"Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-20)
You have heard that people say that we are no longer under the Law BUT under grace. What exactly does this mean? Do we ignore the Law? Do we follow the Law?
I'm here to tell you- neither and both.
HUH? Well think of it this way. Why do we need laws? Easy answer... so the people would not live in Chaos. If there were "rules" to society then people would be in a constant state of fear.
But instead, God gave the Laws (10 Commandments) to Moses so that he could start the government for the nation of Israel.
"But I'm not Jewish!" says you? Ha, neither am I but God is still going to hold people accountable for all of the Laws, not just the 10 commandments, but all 600 plus commands.
"But wait, following the law to the "t" is impossible!" I know, that's the point! When Jesus said that He didn't come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, the Pharisees were in His presence. He briefly sides with them in that the Pharisees lived by these laws and thought that this was the key to heaven. But, instead Jesus ends this thought by saying that "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Those hearing this knew it was impossible to surpass them and much less able to keep the law. But that wasn't the purpose of the Law. Jesus started by saying He was the fulfillment of the Law. It was never intended to draw man closer to God but rather to show man how far apart from God he really is. Jesus fulfilled the Law by being the propitiation for sin. It is impossible to keep the law even a small bit of it. Hence the need for a Savoir.
The next verses Jesus goes into detail in why it's impossible to keep the Law. We will look at each of them individually.
Today as you go about. Think of the ways we break the law of today's society. Speeding? Running stop-signs? Tax Laws?
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