Sermon on the Mount
THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW
FOREWORD
It may seem, at first, that Jesus makes an abrupt change of thought between verses 16 and 17, but actually He was only moving from what His people are by God’s providences to their relevant behavior in the light of His Word, or Law. His teachings could already be seen as radically different from the practices which had developed in the Jewish establishment. To that generation of Jews, “the Law” meant “the Law Code” which God had imposed at Sinai, plus some 613 “ceremonial explications.” Its purpose in covenant form was to emphasize the awfulness of sin (Rom. 5:20; 7:13), and the consequent need of a Savior. God knew Israel to be a rebellious people, and the Law with its consequent penalty for disobedience was designed to keep them from destroying themselves spiritually while they awaited the coming of their Savior (Gal. 3:19, 24).
Now, in His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus goes to great lengths to show the real intent of the Law; to show that it was only a continuance of God’s holy law principles as designed from the foundation of the world. The passage before us (Matt. 5:17-20) makes it clear from the start that His seemingly new teachings were not to be misunderstood or misapplied.
KEY TEXT: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).
Matthew 5:17-20
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tithe shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
I. CHRIST AND THE LAW (Matt. 5:17)
A. The Law Not To Be Destroyed: Just before God gave the Law at Mount Sinai, He laid solid ground for it upon two basic premises: (1) He is the only Lord God, the Deliverer from bondage; and (2) there are to be no other gods before Him. “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exo. 20:2, 3). With the ground established, God declared His eternal principles. Those principles existed before they were stated in covenant form and written upon tables of stone. They are from eternity to eternity. God is not only sovereign, but He is just, and He is changeless. Therefore His law principles are changeless; thus Jesus, who is one with the Father, did not come to change, or destroy, a changeless Law. Rather, “...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8).
B. The Law To Be Fulfilled: God’s Word and Law is the truth. David said, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.. all thy commandments are truth” (Psa. 119:142, 151). “...His truth endureth [unchanged]to all generations” (Psa. 100:5; 117:2).
The word “fulfill” means to complete; to satisfy. Depraved man could not perfectly keep God’s holy commandments; could not satisfy its just demands. But the Law must be obeyed “in full.” It had to be satisfied completely. Therefore, Jesus, in man’s behalf, did that which we could not do. The fulfillment, or satisfaction of our sin debt as law-breakers, is ours by faith. The Word of truth or our faithful God is once again substantiated by Christ’s having fulfilled it, or kept it perfectly. In this manner, under the new covenant of grace, God’s righteous Law is transferred from tables of stone to the fleshly table of the justified, sanctified heart (II Cor. 3:3; Jer. 31:31-33).
C. The End of the Law for Righteousness: In the context of “righteousness,” Paul says, “For they [Israel] being ignorant of God’s righteousness [by faith and love], and going about to establish their own righteousness [by their own fleshly works], have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth [puts their faith in His work of fulfillment]” (Rom. 10:3, 4). Christ is “the end of the law for righteousness,” not the end of the law itself. He accomplished the “end”—the aim, the purpose, the conclusion—at which the Law was directed. He fulfilled—completed, filled up—the Law’s intention. He was the Father’s aim, or end, in having given the Law. Again Paul says, “...for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). In other words, He need not have come to fulfill the Law if acceptable righteousness could have been attained by law works.”
D. Love and the Law: In the process of “rightly dividing the word of truth,” we find, as our Key Text reads, that “love is the fulfilling of the law.” God is love; therefore His Law reflects this attribute. Jesus summarized it once and for all in Matthew 22:36-40. To love God is the first and great commandment. In fact, it encompasses the first four of the ten. To love our neighbor as ourselves encompasses the last six (See Romans 13:8). God set the example of love by giving His Son as the ultimate fulfillment of His Law of Love.
II. THE VALIDITY OF THE LAW CONFIRMED (MATT. 5:18)
The Law is eternally validated by the declaration that even the least of its holy principles will outlast the heaven and the earth. Again, the Law’s destruction is refuted.
III. LAW-BREAKERS UNDER GRACE (MATT. 5:19)
Paul asked and answered a question which is as current now as it was in the First Century: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin [break the Law], because we are not under the law, but under grace? GOD FORBID” (Rom. 6:14, 15). In Christ, we are “not under the law” in the sense of being bound by the depraved nature and therefore hating or resenting that Law. As “a soul set free,” we freely obey the Law because we love God, and therefore we love His Law (See Psalm 119:77, 97, 113, 163).
IV. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT EXCEEDS (MATT. 5:20)
The Pharisees were law-keepers to the point of fanaticism (Matt. 23:23, 24); yet at the same time they were law-breakers to the point of being asked by Jesus, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matt. 23:33; also verses 2-5).
The Pharisees had a “letter of the law” righteousness. The “free from the law man” is free from its bondage factor, but loves and obeys that Law “in spirit” (See II Cor. 3:6-11). Unless we have that righteousness that exceeds the Pharisaic self-righteousness and hypocrisy, we cannot be saved.
LIVING THE LESSON
The only way to render perfect obedience to God’s Law is by the spirit of willing obedience. Christ set the example, and the Father gives the enablement. Sometime in the pre-world councils of the Trinity, the matter of the eternal sacrifice for man’s sin was “on the agenda,” as men would say. It is evident from David’s record in Psalm 40:5-8 that the Father willed that His Son should be that Sacrifice. There was no “quibbling”—no reluctance to obey. The response was immediate: “I DELIGHT to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is WITHIN MY HEART.”
This was substantiated, after the fact, “...when he cometh into the world” (See Hebrews 10:5-7). The promise and the agreement were tested in Gethsemane the night before the Sacrifice was made. There, as both the Son of man and the Son of God, Jesus faced the ultimatum: “Father, IF THOU BE WILLING, remove this cup from me: nevertheless NOT MY WILL, but THINE, be done” (Luke 22:42). The Father’s law was within His heart, and in the mighty work of redemption, that Law is placed in our hearts, so that we, too, can find delight in obeying it.
GOD’S COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT GRIEVOUS TO THOSE WHO KNOW AND LOVE THE LORD!
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. And tell someone what Christ Jesus Has Done For You (Rev 12:10)
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If you have never accepted or if you have fallen away from Jesus Christ here are three steps you need to take to be saved:
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. And tell someone what Christ Jesus Has Done For You (Rev 12:10)
May God through Christ bless you!
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