When I was in college, I worked night shift at a convenience store. One Friday night, a bunch of cops walked in to get drinks and snacks. It wasn’t unusual for one or two cops to come in, but this was five or six. I asked them what was up, and they said they had just busted up a party with underage drinkers. One of the cops told me, “If parents would just bust some butts now and then, we wouldn’t have these problems.”
I think the Church is finding herself in the same situation. We’ve tried being nice, kind, and loving, and “the kids” (the world) are becoming more rebellious. We need to “bust some butts.”
But how is the Church supposed to “bust butts”? Simple. We do what we’re supposed to do by preaching the Gospel as it has been preached for hundreds of years – we need to begin preaching the Law of God again.
Martyn-Lloyd Jones said, “The trouble with people who are not seeking for a Savior, and for salvation, is that they do not understand the nature of sin. It is the peculiar function of the Law to bring such an understanding to a man’s mind and conscience. That is why great evangelical preachers 300 years ago in the time of the Puritans, and 200 years ago in the time of Whitefield and others, always engaged in what they called a preliminary ‘Law work.’”
We don’t do that anymore.
John Wesley said, “Before I can preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and judgment.”
Martin Luther said, “‘I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived’ (Romans 7:9). So it is with the work-righteous and the proud unbelievers. Because they do not know the Law of God, which is directed against them, it is impossible for them to know their sin. Therefore also they are not amenable to instruction. If they would know the Law, they would also know their sin; and sin to which they are now dead would become alive in them.”
Why do we need to preach the Law? Because it is what the Holy Spirit uses to bring conviction of sin. Paul said, “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (Romans 7:7).
Paris Reidhead said, “When 100 years ago earnest scholars decreed that the Law had no relationship to the preaching of the gospel, they deprived the Holy Ghost … of the only instrument with which He had ever armed Himself to prepare sinners for grace.”
The Law must be taught before the Gospel can be understood.
If preachers from the pulpit, and Christians in the marketplace and on the streets and in their homes, began preaching and teaching the Law, we would see more people truly saved – repenting of their sins, and throwing themselves onto the mercy of the Savior.
Charles Finney said, “You must start where sinners are, flood light on them there, and flush them out from the refuges of lies.” He also said, “It is greatly important that the sinner should feel his guilt, and not be left thinking that he is merely unfortunate.”
To understand the importance of using the Law in evangelism, I would urge you to read Ray Comfort’s Hell’s Best Kept Secret. I first read this in 1989 or 1990, and have used the Law in every witnessing encounter I’ve had since then.
Ray gives four reasons why we need to use the Law in evangelism:
What does God’s Word say about the use of the Law in preaching the Gospel?
- The Law shows us our guilt before God and stops us from justifying ourselves.
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 – Romans 3:19. - The Law brings to us the knowledge of sin.
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin – Romans 3:20. - The Law defines sin. The apostle Paul didn’t even know what sin was, until the Law told him!
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet” – Romans 7:7. - The Law was designed for the very purpose of bringing men and women to Christ.
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith – Galatians 3:24.
…the Law of God leaves the sinner with no means of payment before the Judge of the universe.
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of their souls is costly—Psalm 49:7.
The Law doesn’t help anybody, it just leaves us in a helpless state before God.
Let me give you an example of one of the first times I used the Law while doing street evangelism.
I had shared Hell’s Best Kept Secret with some friends, and we took to the streets. At the time, I used one of Ray’s old tracts called “Ten Easy Ways to See Your Need for God’s Forgiveness” (best tract ever!), which I would read through with people.
A friend of mine was witnessing to a guy, but every time the guy said something, my friend would shove Scripture down his throat. They weren’t getting anywhere, when I walked passed them and my friend asked me, “Do you have your red book?”
I joined the conversation, but both the sinner and my friend were still trying to prove that their argument was right. My friend, though, was wise, and he politely removed himself from the conversation, and I began going through the book with J–.
Time and time again, as we went through the 10 commandments, he would make excuses, or try to start an argument, or throw out some red herring. I would just say, “That’s really interesting, but let’s finish this first, then we can come back to it.”
We slowly made our way through the 10 commandments (we talked so long, that all of my friends left and went back home). But as we continued to progress through this small booklet, J’s mouth began to shut. He started running out of excuses and arguments. He stopped trying to justify himself.
After talking for hours, J—said, “I could leave. I’m going to leave. I don’t have to listen to this anymore.”
I said, “Give me 5 minutes, and let me tell you the Good News.”
I shared with him what Jesus did on the cross, and how He took our place and paid our penalty so that we could stand before God guiltless and clean.
When I finished, he said, “That was more than 5 minutes.”
But when I asked him if he understood what Jesus had done for him, and if he was ready to repent, he said, “Yes,” with tears streaming down his face.
This guy that had spent hours arguing with me, apologized for arguing, thanked me for sharing with him, and offered to pay for a taxi to take me back home. When we departed, he had a new joy and a new humility. It was one of the most awesome things to witness.
I’ve seen the law “stop the mouth” many times since then, but never in such dramatic fashion.
We need to get back to preaching the Law to bring the conviction of sin, and show the sinner his guilt.
This is not hell-fire preaching. We must be gentle in the way we do this, working with the Holy Spirit. We must have love and compassion for those we share with.
If you want to learn more, look up Ray Comfort’s Living Waters on YouTube. Check out livingwaters.com, or purchase one of these books:
Let’s pray constantly for God to send a revival, but let’s also stay busy doing the things calculated to bring about a revival where we are.