The Sermon on the Mount: The Law Fulfilled

This week’s passage: Matthew 5:17-20

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

Many churches today never teach or study the Old Testament. They claim that Jesus’s fulfillment of the Old Testament laws means that we are no longer held to those laws and therefore do not need to understand them. But Jesus tells the disciples and those who are gathering that He did not come to destroy or remove the laws, but to refocus people and to provide new ways to understand and apply the original laws until such time as He accomplishes a complete fulfillment of them.

“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. (Matthew 5:17-18 ESV)

God provided moral laws to help the Israelites to stay in His grace (Ten Commandments), knowing they were unable to follow the law perfectly, He gave them a way to repent (the blood of animals through sacrifice). These sacrifices had to be made repeatedly because people were unable to stop sinning. Christ is the only one who followed the law perfectly as He lived on earth and His blood, through beating and crucifixion, accomplished a cleansing of our sin ONCE and FOR ALL. He fulfilled the ceremonial laws of sacrifice, but the principle behind that law still exists. We must worship and love our holy God with all our hearts and minds.

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30 ESV)

This means that when we fail to honor the moral law of God, which we all do to some degree daily, we must fall to our knees before Him, asking Him to forgive us and to continue working in our hearts. The amazing thing for us is that unlike the Israelites, we do not need a High Priest who is human and fallible just like ourselves to intercede for us by presenting our sacrifice to God. Christ IS our High Priest and His perfect sacrifice presents us as righteous before God. I’m sure I’ve said this before but, Wow!

Jesus also showed by example how we should address civil law (applied to daily living). That might leave you wondering, if not an “iota” nor a “dot” (meaning not one small letter or stoke of pen) will be changed from the law until it is fulfilled, and we are unable to fulfill it, then haven’t we already lost?

No No NO! and that is the “Hallelujah!” of this message. Christ has already fulfilled the ceremonial law and the Holy Spirit works in the believer to help us follow the moral law, and understanding the moral law shows us how to address civil laws and discern which of those align with God’s law and which do not. His work in us will be finished one day, all we need to do is stay focused on Him for guidance.

“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.” (Matthew 5:19-20 ESV)

The Israelites believed the scribes and Pharisees were strict followers of God, but their “holier than thou” attitude was called out by Jesus repeatedly. Here Jesus is saying, “you think your religious leaders are good? You need to be better than them!” They lived a different life in public than in private, and they presented skewed versions of God’s law to make themselves look better to the common people.

People often express shock and disdain when someone in the church leadership is exposed for living a life that does not align with what they expect of their congregation. The truth is humans (even pastors!) are prone to sin and we are all called to hold each other accountable and encourage one another in God’s Word. Every one of us should feel called to live as God commands, those who are ordained teachers of the Word will be held to a higher standard by God, let’s do what we can to help them stay true to God’s Word and be successful in their ministry!

How can we apply this passage to the growth of our “salt and light”?

• We are all called to share God’s Word with others. While doing this we must be careful that we are not putting the world’s spin on the truth.
• We need to hold our churches/pastors accountable by not taking what they say for granted but do our own bible study to allow God’s Word to verify the truth.

If you see other ways to apply this Word in your life, feel free to share in the comments.