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.”
