Friday, May 04, 2012,
7:13 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “Praise the ‘I AM’” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 5:17-20 (NIV 1984):
“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.”
My Understanding: This
is a difficult passage to interpret, i.e. to understand. We know from reading
the epistles that now that we are under grace, we are no longer under the law.
Yet, at the time Jesus spoke those words, they were still under the law, i.e.
they were still under the Old Covenant relationship between God and his people.
That did not really change until Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins,
and thus he initiated the New Covenant relationship between God and his people
based upon Jesus’ sacrifice of blood for our sins. Jesus’ teachings, thus,
served as a transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.
Love and the Law
Jesus taught the spirit of the law over and above the letter
of the law, i.e. he taught the underlying godly principles for daily living
contained within the law. The Pharisees were so concerned with keeping the
letter of the law that they actually broke the law, because they failed to
understand that love is the fulfillment of the law.
So in everything, do
to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~ Matt. 7:12 (NIV ’84)
Jesus replied: “‘Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the
Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ~ Matt. 22:37-40
(NIV ’84)
Love does no harm to
its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ~ Rom. 13:10
(NIV ’84)
Jesus and the Law
Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets, but he came to fulfill them. The Law and the Prophets testified to
Jesus Christ and to the righteousness that was to be ours through him and his
blood shed on the cross for our sins. So, he literally is the fulfillment of
the Law and the Prophets. He is love and love is the fulfillment of the Law.
The Law was to prepare the way for Christ Jesus, and the Prophets prophesied to
the coming of Jesus and to New Covenant relationship between God and his
people. I just finished reading the OT prophets, so I know this is true. The
law was put in place until Jesus had come. The law’s purpose was to lead us to
Jesus Christ so we might be justified by faith, not by law.
Brothers, let me take
an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human
covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises
were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to
seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is
Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set
aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the
promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends
on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
What, then, was the
purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to
whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels
by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God
is one.
Is the law, therefore,
opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given
that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the
law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so
that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be
given to those who believe.
Before this faith
came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be
revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision of the law. ~ Gal. 3:15-25 (NIV ’84)
Therefore no one will
be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the
law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from
law, has been made known, to which the
Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus… For we maintain that a
man is justified by faith apart from observing the law… Do we, then, nullify
the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. ~ Rom.
3:20-24, 28, 31 (NIV ’84)
Death to the Law
Because Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and we are
saved by grace, we are no longer required to follow all the OT rules and
regulations and ceremonial requirements.
So, my brothers, you
also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to
another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit
to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions
aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.
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. ~ Rom. 7:4-6 (NIV ’84)
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. Those who live according to the
sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who
live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit
desires. ~ Rom. 8:1-5 (NIV ’84)
These Commandments
So, how does that mesh with Jesus Christ stating that he did
not come to abolish the law, and that every stroke of the pen of written
scripture must remain until everything is accomplished (including the time of
judgment on the earth, Jesus Christ’s return, his Millennial kingdom reign, and
the final judgment on mankind and the earth)? How does what we have just read from
Romans and Galatians fit with Jesus’ words where he said that if anyone breaks
the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, he will be
called the least in the kingdom of heaven? Either we are still under the law or
we are not under the law. So, how do we reconcile this teaching of Jesus?
Clearly Jesus taught that he was the fulfillment of the law,
so that would mean that his teachings were also the fulfillment of the law. As
well, we learned that love is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.
Certainly we can ascertain that we are to follow the spirit of the law, which
is love. Maybe the understanding of this passage has more to do with
interpretation of the Law and the commandments. If Jesus is the fulfillment of
the Law, perhaps the rest of this paragraph is to be understood in that
context. In that case, this would be saying that all prophecy of scripture
related to Jesus Christ must happen, and not a single component of what was
written that looked forward to Jesus Christ would disappear until all things
have reached their fulfillment. In other words, everything in scripture has its
purpose, and those purposes which were realized in Jesus Christ will continue
to be realized until all things have reached their fulfillment.
So, what are these commandments we must obey and we must
teach others to obey? If Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law, and the
Law’s purpose was to point to Jesus Christ until he came, then the commandments
must be those of Jesus Christ. And, we obey them when we obey Christ’s
teachings and those of his disciples and apostles who carried on his work on
the earth in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit of God within them. We
know these teachings as the New Testament Scriptures, although the Bible also
teaches that “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (1 Ti. 3:16-17 NIV ’84). Yet, the
teachings of the OT must always be taught in the context of the New Testament and
our New Covenant relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ.
The Real Issue
Jesus’ conclusion or summary statement to what he had just
stated about the Law and the Prophets and him being the fulfillment of them, as
well as his teaching on keeping the commandments, dealt with the true
underlying issue: Unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, we
will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In other words, we are not saved by observing
the law. Even Abraham was not made righteous before God by observing the law,
but by faith in the promise. The promise is realized in Jesus Christ, and we
are saved by faith in that promise. No amount of good works or self-righteous
efforts on our part will get us into heaven. That does not mean, however, that
true faith is absent of works. True faith will be realized by what we do that
demonstrates that true faith exists. For instance, if we say we believe Jesus
Christ died to save us from our sins, yet we continue in willful sin, where is
our faith? The Bible teaches that faith absent of works (spiritual fruit in
keeping with repentance) is dead (see James), and that if we say we have faith
and yet continue to live a life of sin, we are liars (see 1 John). What Jesus
Christ is looking for is true holiness and righteousness in our lives, which
come through faith in Christ Jesus, and then as lived out in our daily lives in
obedience to Christ and to his commands.
Praise the “I AM!”
/ An Original Work / February 24, 2012
Jesus, my Savior, full
of compassion,
Glorious in power,
mighty in strength;
Gracious Redeemer,
mighty deliv’rer,
My heart adores Him.
Praise to His name!
Perfect salvation my
Lord provided
When He died for my
sins on a tree;
Crucified my sins;
conquered in vict’ry,
When He arose, so I
could be free!
I am so thankful for
His forgiveness;
Grateful that He chose
to pardon me,
Giving me new life
full in His Spirit,
So I can serve Him;
His servant be!
Walking in daily
fellowship with Him,
Obeying Him whate’er
He commands;
Forsaking my sins,
living in freedom,
I will endure with Him
to the end!
He gives me peace and
calm reassurance
In times of sorrow, or
in distress.
His grace is sure, and
oh, how sufficient
To meet me in my need
for sweet rest.
Oh, how I love You,
Jesus, my Savior.
My heart longs for You
where’er I am.
Your word is precious;
speaks to my spirit;
Brings comfort,
healing. Praise the “I AM!”
No comments:
Post a Comment