S229P8 – Words to live by: the Law remains now
Mt. 5:17-20
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.
The Law points to the perfect character of God as his written moral standard. Some would see the Law as merely a set of rules, but it is more than that. It highlights the separation between sinful man and the Holy God in that his standard is not attainable by us. When measured against the Law, each of us falls short. Only Christ messured up to the Law. We see here that Christ’s fulfillment of the Law is accompanied by his fulfillment of the Prophets, who spoke of the coming Messiah and legitimized his arrival through the prophecies He would fulfill. Prophecy would tell Israel how to know who the Messiah is. Both the Law and the Prophets pointed forward to Jesus Christ.
Jesus addresses a very real idea that his arrival nullified that which He actually fulfilled in his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Regarding the Prophets, his arrival did not make their prophecies any less true or valid or valuable. Those prophecies today still point to him and reveal that He is the Son of God. Regarding the Law, it still reflects the perfect standard of God’s character. The One who fulfilled the Law, who walked in such perfect character, commands his followers to walk according to those same precepts. We do this not by our own will or might but by the Holy Spirit in us. We do not relax these precepts simply because we are imperfect and will fall short even after justification. We teach them as they are written and remain guided by them as they are written because that moral standard remains.
The one who seeks to be justified and held as righteous through the Law will fail. Those who hold themselves up as being righteous because they have wholly adhered to the Law are mistaken. Neither will enter the kingdom of God because they remain unholy. We must be holy to enter his kingdom, but we are not. To become justified and be made righteous, to be made holy, we need Christ. His righteousness, clearly shown by his perfect adherence to the Law, is imputed to us. We follow and teach the Law as it is written, even though it does not save, because it remains the picture of God’s character and his moral standard. Father, help us in your grace to follow this command to keep and teach the Law as it is written.