The Fulfillment of the Law

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

- Matthew 5:17

Recently some comments I received to a previous post got me to thinking more deeply about the Law and our relationship to the Law as Believers.  The Law I am writing about is capitalized, as it is in this passage from Matthew, because it refers specifically to the first five books of the Bible, and also to the Mosaic law given to Israel.  For the most part my references in this post to the Law will be general references to the rules and laws given to Israel by God.

The Law is a difficult guide for living.  Not only are there a lot of rules, many of which are burdensome and downright odd, but the Law is a thing taken in its entirety, so that regardless of whether some parts are "greater," all of it has to be kept in order for a man to be righteous.

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.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19-20)

Jesus seems to be saying two things here, but since God does not contradict himself, let's figure out what the one thing he's saying is.  First of all he says that we have to keep the whole Law, even the little stuff.  So when the law says not to wear garments woven from both wool and linen, you'd better obey.  The second thing he says is that you can't keep the whole law.  Did you catch that?  "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees."  You see, the scribes and Pharisees were expert in the details of the law, and consequently they upheld it to the letter in their own lives.  Paul was himself a Pharisee, and he says (under inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that be was blameless under the law; he kept all of the commandments (Philippians 3:6).  And Jesus tells us that, unless we are more righteous than the likes of Paul, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

These apparently contradictory statements are resolved in the man who said them.  As Jesus says, he is not abolishing the law but fulfilling it.  Where the law, in its entirety and kept perfectly, conferred righteousness, now Jesus is given as our righteousness.  As the sacrifice for all sin for all time, Jesus becomes the righteousness of God's Law, and we have only to accept him as our own to be completely righteous before the Lord.  The Law, however, does not pass away.  That is, we are not off the hook for our behavior just because we are saved by Jesus Christ.  While I don't think God cares if we wear linen/wool shirts, He does care about how we behave.  He is still just and holy and abhors sin, and He knows that it brings disruption and chaos into our lives.  But He isn't mad at us, and He doesn't keep a record of our wrongs.  The Law is just that: a record of our wrongs, a record of what we can screw up.  By fulfilling the Law Jesus gives us the gift of freedom from the burden of trying to do everything right.

There is more that can be said, and mine is not a final word of any kind, but take away this at least: "For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."