{"id":565,"date":"2016-11-07T07:04:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T12:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/?p=565"},"modified":"2016-11-06T20:59:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T01:59:52","slug":"send-the-law-before-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/send-the-law-before-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Send the Law Before the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Light<\/a><\/p>\n

I have many books<\/a> in my library that I value and return to often. Books I especially value are ones that have helped me understand and apply God\u2019s Word. The book that first helped me grasp the vital connection between the Law and the Gospel is Walt Chantry\u2019s God\u2019s Righteous Kingdom\u00a0<\/em>(The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980). While reading the book, I was intrigued by the use of the Law in evangelism, as it serves along side the Gospel. It is the Law that exposes our sin and shows us our great need of a Savior. We need to taste the bad news (\u201cfor the wages of sin is death\u201d) so we can savor the sweetness of the good news (\u201cbut the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d \u2014Romans 6:23). God has called us to preach both Law and Gospel:<\/p>\n

Our Lord predicted a surge of evangelistic power when the Spirit would come. \u201cWhen he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment\u201d (John 16:8). Next to communion with God and worship of his name, nothing will hold a greater interest for children of the kingdom than this amazing work of the Spirit in transforming souls. In the task of bringing men into the kingdom, the moral law and the gospel are the two major instruments in the arsenal of the Spirit\u201d (God\u2019s Righteous Kingdom<\/em>, 89\u201390).<\/p>\n

When I first read God\u2019s Righteous Kingdom<\/em>, I sought to summarize the content of the book in a hymn. I wrote the hymn 30 years ago on November 7, 1986 as an expression of praise for the uses of the Law in the life of a believer.<\/p>\n

Send the Law before the Gospel,
\nShine the Light revealing sin!
\nMen will see they need a Savior
\nAs their hearts are bared within.
\nWeep you sinners under judgement;
\nSee yourself before God’s Law!
\nFull deserving condemnation,
\nDread the wrath of God in awe.<\/p>\n

Come you sinners and take comfort,
\nYou convicted and dismayed,
\nFor God’s love is only sown in
\nFurrows that His Law has made.
\nCome you sinners, look to Jesus!
\nHe’s fulfilled the Law’s demands.
\nChrist will turn your dread and sorrow
\nInto love for God’s commands.<\/p>\n

Praise to God for such instruction,
\nSent to show us our great need.
\nWe must place our hope in Jesus
\nAnd in Him we shall be freed.
\nO believer, be encouraged!
\nChrist died suff’ring in our place;
\nBore the sins of all His children,
\nThat we shall come unto grace.<\/p>\n

On the cross was Christ afflicted,
\nThere endur’d the wrath of God.
\nNow the Law no more condemns us,
\nSatisfied by His shed blood.
\nGod has set His Law before us;
\nLet His Word be our delight!
\nAs we travel unto glory,
\nPersevering in His light.<\/p>\n

God has given His commandments;
\nThey shall never pass away.
\nOn our hearts His Spirit writes them,
\nThat we can through grace obey.
\nMay His Law forever guide us
\nIn the paths of righteousness,
\nAs we seek His will most holy,
\nAll our efforts He shall bless!<\/p>\n

Words \u00a91987 Ken Puls
\nListen to this hymn and download free sheet music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more on the Founders Blog:
\nHymns and God’s Law as a Rule of Life<\/a>
\nHymns and God’s Law as a Tutor to Christ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have many books in my library that I value and return to often. Books I especially value are ones that have helped me understand and apply God\u2019s Word. The book that first helped me grasp the vital connection between the Law and the Gospel is Walt Chantry\u2019s God\u2019s Righteous Kingdom\u00a0(The Banner of Truth Trust, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,22],"tags":[50,56,15,98,14],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hymn","category-music-for-worship","tag-church-music","tag-evangelism","tag-gospel","tag-hymn","tag-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4lLgO-97","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":566,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions\/566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}