17 “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. 18 I tell you the truth, 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. 19 Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For 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.
In his sermon Christ and the Law (Part 4), MacArthur says....
In verse 17, the preeminence of the law. I told you some weeks ago that what He meant by that was that it is still the preeminent thing; there is nothing like it. It was authored by God, affirmed by the prophets, and accomplished by Him. It is the highest source of revelation in existence; it is the only one. It is preeminent above all other books that have ever been written. So He established in verse 17 the preeminence of the law; He had not come to destroy it in any sense, but to fulfill it.
Secondly, verse 18 presents the permanence of the law. He came to show that the law would not pass away; no one could come and do away with it. It had to be fulfilled in every sense, and He, in fact, was the one in the process of fulfilling it. Remember that when Christ came the first time, He began to fulfill the law. He is still fulfilling it and will fulfill it even in His Second Coming. So we talked about the preeminence of the law. It is the highest and the best. We talked about the permanence of the law; it will be fulfilled, and until it is fulfilled, not one jot or tittle will be removed from it. That, by the way, is Christ's view of the Scripture. It is all, down to the very letters, the authoritative Word of God and will not be set aside, but rather, shall be fulfilled. He is the one who will fulfill it.
Thirdly, in our last study, we talked about the pertinence of the law... In verse 19, He says that this preeminent and permanent law is binding on the hearts of men. So, in verse 19, He says, "Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and teach men to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
It is so preeminent, it is so permanent, that incumbent upon us is obedience to it in even its least parts. Christ says that anyone who dulls the sharp edge of God's law, of God's holy Word, and teaches others a watered-down sense of obedience, or a watered-down set of principles, will be called least in the Kingdom. But whoever takes it at face-value and obeys it will be the greatest.
The preeminence and permanence and pertinence of Scripture lead finally, in verse 20, to the purpose. Why did God give the Scripture? Why a preeminent, permanent, pertinent law? Why does God give us this incredible statement of truth? Why does He give us all of these standards? What is the purpose? Verse 20 gives it to us by not saying it, but by implying it. "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
The purpose of God's law was to show you that you had to have more righteousness than you could come up with on your own; that's the point of it, the purpose. Galatians 3:24 articulates it with this statement: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The law was the schoolmaster, or the disciplinarian, to bring us to Christ. The law was the perfect standard which would show us our sin; that was its purpose. The law was to show us that we couldn't do it on our own, that even the best - the scribes and the Pharisees, with all of their religiosity, trappings, ceremony, and ritual - could not gain the righteousness required to enter the Kingdom. In other words, if you want it simply, the law was given with the purpose of frustrating us, showing us our inadequacy. The law wasn't to tell us how good we are, but to show us how rotten we are.
Most people think that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. That sounds nice in theory, but really, I can't imagine anything more frightening. Who determines who is good and who is bad? Is there a sin limit? If so, how do you know what it is and what qualifies as a sin? Is it only the really bad ones? Without a standard, you'd never be certain about your eternal destiny! You'd always be wondering if you did enough, or if that one sin tipped the scales and you were doomed for eternity. I can't imagine anything more hopeless and scary than the inability to have security about our eternity.
But God shows us clearly that it is not good people that go to heaven and bad people that go to hell. It is perfect people that go to heaven and everyone else goes to hell. Do you know any perfect people? I sure don't! Nobody is perfect. Not even Mother Theresa. Everyone's default destination is hell. There is absolutely nothing we can do in and of ourselves to reach perfection and therefore, there is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to reach heaven. From a human standpoint, we have no hope of eternity in heaven whatsoever.
That is the bad news.
The good news is that Jesus Christ was perfect. And He was the God-man - almighty God who became flesh to dwell among us. And His perfect, sinless life was offered as a sacrifice as payment for our sins and our complete inability to be perfect or to atone for our imperfection. He offers it as a gift to us. We did nothing to deserve it. It was a matchless gift of love, mercy and grace in order to satisfy God's holiness, wrath and judgment, all rolled into one. And we are the beneficiary.
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
That is what's required to reach heaven. When we acknowledge our complete unworthiness and reach out in desperation to the only One who can have mercy on our souls. Giving Him our whole selves, giving Him complete Lordship of our minds, hearts and souls to do with as He will. For He alone is perfect. And only His perfection, imputed to us by accepting His sacrifice, will give us the eternal life we need and desire - and that life begins now!
How Deep the Father's Love for Us by Stuart Townend
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Matthew 5:21-26
1 comment:
I love that hymn.
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