Good Morning! Today we will be looking at Matthew 5:17-20 as we continue our series RED: Teachings From the Words of Jesus.
If you do not have a Bible you can look inside the Sunday Bulletin for the Scriptures.
(ME)
Shirt tags...mixed fabric...broke the law!
(WE)
“The biggest cop out for spiritual failure and the most common excuse for deliberate sinfulness are these words "I’m not under law but under grace!" and with those seven words we seek to absolve ourselves of any spiritual responsibility we might have for our behaviour. And when we are confronted about our actions we get all huffy and tell people to mind their own business. Actually it’s more like “Don’t judge me, you know what the bible says about judging.” - (Dennis Guptill, “24:6 The Why of Rules,” July 2007 from http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/246-the-why-of-rules-denn-guptill-sermon-on-sermon-on-the-mount-109633.asp)
So is that reality? Does grace give us an eternal get out of jail free card? Does grace really trump the law? Somehow we have gotten the notion that Jesus stamped the Old Testament with big red letters that say “Null and Void”. We have drawn the faulty conclusion that the OT no longer matters, that it really doesn’t apply to us, it just a collection of historical books. Except for maybe the 10 Commandments and most people are now working on an abbreviated version of them, they’ve kind of narrowed it down to ‘thou shalt not kill.’”
As New Testament believers in Christ we do live in a time of grace. It is by the grace of God that we are born again and empowered for service. But if we are under grace does that mean that we can then become “lawless?” Do we have to live under “The Law?” What does Jesus mean when he says that He DID NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW - BUT TO FULFILL IT?
(GOD)
Well, the first thing we need to understand is what Jesus means when He talks about “The Law and the Prophets.”
When Jesus uses this phrase it has more than one meaning...
It refers to the 10 Commandments
It also refers to the commands given in the first 5 books of the Bible (Torah)
When Jesus says, “The Law and the Prophets” He is speaking of the whole OT
But there was also a fourth meaning that referred to the ORAL or SCRIBAL LAW
The ORAL or SCRIBAL law is also called the MISHNAH. Now basically the Mishnah is a collection of writings ABOUT “The Law” (800 pages in the English translation). For many Rabbi’s it wasn’t enough to say, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” They had to create rules about how to obey the rules.
In the context of our passage today Jesus is probably referring to the whole OT in general. Jesus says,
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [the OT]: I have not come to abolish them BUT to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (vv. 17-18 emphasis mine)
Jesus uses two contrasting words in this passage: 1) abolish & 2) fulfill
First he says that His teaching and His presence on the earth DOES NOT mean that The Law (10 Commandments or the commands of the prophets) has gone away. Insead, He came to be the only human who could actually fulfill The Law & the Prophets.
Notice also that He does not say that He has come to OPPOSE The Law either. Jesus is not telling us that we can, because of grace, become LAWLESS
People were accusing Jesus of breaking the law - but in actuality Jesus was following the law the way God had intended - from the heart. He wasn’t following the law the way the Scribes and Pharisees had interpreted it.
Jesus is telling us that the OT (The Law & the Prophets) - is necessary even for those who have placed their faith in Christ. Not one of the tiniest commands (jot/title) will be removed from the Law even after His death, burial and resurrection.
Now how can that be? Does that mean I have to bring a bull or a goat to church to be sacrificed? Before you parade your finest Jersey cow into the sanctuary let me explain a couple of things.
The Law can be broken down into 3 types:
Ceremonial Law: these were the laws pertaining to how Israel was to worship God through sacrifice and ritual. We are, because of Christ’s sacrifice, no longer bound to offer animal sacrifices.
Civil Law: these were the laws pertaining to normal daily living in Israel (like making loans or borrowing something from a neighbor or handling human waste). These laws were specific to the time they were written and have little do with us today except in principle - and in conduct.
Moral Law: these were laws like the 10 Commandments requiring absolute/strict obedience. The moral law is still in effect for us today. (We will see that as we work through the rest of Jesus’ sermon he talks about our obligation to the moral law. As a matter of fact Jesus will help CORRECT some misunderstanding of the law that was keeping people from being free to worship God).
Look at what Jesus says, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these command will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (v. 19).
The Apostle James tells us (2:10) that even if we keep every single law on the books EXCEPT 1 - we are guilty of breaking all the laws.
Folks, in ourselves we are incapable of perfectly keeping the law (i.e. mixing of fabrics). And because we are incapable of doing that WE ARE THEN WORTHY OF GOD’S WRATH - - - BUT - - - HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS...
Jesus fulfilled every part of the law and took on God’s wrath for us. Now, through our faith in Christ, we can live without fear of God’s wrath. Now if we commit sin, we can bring our confession and repentance to Christ who has taken the penalty.
Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the Law. Because of this when we put our faith in Christ we receive the power to live lives that are blessed.His fulfillment of The Law paves the way for us to not only live in the blessing of God but also to be salt & light to a world where morality has not righteous standard. That does not mean we live arrogantly - we live differently - because we have the power by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony to overcome the world. BUT WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO SEE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO BECOME LAWLESS - I WILL JUST SIN AND GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF IT ALL IN THE END - - NO!!!
John tells us (1 John 2:1), “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
The goal is NOT TO SIN - but IF we do - we can then come to Christ who advocates for us to the Father.
Then Jesus throws this whammy on us, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (v. 20).
WOW!! The Scribes and Pharisees were meticulous in carrying out every jot and tittle of the law. They crossed every “t” and dotted every “i” - they lived as close to perfect as was possible. How could we SURPASS their right behavior.
Here is the deal - we cannot. Not even the Scribes and Pharisees were as righteous as they thought they were. The Scribes and Pharisees missed the point of The Law - - it was there to make us realize that we can never be good enough on our own (I know I am a thief because the Law tells me not to steal).
The whole purpose of the Law was not so we could observe it and HAVE OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS - THE LAW POINTED TO CHRIST WHO IS THE ONLY TRULY RIGHTEOUS PERSON.
We CAN surpass their righteousness - not by our works or goodness - BUT BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS - IT IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT WE RECEIVED AT SALVATION AND IT IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT SURPASSES ALL OTHERS.
The righteousness we have received from Christ causes our heart to want to LOVE & OBEY His commands because WE LOVE HIM - not just to satisfy a checklist that we can trade in for a ticket to heaven.
(YOU)
A.J. Jacobs, the agnostic senior editor of Esquire magazine, decided to spend an entire year trying to be completely obedient to every command in the Bible. In 2007, he wrote a book entitled The Year of Living Biblically. He says, “One thing I learned was how much I sinned. That was a little disturbing, but once you start to pay attention to the amount that you lie and gossip and covet and even steal—I was taken aback and that was a real eye–opener.” These are profound words from an agnostic. - (https://bible.org/seriespage/above-and-beyond-matthew-517%E2%80%9320)
Folks, our attempts at making ourselves righteous enough to take away our own sin are futile. As a matter of fact, what A.j. Jacobs discovered is exactly what God wants us to discover - our attempt to be perfect on our own only reveals how imperfect we really are. Ultimately this SHOULD POINT US TO THE REALIZATION THAT WE NEED A SAVIOR - A PERFECT SAVIOR - A RIGHTEOUS SAVIOR. WE NEED JESUS.
Are you attempting to doing everything right - follow all the rules - that this world puts on you? Or that the enemy puts on you because he says that Christ is not enough? Today is good day to lay down the burden of attempting to make yourself righteous (right with God) and allow Christ into your life - HIS BURDEN IS EASY - HIS YOKE IS LIGHT.
(US)
Odessa First Assembly is a place where a lot of RIGHTEOUS SINNERS get together. You heard me correctly. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory but through our faith in Christ we have been made righteous in the sight of God.
Do you want to become a part of this rag-tag group of people who are working out their salvation in the fear of God? Pray with me right now to accept Christ into your life.
