Mat 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. [18] 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.
[19] 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. [but
right now he is not called great by Christians, let alone on earth.] [20] For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
2
Fulfilled Does
Not Mean Abolished
Jesus makes it clear in verse 17 that
He did not come to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it. Then He says our
righteousness must exceed that of
the scribes and Pharisees or we will never enter the government of heaven. Then, through the rest of this sermon, He
explains how our righteousness must be accomplished in order to enter the government
of God. He did not invent a brand new law; it’s the same law that proceeded out
of God’s nature both in creation and on Mt. Sinai.
3
Teaching
That The Law Of Christ Replaced The Law
Of
Moses Is A Doctrine Of Demons.
God’s Law was always the Law of Christ. His going forth has been
from of old, from everlasting. When God told Adam, “Don’t eat from that tree,”
that was the Law of Christ. Centuries
before Moses, the Christ said to Isaac, “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My
charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen 26:4-5). That was the
Law of Christ. When the Great I AM gave the Law to Moses that was the Law of
Christ. The law of gravity and all natural laws are the law of Christ the
Creator.
Look at the 3
4
Requirements
For Entrance Into God’s Government
Jesus says in
verse 17 that He did not come to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it. He says, “not a dot, will pass from
the Law until all is accomplished”
(Verse 18). He says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Verse 20).
So, God’s Law must be accomplished in us, our
righteousness must exceed
that of the Pharisees, and God’s Law must be fulfilled in us before we can enter God’s
government.
5
God’s
Righteous Requirement
Paul says, “God sent His Son… in order that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4).
God’s Law includes ceremonial laws,
civil laws, and moral laws. All three parts are not abolished, but fulfilled.
6
Ceremonial
Laws
… are things like
circumcision, blood sacrifices, unclean foods, and new moon Sabbaths. They are
not abolished. They are still required and must be fulfilled. Circumcision is
fulfilled in baptism. Passover is fulfilled in The Lord’s Supper. Pentecost
celebrated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai and was fulfilled when God put
His law in our hearts by baptizing His church in the Holy Spirit on the Day Of
Pentecost. The Feast Of Tabernacles is fulfilled in the Great Commission as God
sends His messengers with the sound of a trumpet to gather His elect from the
four winds. Unclean foods are made clean by the conversion of Gentiles (Acts
10). These are just a few examples.
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God’s The Civil
Laws
…are fulfilled when nations
establish Christ as their King. At that time the law shall go forth from Zion. It’s when there
will be no more war and every man sits under his own vine and his own fig tree.
That’s private property; and that means no socialism and no slavery. It means
the death penalty for adultery.
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The civil laws are actually
Moral
Laws
Beginning with verse 21 of this chapter, Christ shows how The Ten Commandments
Must Be Fulfilled in order to enter the kingdom of God. He contrasts the Pharisees’ wrong interpretation of
Moses with the true meaning of
Moses. The correct meaning exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees. Their interpretation of Moses, their traditions, made God’s word of
no effect, but the true meaning gives life. Jesus was not contradicting Moses. He was contradicting
their interpretation of Moses, their oral traditions.
He says it’s not enough to not murder,
we must also not hate. He says it’s not enough to not commit adultery, but we
also must not lust. He says it’s not right to use the law as an excuse to
divorce whenever you want to. An eye for an eye is for court justice, and not
as a personal excuse to get even
9
6 times in this
chapter Jesus says,
“You Have Heard, But I Say”
He was blasting
their oral traditions
You
have heard…but I say… Mt 5:21-22 (About murder)
You
have heard …but I say… Mt 5:27-28 (About adultery)
It
was also said… But I say... Mt. 5:31-32 (About divorce)
You
have heard… But I say… Mt 5:33-34 (About false witness)
You
have heard… But I say… Mt 5:38-39 (About eye for eye)
You have heard… But I say…
Mt 5:43-44 (About hating your enemy).
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What had they heard? They
had heard
The Oral Tradition of the Jews
He did not say, “Moses said.” He
was not contradicting Moses, He was contradicting the oral traditions of the
Jews. This oral tradition started in Babylon and later became known as the
Talmud. Believers in the Talmud say that it supersedes the Law of Moses. This
is why Revelation calls Jerusalem the Whore of Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and False
Prophet.
But don’t blame
the Jews. They’re not the only ones
that go by what they hear instead of what is written in Scripture. For most
people, what they hear is their Bible, not what God says.
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Danger!
Doctrinal
Systems Can Trump Scripture
Don’t let hearsay trump Scripture! Spurgeon said, “I would
sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than to be
inconsistent with the word of God…”
J.C.
Ryle points out the danger of this error of allowing a theological system to
trump Scripture. He said, “I admire the scriptural wisdom of a man who, in a
day of hard-and-fast systems could dare to be apparently inconsistent, in order
to ‘declare all the counsel of God.’ I
firmly believe that this is the test of theology, which does good in the Church
of Christ. The man who is not tied hand
and foot by systems, and does not pretend to reconcile what our imperfect
eyesight cannot reconcile in this dispensation, he is the man whom God will
bless…”
12
Inward
Righteousness Must Exceed Outward Righteousness
The substance
must exceed the
symbol; the spirit of the law must fulfill the letter of the law before the law can be accomplished. Heart faith must exceed head faith and all
traditions and systems. God sent His Son in order that the righteous
requirement of God’s Law might be fulfilled and accomplished in us.
13
The
Difference Is The Motive
All of us are
Pharisees and Arminians by nature, going about to establish our own
righteousness. The natural man says, “All I have to do is say the ‘sinner’s
prayer’ and kings X, I’m in.” The man that is just looking for fire insurance does
not really serve God; he serves himself. He clings to formulas in order to justify
himself. He prefers symbol over the substance of fulfilling the righteous
requirement of the Law. All he has to do for a ticket to heaven is “name it and
claim it.” Just say, “abracadabra.” Like the rich young ruler, he asks, “What
thing must I do to inherit eternal life?”
14
A
New Nature Is Required
And only God can do that. That’s the
only way to fulfill the righteousness required by Jesus. And that takes a
miracle…a new creation. We must be born
again. When God makes new creatures, His method is to change their focus by opening their understanding. This is what changes their motive, not a works-formula
like the sinner’s prayer. The new
creature no longer serves God for fire insurance. He is no longer worried about
hell. He now wants to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That’s how the Law is fulfilled and that’s how we exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. We side with God against ourselves and
find a new life. God creates a new creature, a new motive, and a new heart.
15
How
Does God Do This?
God does this by working in us both to
will and to do according to His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). How does He do that?
How does He make us want Him? He does it by convincing us of His truth with His
word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by God’s word. He opens our
understanding with the truth.
