We are used to hearing about the 10 Commandments. The Jews of Jesus’ day had to obey these plus over 600 more rules. In these days, we do not like to hear about what we should or should not do. We do not like being told, “Do this,” or, “Don’t do that.” Have you ever thought why we are like this?
1. The Law and Christians
What is the relationship of the Law (the Ten Commandments) to Christians? Remember these Ten Commandments were the original ‘Law’, given to God’s people, after their release from Egypt.
a. There are three answers
There are three radically different answers that can be returned to this question, and we must know which one is Biblical:
- First, sinners become saints by obeying the Law. This is legalism pure and simple. It is heresy of the most dangerous kind. All who really believe and act on it, as the basis of their acceptance by God, will perish eternally.
- Second, others say that the Law is not binding on Christians because the Law has been abolished. This is a dangerous, serious error. It arises from a mistaken interpretation of certain passages in the Epistles. The inevitable tendency of such an error turns the grace of God into a licence for immorality (Jude 4 … follow with Acts 17:11 for error-avoidance).
- Third, the Ten Commandments, not the myriad of additions imposed on a rebellious people (those that died in the desert), are an expression of the unchanging character and will of God; they are a moral standard for living, which we ignore at our cost; they are, and will ever be crucial for every Christian.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 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. 19 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 commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 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.”
What, though, are the ‘Law’ & the ‘Prophets’? They are both explained by Jesus later in Matthew 7:
Mat 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
b. The Law is not to be scrapped
Jesus at no time ever planned to scrap the Law. In the Matt 5, He was about to correct various errors that had been created by the Jews and by their frequent rebellions against God. Therefore, He is careful to start what He has to say by cautioning them not to misunderstand His words.
So, far from intending to throw aside Moses, He most emphatically asserts:
- First, that He had not come to destroy the Law;
- Second, that He had come to fulfil it;
- Third, that obedience to the Law is ‘until heaven and earth pass away’;
- Fourth, that whoever breaks one of the least of the Commandments and teaches other so to do, shall pay a price;
- Fifth, that he who keeps the Law and teaches men to respect and obey it shall be rewarded.
2. Christ’s comments
a. Destroy the Law?
“I am not come to destroy the Law.” The word “destroy” here means, “to dissolve or overthrow.” When our Lord said that He had not come to destroy the Law, He gave us to understand that:
- It was not the purpose of His mission to cancel the Ten Commandments ... the Law;
- He had not come to free men from their need to obey them.
Note: So, if Jesus did not “destroy” the Law:
- Then no one had destroyed it;
- If no one has destroyed it, then the Law still stands with all its Divine authority;
- If the Law still remains as the unchanging expression of God’s character and will, then every human being must obey it;
- If every human being must obey it, then this includes the Christian!
b. Fulfil the Law!
The Son of God went on to say, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” The word “fulfil” here means “to fill up, to complete.” Christ “completed” the Law in three ways:
- First, by full, personal obedience to it. God’s Law was within His heart (Psa. 40:8), and in thought, word and deed, He perfectly met its requirements. So, by His obedience He lifted up the Law and made it ‘honourable’ (Isa. 42:21).
- Second, by suffering (at the Cross) its death penalty on behalf of all people, who had broken or ignored it. Note: every broken law carries a penalty that must be paid!
- Third, by Himself showing its fullness and spirituality, and by opening up, revealing, explaining its contents. So, Christ, by being our example and teacher, “fulfilled the Law.”
By these last two actions, we see the work of pure grace. We could never achieve this, but Christ did – alone – on our behalf.
c. For how long is the Law valid?
Far from Jesus repealing the Law, He stated absolutely (v 18):
Matthew 5:18 “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.”
Through this verse, He describes the eternal nature of the Law. For as long as heaven and earth last, the Law will remain valid, and by implication, all men must fulfil it.
So, when will the Law end? After Christ’s return; literally when heaven and earth do disappear.
Revelation 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
d. Effect of Law-breaking
However, this is not all that the Lord said. He anticipated the modern outcry - including the Church - against the Law, and goes on to give a very solemn warning about such error. He said,
Matthew 5:19 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 commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
What is very interesting here, is that Jesus uses the phrase “... in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is addressing His own people. He is not speaking to the unbeliever; He is speaking straight to His own people. Jesus saw, prophetically, how error would creep into His own Body, the Church.
1) So, any Believer who:
- breaks [‘luo’=loosen, make non-binding] the Law; the start of error is the small twist in truth;
- teaches [by example or deliberate act] others [‘Christians’ - for non-Christians are breaking the Law anyway];
... to do the same, is called ‘least’ [nothing, of no authority] in the kingdom of heaven [His Body, the Church]. Do we want to ‘just get into heaven’, or do we want to really serve the living God as He desires while we are here on Earth?
2) But, the Believer who:
- practices [‘poieo’=to actively show by example] -- ‘do it, don’t just talk about doing it’;
- teaches [instructs=by example or deliberate act] -- ‘it doesn’t get done by accident’;
... these commands will be called ‘great’ [in a rank/category of persons of ability, authority, power -- who are shining, noticeable] in the kingdom of heaven [Church].
Note: An example of how small the ‘deviation’ in truth needs to be was shown in the previous section. See the NKJV:
Matthew 5:18 “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.”
3) The Believer’s character
Indeed, our character that is seen by others has to be firm/stable and disciplined.
Matthew 5:20 “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.”
Here, ‘righteousness’ speaks about our character or actions. It is that inner wish to keep the commands of God, our lives showing this by our actions and our very thoughts. We have to go beyond mere religion with its rules and formulae, to a place where we respond freely to Christ’s love for us. Following rules and liturgies without a relationship with Christ does not even get us into His Kingdom ... and thereby His Body, the Church.
Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Note: The Law is the very expression of God’s character and will!
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
3. Law Instead Of Faith?
One main objection to the need to follow the Law is that we are saved by grace through faith.
Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
So, does this mean that we scrap the Law? First, as we have seen above, Christ has said the Law stands to the end of time. Second, Paul establishes the truth and the correct place of the Law for the Believer.
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Here, Paul is talking about the Jews keeping the ceremonial Law, while ignoring the keeping of the moral Law. Didn’t Jesus call the Pharisees hypocrites and liars because of this ‘crime’?
Romans 3:21,22 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
The Law and the Prophets had foretold God’s plan of salvation through Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Even faith, itself, is a form – not a formula - of law, for by it everyone has to apply as a guilty, helpless, sinner to the free mercy seat of God, through Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified [declared innocent] by faith apart from observing the law.
First the inner change must occur, before the outward actions mean anything (John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”)
Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
So, is the Law to be dropped because we have grace through faith? No, the great Apostle Paul tells us the Law is not to be taken away, but is rather to be continued. Why?
==> Paul meant that, as saved people, Christians are now equipped with new and more powerful motives to serve God.
==> Righteousness, given to the Believer at salvation, produces an extent of obedience, which, otherwise, would not make it possible. So, far from disposing of the authority and use of the Law, it sustains and confirms it, and our moral obligation to God and our neighbour has not been weakened, but strengthened.
==> If man is justified by faith without works, does not that do away with law entirely, i.e. teach lawlessness/rebellion? By no means. It confirms the law. When a man is saved by grace that does not make him lawless. There is a new, divine power within him, which does not destroy, but strengthens the law, and causes him to keep it, not through fear, but through the love of God.
4. APPENDIX - The Law of God
a. Is absolute and perpetual:
Matthew 5:18 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.
b. Described as:
- Spiritual
Romans 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
- Holy, just, and good
Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
- Perfect
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- Not a burden/heavy
1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
c. Requires:
- Obedience of the heart
Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
- Perfect obedience
Galatians 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
d. Obedience to:
- A characteristic of saints
Revelation 12:17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
- A test of love
1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
- Of prime importance
1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.
e. Love is the fulfilling of:
Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Galatians 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
f. Designed to lead to Christ:
Galatians 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
g. Saints:
- Have, written on their hearts
Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- Delight in
Romans 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
- Is their rule of life
1 Corinthians 9:21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
Galatians 5:13-14 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
h. Is the rule of the judgement:
Romans 2:12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
- To be used lawfully:
1 Timothy 1:8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
- Established by faith:
Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
