Note: This sermon was from a series where I answered questions about the Bible submitted by the congregation.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; 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. 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. 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.
Matthew 5:17-20 (NIV)
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14 (NIV)
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:6 (NIV)
Question:
It seems that Jesus and Paul are talking about two different things. Is the law that Jesus fulfills different from the law from which we’ve been released?
At first glance, there is an apparent contradiction here. On one hand, Jesus proclaims that he has come to fulfill the law and on the other hand Paul writes that we are free from the law, or that we have been released from the law.
Let’s begin with Paul this morning and look at the two passages which I’ve already quoted to you. It seems to me that the first thing we need to do is to define the term “law” as Paul uses it in these passages. It’s quite interesting to note how different translations treat the word “law” in the New Testament.
• The NASB normally chooses to capitalize “Law” whenever it is preceded by the article – i.e. “the Law” and to not capitalize the word “law” when it is not preceded by the article. Thus in the NASB “law” is not capitalized in Romans 6:14, but it is capitalized in Romans 7:6. It is also capitalized in Matthew 5:17.
• The NIV takes a slightly different approach that looks more at the context of the word “law”. The word “Law” is normally capitalized when it refers to the Old Testament law, but is not capitalized when it refers to “law” in a more general way. So the NIV capitalizes “Law” in Matthew 5:17, where Jesus is obviously referring to the Old Testament law and it does not capitalize “law” in the verses we’re looking at in the Book of Romans.
• The KJV does not capitalize the word “law’ at all.
This seems to be a situation where the approach used by the translators of the NIV seems to best reflect the use of the word “law’. As we’ll see in a moment, when Jesus uses the word Law in Matthew 5:17, he is obviously referring to the Old Testament law. But in these passages in Romans, Paul is using the word “law” in a much broader way. As used by Paul in these passages, the word “law” refers to a “standard of conduct.” While that certainly includes the Old Testament law, it also includes other man-made law which the Jewish religious leaders had developed in order to expound upon the Old Testament law. And it would also include any other set of moral standards that are intended to be a guide for human conduct.
The purpose of law, as the word is used by Paul here, is to condemn failure. The law points out and punishes sin. That’s what the laws in our culture do today – they define and point out wrongdoing and provide a proscribed punishment for violation of those laws.
The problem with the law, which Paul very ably points out in his writings, not just here in Romans, but also in Galatians and his other letters, is that while the law is effective in pointing out the problem, it can do nothing to provide a solution for that problem. That’s certainly true for our laws. The law can point out the problem and even provide for punishment, but it can’t provide a solution for the problem. If it could, we wouldn’t have any murders, rapes, burglaries, assaults and other crimes in our society. The result is that law, as a standard of conduct, results in discouragement, a sense of defeat and despair.
So in a sense, law puts us in bondage, because it points out the sin in our lives, but the law itself can do nothing to solve the problem that our sin creates – spiritual death. But, Paul writes, in Jesus Christ we have been released from that bondage. When we accept Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and Savior, we die to the condemnation that the law brings. Paul makes this even clearer in Romans 8:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1, 2 (NIV)
Even after we become Christians, the fact is that we don’t always act right – we still sin. We still violate the law. But the law can no longer condemn us.
So does that mean that as Christians, since we have been released from the law that we are just free to violate the law however and whenever we want? Paul asks that same question in Romans 7 and his answer is an emphatic “NO!” Some people have looked at this passage and try to make the case that Paul has no respect whatsoever for the law. But that certainly can’t be the case since Paul also writes:
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Romans 7:12 (NIV)
So how do Paul’s words compare to those of Jesus?
When Jesus talks about the Law in Matthew 5, He is obviously referring to the Old Testament Law. The Jews often broke the Old Testament down into three sections:
• The Law – the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah, or the Pentateuch
• The Prophets – major and minor prophets
• The Writings or the Wisdom Books, such as Psalms, Proverbs, etc.
So when Jesus speaks about fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, which He does several times in Scripture, that is just another way of referring to the Old Testament. So exactly what does Jesus mean when He says that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
The first thing we need to do is to understand the word “fulfill.” It is a word that means to “fill up” or to “make complete.” In other words, Jesus came to this earth to make the Old Testament Law and Prophets complete. Without Jesus, the Law could not be complete. Let’s see why that is.
First of all, let’s briefly look at the idea that Jesus came to fulfill the Prophets. The life, death and resurrection literally fulfilled over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament. Everything from His virgin birth to His resurrection were prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfilled exactly and completely by Jesus. That seems pretty obvious.
But how did Jesus fulfill the Law? And how does that relate to Paul’s assertion that we have been released from the law? That’s a little more difficult question to answer.
Some Bible scholars have suggested that the Law can be divided into three different classifications:
• The moral law – principles of right and wrong in the conduct of life – i.e. the Ten Commandments
• The ceremonial law - instructions for worship, including the design of the Tabernacle and instructions for sacrifices.
• The social or civic law – rules that governed the social, political and economic life of the nation of Israel – i.e. rules about diet, sanitation, farming, debt, etc.
I think it’s quite helpful to use those classifications in order to understand what Jesus was talking about when he said that He came to fulfill the Law. I think it’s also helpful to us in understanding how the Old Testament Law applies to us today. However, we need to be careful not to take this too far, since it does not appear that the Bible makes a clear distinction between these classifications. In fact, some, and maybe even much of the Old Testament Law could fit into two or three of the categories.
Clearly, Jesus fulfilled the moral law. He came to earth and lived a sinless life. He observed all of the Ten Commandments perfectly.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
Jesus also fulfilled the ceremonial law. All of the ceremonial law was designed to point to Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection put an end to the need for further sacrifice because Jesus took all of our sin upon Him when He died on the cross. The writer of Hebrews described that fulfillment like this:
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-- not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship…First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:1, 8-10 (NIV)
Jesus also fulfilled the social law. Originally, the social law was given to the people of Israel when they lived in a theocracy. The people were governed by God and He passed down his rules for living through Moses. When Jesus fulfilled the social law He replaced it with a new way of life that is appropriate for the new life He has given to us. But rather than the letter of the law, he gives us the Holy Spirit that we might live according to the spirit of the law. It is a law that makes provision for the inner man.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
We’ve just begun to scratch the surface here, but I think it is clear that the words of Jesus and the words of Paul are not contradictory at all. In fact, they are quite complementary. When Jesus came to fulfill the law, his actions also made it possible to be released from the condemnation that accompanied the law. Jesus said that no one could enter the kingdom of heaven unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The point Jesus was trying to make is that no one is capable of keeping the law. And so Jesus did that for us. He fulfilled every aspect of the law so that we could be freed from the penalty of not keeping the law ourselves.
That leads me to one last question – one that is very practical for all of us:
How does the Old Testament apply to the life of a Christian today?
You’ll here a wide range of answers to that question. Some will claim that the Old Testament is inspired Scripture and therefore we need to literally follow every aspect of the law. At the other extreme are those who claim that since we have been released from the Law, we can just ignore it altogether. As is usually the case, it seems to me that the answer lies somewhere between the two extremes. Let me suggest to you a very practical, and I believe Biblical, way to approach the Old Testament Law:
1. If there is an Old Testament Law that is restated in the New Testament, then it is still binding and valid for Christians. Most of the moral law would fit this category. In fact, right after the passage we read earlier in Matthew 5, Jesus goes on to confirm that the Old Testament laws against murder and adultery are still valid. He even goes on to explain that as followers of Jesus Christ, keeping the spirit of the law even exceeds the letter of the law.
2. If there is an Old Testament Law that is set aside in the New Testament, then we are no longer bound by that law as Christians. Almost all of the ceremonial law and much of the social law would fit into this category. For example, Jesus specifically set aside the dietary laws from the Old Testament in Mark 7. We also find that laws regarding circumcision and the observance of the Jewish festivals were set aside. And we’ve already seen that the death and resurrection of Jesus did away with the need for the ceremonial law.
3. If there is an Old Testament Law that is not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, then apply this process:
• Identify general patterns and principles
• See if the principle is confirmed in the New Testament
• Apply the principle to the specific situation
It seems that would be the best approach for dealing with most of the social law. Since that law was given for a limited purpose – to govern the nation of Israel during a certain period of time – we can’t just apply it directly today. For instance, that is why we don’t stone adulterers or put to death children that are disrespectful to their parents. However, there are usually some principles that we can use to guide our conduct.
Let me give you one example. In Leviticus 19:28, we find the following command:
Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves…
Leviticus 19:28 (NIV)
So the question is, does that command still apply to us today? I can’t find anything in the New Testament that addresses the issue either way. So I have to see if I can discern a pattern or a principle from that command. It seems to me that the principle is that God doesn’t want us to disfigure the bodies that He has created and given to each one of us.
Is that same principle confirmed anywhere in the New Testament? How about these verses:
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
Based upon these facts (the Leviticus command against tattoos and the principle that my body is not my own) I would reason that God would rather I leave my body free from self-inflicted markings. We were made in the image of God. Apparently He thinks no further pictorial adornment is needed.
One word of caution here: We’re dealing in much more of a gray area here, so we need to be careful not to use this process to become legalistic or to make judgments about others. My purpose with this example is not to condemn any of you who may have tattoos or who have in some other way tried to alter the body that God gave you. That’s between you and God. But I hope that you can see how we can use the Old Testament to help us make decisions, even when there is no specific New Testament teaching.
