Christ Came to Fulfill the Law: Matt. 5:17-20

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Today, we continue to look at Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.  So far, we’ve covered what it means to be blessed by God, and what it looks like for believers to be salt and light to the world around them.  Next, we’ll examine the relationship Christ, and His followers, have with the law of God.

“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.”–Matt. 5:17-20

Go into any Christian bookstore and you’ll likely find a coffee mug (or any other object that can be engraved) with the words, “God is love” written on it.  We like to talk a lot about the love of God, and rightly so, for the truth that God loves sinful man changes everything.

But do we understand God’s love in light of God’s holiness?  Do we believe sometimes that God simply forgot about the commands of the law and forgave us out of His “love?”  Is there a tendency, I wonder, to think that God lowered the standard of the law so that we could be forgiven of our sin and be declared right before Him?

Jesus demolishes that thought with His words in these few verses.  Jesus fulfills the law of God perfectly.  Instead of God lowering the standards of the law, He sent His Son to obey the law perfectly in our place, as the promised Messiah, who fulfills the Old Testament prophets.  In the life of Christ, God makes it clear that no one is right before Him, no one is entering heaven without being perfect, without a blemish on their record.  But praise God that when we cannot do this on our own, He provided a Savior in whom we could place our faith to be made perfect before God.

The law of God does not “pass away” when Jesus comes–it gets fulfilled, and all those who trust in the perfection of Christ to be declared perfect before the Father are, by God’s grace, declared perfect by the Father.  This is good news! We get Christ’s record because He got ours.

So what then is our relationship to the law as followers of Christ?  Do we simply not care about it, because we’ve been saved?  Do we get to continue on in sin?  Are we, as Paul says, to “go on in sin that grace may abound?”  Let me echo Paul’s answer to that question: “By no means!”

Now, having been declared righteous in Christ, and brought under His Lordship, forgiven of our sins and adopted as children of God, we are to be who we are in Christ–holy, perfect and godly.  If we’ve been made alive in Christ, why would we go back to that which brought death?  That would be foolish! Jesus tells us that as citizens of the kingdom, as followers of the King, as believers in the gospel, we are to observe His commandments and teach them.  In other words, we are to obey the Savior.

The rabbis of the day distinguished between “light” commandments and “weighty” commandments.  Jesus makes it clear in Matt. 23:23-24 that He is against those who neglect the “weightier” matters of the law while thinking that their keeping of the “light” commandments will make up for their ugly hypocrisy.  However, Jesus makes it clear that obedience to Him is 100%.  He calls out those who would cherry-pick commands to obey or not obey.  While some are weightier than others, the commands of Christ are all worthy to be observed and kept.

The last verse can be somewhat confusing if read out of context: Why is Jesus telling His followers that they have to be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees?  They don’t seem terribly righteous when they shout, “Crucify Him!”  So is Jesus telling us that we don’t have to be too terribly righteous?  Or is He actually affirming that they’re pretty righteous, and we need to one-up them in order to be right with God?  Didn’t He make it clear that we’re declared righteous through faith, not works?

Jesus here is calling for a different kind of righteousness.  The Pharisees and scribes had an external righteousness that didn’t arise out of a heart that trusted and loved God.  They were like the older brother in Luke 15 who obeyed grudgingly and when he wasn’t awarded for his obedience, grumbled about how his dad was really stupid and unfair.

As Christ followers, we understand that when we came into a relationship with Jesus, we were declared righteous.  We were adopted as children of God, and God loves us as He loves Christ.  We now trust Him as our God, and desire to be who we are in Christ.  Our righteousness is not a fake, self-righteous external morality, but an internal, God-given righteousness that comes from the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.  We obey because it is who we are in Christ, because obedience is now our joy, and we hate our sin.

Praise God for this gospel that changes everything.

Lord, may we trust in your righteousness, and hold fast to your cross.  May we walk righteous because that’s who we are in you, Jesus.  May we share this gospel until you call us home or come back to get us.  May you be glorified forever.

God bless,

Neal E.

Salt and Light: Matthew 5:13-16

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

This is the second in a series of posts examining Jesus’ words in His Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7.  Last week, we walked through the Beatitudes and talked about what it means to be truly blessed.  This week, we’ll discuss being salt and light as followers of Christ.

Every person throughout history has sought to find some kind of purpose in life.  One of the “big” questions we ask about our existence is why are we here, what are we to do with the time we’ve been given.  As Christians, we aren’t immune to these probing, and often troubling, questions.  But by God’s grace, He’s given us the answers to these questions in His Word.

Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown our and trampled under people’s feet.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Take careful note of what Jesus says.  He doesn’t command Christians to be salt.  He says that we are already salt by virtue of our union with Him.  So often we focus on what we are to do rather than what we already are.  Identity must precede behavior.  We act like salt and light because it’s who we are in Christ.

One of salt’s many uses is to add flavor to food, making it better, and, at times, completely transforming the taste of the food.  In the same way, believers in Christ ought to be making the world a better place, seeking to transform the world by following Christ.  There are three ways we can do this:

1) Work–Get a job that makes the world a better place.  While this is good advice for anyone, regardless of his or her religious beliefs, this is especially true for the Christian, for we work not just for the world that is, but for the world that is to come.  In this regard, laziness is inexcusable for the Christian.

I currently serve as a sales associate at a local retail store in the footwear department, and it’s been one of the most humbling, sanctifying jobs I’ve ever held.  God’s taught me to be more patient, understanding and much less bitter through the experience.  I’ve had opportunities to befriend people I would’ve otherwise never met, and opportunities to share my faith.  It’s easy to be bitter, because it’s not my “career job.”  It’s not the job I envisioned having when I graduated at the end of 2013. But I have a job where I get to meet people’s needs, just like Jesus did.  I get to (hopefully) influence people’s days and lives for the better.  I get to be out in public, representing Christ, even if that’s by stocking shelves and making sure you get the right size shoe with a smile on my face and a genuine desire to serve.

Faithfulness and Christlikeness, not job title or location, is the marker of our success as believers.  Remember that, and seek to make the world a better place wherever God has called you.

2) Sharing the gospel–This goes without saying, hopefully, as we are commanded multiple times throughout the New Testament to make our faith known to others.  As we work, we seek to share the joy of knowing Jesus Christ with others.  People only experience true life when they come into relationship with Jesus Christ.  Our world is transformed as Christ transforms hearts.

3) Live holy–A holy life is a marker of God’s grace, not our effort.  We don’t change ourselves, but we have given our lives to Christ and trusted Him to save us and change us, and He has.  Living holy comes from our identity as a child of God, one who, in Christ, is already holy before the Father.  Be who you are in Christ.  The world doesn’t need to see “Christians” that look just like them–they need to see Christians transformed by the power of the gospel and the working of the Holy Spirit into holy, godly people.

Jesus also tells us that we are the light of the world.  Why are we the light of the world?  Because Christ is the light of the world, and we are in Him.  All He commands us to do is not hide Him.  We’re not going to “hide it under a bushel, no! (We’re) gonna let it shine!”  Understand that it’s not just our belief system or our doctrine that we’re called to show, but Christ Himself, in all of His glory, grace and holiness.

Just as you cannot hide a city set on a hill, so you cannot hide the light of Jesus Christ that indwells every true believer.  While all Christians will at times be more or less like Christ due to an ongoing struggle with sin, all Christians will at times also show the beauty, love and holiness of their Lord.

In a typical Jewish home, a lamp was placed on a stand so as to give light to every corner of the house.  In the same way, the light of Christ and His presence should extend to every area of our lives.  There is no room for compartmentalized faith that says, “Jesus is only important on Sunday mornings.”  Our relationship with Jesus affects how we act Monday morning when we show up for work, Monday evening when we get home, and what we do Friday night when no one’s watching.

The Lord has already declared us salt and light.  We are imperfect salt and imperfect light, but we are salt and light.  Let’s strive to make the world a better place, to share the gospel, to be holy, and to show Christ in every area of our lives.

Lord, may we take comfort that you have already declared us salt and light.  May we remember that this is who we are, and may our identity in you lead us to live as you’ve called us to live.  May you give us grace for every good work you have called us to, and may we always seek to make much of you, wherever we find ourselves.

God bless,

Neal E.