Stroke (KJV = tittle) (2762) (keraia from kéras = a horn) means something horn-like and is specifically the apex, point or extremity of a Hebrew letter, these small marks helping to distinguish one Hebrew letter from another.
Keraia was a small extension of a letter similar to a serif (any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of the strokes of a letter) in modern typefaces. The analogy is the small stroke at the bottom of an R which serves to distinguish it from a P. In the KJV keraia is translated "tittle". Not one of the innumerable little "serifs" will pass from the Law (which includes the Law and the Prophets) The Lord's point is that every letter of every word of the OT is vital and will be fulfilled. The Jewish teachers (rabbis) had emphasized the importance of retaining every slight stroke and the smallest letter in the written Law of Moses. Jesus made it clear that He completely concurred with the rabbis’ respect for the Law. Not even the smallest dot over an “i” would disappear until the Law was fulfilled.
A T Robertson writes that...
“Tittle” is from the Latin titulus which came to mean the stroke above an abbreviated word, then any small mark. It is not certain here whether kerea means a little horn, the mere point which distinguishes some Hebrew letters from others or the “hook” letter Vav. Sometimes yod] and vav were hardly distinguishable.
“In Vay. R. 19 the guilt of altering one of them is pronounced so great that if it were done the world would be destroyed” (McNeile).
There is one other use of keraia in Scripture...
Luke 16:17 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter (keraia) of the Law to fail.
Smallest letter in KJV is "jot" which ISBE describes as follows...
Jot (Revised Version, later editions of the King James Version) is a corruption of iote (early editions of the King James Version, Geneva, Rheims, Bishops'--pronounced i-o'te), an English transliteration of iota, the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet (Matthew 5:18 parallel). "Iota," in turn, is the nearest Greek equivalent for the Hebrew yodh ("y"), the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in New Testament times being little larger than an English accent ('). The tittle ("stroke" in NAS) is the smallest part of a letter (not part of a y, however). Consequently, thinking of the law as written out, the sense of Matthew 5:17, is: "From this code, so written, not the smallest letter nor part of a letter--not an `i' nor the crossing of a `t'--shall be erased until all things come to pass." The reference is to the synagogue rolls, which were written in Hebrew, so that the passage has no bearing on the language used by Christ. (Orr, J, et al: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: 1915)
Stroke in the KJV is "tittle" which ISBE describes as follows...
A small stroke or mark, specifically on a letter to denote accent, or as a diacritical mark; used only in Matthew 5:18 and Luke 16:17. In the first passage it is used in connection with iota, or jot, i.e. the very smallest thing, and in both it refers to the minutiae of the Law. It is well known that the scribes paid the greatest attention to such marks attached to the letters in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Massoretic Text of which abounds in them. (Orr, J, et al: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: 1915)
Albert Barnes comments regarding a "stroke" (tittle) that...
To change a small point of one letter, therefore, might vary the meaning of a word, and destroy the sense. Hence the Jews were exceedingly cautious in writing these letters, and considered the smallest change or omission a reason for destroying the whole manuscript when they were transcribing the Old Testament. The expression, "one jot or tittle," became proverbial, and means that the smallest part of the law should not be destroyed. (Matthew 5)
In short Jesus is teaching not only that all Scripture is inspired but that it is immutable. He is not just saying that the Old Testament "contains truth" (as some say) but that the Scripture "is truth" and it will not change. Jesus referred to the Old Testament some 64 times, and always as authoritative truth. In the course of defending His Messiahship and divinity before the unbelieving Jewish leaders in the Temple, He said that "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35) (See related study on the Authority of God's Word)
John MacArthur explains that...
No other statement made by our Lord more clearly states His absolute contention that Scripture is verbally inerrant, totally without error in the original form in which God gave it. That is, Scripture is God’s own Word not only down to every single written word, but down to every letter and the smallest part of every letter. (MacArthur, J: Matthew 1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary Chicago: Moody Press)
Luke records a similar declaration by Jesus...
"But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke (keraia) of a letter of the Law to fail. (to drop out of the Law)" (Luke 16:17)
It is also important to note that the NT the phrase "it is written" (60x in the NAS - Matt 4:4, 6f, 10" class="scriptRef">10" class="scriptRef">10; 11:10; 21.13" class="scriptRef">21:13; 26.24" class="scriptRef">26:24, 31" class="scriptRef">31; Mark 1:2; 7:6; 9.12-Mark.9.50" class="scriptRef">9:12f; 11:17; 14:21, 27" class="scriptRef">27; Luke 2:23; 3:4; 4:4, 8, 10; 7:27; 10:26; 19:46; 24:46; John 6:31, 45; 8:17; 12:14; Acts 1:20; 7:42; 33" class="scriptRef">13:33; 15:15; 23:5; Rom 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13, 33; 10:15; 11:8, 26; 12:19; 14:11; 15:3, 9, 21; 1 Cor 1:19, 31; 2:9; 3:19; 9:9f; 10:7; 14:21; 15:45; 2 Cor 8:15; 9:9; Gal 3:10, 13; 4:22, 27; Heb 10:7; 1 Pet 1:16; 5:12; 1 John 2:21; Rev 1:3) some 60 times in the NAS - click) is virtually always in the Greek perfect tense which speaks of permanence. The idea is that "it was written at a specific time in the past and is written now and always will remain written."
Jesus equates His own words with the Scriptures and declares they are more enduring than the creation...
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Mt 24:35, also in Lu 21:33)
Kent Hughes explains that
the radically righteous Christ saw the Old Testament Prophets and Law as God's perfect, enduring Word and, furthermore, saw his life as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. We must see the profound continuity between Christ's righteousness and the righteousness called for by the Old Testament. The radical righteousness Christ lived and taught, including here in the Sermon on the Mount, is not out of line with the Old Testament. Christ's righteousness is radical not because it is new but because he lived it! The Old Testament is still tremendously important, even though we are under grace. The Law instructs us in the righteous demands of God. Through it we see how high his holiness and his standards are, and we see how far short we fall and thus desperately need God's grace. (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books)
Law (3551) (nomos, torah in Hebrew) is related etymologically to something parceled out, allotted, what one has in use and possession; hence, usage, custom). Generally, "the Law" refers to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the OT. More generally however, the law can mean a wide variety of things – a commandment, a principle, an instruction, etc. The meaning of the law, therefore, is best determined by examining its use in context.
Accomplished (1096) (ginomai) in this context conveys the meaning of becoming or taking place.
Arthur Pink comments that
"Everything in the Law must be fulfilled (accomplished): not only its prefigurations and prophecies, but its precepts and penalty: fulfilled, first, personally and vicariously, by and upon the Surety; fulfilled, second and evangelically, in and by His people; and fulfilled, third, in the doom of the wicked, who shall experience its awful curse forever and ever. Instead of Christ’s being opposed to the law of God, He came here to magnify it and render it honourable (Isaiah 42:21). And rather than His teachings being subversive thereof, they confirmed and enforced it” (Matthew 5:17-18: Christ and Law)
An Excursus on the Law
&
The Believer's Relationship to the Law
In Exodus 20 (see Ex 20:1-2, 3-4, 5, 6, 7-9, 10, 11, 12, 13-16, 17, 18) we find the "Ten Commandments" which embody the essence of God's Law. For simplicity one can divide the OT Law into the following 3 categories (although in fairness it should be noted some commentators recognize only a moral and ceremonial division)...
(1) Moral, as for example the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 (all but the Sabbath are also commanded in the NT). We are called to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.
(2) Ceremonial, which includes the Tabernacle, the sacrificial system, special days, weeks and feasts.
(3) Civil or judicial which dealt with laws specific to Israel such as the cities of refuge, stoning for certain offenses, etc.
The moral law is still in force for believers but as explained below is now written on our hearts and is to be obeyed in the power of the Spirit and under grace (not "under law").
The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ, Who was the substance of all the OT shadows (see Col 2:16, 17-note, Heb 10:1-note). As we see especially in the book of Hebrews, all of the types and shadows pointed to and are fulfilled in Christ. E.g., Jesus Lamb the Father provided for the sacrifice, so there is now no need for a better or fuller sacrifice for sin. In short, the ceremonial law vanishes with the coming of the One it was designed to foreshadow.
The civil law specific to Israel is no longer relevant to the NT believer. And yet so many NT believers today remain confused about their relationship to the OT Law and issue addressed in this "excursus".
Why did God speak to Israel from the mountain ( the "Ten Commandments") in Exodus 20:20?
And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."
Clearly God gave the Law to His chosen people that they might not sin. For Israel, the fear of the Lord and the commands of the Lord truly were vital as a beginning to obedience (cp relationship of holy fear and obedience - Job 1:1, 28:28, Neh 5:5, Ps 34:11, 12, 13, 14-note, Pr 8:13, 14:27, 18:6, Eccl 12:13, 14, Acts 5:11, 9:31, 2Co 7:1-note, 1Pe 1:17-note). Someone has suggested that we might visualize the Ten Commandments in terms of protection: protection of health in man’s relationship with God, and the protection of health in man’s relationship with other men. Notice that God clearly does not state that He gave the Law that they might be saved but in order to show Israel their sinfulness.
Commenting on Exodus 20:20 J Vernon McGee writes...
The Law presented a very high standard. The Law of the Lord is perfect. It demands perfection. If you are trying to be saved by keeping the Law, you will have to be perfect. If you are not perfect, you cannot be saved by the Law. I thank God that under grace He can take a poor sinner like me and save me. Grace reveals something of the goodness and wonder of our God. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
How does David describe the Law?
The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalms 19:7-Spurgeon's note)
Thus the Law is without flaw and has perfect integrity, and is capable of restoring, reviving, converting and refreshing. The Law can result in the conversion of the sinner (see below) and can restore the saint when he wanders.
Paul writes explains the purpose and character of the Law...
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, YOU SHALL NOT COVET (remember ALL CAPS in the NASB identifies a specific quotation from the OT, in this case from)...12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Ro 7:7, 17-note on Ro 7:7 , Ro 7:12)
Dwight Pentecost explains the "holiness" of the Law noting that...
All angelic creation beholds the holiness of God; but fallen, sinful men, because of their blindness and separation cannot behold the holiness of God without being consumed by it. God therefore revealed His holiness by reflecting it in a mirror. The Law was a mirror to reflect the holiness of God to men, but at the same time to protect them from being consumed by the brightness of God’s glory. Mankind could know that God is a holy God through the revelation in the Law. Sin is sin, not simply because it injures society, or an individual in society, or the one committing the sin. Sin is sin because it is unlike the holiness of God. (Pentecost, J. D. Design for living: Lessons in Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount. Kregel Publications)
Ray Stedman has a nice illustration of the power of the Law to awaken the sleeping giant called "The Sin" within every man writing...
I was in the Colorado Rockies this past week. A man met me to take me into the mountains for a conference. When I came out to the curb, he was waiting in his new, powerful, shiny Lincoln Continental. I got into the car and expected him to turn on the ignition. But to my amazement, he started driving without turning on the engine -- or at least that's how it seemed to me. I suddenly realized that the engine had been running all the time. It was so quiet that I hadn't heard it. As we moved up into the Rockies, the power of that engine became manifest. We traveled up the steep grades in those great mountains without difficulty because of the power released by the touch on the accelerator. Now, that is something like what Paul is describing here. Sin lies silent within us. We do not even know it is there. We think we have got hold of life in such a way that we can handle it without difficulty. We are self-confident because we have never really been exposed to the situation that puts pressure upon us -- we never have to make a decision against the pressure on the basis of the commandment of the Law "Thou shalt not... " But when that happens, we suddenly discover all kinds of desires are awakened within us. We find ourselves filled with attitudes that almost shock us -- unloving, bitter, resentful thoughts, murderous attitudes -- we would like to get hold of somebody and kill him, if we could. Lustful feelings that we never dreamed were there surface and we find that we would love to indulge in them if only we had the opportunity. We find ourselves awakened to these desires. As the great engine surges into life at the touch of the accelerator, so this powerful, idling beast within us called sin springs into life as the Law comes home to us. We discover something that we never knew was there before. (The Continuing Struggle)
Paul explains the purpose of the Law in Galatians 3:19-25...
Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
In summary the purpose of the Law includes the following...
1). Law reveals sin for what it was...until the Seed (Christ) should come (Gal 3:19). "Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin" (Ro 3:17-note, cp Ro 7:7, 8, 9-note - Though the law is not itself sinful [Ro 7:12-note], it arouses sin in me.)
Matthew Henry - There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law.
2). Law shuts up (shut in on all sides, describes fish caught in a net) all men under sin...(until they enter) "by faith (into) Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:22)
3). Law keep men in custody (military term for soldier on guard, the Law keeps unbelievers under protective custody - they cannot escape) under the Law (Gal 3:23) "until we could put our faith in the coming Savior" (NLT)
4). Law serves as a tutor (the "pedagogue" had the responsibility of taking a child to the schoolmaster in the morning and leaving him there) to lead us to Christ (Gal 3:24) "until Christ came" (NLT)
Related Resource: See summary of Purpose of the Law
Martin Luther explains how the law can drive one to the depths of despair so that all that they can do is cast themselves upon God's grace...
The Law must be laid upon those that are to be justified, that they may be shut up in the prison thereof, until the righteousness of faith comes - that, when they are cast down and humbled by the Law, they should fly to Christ. The Law humbles them, not to their destruction, but to their salvation. For God woundeth that He may heal again. He killeth that he may quicken again.
Earlier in Galatians Paul had explained the relationship of the Law and justification (being declared righteous) writing...
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
Note the repetition of the phrase "works of the Law". Clearly the Law was never given to man that he might achieve justification before God by keeping the Law. James makes this impossibility clear recording that...
whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (James 2:10)
And the penalty for stumbling, even if only on just one point of the Law, is stated by Paul who writes that...
as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM." (Galatians 3:10)
Paul went on to record the solution for the curse all men were under writing that...
Christ redeemed (paid the ransom price to set us free from the power of Sin and the debt we owed for our sins committed, past present and future) us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE (quote from Deut 21:22-23)" (Galatians 3:13)
In Galatians 2:16 Paul had explained that we are justified or declared righteous by faith in Christ Jesus and not by keeping the Law. The problem that existed at the time Jesus presented His Sermon on the Mount was that the religious leaders, especially the Pharisees had devised a legal system that consisted of manmade additions and perversions of God's original "holy and righteous and good" Law. The legal system of the Pharisees was designed to circumvent the requirements of the holiness of God and the demands of His Law as He intended it to be kept - from the heart and not based on external observances. And so the Pharisees had categorized the Old Covenant into 365 negative commandments and 248 positive commandments. They taught that if men kept all 613 laws, they would be righteous and thus acceptable in the sight of God.
So if no one could keep the Law and be made righteous, how would a sinner become righteous before a holy God? Paul alluded to this in Galatians 2:16, but further explained it in Romans 8 writing that...
what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh (our fallen sin nature inherited from Adam), God did: sending His own Son in the likeness (this is a critical distinction - He was like us but He Himself never committed sin) of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned (a past tense completed action - when Jesus hung on the Cross as the Offering for sin, God condemned Sin once and for all at that moment in time - at that moment God deposed Sin of its dominion or right to rule over those who would place their faith in Jesus) sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk (habitually, as a lifestyle = present tense) according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (notes Romans 8:3, 8:4)
There it is - sinners "fulfill" the requirement of the Law by placing their faith in the One who fulfilled all "the Law and the Prophets" (Mt 5:17). Who are these people? Paul explains here in Ro 8:4-note that they are those who habitually conduct their lives according to the Holy Spirit and not those who walk continually according to the flesh. Obviously saved sinners still sin, but Paul's point is that this is not their lifestyle (cf Paul's explanation of why licentiousness can no longer be a genuine believer's lifestyle - Ro 6:1,2, 3, 4-see notes on Ro 6:1-3, 6:4)
The Pharisees should have been aware that God had prophesied about this glorious provision in the Old Testament. Their problem was the same as it is today in every unbeliever --.the heart of the problem is the problem with our heart as recorded by Jeremiah...
"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 cf Genesis 8:21 where Moses records that "the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth"!)
Jehovah through Jeremiah prophesied of the New Covenant declaring...
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant (Old Covenant of Law) which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (See study of New Covenant in the OT)
In Ezekiel God explained the "heart transplant" further, declaring...
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes (God's Part), and you will be careful to observe My ordinances (Man's Responsibility). (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Paul writes a perfect parallel to Ezekiel 36:27 in his letter to the Philippian saints...
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out (command to make this your lifestyle = present imperative) your salvation with fear and trembling (Man's Responsibility); for it is God who is at work (Greek = energeo ~ "energizing" continually = present tense) in you, both to will and to work (energeo present tense) for His good pleasure (God's Part). (Php 2:12, 13-See notes Php 2:12; 13)
In summary not only did God promise sinners who placed their faith in Christ a new heart but He also promised them His Spirit Who would ensure that the the saved sinner, now a saint, would be able to walk according to His statutes. His Spirit now indwells us and is not only our power to keep the Law but also our seal and pledge of future inheritance
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1Cor 6:19-note, 1Co 6:20-note)
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed (official mark of identification that placed on an important document usually made from hot wax and impressed with a signet ring which officially identified the document with and under the authority of the person to whom the signet belonged. God owns the signet which sealed believers!) in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge ("earnest" = a down-payment guaranteeing full payment ~ God's Spirit is the down-payment giving us a foretaste and guarantee of the coming glory of heaven. In Greek today this word is used for an engagement ring!) of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ep 1:13, 14-notes)
Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant on the night He was betrayed...
And while they were eating (the Passover Meal which here becomes synonymous with the New Covenant meal), Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." (Mt 26:26, 27, 28)
And although the promise of a New Covenant was originally given to the Jews (cf Jeremiah 31:31), the covenant was extended to the Gentiles, who with the Jews were reconciled into one body (the church) through the Cross so that both Jews and Gentiles now have their access in one Spirit to the Father through the Great High Priest, Christ Jesus. (see Ep 2:11-22-note, especially Eph 2:14, 15-see notes Ep 2:14; 15). Writing to the predominantly Gentile church in Corinth Paul instructed them
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. (1Co 11:23, 24, 25, 26)
Comment: The Lord's Supper pictures each partaker as if they were "preachers" exhorting themselves to look back on Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection, and to look forward to His second coming and to live in the light of the firm foundation and certain hope, respectively.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF
BELIEVERS TO THE LAW
Let's review. Where does this leave believers today in regard to the Law? Jesus fulfilled the Law and inaugurated the New Covenant in His blood. In this New Covenant, the Law has not been abolished for us as believers but is written on our hearts, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it" (Jer 31:33, cp 2Co 3:5,6). Now when we as believers walk by the Spirit and not under the Law (Ro 7:6-note, Ro 8:4-note, Gal 5:16, 17, 18, 25" class="scriptRef">25-notes on Ga 5:16, 17, 18, 25), we will fulfill the desire of the Spirit and not the desire of the flesh. Enabled by the indwelling Spirit and amazing grace (cp 1Co 15:10, 2Co 12:9-note, 2Co 12:10-note), we now can carry out what the Law requires (Jas 1:25), motivated by reverential fear (cp 2Co 7:1-note, 1Pe 1:17-note), love for our heavenly Father and a desire to be pleasing to Him, not out of legalism or a cringing fear of condemnation. God's Law is no longer an external rule that we find burdensome (cf 23.4" class="scriptRef">Mt 23:4, 23; Gal 5:18-note). Because God has given us a new heart committed to Him, we desire to please Him by obeying Him (2Cor 5:9). Whereas when we were still in Adam, before we were regenerated by grace through faith and placed into Christ, we struggled and fought against God's Holy Law, now we find that we have a heart to obey it and a desire to be holy as He is holy (1Pe 1:15, 16-notes; 16, Php 2:12, 13-see notes Php 2:12; 13 where God even gives us the "want to", the desire to obey - note our part in those verses) and to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48-note), having obtained in Christ a righteousness that surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees. No, beloved, our obedience is not yet perfect, but the general tenor of our life is ever Godward toward our true home in the Kingdom of Heaven, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Php 2:12, 13-see notes Php 2:12; 13, cf Re 11:15-note).
Although we have alluded to this above, let us ask again what was the problem of the Scribes and Pharisees? They knew that the Law was good and spiritual and sought to keep it. Their problem was the same problem that all men had -- their hearts were "uncircumcised" (spiritually speaking). Ro 2:29 (see note) explains that a real Jew (one in the Kingdom of Heaven) is one who has experienced "circumcision...of the heart (the same thing Ezekiel called a "new heart" in Ezek 36:26), by the Spirit, not by the letter (Law)". The religious leaders of Jesus' day were futilely attempting to deal with their sinful hearts inherited from Adam (cf Ro 5:12-note) by living according to the letter of the Law. They were blind to the prophet Ezekiel's teaching that promised them a new heart. As explained above, the Law could not change the Scribes and Pharisees on the inside where they needed change. The problem was their flesh which refused to cooperate with God's holy Law. What was the solution? They desperately needed to see the poverty of their flesh (Mt 5:3-note) that they might enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Note that although keeping the law won't get one into heaven, those who are in the kingdom of heaven by grace are not free to live lawlessly. That is the fear of the legalist who says that if you take away the law as a means of earning merit, then there is no reason to keep it. They say believers will live as they please for the Law is no longer able to check their behavior (anti-nomian = against the law). Someone has composed a rhyme which echoes this fear...
Free from the law, O blessed condition!
I can sin as I please, And still have remission.
Clearly from Jesus' teaching in the Beatitudes this is not what He is saying. Christians are to be those not who live morally loose but who are continually poor in spirit depending on His Spirit, who mourn over their sins against a holy God, who continually hunger and thirst for righteousness and who are single mindedly living for God. Genuine citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven therefore can hardly be characterized as those who continue to live lawlessly or licentiously!
Paul anticipated a similar argument from the Romans and so rhetorically asked...
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. (NASB) (The first edition of the NLT is somewhat easier to understand "Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.") (Ro 3:31-note)
Sinclair Ferguson summarizes the relationship the Christian to the Law writing that...
It is a great mistake, then, to think that Jesus abolished the commandments and taught us that 'all we need is love.' For love means fulfilling the law (Ro 13:10-note). In fact, in the New Testament it is John, the 'apostle of love,' who underlines the important place of the law for the believer. To show that love and law harmonise in the Christian life, he frequently echoes Jesus' words,
'If you love Me you will obey what I command' (Jn 14:15) and, `If you obey My commands you will abide in My love' (Jo 15:10.). We know that we have come to know God if we obey His commands (1Jn 2:3). Those who keep His commands live in Him, and He lives in them (John 15:4). Love for God means keeping His commands (1Jn 5:3).
In this respect, the Christian life is like one of the mighty steam engines of the railways of the past, the kind on which Casey Jones used to go 'a steamin' and a rollin'!' They needed fuel for the fire for power. But they also needed tracks, to direct their energy.
Love for Christ, in the power of the Spirit, is the energy of the Christian life. But that love needs tracks on which to run if it is ever to get to its intended destination. God's law provides us with those tracks.
That is why many places in the New Testament allude to the teaching of Exodus 20 (the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses). These commandments are the sacred way in which we are to walk. Rather than restrict us, these tracks give us freedom to move in a Godward direction. (Ferguson, Sinclair: Sermon on the Mount :Banner of Truth) (Bolding added)
In Christ, God's love was expressed and His law was satisfied.
Though freed from the law with its stern demands--
No longer ruled by its harsh commands--
I'm bound by Christ's love and am truly free
To live and to act responsibly. --DJD
John MacArthur (in his highly recommended commentary on Matthew) gives an excellent summary of the believer's relationship to the Law...
There is indeed a paradox in regard to the law, and it is especially evident in Paul’s letters. On the one hand we are told of the law’s being fulfilled and done away with, and on the other that we are still obliged to obey it. Speaking of the Jews and Gentiles, Paul says that Christ “is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace” (Ep 2:14, 15-see notes Ep 2:14; 15.) When the church came into existence the “dividing wall” of civil, judicial law crumbled and disappeared. (Ed note: some examples of "civil law" - cities of refuge, Nu 35:6, restitution Nu 5:6, 7, Nu 35:15, etc)
In God’s eyes Israel was temporarily set aside as a nation at the Cross, when she crucified her King and rejected His kingdom. In the world’s eyes Israel ceased to exist as a nation in A.D. 70, when all of Jerusalem, including the Temple, was razed to the ground by the Romans under Titus. (Her restoration nationally is but a preparation for her restoration spiritually, as Romans 9-11 teaches)
The ceremonial law also came to an end. While Jesus was still hanging on the cross, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38). The Temple worship and the sacrifices were no longer valid, even symbolically. That part of the law was finished, accomplished, and done away with by Christ.
There is even a sense in which God’s moral law is no longer binding on believers. Paul speaks of our not being under law but under grace (Ro 6:14-note). But just before that he had said, “do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts” (Ro 6:12-note), and immediately after verse 14 he says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” (Ro 6:15-note). Those in Christ are no longer under the ultimate penalty of the law, but are far from free of its requirement of righteousness.
To the Romans Paul said, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Ro 10:4-note), and to the Galatians he wrote, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (Gal 5:18-note). But he had just made it clear that Christians are not in the least free from God’s moral standards. “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Gal 5:17-note). The law that was once “our tutor to lead us to Christ” (Gal 3:24) now leads us as “sons of God through Christ Jesus” to be clothed with Christ (Gal 3:26, 27), and His clothing is the clothing of practical righteousness. If Christ’s own righteousness never diminished or disobeyed God’s moral law, how can His disciples be free to do so?
Paul harmonized the idea when he spoke of himself as being “without the law of God but under the law of Christ” (1Cor 9:21). In Christ we are anything but lawless. Christ’s law is totally different from the Jewish judicial and ceremonial law and different from the Old Testament moral law, with its penalties and curses for disobedience (Ed note: we are not to stone adulterers, disobedient children, etc). But it is not different in the slightest from the holy, righteous standards that the Old Testament law taught.
The Old Testament law is still a moral guide, as in revealing sin (7" class="scriptRef">Ro 7;7-note). Even when it provokes sin (Ro 7:8-note), it helps us see the wickedness of our own flesh and our helplessness apart from Christ. And even when we see the condemnation of the law (Ro 7:9, 10, 11-see notes Ro 7:9; 10 ; 11), it should remind us that our Savior took that condemnation upon Himself on the Cross (Ro 5:18-note, Ro 8:1-note; 1Pe 2:24-note; etc). Whenever a Christian looks at God’s moral law with humility, meekness, and a sincere desire for righteousness, the law will invariably point him to Christmas it was always intended to do. And for believers to live by it is for them to become like Christ. It could not possibly be otherwise, because it is God’s law, and it reflects God’s character. “So then,” Paul is careful to remind us, “the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Ro 7:12-note).
Paul concludes Romans 7 by thanking “God through Jesus Christ our Lord” that even though his flesh served “the law of sin,” his mind served “the law of God” (Ro 7:25-note). The penalty of the law has been paid for us by Jesus Christ, but also in Him the righteousness of the law is “fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according the Spirit” (Ro 8:4-note; cf. Gal 5:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-note). (MacArthur, J:: Matthew 1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary Chicago: Moody Press) (Notes, bolding and color added)
Excerpts from C H Spurgeon's Sermon "The Uses of the Law (click for entire message on Galatians 3:19)"
I. The first use of the law is to manifest to man his guilt. When God intends to save a man, the first thing he does with him is to send the law to him, to show him how guilty, how vile, how ruined he is, and in how dangerous a position....
II. Now, the second. The law serves to slay all hope of salvation of a reformed life. Most men when they discover themselves to be guilty, avow that they will reform. They say, "I have been guilty and have deserved God's wrath, but for the future I will seek to win a stock of merits which shall counterbalance all my old sins." In steps the law, puts its hand on the sinner's mouth, and says, "Stop, you cannot do that, it is impossible." I will show you how the law does this. It does it partly thus, by reminding the man that future obedience can be no atonement for past guilt....
III. And now, a step further. You that know the grace of God can follow me in this next step. The law is intended to show man the misery which will, fall upon him through his sin....
IV. And now, my dear friends, I am afraid of wearying you; therefore, let me briefly hint at one other thought. "Wherefore then serveth the law." It was sent into the world to shew the value of a Saviour.
Just as foils set off jewels, and as dark spots make bright tints more bright, so doth the law make Christ appear the fairer and more heavenly. I hear the law of God curse, but how harsh its voice. Jesus says, "come unto me;" oh, what music! all the more musical after the discord of the law. I see the law condemns; I behold Christ obeying it. Oh! how ponderous that price—when I know how weighty was the demand! I read the commandments, and I find them strict and awfully severe—oh! how holy must Christ have been to obey all these for me! Nothing makes me value my Savior more than seeing the law condemn me. When I know this law stands in my way, and like a flaming cherubim will not let me enter paradise, then I can tell how sweetly precious must Jesus Christ's righteousness be, which is a passport to heaven, and gives me grace to enter there.
V. And, lastly, "Wherefore serveth the law." It was sent into the world to keep Christian men from self-righteousness. Christian men—do they ever get self-righteous? Yes, that they do. The best Christian man in the world will find it hard work to keep himself from boasting, and from being self-righteous. John Knox on his death-bed was attacked with self-righteousness....
- Bible
- Read the Bible
- Bible Versions
- Verse of the Day
- Reading Plans
- Verses by Topic
- Books of the Bible
- Bible Images
- Study
- Commentaries
- Concordances
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Sermons
- Bible Atlas & Maps
- BP Wiki
- Devotionals
- Today's Devotionals
- Light of the World
- All Devotionals
- Inspirational Quotes
- More
- Picture Quotes
- Videos
- Inspirational
- Bible Study
- What The Bible Says
- Bible Q&As
- Daily Bread
- Bible by Genre
- Bible Stories
- Random Bible Verse
- Community
- Store