Law: What is it good for? Part 2
“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 say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 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 5:17-20
Concerning our discussion yesterday, read the passage above and consider a few things:
-The law being discussed in this passage is not some new law, but the 'law and the prophets'. This is specifically referring to the law given through Moses in the Old Testament and backed up by the prophets.
-What does 'fulfill' mean? Does it mean obedience to the law? Does it mean that His coming fulfills prophecy concerning Him? Does it mean that He came to obey it perfectly thus 'fulfilling' it in the lives of all who believe?
-If in the word 'fulfill' Jesus has in mind His obedience to the law so that believers are released from the obligation to obey it (not necessity to obey, as justification comes by faith alone), then wouldn't it be better to paraphrase Jesus' words by saying: 'I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, thus it will be abolished after my death and resurrection'?
-Who was Jesus talking to when He said 'whoever relaxes'? Was He talking to Old Covenant believers, New Covenant believers, or all believers? If He was talking only to Old Covenant believers in the sense that this 'relaxing' would not be possible after His death, would it be correct in saying that this 'relaxing' warning only applied for less than 3 1/2 years, up until the completion of Jesus' earthly ministry? That is, since His death supposedly gave the power to 'relax' the command, then He was only speaking this warning to those who wouldn't see the New Covenant, correct?
-What does 'until all is accomplished' referring to? Was this referring to His death and resurrection? If so, then why does He equate the 'accomplished' with 'until heaven and earth pass away'? Doesn't this seem like a time reference here? Or is it simply a statement of fact?
-Does the statement: 'whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven' refer to just Old Covenant believers, New Covenant believers, or all believers? Is this only applicable to those in His hearing and not to those who lived to see the New Covenant 3 1/2 years later and beyond?
6 Exhortations:
Nathan, I think you hit it on the nail when you suggested that the phrase "Until heaven and earth pass" is the time-gage for everything to be fulfilled.
I think this is made plain when you switch the sentence around: "Not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, until heaven and earth pass away; until all be fulfilled."
Passing away of heaven and earth = Everything fulfilled.
This would seem to me to be the simplest, most contextually accurate exegesis of the verse, wouldn't you think?
Ironically, the very reason why Christ was affirming the viability of the law was because the Jews thought that Christ was nulifying it! In other words, because Christ was extrapolating the essential character of the law in contrast to simply the external aspects of it, they thought He was making a new law.
So Christ's response could be paraphrased like this: "Don't think I'm negating the law; in fact, its gonna stand as long as this world stands."
Ironically, the very reason why Christ was affirming the viability of the law was because the Jews thought that Christ was nulifying it!...they thought He was making a new law.
Exactly! Very well put. Jesus took Divine initiative to interpret the real meaning of the law. And in doing so, He first cleared up the fact that He was not giving a new law and replacing the old, but rather affirming the true meaning of the old.
He fulfilled the law perfectly. This was his active obedience.
He fulfilled the prophecy about his incarnation.
Nathan,
These are some excellent posts! It does concern me when I hear the bandwagon that comes around saying, "Under grace, not law" as though that means that believers are not to submit themselves to the law of God BECAUSE they love Him, not in order to obtain His favor. Galatians is the first book to be pointed to and you have rightly fixed the argument that many cannot seem to deal with and that is that Paul is simply showing the inability of the law to justify men. It only condemns us.
Even as those who have been regenerated, we fail to meet the just demands of the law in total, but surely our affections for the Father cause us to desire obedience to Him and love for our fellow man. Great discussions in the last post.
Also, wonderful observation concerning the fact that the law stands throughout history!
HOLY SMOKES!!! IS THAT TIM BROWN ON THE BLOGOSPHERE?!!
Hope you and yours are well, stranger.
LOL,
It's me Gordan!:) I appreciate you brother.
Post a Comment