David W Palmer We are now getting to the meat—the very deepest teaching from Jesus—as he instructs his most serious disciples in the classroom phase of his apprenticeship program: (Matthew 5:17 DKJV) "Do not think that I came to annul the la…
We are now getting to the meat—the very deepest teaching from Jesus—as he instructs his most serious disciples in the classroom phase of his apprenticeship program:
(Matthew 5:17 DKJV) "Do not think that I came to annul the law or the prophets; I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill."
Jesus's opening line in this session is astonishing. Many would prefer that he had rescinded the law for his born again followers. They are of the opinion that what Jesus says here doesn't apply to us; they say it was purely for those under the old covenant. However, what Jesus says next shows that nothing God has said will pass away … "until it has all happened":
(Matthew 5:18 DKJV) "For surely I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even the least punctuation mark will pass away from the law, until it has all happened."
When Jesus says, "until it has all happened," we understand that the types, shadows, prophetic symbols and actions of the ceremonial law have happened. They all pointed to Jesus; and now that he has lived on earth, fulfilled his ministry, died on the cross, and been resurrected, most of them have already been fulfilled in him; and some will be fulfilled in his second coming. However, the moral laws like the Ten Commandments are still relevant. A born again Christian cannot violate them and be guiltless. For example, a pseudo view of grace cannot excuse murder, theft, or adultery. On the contrary, grace is when God gives us his power to obey his commands—without "sweaty" self-effort.
We note that Jesus said he came to fulfill the "law" and the "prophets." He later clarified that the objective of the law and the prophets was love—love for God and neighbour—doing unto others as we would have them do unto us:
(Matthew 7:12 NLT) "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets."
(Matthew 22:37–40 NLT) Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' {38} This is the first and greatest commandment. {39} A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' {40} The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
The essence of the law and prophets is love. So in effect, this is what Jesus said he would fulfill through us. How does this work?
First, Jesus has already fulfilled the ceremonial law. Second, he alone has the power to live a sinless life—a life of pure love and holiness. Thankfully, he is willing to help us to live the same way:
(Hebrews 4:15–16 NKJV) "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. {16} Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Jesus's great achievement was not to absolve us from the need to be holy and perfect in love. On the contrary, he gave us a higher standard than the Old Testament; but then he gave us access to his "grace to help" us achieve it. How does this work? The apostle Paul put it like this:
(Galatians 2:20 EMTV) "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
Here Paul says, "It is no longer I who live." By this, he means that he is not expressing his own will or volitions through his body. Yet, his body was not "dead" in the Western sense of being lifeless and non-functioning. It was still alive in that someone was expressing himself through it; it just wasn't Paul. So who was it? He goes on to say, "But Christ lives in me." Paul is making a profound doctrinal statement; a genuine Christian person is someone who doesn't express their own volitional choices through their body; they relinquish control of it to Christ who lives in them.
If we are dead by allowing Jesus to live through us, we are not the ones responsible for making the choices about what actions are expressed through our bodies; Jesus is responsible for that. After all, he did say that he came to fulfill the law (Mat. 5:17). If Jesus makes the choices of what actions are expressed through our bodies—choices of absolute holiness and Godly love—and if he came to fulfill the law, then we can be assured that he is fulfilling it through us.
Another way to look at this is that we are in Christ when we are: "born again," "led by the Spirit," "walk in the Spirit," "live by faith," and "worship God in spirit and in truth" (Gal. 3:11, 5:16, 18; John 3:3, 4:24 KJV). In doing this, we are literally crucifying our old "self-life" by denying its choice of actions, and replacing them by yielding to the Holy Spirit's choices instead (See also: Luke 9:23).
Today, I encourage you to take literally the need to live a holy, sin-free life:
(1 Peter 1:15–16 NKJV) "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, {16} because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
But I also encourage you not to attempt it by your own efforts. Instead, adopt Paul's solution: allow Jesus to live through you; allow his wisdom, choices, vision, and dreams to be lived out through your body. Walk in the spirit, be led by the spirit, live by faith, worship in spirit, imitate what you see with Jesus and Father until you can say with Paul: "It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Then Jesus can "fulfill" the law—according to his understanding of what that means—in and through you by his gracious, holy power.
Remember; Jesus said that the objective of the law and prophets was love—doing unto others as we would have them do unto us (See: Mat. 7:12, 22:40).
Today, let's take to heart what the Holy Spirit instructs us:
(Colossians 3:1–3, 5 NKJV) "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. {2} Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. {3} For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ... {5} Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."
(1 Thessalonians 4:7–9 NLT) God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. {8} Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. {9} But we don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another.
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