethic.
What does this have to do with evangelism? It has tons to do with evangelism. Our task of proclaiming the Good News of salvation Christ is absolutely devoid of biblical meaning to such a culture if our proclamation is not predicated on man's need for salvation. And man has no need for salvation if there is no sin, condemnation, and hell to be saved from. And there is no sin if there is no law to sin against.
Romans 3:19-20
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Romans 4:15
15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
Romans 5:13
13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Therefore, in evangelizing the people of our lawless culture, we must begin our proclamation with a clear explanation of the demands of God's law and a direct application to our audience. Without this approach, we end up urging people to trust in Christ for motives other than to be forgiven of their sins and delivered from the wrath of God in the day of judgment.
Our Lord Jesus provides us with a very simple and striking example how to use the law of God in evangelism in his confrontation with the rich young ruler.
The Rich Young Ruler, Mark 10:17-27(2)
17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
19 "You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.' "
20 And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."
21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?"
27 Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
Jesus would have failed personal evangelism class in most Bible colleges and seminaries. Our text describes a young man who looked like the hottest evangelistic prospect the Lord had encountered. He was ripe. He was eager. There was no way he would get away without receiving eternal life.
But he did. Instead of getting him to make a decision, in a sense Jesus chased him off. He failed to draw the net. He failed to sign the young man up. Should we allow our ideas of evangelism to indict Jesus? Or might we need to allow His example to critique contemporary evangelism? Christ's confrontation of this young man gives us much-needed insight into reaching the lost.
The rich young ruler was, humanly speaking, an ideal prospect for conversion. He was young, had prominence (a ruler), was wealthy (v. 22), was moral, was enthusiastic for spiritual things ("came running"), was bold (out on the road, v. 17), he was respectful (knelt before Him, v. 17). On top of all this he was begging to know how to be saved!
Wouldn't any evangelist just love to open his Bible and show him the plan of salvation? The rich young ruler would make a fine trophy to the soul-winner. He was just ripe for today's decisional methods of evangelism.
But Jesus had the nerve to rebuke him, discuss the ten commandments with him, demand immense sacrifice, and then let him get away. What was He thinking?!
Jesus had two motives for the way he handled the rich young ruler: (1) love for the lost, v.21; (2) even greater love for God, v.18.
Preaching the Character of God, v. 18.
Jesus demonstrated His love for God by correcting the young ruler's incidental greeting of calling Him "good." The young ruler didn't know he was talking to God incarnate. He just thought He was a great teacher. Jesus took the opportunity to say in effect, "The goodness of any creature (which is what you take me to be) is not worthy to be named or taken notice of. It is God alone who is originally and essentially good."
Jesus wanted to exalt the unique and infinite goodness and holiness of God in the eyes of the young ruler. Jesus redirected the young man's attention to God and His glory rather than man and his need. Jesus showed His love for the young ruler by redirecting him to God.
Likewise, our witnessing today ought to be primarily concerned with glorifying God. Having a love for lost sinners is essential to the Christian walk. But even more important is our love for God and our desire to honor Him first in all we do.
So much of today's evangelistic message has little to do with God. If He is mentioned, He is brought into the discussion only for His role in our pursuit of self-improvement and self-fulfillment. Our witness should always exalt the majesty of God and His centrality in the universe.
We are not ready to discuss who man is and what his need is until we have first established who God is and what He demands of us because we only know who man is and his need in the light of God and His demands. A correct understanding of God is foundational to any discussion of ultimate issues, especially of man's salvation (see Prov 1:7).
or "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Rom 10:13-14)
The first truth to be communicated in our witnessing should always be, especially with the secular or pagan mind, the person of God. All other facts are only rightly interpreted in the light of the person of God.
Preaching the Law of God, vv. 19-21a.
Our Lord used the law to help the young man clearly see his own sinfulness.
Normal Evangelical practice is to run straight to the cross of Christ. But the cross is meaningless apart from the law. On the cross Jesus was satisfying the just demands of God's holy law against sinners. If there is no personal consciousness of sin, then the sinner will not see the significance of Christ's sacrifice on his behalf. Or worse, he will pervert it by inventing some other idea such as Jesus died merely as a demonstration of how much He loved us. On the cross, Christ was set forth to be the propitiation for our sins (Rom 3:25), i.e. the substitutionary object of God's wrath poured out against a violated law.
Until the young ruler saw his soul in the light of God's law, he was unprepared for the gospel of grace. It's not enough to declare in a general sense the sinfulness of humanity (Rom 3:23). A man must see that he himself has willfully committed treasonous sin against his Maker. He must feel the heavy burden of his own personal guilt over his specific sins. The law must be used to show the sinner his heart of hatred toward God and enmity toward men. Only then will he flee to the grace of God in Jesus Christ to provide him the righteousness he lacks in himself.
Jesus went straight to the most obvious sin of this young ruler. He used the tenth commandment as an application to his heart. Jesus translated the command against covetousness into a practical test by demanding that he abandon his riches. The young ruler loved his riches more than God and he turned away sad. But he did so with the profound new realization that he was a covetous sinner. He did not truly have a pure love for God, upon which all of the law was hanging (Matt 22:40).
We too are to use the law of God to expose men's sinful hearts. We can do this by drawing specific application of the law to an individual's conscience. "Until we learn how to wound consciences, we shall have no wounds to bind with Gospel bandages" (Walter Chantry).
Preaching Repentance Toward God, v. 21a.
Jesus called the young ruler to repent from his sin of covetous greed by selling all that he had, giving to the poor, taking up his cross, and following Him. The young ruler's obedience to this call would have made evident his newfound love for God above all his sin.
We too must call sinners to repentance. For someone to say they believe the gospel while at the same time loving their riches is like an airplane flying in two directions. It can't happen. In order to truly love God, one must forsake sin. One must repent.
Without doubt the young ruler would have received today's gospel of easy-believism joyfully. To believe in Christ without repenting is no challenge to a sinful heart. It is no challenge to human pride to add Christ to his life without ridding himself of his inordinate affections. But biblical conversion means to empty your hands of sin and self and cling to Christ's cross with both hands.
Preaching Faith Toward God's Son, v. 21b.
Just as repentance must make room for faith, faith must fill the void left by repentance. The sin-filled hand must be emptied in order to receive the gift of salvation. We turn from our sin to the Lord Jesus.
Following Jesus as Lord is essential to biblical conversion. We accept Jesus as Lord at the beginning of our walk of faith, not as some second step option that can be considered later.
Matthew 7:13-14:
13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Luke 14:25-35:
25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,
26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
34 "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
35 "It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Is this the kind of evangelistic appeal we hear today?
Preaching with Dependence Upon God, vv. 22-27.
The young ruler was not converted. But Jesus did not chase him down and say, "Well, now maybe you misunderstood. Obtaining eternal life is as easy as A, B, C: Accept, Believe, and Confess. Just say this three-sentence prayer and you'll be safe for eternity." Ridiculous you say? But this is what is done all the time in Evangelical churches today.
Our Lord told the young ruler what he must do. He must repent and believe . He must turn from his sin and follow after Christ. Now Jesus was telling His disciples that His demands are impossible! It is not within man himself to repent and believe.
Who then can be saved? With man it is impossible. But with God all things are possible. God can change a sinner's heart that he will sell all and follow Christ. God alone can provide what is needed--a new heart! (Ezek 36:26). As Jesus told Nicodemus, "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again' " (Jn 3:7).
This casts sinners wholly upon God's power and grace. They must seek the Lord for salvation. Their only hope is to call on God to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
In our witnessing, this awareness will focus our primary attention upon humble prayer for God's saving power to accompany us. Our confidence will not rest upon our eloquence or knowledge or power of persuasion. Only God, sovereignly working through a faithful messenger, can raise the dead to life.
2 Timothy 2:24-26:
24 The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Now some may say, this teaching will stifle evangelism. This is too relaxing! God does it all and what do I do, just sit back and watch? NO! Our acknowledged dependence upon the power of God will prompt the most needed activity of the hour--more prayer ! Then we will go out in confident zeal that the God who still raises the dead goes with us. And it will send sinners to their knees begging for God to grant them salvation.
Appeal to the Unbeliever's Conscience
Read Matthew 21:23-45 - The parable of the two sons and the parable of the wicked vinedressers. Notice how Jesus asked his listener's to pass judgment on sins they were guilty of through the use of parables or stories.
Get the unbeliever to pass judgment on the same sin they are guilty of with a hypothetical scenario or parable. For example, a friend of mine who is a youth pastor had a young man in his ministry who wanted to lead in music ministry but was not involved. I told him to ask the youth to judge what should be done with a basketball player who wanted to play in the starting line-up, but he never listened to the coach's instructions and rarely showed up for practice. The youth got the point and he repented of his distance and lack of involvement.
Signs of True Conviction
1. An awareness of a wrong relationship with God. It's not enough for one to have a sense of need, but only of a particular need--the need for restoration of fellowship with God; a need to get right with God.
2. Conviction of sins: a sense of guilt for particular wrongs done against God.
3. Conviction of sinfulness: a sense of one's complete corruption in God's sight and one's consequent need of a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
Perhaps the shortest way to tell whether a person is convicted of sin is to take him through Psalm 51 and see whether his heart resonates (or agrees with) the language of the psalmist. Does the language of the Gospel appear to be foreign truth or native truth? In other words, does the person appear to "own" the Gospel or is it like a foreign language to them.
Signs of Regeneration
1. The enlightening of the mind .
2. The conviction of the conscience .
3. The renewing of the will .
Questions for Detecting a True Conversion(3)
A. Common Faith Versus Saving Faith.
Direction to those whose lives do not manifest the evidences of true salvation(4)
1. Seek to attain a thorough work of grace in your heart. Do not rest until such a change is performed upon you. All those whom God intends to pardon and save are regenerated by God's Spirit. In the act of giving them His grace, God gives them a new heart (Jn 3:5-7).
Notes:
1. All Scripture citations are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update unless otherwise noted.
2. This section is adapted from Walter J. Chantry, Today's Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic? (Carlisle, Penn.: Banner of Truth, 1970).
3. From Matthew Mead, The Almost Christian Discovered (Ligonier, Penn.: Sola Deo Gloria Publications, 1661, r.p. 1989).
4. Ibid.
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