Need a Cure

The use of the Law in evangelism was something I didn't understand in my first ten years as a Christian. But in 1982 I began to notice this principle being used in Scripture and in history, and implemented it in my own evangelistic efforts. Am I saying that we must use the moral Law to bring "the knowledge of sin" every time we share the gospel? Of course not; Jesus didn't.

Scripture tells us that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).  Those who have a humble heart, who recognize their sin and see their desperate need for God's

mercy, will understand the gospel of grace. But the proud and self-righteous-those who proclaim their own goodness (see Proverbs 20:6)-don't see their need for the Savior. They need the moral Law to show them the righteous standard that God requires.

Biblical evangelism therefore follows the principle of "Law to the proud, and grace to the humble." If someone is proud and self-righteous like the self-righteous man who ran to the Savior and asked how to be saved—we must do what Jesus did. We should give him the Law to show him the nature of sin.  If he is humble of heart (already possessing the knowledge of sin), such as in the case of Nicodemus, then we should do what Jesus did and give him grace.

It is as simple as sowing seed. A wise farmer always checks the soil before he plants seed. If the soil has stones, he removes them. If it is hard, he breaks it up.  He knows that if he wants to successfully grow a crop, he must properly prepare the soil before he sows the precious seed. That's the principle behind the evangelistic use of the Law: "Law before grace." 

In the same way, a wise doctor doesn't give a cure to a patient who has no understanding that he has a serious disease.  If the doctor doesn't show him the severe nature of his illness (that, left untreated, it will kill him, the patient won't appreciate the cure. Left in ignorance about the seriousness of his plight, the patient may neglect taking the cure, and therefore die. So the good doctor looks his ignorant patient in the eye, and takes the time to thoroughly explain the malady and its terrible conse-quence. He does not deliberately avoid certain words that may alarm his patient. He wants to alarm him.

God's Law alerts the sinner to the malady of sin. It widens his complacent eyes and causes alarm. It brings the diagnosis proving to the patient that he is terribly and terminally dis-eased. It helps him to understand sin and its result, so that he will then appropriate the cure of the cross.

It is because of this that the Law and the gospel should never be separated. They are made for each other. One is the diagnosis; the other is the cure. The diagnosis without the cure is futile. The cure without the diagnosis is senseless. The Law

exposes the disease; the gospel treats it.

John Wesley says,

The very first end of the Law (is], namely, convicting men of sin; awakening those who are still asleep on the brink of hell... The ordinary method of God is to convict sinners by the Law, and that only. The gospel is not the means which God hath ordained, or which our Lord Himself used, for this end.

Think of God's Law as an extension cord that is plugged into the power of Heaven. The gospel is a light bulb. Without the Law, the gospel is powerless; it leaves the lost in the dark about their sin and its deadly consequences. The gospel—the news that Jesus died on the cross for our sins—gives no light to the mind of sinners whose understanding is "darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:18). The god of this world has blinded their minds "lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them" (2 Corinthians 4:4),

The message of the cross is therefore foolishness to a world that is perishing (see 1 Corinthians 1:18). However, once the gospel is connected to the Law, it becomes the power of God to salvation. The Law gives the gospel its light—it enlightens the lost about the nature of sin and shows them their desperate need for the Savior.

I have seen this happen thousands of times, and once you see the effect of both the Law and the gospel working together, you will have your eyes opened also. You will say (like many others I have heard from), "How could I have not seen this before?" Later in this book, we will look at how you can implement the Law in the gospel presentation.

Charles Spurgeon said, "There is no point on which men make greater mistakes than on the relation which exists between the Law and the gospel." Therefore, we must begin to examine what Jesus did when He reached out to the lost, so that we can follow in His footsteps.