Understanding the Gospel Through Legal Terms

It is clear from Scripture that a genuine convert is one who hears and “understands” (see Matt. 13:23). Perhaps this is why Philip the evangelist asked the Ethiopian eunuch if he understood what he was reading (Acts 8:30). This understanding seems to refer not only to sin, but also to the gospel. In the Parable of the Sower, the enemy is able to snatch the good seed from the wayside hearer because he lacks understanding. He doesn’t understand that it is the message of everlasting life, so he gives it no value: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart” (Matt. 13:19).

My great desire is for sinners to understand the gospel and be saved. Although God alone saves the sinner, from the sowing to the reaping, I believe that, as a preacher of the gospel, my job is to strive (with the help of God) to bring about “understanding.” So rather than using “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:4), I keep the message simple in the hope that the sinner will grasp what I am trying to say.

My gospel presentation may begin with a parable about a man stealing another man’s lamb (as with Nathan and David), or with a quote by Athenian poets (as with Paul when he preached in Athens). I may use metaphors, similes, statistics, quotes, personal experiences, and of course I present the Law, the gospel, and the necessity of repentance and faith.

Incorporating the Law into the gospel presentation does many things. It primarily brings the knowledge of sin (see Rom. 7:7), showing the sinner that he is a criminal and that God is his Judge. The Law (in the hand of the Holy Spirit) stops his mouth of justification and leaves him guilty before God (see Rom. 3:19,20). It reveals that he deserves nothing but judgment for his crimes. Like a faithful prosecutor, the Law of God points its accusing finger, and so the sinner’s stirred conscience bears witness and likewise points its finger at the criminal (see Rom. 2:15). The verdict is “guilty,” and the condemnation is just. I do my best to put him in the courtroom on the Day of Judgment, with the hope that he will understand the mercy that God offers him in Christ.

I may equate repentance to a criminal who becomes law-abiding and shows his sincerity by returning stolen goods. I perhaps will explain saving faith by differentiating it from an intellectual belief, and likening it to trusting a pilot or a parachute. I speak of the cross by explaining that it’s like a civil judge paying a criminal’s fine, thus satisfying the law and at the same time extending mercy. All these things are aimed at (with the help of God) bringing understanding to the sinner. If he doesn’t understand the gospel, he won’t value it and seek the Savior.

I then explain, “It was a legal transaction. You broke God’s Law (the Ten Commandments), and Jesus paid your fine in His life’s blood. That means that God can legally dismiss your case. You can leave the courtroom on the Day of Judgment because your fine has been paid. Does that make sense?”

“You broke God’s Law (the Ten Commandments), and Jesus paid your fine in His life’s blood.”

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Again and again, I can see the light go on in the eyes of my hearers. Many suddenly understood the gospel when I explained it that way. While this is certainly not a magic formula, and I can’t point to a Bible verse that uses this exact language, I can say that legality is the essence of the cross. It was God’s love for justice, and for guilty sinners, that drove Him to Calvary.

Man is unique among God’s creation. He is forensic by nature. He intuitively understands the principles of law, retribution, justice, and mercy, because he is made in the image of God. That’s why every civilization sets up court systems and why the moral Law resonates with a sinner’s conscience. Scripture tells us that all mankind has “the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them” (Rom. 2:15). So when Paul uses the Law to bring the knowledge of sin to his hearers, he knows that it will find reverberation in their hearts:

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. (Rom. 2:21–24)

God is the “habitation of justice” (see Jer. 50:7). We are guilty criminals. Our fine has been paid, and upon our repentance and faith in Jesus, we can leave the courtroom. Carefully explaining the gospel message, using legal vernacular to those whose understanding is “darkened,” sheds new light on what they perceived to be just an old and irrelevant story.

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