AG STUDY GUIDE FINAL - The Forerunner

John Bunyan declared,
“The man who does not know the nature of the Law cannot know the nature of sin,
and he who does not know the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the Savior.”
~ John Bunyan, from Ernest C. Reisinger’s The Law and The Gospel, p. 33
The lightning rod of “The Great Awakening”, George Whitefield, also gave primary
emphasis to the Law in effecting true conversions.
“That is the reason we have so many ‘mushroom’ converts… because their stony
heart is not plowed; they have not got a conviction of the Law; they are stonyground
hearers.” ~ George Whitefield, The Evidence Bible, compiled by Ray
Comfort, p. 227
The Baptist Confession of 1689 explains that the Ten Commandments shows the
“…need they [sinners] have of Christ and the perfection of His obedience.” ~
London Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 19:6
The Westminster Confession of Faith states that
“The Moral Law is of use to unregenerate men, to awaken their consciences to
flee from the wrath to come, and drive them to Christ.” ~ Westminster
Confession of Faith, Larger Catechism, Number 96
John Wesley, the great Arminian evangelist understood that true Biblical evangelism did
not start by offering grace but by expounding the Law of God.
“The first use of the Law, without question, is to convince the world of sin. By
this is the sinner discovered to himself. All his fig leaves are torn away, and he
sees that he is ‘wretched and poor and miserable, blind and naked.’ The Law
flashes conviction on every side. He feels himself a mere sinner. He has nothing
to pay. His ‘mouth is stopped’ and he stands ‘guilty before God.’” ~ John Wesley,
Quoted from The Evidence Bible, compiled by Ray Comfort, p. 437
With this truth in mind, Wesley encouraged a friend to
“Preach 90 percent Law and 10 percent grace.” ~ Ibid
Tragically, much of today’s church has forgotten the wisdom of these great men. Too
often we have forsaken the Law as the primary school master that drives rebellious
sinners to Christ. We have exchanged our birthright for a mess of cheap pottage,
embracing slick marketing techniques, pizza blowouts, and seeker-friendly gimmicks in
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