Does the Law Still Matter?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
17 “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.
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Pray
1. The Fulfillment of God’s Commands (v.17)
1. The Fulfillment of God’s Commands (v.17)
17 “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.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law
The Old Testament Law had denigrated into legalism, Jesus presents the heart of the Law and its real intention
We could not keep the Law (James 2:10)
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
We were condemned under the Law (Gal.3:10)
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
The Law Directs us to Christ (Gal. 3:24)
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
Christ came to complete the requirements of the Law (Romans 8:3-4)
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Ray Comfort’s use of the law in presenting the gospel
Application
When we present the gospel to someone, we need to understand the purpose of the requirements of God’s law, the purpose of God’s Law, and the fulfilment of God’s commands in Christ. If we present the gospel in any other way, we very well might be presenting a false gospel that cannot save. Inevitably, the gospel is good news because there was first bad news.
2. The Permanency of God’s Commands (v.18)
2. The Permanency of God’s Commands (v.18)
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Picture of Hebrew letters
Jesus assures us that God’s Word is permanent
We can believe this because the Lord does not change (Mal. 3:6)
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
God’s Word is fixed in the heavens (Psalm 119:89)
89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
God does not need to change His Word since He is omniscent
God has painstakingly preserved His Word
Picture of Manuscript Evidence
Application
You can have confidence that what we have is the Word of God. You can believe that God will keep His Word, because all of the prophecies that were supposed to happen to this point have, and all of the ones that are yet to happen are certain to be fulfilled.
3. The Primacy of God’s Commands (v.19-20)
3. The Primacy of God’s Commands (v.19-20)
19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
There have been a number of prominent “pastors,” and I want to use that term loosely because in the advent of the mega-church, a lot of guys that you might give the title “pastor” to are just speakers. They have a great personality and a charisma about them, but many times they don’t know the Word of God and have really bad theology. But a lot of these guys recently have started to preach that we need to “unhitch” from the Old Testament. They teach that the Bible has been superceded by private revelation. They minimize God’s Word.
Jesus would warn them that 1) if they are saved, they will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven, though they may have amassed a great following on earth, and 2) they very likely might be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Jesus never neglected a single commandment. He never said that anyone should not follow them. He only fulfilled them.
There are three types of commandments in the Old Testament and all of them have a purpose.
Civil Law
Ceremonial Law
Moral Law
The New Testament Church used the Old Testament as their Bible and the Holy Spirit was writing the New Testament through their writings.
The New Testament explains how the Old Testament was fulfilled in Christ.
You cannot understand the New Testament without the Old Testament.
Conclusion
We need to understand that just because we have been saved by grace, we are not saved to walk in our old ways of sin.
Paul said this,
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Now remember from the first point we looked at that the purpose of the Law is to show us our sin? If we take and “unhitch” from the Law, we take away the very tool the Holy Spirit uses to show us our real selves. The Law is a mirror.
If we have been saved with Christ, we will walk with Christ and remember the second point: Christ fulfilled the commandments of God’s Law.
So the natural thing for us to do is to walk in these commandments and to teach others to do the same.
Jesus warned that if you are going to stand before Him in your own good works, your righteous deeds better be better than the Pharisees. They were great at keeping the outward commands of the Law. They had even added to them commands of their own and thought that God was really pleased with them for this.
But there is no other person who can stand before God in his own righteousness. If you are here this morning and you have messed up, you’re in good company because we all have!
Know that you can come before God, not in your own righteousness, but in that of Christ Jesus’.
In a moment, we are going to celebrate an ordinance that Christ gave to us as a memorial of what He did for us. He gave His life and his body was broken for us, His blood was spilt. We can receive Him, like we receive food and believe on Him in faith and be cleansed from our sins.
There is an open invitation for you today to trust in Christ. God has been pleased to offer Him as your sacrifice if you will receive Him.
Christian, if you have not been walking with Christ and doing the deeds that He does, commit your ways to the Lord anew this morning and devote yourself to obedience.
God’s ways are better than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. Trust in the Lord with all your mind and He will direct your paths.
Conclusion