CHRIST AND THE LAW
Matthew 5:17-18
Here in the USA, when a new president takes office, (if his predecessor was from the opposition party) one of his first acts after his inauguration is usually to go to the Oval Office and begin to sign executive orders with the intention of immediately reversing or abolishing certain policies implemented by the prior administration.
In other parts of the world, especially after some sort of revolution, it is common for a new leader to remove and sometimes even kill the members of the previous government or monarchy. A newly established leader will often nullify the previous constitution and set up their own form of government and establish new laws that are in line with their agenda.
When Jesus came to earth, He astonished the crowds with His teaching (Matthew 7:28-29 “the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.). Throughout His earthly ministry, our Lord was constantly confronted, challenged and accused by the Pharisees. One of their constant complaints was that His teaching was contrary to the Law of Moses. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that His doctrine was not at all contrary to God’s Law. However, it was vastly different from the Pharisees incorrect interpretation of it. Jesus plainly declares and then goes on to describe the fact that it was not His purpose or desire to abolish the Law, in fact, one of the primary reasons for His coming to earth was to fulfill the Law that the Pharisees “claimed” to hold so dear.
The truths that Jesus declares in this passage had serious implications for the Jews, and they are also important for those of us who are in Christ today. I would like to examine Jesus’ declaration here in verses 17-18 and consider: “CHRIST AND THE LAW”.
v17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Jesus said that not a single “jot” or “tittle” would pass from the Law until it was completely fulfilled. The “jot” was the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The “tittle” is a small mark in Hebrew writing that distinguishes one letter from another. The CSB does a wonderful job translating this verse: v18 “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished”.
Jesus wants His audience to know that no truth recorded in scripture, (not even the smallest detail of God’s law) will pass away until its purpose has been achieved. It is interesting and important to note that Jesus does not say that the Law will never pass away; rather, He said it would not pass away until all was fulfilled/accomplished. The only way that the Law could be fulfilled was through Christ Himself. In fact, the very purpose of the Law and the Prophets was to point to Jesus.
In order for us to truly understand Jesus’ teaching concerning the fulfillment of the Law we must understand what the Law is, where we can find it, why it was established, how it was fulfilled and what it means for us. For this reason, I would like to survey the scriptures and try to answer these questions.
- First of all:
WHAT IS THE LAW?
The Law refers to the commands of God that the Nation of Israel received from Moses. We often refer to this as the Mosaic Law. This is not because Moses came up with these commands himself, rather, he was the “mediator” between God and the people. Ultimately, the laws that Israel received were God’s laws.
God gave His Law to His people, the Nation of Israel, however there are moral principles contained within the Law that are valid for all people in all generations. Paul said in Romans 2:14-16, “So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus”.
- Another elementary question that we must answer is:
WHERE CAN WE FIND THE LAW?
God’s law is a subject that is found all throughout the Bible but the primary sections that record it in detail are Exodus chapters 20-31, the Book of Leviticus, and the Book of Deuteronomy. God’s Law is vast and covers a multitude of subjects. There are many of God’s Laws that give extremely specific detail about the things that God’s people should avoid and other things that they should seek to accomplish. Though multiple chapters and entire Books of the Bible record minute details of the Law, it is summarized in The Ten Commandments; these are found in Exodus 20:1-17.
Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Jesus further summarized God’s Law in Matthew 22:37-40 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
- Now that we have seen a little bit about what the law is and where it is found, the logical question is:
WHY WAS THE LAW ESTABLISHED?
Contrary to what many legalists believe and teach, the Law was NEVER intended to be a means of salvation. God did not give Moses a list of rules for the People of Israel expecting them to follow them completely in order to receive salvation. In His infinite wisdom, God knew that there was no way that fallen man could live in such a way as to be worthy of salvation. Though the Bible records the biographies of many amazing and devoted servants of God, not a single one of them would have qualified for salvation if it depended on complete obedience to the Law. James said, “For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all. (James 2:10)
Paul said in Acts 13:39 that by Jesus “everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”. He said in Romans 3:20 that “no one will be justified in (God’s) sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law”. Then in Galatians 3:16 he said, “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified”. Then a few verses later he said, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Galatians 3:21)
These verses and countless others prove that the Law could not save people. Instead, the Law was established in order to show people just how desperately they need a Savior. Therefore, the Law serves to reveal man’s sinfulness.
Romans 5:20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 7:7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.”
Galatians 3:19 Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come…
Through Moses, God gave His people the Law in order to reveal their sinfulness. Moreover, God’s Law served to reveal His glory and holiness to the people. Listen to what Moses said in:
Deuteronomy 5:22 “The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire. 24 You said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. 26 For who out of all humanity has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’ 28 “The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.
The commands that were given in the Law served to identify Israel as God’s chosen people and to separate them from the heathen. The Psalmist said in Psalm 147:19-20 “He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and judgments to Israel. He has not done this for every nation; they do not know his judgments. Hallelujah!.
Through the Law God also set a standard for holy living. Deuteronomy 4:1“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you”.
The Law is good and established by God, but there are certain things that the Law cannot do. The Law does not have the ability to justify man from his sins, to provide righteousness, or make anyone perfect. (Hebrews 10:1 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. 2 Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?)
It is also true that the Law cannot give life. Paul said in Galatians 3:21-22, “Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.
Though the Law does not have the ability to justify mankind, provide holiness, make anyone perfect or give life, it does serve to point people to the only One who can. We are able to be justified, and made righteous, holy, & perfect, and to receive abundant and eternal life because instead of “abolishing” the Law, Jesus Christ “fulfilled” the Law.
- This leads us to our fourth question:
HOW IS THE LAW FULFILLED?
The obvious answer to this question is that the Law could only be fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ. As Jesus declares in our selected text, He did not come to abolish or destroy the Law. Contrary to what the Pharisees believed, Jesus’ deeds and doctrine did not serve to render God’s Law invalid. Through His perfect life and obedience to the Father’s will, Jesus fulfilled the promises given by the Prophets who had been sent by God and the words that had been written in the Law of God.
As we have seen the Law held men in bondage, Jesus came to set us from its bondage and we live in liberty through Christ. The Law condemned and offered no hope, in Christ we are free from condemnation and we possess eternal hope.
Through His marvelous life and sacrificial death, Jesus did all that was necessary to set us free. This would not be possible if He had attempted to abolish God’s Law. But it is possible because He fulfilled the Law! (Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons).
Jesus kept the Law perfectly and completely. He fulfilled the prophecies that had been delivered, beginning at man’s fall in the Garden and going all the way through the ministry of John the Baptist. He fulfilled all of the types and shadows that were recorded in Leviticus and Numbers. He became our Passover Lamb and our Scapegoat. Our Lord and Savior forever took away the demands of the Law upon our lives.
Jesus Christ met every single righteous demand of God’s Law. Paul said in Colossians 2:13-14, “And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross”.
- Thus far we have seen what the Law is, where we can find it, why it was established, and how it was fulfilled. Finally, I would like for us to answer the question:
WHAT DOES THE LAW MEAN FOR US?
Jesus’ death satisfied God’s requirements for sin and for obedience to the Law. Though who are saved, those who are in Christ are not forced to obey the Law. However, we are compelled to obey God’s Law because of our love for Jesus and our appreciation for His selfless sacrifice for our sins. We have gone from being slave to sin to living as children of God. Therefore, a good Christian does obey, but we he/she does go because of grace, not in an attempt to earn God’s favor by our compliance to His Law.
Romans 6:14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not!
Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Knowing that we still live in the midst of a fallen creation and in sinful fleshly bodies, how is it possible for us to obey God’s Law? The answer is simple and beautiful. When we receive Christ as Savior, He writes the Law in our hearts. This was a promise that God made way back in Jeremiah 31:33, there God said: “this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin”.
Sin is transgression of the Law. All of mankind had broken God’s Law and as a result they were under the curse of death. Romans 3:10-18 says:
There is no one righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away;
all alike have become worthless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.,
Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.,
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.,
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.,
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
and the path of peace they have not known.,
There is no fear of God before their eyes.,
The guilt of sin is universal; Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The guilt is universal and the consequences are severe. Romans 6:23 tells us that, “the wages of sin is death”. Because God is righteous and holy, He could not overlook the transgressions of man. He demanded that the penalty be paid. Though He was sinless, Jesus came to die as the Substitute for sinners. He paid the penalty of sin by His sacrificial death at Calvary. Those of us who belong to Jesus are able to live with the assurance that our Savior is the culmination of the Law. Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”.
By fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, Jesus secured our eternal salvation. In the Old Testament, priests were required to offer sacrifices and they were the only ones permitted to enter the holy place. Jesus has done this for us once and for all! The writer of Hebrews says, “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified”. (Hebrews 10:14) Because of our sinless Savior and great High Priest, the offering has been made, we are justified, our sins have been forgiven and no longer in bondage to the Law.
Colossians 2:14 says that Jesus, “erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him”.
Apart from Christ, we would be helpless and hopeless. But in Him we are free and forgiven. This is made possible because our sinless Savior, did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. He did not come to “destroy but to fulfill”. We can rest in His promise that “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled”.
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