At the beginning of His teaching ministry, Jesus taught the following about the law:
"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. (Matthew 5:17-19 NIV)
Later, after Pentecost, Paul taught the following:
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14 NIV)
Paul also taught:
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4 NIV)
Clearly something changed between the time Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and the time Paul gave his teaching on the obsolescence of the Law. Also note that while Paul was the lead teacher on this subject, his teaching was confirmed by the entire Apostolic leadership of the Church at the Jerusalem council at Acts 15.
The change in priesthood brought about a change in law:
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. (Hebrews 7:12 NIV)
With the Lord's finished sacrifice, He became our high priest. The book of Hebrews (especially chapters 7-10) discusses this in some detail.
What changed was the coming of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost, made possible by the once and for all sacrifice of the Lord himself. With that outpouring of the Spirit, a new WAY of pursuing righteousness came into existence for all men, a way different from the way of the law. It is a righteousness that comes by faith. That new way of righteousness is a major theme of Paul's writings in the New Testament. Those who believe in Jesus as their savior are supernaturally reborn with a new set of goals and attributes, a new way of looking at the world and themselves.
The practice of the entire Law in this age has become impossible because the Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed. We know that the dietary laws have been explicitly repealed. See Peter's vision at Acts 10. See also 1Timothy 4:1-5. See also the New Testament on circumcision which was very much a part of the Law.
The whole question of which parts of the law, if any, we are to live under, has been a hot topic throughout the church. The first step in exploring that question is seeing that it is impossible to interpret Jesus teaching as a command for the church to keep the law. To see it in that way would make false doctrine out of everything that was written by Paul on circumcision and dietary laws. See also Romans 14, where Paul makes it clear that people, as a matter of PERSONAL faith, might choose to keep some of the Old Testament Law, but the law is in no way binding on the whole church.
With this in mind, let's go back and note two things about Jesus teaching. First He says that He came to fulfill the law. To fulfill in this context means teaching the full meaning of the law, which He does in the rest of Chapter 5-7. Jesus fulfilled the law in 2 ways; first he taught it's full meaning, and then He became the sacrifice. He paid the full price for our sins.
The summary of that full teaching of the law is found here:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 NIV)
One of the problems with the Sermon on the Mount is that people try to find ways to water it down. Most contend that Jesus was using hyperbole here, exaggerating to make a point there, and so on. But that is the wrong understanding. One should take the sermon at face value and seek to see the point that Jesus is trying to make. His point is that God's standard is absolute perfection. The law is not really about days and diet or even religious observance. The law demands perfection.
As James wrote later:
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10 NIV)
And that truth prompted Paul's comment:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15 NIV)
Note carefully that Paul says "I AM" not "I WAS" the worst of sinners. This was written late in Paul's ministry. It was a statement about his present condition.
Paul is not saying that he was an ax murderer or anything like that. His is a simple acknowledgement that we are all in the same boat, that any defect is one too many, and that he, like the rest of us, wasn't perfect. Therefore under the law of perfection, he was the worst of sinners. Really we are all the worst of sinners. God's standard is absolute perfection. No human being is perfect and so we all are the worst of sinners.
The core of Jesus teaching was this; to be good enough for God, one has to be perfect, that any imperfection makes one totally unacceptable to God under the law.
Jesus presented His teaching on perfection elsewhere in the New Testament.
In the beautiful story of the woman caught in adultery at John 8 we see Jesus providing the woman with a full pardon for her sin. But note carefully His last command to her:
go, and sin no more. (John 8:11)
In other words, go and NEVER SIN AGAIN.
At Mat 19:16 Jesus encounters a rich man wanting to know what to do to get eternal life. Notice that, at verse 21, Jesus answers that to be perfect (the standard is perfection) THIS MAN needed to sell all his possessions, give to the poor and follow Jesus. That was a standard the man couldn't meet. The man wasn't perfect and Jesus knew where his weakness was.
Later at verse 25, the disciples (who were not rich but had given up everything to follow Jesus v. 27) asked who could be saved. That is a rather strange question to ask if the entire focus of this text was surrendering possessions. The disciples met that standard. But that wasn't the entire focus. The ongoing focus of Jesus teaching ministry was the requirement of perfection, absolute perfection in order to be saved. The disciples realized that they weren't going to be absolutely perfect as God is perfect. Neither was anybody else. That is what prompted the question.
Jesus answer was:
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 NIV)
The whole New Testament Gospel is about how we meet the standard of perfection. More on that in a minute. But for now it's important to see that Jesus teaching on the law (his fulfillment of that teaching) was the teaching that God demands absolute perfection, not slavish obedience to a rule book. Much of the Sermon on the Mount is a process of raising the standard, of looking beyond the failures of actions. to failures of the heart, to sins of thought as well as deed. It was against that standard that the Apostle Paul measured himself and found himself to be the worst of sinners.
A second point in the Sermon on the Mount concerns the word "accomplished" in verse 18. Many contend that this whole teaching on the law was repealed at the Cross when Jesus said "It was finished." My position is that this is not the right answer. While Jesus paid the full price for our sins under the law, the "accomplishment" that He had in view went beyond that. Note that the law continues until "heaven and earth pass away." There is more to be accomplished beyond paying the price for sin. There is the outworking of salvation in the lives of believers.
Also note that the book of the law continues to be the unifying book of the Jews.
The Jews haven't passed away and neither has even the smallest part of the Law. The Book of the Law holds the Jews together as a separate a and distinct people. God is not yet finished with the Jews as a separate and distinct people. I will have more on that in my essay on the Jews and the Church (hopefully coming soon).
But what then does the the law have to do with the age of the church, given that Paul said Christ was the end of the Law. First it is necessary to see that Paul himself taught against the precise rules and regulations of the Law. Christianity is not about rule books of do's and don't s.
The WAY of the law becomes a stumbling block to true spirituality. The Way of the law sees things in the context of minimum requirements; as long as I do this I'm OK with God, and as long as I don't do that I'm not in trouble with God. Technically that is true. But one should read Jesus commands in the Sermon on the Mount to see just what IS required where the standard REALLY is. Here is just one example:
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30 NIV)
People are quick to respond here that Jesus is exaggerating, that this is hyperbole, that He didn't mean what He said, that He couldn't have meant what He said. My position is that He meant exactly what He said here, just as He did when he told the woman caught in adultery to never sin again, and when He instructed the rich man on his need for a vow of poverty.
His point was that the standard is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION and that to fall short of that standard is to be totally defective. To offend in one point of the law is to offend in all. The point was to get people away from rule book righteousness and to realize that any rules they can keep are hopelessly inadequate in meeting God's standard of absolute perfection.
Here another issue needs to be addressed that is often neglected by the church. Many who teach pure absolute grace, fall into a trap that might be called the trap of "salvation alone." Yes we are saved by grace though faith alone, a sovereign work of God of which no man can boast (Eph 2:8-9). But one has to see that being saved is the starting line, not the end of the race. One should include Eph 2:10:
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
One might ask, if we are not under the law, then what is to keep us from becoming lawless. Isn't lawlessness, the opposite of lawful. Not for believers who are truly alive to the work of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Spirit of Truth made possible a whole new way of righteousness.
Here is the ultimate exhortation for our age:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24 NIV)
That is how we pursue the perfection of God. God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ stepped out of eternity and became flesh. God Himself sacrificed Himself for our sins. It was the ultimate act of a self sacrificial God. God is a revealer not a hider. What He revealed at the cross was His totally self sacrificial nature.
That is what Jesus called us to do. The legalist is focused on what I must do and what must I not do, on where the line is that I must not cross. A true follower of the way of Jesus asks what CAN I do for others, and then he does it.
Perfection is not going to be achieved by men in this flesh and blood. Human biology is by nature selfish. It's defective. God's perfection is totally self sacrificial. That is why we need new equipment which God will provide at the resurrection.
There are really 3 aspects of salvation. We were saved, at the cross where Jesus sacrifice provided a covering for our sins. We are declared righteous and born of God by the acceptance of His sacrifice.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (1 John 5:1 NIV)
At the resurrection we are physically made righteous, given a new spiritual body that is uncorrupted by haywire human biology.
Between here and there we pursue righteousness, by acquiring the self sacrificial attributes of Jesus. This is not something anyone has to do. Here is Jesus:
Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-29)
Any body of teaching that can't comfortably accommodate the above text is missing something. No man has to do anything. Our motivation for what we do has to be one of love for God who first loved us. (1Corinthians 13).
All believers are on the road to perfection. It's one step at a time, every day for a lifetime, as the Lord leads and provides strength.
2Peter 1:3-11 is perhaps the clearest text in the New Testament on how to walk. Here it is from the NIV:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11 NIV)
Faith and works cooperate together, not to get men saved, but to increase faith and works, and through that, to make our calling and election sure in our own hearts.
No man has to do anything. But most believers want to do something. 2Peter 1:3-11 defines what to do. This isn't list of do's and don'ts. It isn't some list of obligations to be carried out. It is a list of attributes of character to be acquired through the active pursuit of God's ways.
The law, any law, draws a fine line across the road to perfection. It can become an impossible burden to those not there yet and a stumbling block to those who can move beyond. It INEVITABLY becomes a means of self-righteousness.
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount set a new standard. The standard was perfection. He effectively said there, and throughout His earthly teaching ministry, that if you aren't perfect then you aren't good enough.
The point was to drive everyone to Paul's confession of being the worst of sinners, and then to see the amazing grace that God has for us, in providing a sacrifice to cover our sinful nature.
But that wasn't the end of the story. At Pentecost, and the coming of the Spirit of Truth, a new WAY of pursuing righteousness came into existence. It was a WAY independent of the law and really above it. The WAY of TRUTH is a way of self sacrificial love for other people. That is the true law for this age. Those who truly understand and respond to the high calling of God, have no need for the Law. It becomes nothing more than a stumbling block to progress. Those who don't understand that high calling, are not going to be helped by the law. All the law can do for those is to feed their false sense of self righteousness.
We are not under the law but under grace. But we are under grace for a reason. The reason is to have the freedom to pursue the high calling of God, a calling to self sacrificial perfection, motivated entirely by our love for God. Nobody is going to get to perfection in this life, hence the need for a resurrection. But we can eagerly await the righteousness for which we hope. (Gal 5:5) 2peter 1:3-11 explains how to eagerly wait.
Jim
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