You Have Heard it Said

Introduction:

Opening Thoughts:

Everyone has a code of conduct, a way of living, rules of how you treat others. Yours may be different than mine. We live in a society that doesn’t believe in an absolute moral code of conduct but is unique to you as long as you don’t hurt others (supposedly).

Ironically in the book of Judges, the last verse says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Christians get in trouble stating there is a supreme authority setting the rules, laws, and code of conduct and is holding everyone accountable to it.

The concept of a sovereign God is interpreted as judgmental. Yet at least half of God’s commandments given were to protect us from hurting each other, and most people would agree with them.

Exodus 20:13-17 (ESV)

13 “You shall not murder.”

14 “You shall not commit adultery.”

15 “You shall not steal.”

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

17 “You shall not covet...”

Many Christians today see Christ as an escape from the Law of God. They will say, “We don’t live under law but under grace.” But is that entirely true and biblical according to Jesus and the other writers of the New Testament.

Matthew 5:17–20 ESV

“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.

Christ is the Fulfillment of the Law

There are two types of laws found in the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament): Moral Law and Ceremonial Law

Moral Law sets the standard for righteousness and exposes our weakness in the flesh to achieve that standard.

Ceremonial Law provided ways for people to make atonement for their sin through rituals and sacrifices to maintained our relationship with a righteous God.

Jesus fulfilled both the Moral Law through His righteous living and the Ceremonial Law by His atonement for sin, satisfying all the requirements of a redemptive relationship with God. Jesus accomplished what humanity could never achieve.

The Moral Law of God is Holy, Righteous, and Good.

Paul explains the depth of our relationship with God’s Moral Law.

Romans 7:12 ESV

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Romans 7:14 ESV

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Romans 7:21–23 ESV

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Romans 8:1–4 ESV

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.

“The application of Righteousness in Christ carries an implication of righteous living in the Spirit.”

Romans 8:5–11 ESV

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Ceremonial Law is complete through the ultimate sacrifice of Christ.

The ceremonial sacrifice of Christ as the ultimate sacrifice has removed the need for any other sacrifice. Therefore, the Ceremonial Law is complete.

Hebrews 10:8–10 ESV

When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The Ceremonial Righteousness of the Pharisees doesn’t cut it with God.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Acts of ceremonial righteousness from a wicked heart never please God.”

Examples:

Hurting yourself as punishment

Paying for your sin (Indulgences)

Penance (acts of service)

Praying in the streets for all to see.

Fasting in front of the world instead of God.

Giving to be noticed by others.

Feeding the poor for self gratification

God desires a sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart.

Psalm 51:17 ESV

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

“Stop trying to do things for God and sacrifice your heart to God.”

Righteous living begins as a matter of the heart.

Righteousness flows from the well of the Spirit through a broken heart before God. Jesus spoke of this well to the woman of Samaria.

John 4:13–14 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Christ gives six examples of the difference between moral Law, and the Spiritual Law of grace. These examples go beyond the moral fiber of sin and deal directly with the motives of the heart. “For man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

A Heart of Anger

Matthew 5:21–22 ESV

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

A Heart of Lust

Matthew 5:27–28 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Illustration: David commissioning Solomon as King

1 Chronicles 28:9 ESV

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

A Heart of Discord and Division

Matthew 5:31–32 ESV

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

A Heart of Integrity

Matthew 5:33 ESV

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

Matthew 5:37 ESV

Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

A Heart of Restoration

Matthew 5:38–39 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

A Heart of Love

Matthew 5:43–44 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Concluding Thoughts

What well are you drawing from that pours out on others: the well of the Spirit or the well of the flesh?

The great commandment sums up all the Law and the prophets.

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

What are you counting on to save you from your sin? Are you trusting in the finished work of Christ or have you created a ceremonial system of your own to try and reach God?

Today as we take communion and remember the ultimate ceremonial sacrifice of Christ, I wonder if you would be willing to come to the altar and sacrifice your heart to the Lord, allowing the living water of the Spirit to flow from your heart into the lives of others.