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Dr. Law and Dr. Grace

Rules for Rightly Understanding the Ten Commandments

One of the greatest needs in our day in pastoral ministry is a reclamation of proper views of the relationship between law and gospel. Sadly, many otherwise well-trained men in the minstry have not delved into this subject that, in earlier days, was considered the very marrow of theology. Yesterday I heard about a man who recently preached an old sermon by Lester Roloff, the late evangelist from Texas who became famous for his work with wayward children and youth. It is entitled, “Dr. Law and Dr. Grace.” Here is an excerpt with a link to the whole article.

I know I’m having some serious internal trouble and so I head for Dr. Law, and Dr. Law is always in his office and ready to see the sinner. The secretary told me that he was waiting for me. I stepped inside his office and started to relate my signs and symptoms to which he said, “I will not need your help,” to which I said, “Do you think you can find out what is wrong with me?” And he said, “No, sir, I don’t have to think I KNOW what is wrong with you you have heart trouble. You’re just like all the rest of my patients.”

My old flesh rebelled and it didn’t make sense to me that every one of his patients would have the same disease But after ail, dear friend, the law doesn’t make sense to the sinner because . . . “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

So the flesh gets ready to argue the issue and I say, “Dr. Law, you just don’t understand. I’m having trouble with my hands. I spend a lot of time dealing a deck of cards and I’ve even used them to fight with. My hands are giving me trouble.” And Dr. Law said, “No, it’s your heart.”

Read the rest of the sermon.

Tom Ascol has served as a Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL since 1986. Prior to moving to Florida he served as pastor and associate pastor of churches in Texas. He has a BS degree in sociology from Texas A&M University (1979) and has also earned the MDiv and PhD degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He has served as an adjunct professor of theology for various colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary, the Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, African Christian University, Copperbelt Ministerial College, and Reformed Baptist Seminary. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the Nicole Institute for Baptist Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Tom serves as the President of Founders Ministries and The Institute of Public Theology. He has edited the Founders Journal, a quarterly theological publication of Founders Ministries, and has written hundreds of articles for various journals and magazines. He has been a regular contributor to TableTalk, the monthly magazine of Ligonier Ministries. He has also edited and contributed to several books, including Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry, The Truth and Grace Memory Books for children and  Recovering the Gospel and Reformation of Churches. He is also the author of From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention, Traditional Theology and the SBC and Strong and Courageous. Tom regularly preaches and lectures at various conferences throughout the United States and other countries. In addition he regularly contributes articles to the Founders website and hosts a weekly podcast called The Sword & The Trowel. He and his wife Donna have six children along with four sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law. They have sixteen grandchildren.
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