Fulfillment of The Law

The ultimate purpose of the law was to drive men to faith in Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the demands of the law on behalf of sinners who trust in His righteousness instead of their own.

John F. MacArthur

Let those words sink in for a moment.

Now we look at the words of Jesus, Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17–20 KJV 1900

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Notice if you will the phrase, “the law, or the prophets...” In Jesus’ day they didn’t have a completed Bible of both OT and NT Scriptures. All they had was the OT. Today we divide the OT into sections, the Pentateuch (first five books), Historical writings (Joshua - Esther), Poetic books (Job - the Song of Solomon), Major Prophets (Isaiah - Daniel), Minor Prophets (Hosea - Malachi). In Jesus day they divided their Scriptures (the entire OT) into two sections. Want to take a guess? The law, and the prophets.

I say this because I want you to understand what Jesus is teaching. Some take His words in this passage that He fulfilled these portions of Scripture and therefore the OT has lost is importance on us, but that is not true! Listen to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8-10

1 Timothy 1:8–10 KJV 1900

8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

The law is good, if it is used properly. The law is intended to show us that we cannot save ourselves! As amazing as that truth is, there is so much more to it than that! The law demonstrated our sinfulness, but the prophets told us of our redeemer! Jesus declared in this section, I am the fulfillment of the entire OT!

If Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT, then what would life look like for the faithful? Here we begin tonight’s message.

Jesus’ Words were about change. As the fulfillment of the law He changed...

Their Understanding of the Law - The System was Repealed, but the Standard Remained v. 18-19

The Law MUST be:

Fulfilled, v. 18 tells us that He would fulfill it to the tiniest detail!

The Mosaic law demanded sacrifice

Genesis 2:15-17 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Genesis 3:21 “21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” This however was after God made a promise:

Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s demand for sacrifice

Romans 5:19-21 “19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Philippians 2:8 “8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

John 3:16 “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

1 John 2:1-2 “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Romans 5:8 “8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Exodus 12:1-7 “1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”

Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 are just two OT passages that deal with the sacrifice of Jesus.

That Jesus was the fulfillment of the law is evident, but do not discount the fact that He did not come to destroy it!

Jesus says He fulfilled the, law, not destroy it! That means that the law MUST be…

Observed

There is a warning to those who would break the law and encourage others to do the same v. 19.

No doubt this was a slam against the Pharisees who taught that their traditions were more important than the Word of God

Jesus was affirming that the Word of God, all of it, was important. He summed it up this way: Matthew 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 KJV 1900

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus was on a mission to bring change to the world. He changed their understanding of the law, and lastly he changed...

The Object of their Faith - Not the Law, but Him v. 17,20

The scribes and Pharisees were the religious zealots of the day. They taught one must observe all 613 if the rabbinical traditions in order to obtain righteousness. Clearly these men had not learned what one of their very on would one day proclaim: Galatians 3:11

Galatians 3:11 KJV 1900

11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

The Law was NEVER intended to save anyone from our sins. Again the former Pharisee proclaimed in Galatians 3:24-25

Galatians 3:24–25 KJV 1900

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

The law was our schoolmaster, intended to teach us, to instruct us that we cannot save ourselves! Those who would put their faith in their obedience to the law for salvation were going to learn this the hard way.

Even today those who think they can earn their salvation are mistaken. No one can keep the law, no one, that is, but Jesus! Look at what He says in Matthew 5:20

Matthew 5:20 KJV 1900

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The scribes and Pharisees were suppose to be the most righteous people of their day, but Jesus declared their righteousness was not enough. What He was alluding to is simple for us to understand: There must be a better way!

Jesus was and is that way! He is the fulfillment of the law! Salvation is made available today through faith in Him.

Conclusion:

Jesus’ words were radical in His day. He was bringing about change. Changing their understanding of the law, changing the object of their faith.

Today Jesus still brings change! Changing lost sinners into saints of God.

Jesus can even bring about change in you tonight if you do not know Him.