Bible Text: Exodus 20 | Preacher: Pastor Ken | Series: Abiding in the Lord
The Law gets a bad rap
Considered :
“Legalistic”
Outdated
Old Testament
The law is good and perfect (brings blessing)
Psalm 1:1-3
…But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
The law teaches us how to live with a Holy God and others
The 10 Commandments – Exodus 20, Deuteronomy  5: 1-4 Relationship with God, 5-9 Relationships with others, 10 Heart attitude that affects all the above
Romans 13:8-10 For the commandments, …are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Attitude of “That’s law and we are under grace” lacks understanding
Matthew 5:17-20 …, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so… 
Proverbs 28:9-10 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
The law was and is our tutor or guardian
Galatians 3:19-25 …But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
The law teaches us we need a Savior
Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Jesus reaffirms the law – application to include heart attitude and motives
Matthew 22:35-40 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 23:23-24  and Luke 11:42-43 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled…
Keeping the law does not save us, that is by faith in Jesus alone
Acts 13:38-39 Therefore let it be known …through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; …
Galatians 2:16 …knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, … for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
By keeping the law Jesus showed His love to His Father
Hebrews 10:5-10  …”Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them”(which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
John 14:24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Living the law is evidence of our love for Jesus
Matthew 22:35-40
John 14:15-17; 19-21 “If you love Me, keep My commandments…
…He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
We are not free from “the law”, we are free from “the curse” of the law
Galatians 3:10-14 …But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” … 
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.