Pastor's Pen
September/October 2003

a.  All to be fulfilled – verses 17-18
b.  Destiny gauged by the "higher law" – verse 19
c.  Greater righteousness demanded – verse 20

(Mat 5:17-18) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled

In Psalm 19 David likens the precision of God’s law to the precision of the heavens. The heavens are so precise that our national clock (Naval Observatory, Washington D.C.) would be adjusted to a particular star in the heavens. (I’m not sure whether this is still practiced.) In short, the heavens will pass away before one jot of the law fails!

*A jot and tittle in the Greek alphabet would be equivalent to a dot or a slash of the t.

The word fulfil (pleroo 4137) means to fill up, or to supply the deficiency. The law was deficient in the sense that it was exterior. It was a law written on stone. Jesus was transcribing the law from the exterior to the interior, from the physical to the spiritual – from the act to the thought of the act!

"The fulfilling of the law" has often been misconstrued to mean that Christ came to eliminate the law. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Christ came "to magnify the law and make it honorable." (See Isa. 42:21.) The Sermon on the Mount gives us vivid illustrations of what it means to fulfill the law. The (Old Covenant) law was deficient in that it could not supply the grace/power to live up to its higher (spiritual) implications. It stopped short of heart issues!

Fulfilling the law is "doing" it. Paul explains: "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:9-10). Love fulfills the law, and love is keeping the law!

Jesus said that He was come to fulfill the law and the prophets. Basically, all of the Old Testament prophets sought to bring God’s people back to the law. The law dealt with man’s relationship with men and God – to love God with all the heart and to love thy neighbor.

• To love God – Deut. 10:12
• To love thy neighbor – Lev. 19:18

Jesus also states (within the sermon context) that the "golden rule" fulfills the law and the prophets: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Mat 7:12)

When we have the law within our hearts, we don’t have to go into great thought as to what we should do. It should be as automatic as choosing our favorite food and drink!

Before we proceed, it may be helpful for us to understand the three divisions of the (Old Covenant) law:

The moral law – This included the Ten Commandments and all that would fall under this heading.

The ceremonial law – These were the religious ordinances, instructions about washings, touch-nots, regulations concerning Holy Days, circumcision, etc.

The civil law – This covered the laws that pertain to responsibility between neighbors, civil judgements, lawsuits etc.

The law that was nailed to the cross was the law of ordinances – the law of ceremony: (Col. 2:14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Notice also verse 16: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days."

The Gentile was never under these ordinances, but these are the very ordinances that separated the Jews from the Gentiles! Notice also what Paul says in Eph 2:14-15: "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." Moral laws and civil laws did not separate the Jews and gentiles – ceremonial laws did!

The abolishing of the law of ceremony removed the barrier between the Jewish Christian and the Gentile Christian! The only ceremonial law imposed upon the Gentiles was relative to the paganistic worship practices of the gentiles: (Acts 15:20) "But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood."

The moral laws were never abolished, nor were the precepts of the civil law; they were only magnified! Those who walk in the Spirit fulfill the higher law of the New Testament!

*May I further comment on the law of ceremony: It was actually the physical aspect of these ordinances that was coming to an end. There is much to be gained from the spiritual understanding and fulfillment of these ordinances – for example, the feasts. The feasts can no longer be fulfilled physically, but they are to be fulfilled spiritually!

This is still in reference to the moral precepts and statutes of the Old Testament (V. 17-18). Jesus not only upheld the law, but He redefined the law to its higher implications. Jesus never advocated breaking the law, but rather gave true meaning and definition to the law.

Those who break the "Ten Commandments" (or even the least of their implications) and shall teach men to do so, shall be called "the least" in the kingdom of heaven.

A minister once told me that the "Ten Commandments" were not livable. He said that they were impossible to be kept! What this man was really saying was that the Lord’s commandments were grievous – that the Lord was unrealistic and that He was demanding something that we could not possibly supply. This attitude is like that of the man with the "one talent," who said: "I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed" (Matt. 25:24).

I once visited a country that formerly had been evangelized by the Jesuits. The Jesuits had allowed all of their converts to keep their little gods. (They themselves are idolaters.) I have found the same to be true in other segments of Christianity. The missionary must turn the people away from their old religion. And the pastor must turn his young people from their idols also! If we do not uphold the commandments we could also be dubbed: "Least in the kingdom!"

We can teach men (in effect) to break the commandments if we do not voice our disapproval when they are broken. There were many ministers in Corinth who were overlooking (tolerating) the sins of the people. Thank God for ministers like Paul, who confronted his spiritual children that were flagrantly violating all of the commandments.

I think a good Old Testament analogy of "lowering the standard" could be found in the study of the kings. Many of the kings compromised the temple gold. Some of them stripped the gold off the temple doors and the pillars. Some of them emptied the temple treasuries (the unsearchable riches) to appease the enemy or to save their kingdom. The law is to be greater valued than much fine gold (Psa. 19:7-10). Many a minister compromises the law to keep his people!

*There are many echelons in the heavenly realm!

But whosoever shall do and teach them… This has been my desire since I have undertaken the study of this sermon – to do, (to fulfill) and to teach them. I want this message to be an extension of my life! There will be those in heaven who are called "great" because they have fulfilled this verse! (See Ezra 7:10.) I believe God’s people rejoice when they understand the laws of the kingdom. Such was the case at the "Watergate" revival in Nehemiah 8:8-12.

(Mat 5:20) 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.

Jesus later describes the Pharisees like this: "But do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." The Pharisee was a member of a religious sect that represented the straightest of the straight. They were right to the letter on every fine point, and were even fragmented among themselves upon the "finer" points of the law. Everything about the Pharisee was devoted to give the appearance of piety and sanctity. However, Jesus saw through their sham and labeled them hypocrites – play actors!

For example, the Pharisee rigidly observed the Sabbath laws to the letter. They limited their walk, food preparation, or any physical exertion. Yet at the same time, they could watch a poor cripple struggling to get on his feet, but couldn’t exert themselves to help him because they might break the Sabbath. They were (in effect) overriding the higher laws of mercy and benevolence.

The Pharisees were careful to tithe their garden herbs right to the gram, but could not reach out to the poor and needy. Even the (O. T.) prophet condemned this when he said: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6). Also see Matt. 23:23.

The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was exterior – it was talk! It was all for show and for the recognition of the people. Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Let us cry out as king David did, for truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6). We want our actions to be an extension of the work of grace in our heart.