“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.” (Matthew 5:17-18 NLT)
There are several implications for us in the verses above that we may well miss if we don’t pay attention to what the Lord is saying. As Gentile (non-Jewish) believers we tend to pay very little attention when the law is mentioned because we fail to see any relevance to 21st century believers.
Our attitude is essentially that the law was fulfilled by Jesus, that we’re offered peace with God by grace through faith and all we have to do is read the Bible, pray, and follow the Lord’s directives and we’re good to go. And that’s good as far as it goes, but I believe we miss something vital when we fail to realize the law still has relevance to us today.
If “not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved” doesn’t it make sense to determine what purpose it’s designed to achieve? Even if we just consider the Ten Commandments, why is it so important to recognize those “laws” still apply to us? Largely because we still have an obligation to obey them.
What is the purpose of any law? Stop signs or traffic lights? Laws that demand we pay taxes, treat others with respect by not stealing from them or killing them? The late Timothy Keller wrote: “The Law is not a checklist we keep but a benchmark we fail.” So?
The Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ day held, at least by profession, to the strictest letter of the law. That’s what drove them nuts about Jesus. While Jesus said the two most important laws were to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love others as yourself, the Jews had developed hundreds of miniscule laws to cover virtually every detail of life. Which ironically, they didn’t even keep themselves, yet, expected everyone else, including Jesus, to keep.
So, what’s the application for us. We’re Jesus followers, but we’re still accountable to the Lord for how we live and treat each other. So, as Dr. Keller noted, we have a choice to make, which, ironically, we must make nearly every minute of every day. Are we, like the rich young man who came to Jesus in Matthew 19, checking the boxes, but missing the Savior?
Are we content to see even the 10 Commandments as a checklist we check or a benchmark by which we measure our failures. A benchmark is a measure whereby we compare our own progress. It’s like the 4-minute mile that no one believed could be achieved, until someone did. Now it has become the benchmark for mile runners.
Similarly, as Jesus followers, Jesus is our “benchmark,” our goal being to approximate His likeness in our lives as best we can, realizing we’ll always fall short, we’ll always fail, yet, by God’s grace and with His help, we continue to make the effort. But why? Why do we keep allowing our failure to urge us on? Largely because we’re not saved to stay the same.
If the sum total of the Christian life was to receive the gift of eternal life and never change, what’s the point? Out of the shoot we know we’ll always fail to be everything Christ died to enable us to become this side of eternity, so we use His law to measure our progress; to help us have a tangible means of showing we’re actually making progress; otherwise, our constant failure would be debilitating.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 