The demand of the Law is perfection...how perfect? “Be ye perfect has your
Father in heaven is perfect.” The Law could not produce that kind of perfect
man. So, how is such perfection attained.
Jesus’ purpose was to provide salvation for the people of the world. Before we are ready to trust Christ for salvation, we need to know we are in need of salvation. Thus, the reason for the Old Covenant.
Paul writes: The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith, now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Gal. 3:24-25).
Lets look at the sermon on the Mount...as it is called... to find the answer.
This teaching of Christ is the ultimate example as to the meaning of God’s Law, it shows that the only standard that God accepts to be in relationship with Him is perfection. Jesus taught this teaching to a nation that diluted that standard and had become fixated on experiencing political deliverance.
Now I can hear the religionists ask; “didn’t Jesus say that He didn’t come to abolish the Law?” He sure did. “Therefore it is still in effect and we have to strive to keep it in order to be accepted by God.
Well, what does the scripture say regarding that? “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 tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished (Matt. 5:17-18).
The religionists are noted for quoting, “not one jot or tittle will disappear from the Law as long as there is a heaven and earth.” Yes...that would be the case as long as there was something in the law that was not accomplished! But, if everything is accomplished then the Law is completed and no longer invoked!
Yes, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law. BUT! He did come to fulfill it and fulfill it He did! He accomplished for us something we could not do in and of ourselves. Paul put it this way: Christ is the CULMINATION of the Law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). Hey...that is how we become perfect...it His through His righteousness.
Jesus' life and ministry took place under the Old Covenant therefore, they must be interpreted in light of that fact. Yes, sometimes His words ANTICIPATED the New Covenant, such as His teaching regarding the Holy Spirit, who would come after His death and resurrection. But it is critical to understand “Who said it to whom...and Under what covenant it was said when reading the scripture. Then and only then can you go on to find its correct meaning and its proper application for life living.
As believers living under the New Covenant we have the advantage of hindsight and able to view the law through the eyes of Jesus, in doing so we see its reality. We are not a people under the Old Covenant hearing the demands of the Law of perfect performance to avoid its curse. We approach Jesus’ teaching as believers who are indwelt by Christ. Jesus red words may teach God’s will for our attitudes and actions, but His acceptance is no longer tied to our do’s and dont’s. Christ now lives in us and empowers us to do His will.
That is the power of God’s love and grace.
Jesus’ purpose was to provide salvation for the people of the world. Before we are ready to trust Christ for salvation, we need to know we are in need of salvation. Thus, the reason for the Old Covenant.
Paul writes: The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith, now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Gal. 3:24-25).
Lets look at the sermon on the Mount...as it is called... to find the answer.
This teaching of Christ is the ultimate example as to the meaning of God’s Law, it shows that the only standard that God accepts to be in relationship with Him is perfection. Jesus taught this teaching to a nation that diluted that standard and had become fixated on experiencing political deliverance.
Now I can hear the religionists ask; “didn’t Jesus say that He didn’t come to abolish the Law?” He sure did. “Therefore it is still in effect and we have to strive to keep it in order to be accepted by God.
Well, what does the scripture say regarding that? “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 tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished (Matt. 5:17-18).
The religionists are noted for quoting, “not one jot or tittle will disappear from the Law as long as there is a heaven and earth.” Yes...that would be the case as long as there was something in the law that was not accomplished! But, if everything is accomplished then the Law is completed and no longer invoked!
Yes, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law. BUT! He did come to fulfill it and fulfill it He did! He accomplished for us something we could not do in and of ourselves. Paul put it this way: Christ is the CULMINATION of the Law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). Hey...that is how we become perfect...it His through His righteousness.
Jesus' life and ministry took place under the Old Covenant therefore, they must be interpreted in light of that fact. Yes, sometimes His words ANTICIPATED the New Covenant, such as His teaching regarding the Holy Spirit, who would come after His death and resurrection. But it is critical to understand “Who said it to whom...and Under what covenant it was said when reading the scripture. Then and only then can you go on to find its correct meaning and its proper application for life living.
As believers living under the New Covenant we have the advantage of hindsight and able to view the law through the eyes of Jesus, in doing so we see its reality. We are not a people under the Old Covenant hearing the demands of the Law of perfect performance to avoid its curse. We approach Jesus’ teaching as believers who are indwelt by Christ. Jesus red words may teach God’s will for our attitudes and actions, but His acceptance is no longer tied to our do’s and dont’s. Christ now lives in us and empowers us to do His will.
That is the power of God’s love and grace.
The scripture leaves not doubt as to the
answer to this question.
“When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, BORN UNDER THE LAW, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship (Gal. 4: 4-5).
So Jesus was born under the law, grew up under the law, lived under the law, ministered under the law, and died under the the Old Covenant.
In some Bibles the words of Jesus are printed in red, and most people are taught that they are for New Covenant people and that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are New Covenant books. But, is that the case? Many people get upset with such a suggestion, They maintain that “we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes, not heard His voice with our own ears, not felt his touch, but we have His words in red and now you are saying that it was more for Old Covenant people.”
The fact that Jesus words were more for Old Covenant people does not mean that New Covenant people should not read and heed them by applying them to their life in living...assuming that they have studied them diligently and accurately, in their historical and contextual setting. It is established that Jesus' teaching was under the Old Covenant therefore, His words must be interpreted with respect to that truth before they are applied to the lives of people under the New Covenant context.
Probably one of the most recognized teaching of Jesus is what is known as the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5 and 7. Many post-cross people take the teaching to be for them, but are they right, what is happening here?
John the Baptist was preaching “Repent for the kingdom of God has come near” (Matthew 3:2). What would the average Jewish person listening to this teaching hear and understand? He/she would have danced for joy. God was about to fulfill His promises. “Repent” do an about face “turn around” be faithful to the Old Covenant. The curse will be removed.
After centuries of oppression wars, revolutions, and domination by foreign people, the phrase “the kingdom” was taken to mean primarily a political meaning. The kingdom would be ushered in when God sent His messiah, a political leader,a freedom fighter to set the Jewish people their oppressors. He would lead a national war to gain them from independence from Roman control and set himself up as their king.
With that kind of Jewish thinking, Jesus took up the message that John the Baptist started preaching, “repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near (Matthew 4:17). The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ teaching to correct the misconceptions attached to the kingdom of heaven and redefining it according to the truth as to what the kingdom of heave was. Jesus knowing that He was moving towards the cross, he prepared the people to receive that message of salvation by grace through Him.
This teaching of Christ, when compared to what they though it was, confused and frustrated the people as to the meaning of the kingdom. On the other hand, it showed the real reason for the Law of Moses. Early in His teaching Jesus proclaims the key point: “I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).
If that confused them, He goes on to add to their confusion by saying that being angry with your brother in your heart is as bad as murder...lusting in your heart after a woman is as bad as adultery...Give up the eye for an eye and instead love your enemies. He then says something that is mind blowing, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (5:48). Wow, now that is something to live up to!
In order to understand the red letter words of Jesus, we have to ask, What do the red letter words mean? What was Jesus’ purpose in saying them? If you were to read them in their historical and contextual setting, I believe the answer is clear: Jesus, though focusing on the Law...goes far beyond its literal surface meaning. He is revealing the spirit of the law.
This perfection that He called for was not attainable through the keeping of the law, Jesus was beginning to tell them a way in which its perfection was attainable.
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