Christ Came to Fulfill the Law, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
“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.
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.
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.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
We saw last week Jesus is unswerving commitment to all of the Old Testament scriptures.
He elevated the Word of God to show the Unrivaled, Ultimate, Unmovable, and Unchanging significance of it.
He was not trying to replace the OT.
He has come to fulfill the OT.
Within that word “to fulfill” is a great deal of theological significance.
What is meant by the word “fulfill”?
If you’d ever had the experience of standing next to a 200 or older old oak tree, it’s an amazing experience.
This tree was here when our nation was founded.
It has seen many moments pass by.
But what we rarely consider that oak tree was once a tiny acorn.
Everything that oak tree is contained in something you could fit in the palm of your hand.
The way that Jesus spoke of Himself can be compared to an acorn and an oak tree.
If the acorn is the OT, then the fullness of the oak tree is the NT.
The Oak Tree from the Acorn
The Oak Tree from the Acorn
(Matt 5:17-18)
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 1. Christ and the Law (17, 18)
‘The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud, the New Testament is the Gospel in full flower. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade; the New Testament is the Gospel in full ear.’
Keep in mind, we are NOT talking about Jesus keeping the law.
We are NOT talking about the actual DOING of the LAW.
As much as we are talking about the fulfilling of the law.
It’s the difference between “abolish” and “fulfill”
MORE THAN “abolish” and “keep.”
Jesus did not conceive of his life as being in opposition to the Old Testament.
Rather, he saw himself as the One who would fulfill the expectations of the Old Testament.
“Do you believe the Ten Commandments are the rule of life for Christians today?”
1. “Yes, of course!”
The problem is that we haven’t stoned anyone recently.
This was the consequences for law breakers.
2. “No, that was a different law for a different time.”
The problem with this is the words that Jesus Himself said.
“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.
3. “Oh, my no, those commandments are far too low a standard for a redeemed child of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and living under a gracious covenant.” — John Reisinger, But I Say Unto You, Chapter 1
When a person in the Old Testament heard the command “Do not murder.”
It would've been objectively clear when that command was broken.
If a person is murdered, the command is broken.
But Jesus elevates the Old Testament law not by contradicting Moses, but by elevating him to bring newer harder demands.
“Christ in no way is contradicting Moses, but is saying that the law given to Moses was good and necessary for that time; however, the citizens of the new kingdom need higher laws.”…
Christ makes new and more spiritual demands on his disciples because they are now under a covenant characterized by enabling grace. Neither Moses nor the law covenant could have made these demands or laws.” — John Reisinger, But I Say Unto You, Chapter 2
If there is anything from the Old Testament that is not binding today on us.
It is only because it has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Not because it doesn't matter.
Not because it doesn't apply to us.
Not because it doesn’t HAVE AUTHORITY.
Not because it lost its validity.
Not because we don't think those parts are important anymore.
Let me give you an example from the OT.
Picking Up Sticks and Stoning
While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.
They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him.
And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Obviously, we're not stoning people.
What do we do with what the Lord told the people of Israel in numbers 15?
What do we do with the places in the law that makes us very uncomfortable?
I want us to see brothers and sisters not that it just goes away, but that it has been fulfil.
Fulfilled in His Life.
Fulfilled in His Life.
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,
but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
Paul describes the role of the law for the people of Israel by using a common example.
If a child had an extremely wealthy set of parents.
The child would own everything the parents owned.
But for a time, the child is too immature to inherit everything that parent has when they are a child.
This is why verse two Paul says that the people were under a “guardian” or a “manager” until the time set by the Father.
This is how the law acted for the people of Israel.
They were an unregenerate, and rebellious people.
They needed the law to hem them in to be a society that would reflect God’s character to the world around.
Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV)
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law…
He shared our flesh in order to “redeem” or liberate all those who were held captive to sin in unrighteousness.
He fulfilled the law by placing Himself under the very demands that He demanded.
The demands of the law were placed upon Him, but there is ONE large difference between you and HIM.
He walked in perfect obedience.
Christian
In every moment, you need to remember that we serve a LORD who stepped into the very story He is writing.
We have a LORD who steps into the very law that He created.
We never have any right to say to Him,
“You don’t understand what I’m going through!”
Because He does!
Fulfilled in His Death.
Fulfilled in His Death.
Why did Jesus have to die?
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
For the wages of sin is death…
The law demanded that those who are law breakers must die.
The payment for sin is death.
We are redeemed because Christ has taken our place.
The laws demands death for law breakers and He was treated like a lawbreaker to liberate the law breakers.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Christ became a curse for us, to bear our curse in Himself.
Unbeliever
You’re still under a curse because you are still a law breaker.
You’re still under a curse because as much as you want to “obey”, you still break the laws of God.
You’re still under a curse.
But there is hope…
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
The hope for you today is to trust Christ.
The hope for you today is to trust the One who bore your curse on your behalf.
Fulfilled in His Ascension.
Fulfilled in His Ascension.
The Ascension of Christ is pivotal for the fulfillment of scripture.
The copy and the shadow of the law had the high priest, making sacrifices continually standing in the most holy place.
But the ascension of Christ is proof that God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ for sinners.
The ascension of Christ shows God's acceptance of a perfect sacrifice.
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
The Lord Jesus is now reigning and ruling at the Fathers right hand.
Paul picks up on this again in Ephesians 4 when he says.
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
Quoting from Psalm 68:18.
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
Referring to His death and burial.
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Again Paul is quoting from the same reality that Jesus is talking about here in Matthew 5:17-18…
Fulfilled in His outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Fulfilled in His outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
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,
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.
So let me return to my initial question about the man picking up sticks on the Sabbath….
Is this command still important for us today?
Absolutely!
It is NO less the Word of God.
But we need to see it fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
How could this be fulfilled in Christ?
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
We enter the Sabbath rest by trusting Christ’s finished work!
We enter the Sabbath rest by not trying to earn our way to heaven in any respect.
And anyone who thinks they can earn their way to heaven by being a good person or whatever will NEVER enter that rest.
That person has much worse consequences than being stoned coming for them.
All of this leads to a gigantic THEREFORE.
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.
Nullifying the Word and Our Status in the Kingdom.
Nullifying the Word and Our Status in the Kingdom.
(Matt 5:19)
In our minds I think we tend toward something like…
“Law = Bad”
“Grace = Good”
This is a very faulty understanding of both Law and Grace.
The Relationship of Grace and Law
The Relationship of Grace and Law
Receiving a toy at Christmas without the D Batteries…
I would excitedly open a toy like a remote controlled car.
It would be so bright and shiny.
But there was always one problem.
The batteries weren’t included because they were those large D batteries.
Keeping “These” Commandments.
Keeping “These” Commandments.
It’s important to acknowledge at this point that not all the commandments in the Bible are equally as “weighty,” as he explains to the Scribes and Pharisee’s later on (Matthew 23:23).
Grace is the amazing gift of God that deliver us from the curse of the law.
Grace is the amazing gift that empowers us to obey by the power of the Spirit.
Grace is the amazing gift that enables us to keep the law by faith.
Grace brings me to love God.
When I love God, I am eager to obey His commandments.
“There is nothing more fatal than to regard holiness and sanctification as experiences to be received. No; holiness means being righteous, and being righteous means keeping the law. Therefore if your so-called grace (which you say you have received) does not make you keep the law, you have not received grace. You may have received a psychological experience, but you have never received the grace of God.” —MLJ
Being called “Least” or “Great” in the Kingdom.
Being called “Least” or “Great” in the Kingdom.
We do not often consider the kind of gradation that will be in the kingdom of God.
I especially speak of the kingdom often as though we will all be on the same plane of reference.
But Jesus here seems to describe a kind of gradation of levels within the kingdom of God.
Notice that it does not have to do with gifting.
It does not have to do with ability.
It does not have to do with capacity.
It has to do with “keeping and teaching” the Word of Christ.
Being Called “Least” in the Kingdom
“That Jesus does not refer to loss of salvation is clear from the fact that, though offenders will ‘be called least,’ they will still be ‘in the kingdom of heaven.’ But blessing, reward, fruitfulness, joy, and usefulness will all be sacrificed to the extent that we are disobedient” —John MacArthur
By treating the Word of God in the manner that Jesus described.
We forfeit usefulness.
We forfeit fruitfulness.
Christ is not devaluing the OT.
He is lifting it as high as possible and showing how He has come as the culmination of it.
There is not another coming to fulfill the OT.
He is the fulfillment and culmination of all the OT expectations.
Jesus says here that obedience to His commandments will be the measure of our status in the kingdom.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Requirement of an Exceeding Righteousness.
The Requirement of an Exceeding Righteousness.
(Matt 5:20)
Jesus concludes this section with a startling conclusion for us.
The word for “exceed” is like a river overflowing its banks.
Unless our righteousness exceed passed the point of overflowing that of the Scribes and Pharisee’s, we will never see the kingdom.
The Pharisees had formal and external righteousness.
The Pharisees had formal and external righteousness.
“‘Religion is that which a man does with his own solitude.’ In other words, if you want to know what you really are, you can find the answer when you are alone with your thoughts and desires and imaginations. It is what you say to yourself that matters.” —MLJ
Self-Righteous
Self-Righteous
Self-Moderating
Self-Moderating
Self-Satisfied
Self-Satisfied
There was once a politician that was a part of an embezzling ring.
He was recorded as accepting a bribe for a huge amount of cash.
“He stuffed all the money into his pockets. He looked at those giving him the bribe and asked, Does it show? Can anyone see it? That is the righteousness of the Pharisee. They aren’t worried about the money in their pockets. They just want to make sure no one can see it.” —Jon Z
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
“Moses could no more give a complete and full canon of moral conduct before the advent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost than Aaron could offer a final and complete sacrifice for sin before the death of Christ on the final Day of Atonement.” — John Reisinger, But I Say Unto You, Chapter 1
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
God has so imparted his love in the gospel to me and you, that me, and you fulfill the law when we love one another by the power of the Spirit.
Jesus understood Himself as the fulfillment of the unrivaled, ultimate, unmovable, and unchangeable Word of God.
Jesus understood Himself as the fulfillment of the unrivaled, ultimate, unmovable, and unchangeable Word of God.
God demands a righteousness exceeding the scribes and Pharisee’s; therefore, we need an internal righteousness that fulfills the law of God.
God demands a righteousness exceeding the scribes and Pharisee’s; therefore, we need an internal righteousness that fulfills the law of God.