I want to start today with a question? Do you believe that it is important to have rules and regulations in a country? How about in your own life? Are you able to obey all rules?
In this past week, I have thinking about a verse and I started to question some points.
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Rm 10.4
Have you ever wondered why Paul wrote this verse? I used to think that Christ finished, ended with the Law. But the meaning of this word end is purpose, goal.
Let’s see in another version:
For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. (New Living Translation)
Also, Jesus said in Matthews 5. 17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly I tell you, 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 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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.
Preaching of today: Is Christ the end of the Law?
Which law is he talking about? He is talking about the Mosaic Law, the Torah or the five first books of the bible.
Well, if you read the bible you probably find that some subjects are hard to understand. That’s because there is a historical background. There is a cultural context that is important to understand because if we don’t we may become confused.
It is very important to remember that the bible that we read comes from a nation called Israel and all the authors apart from Luke were Jewish and Jesus was also a Jew.
The law says that for a man to become a real Jew the baby needs to be circumcised at the 8th day following birth. This is the real sign of a Jew. Also, they have to obey the commandments. A total of 613. It involves food, what to wear, relationship with neighbours, family, marriage, war, the poor, times and season to keep (the Sabbath and many other holidays), business, and more. They have certain foods that they are allowed to eat and not (like pork meat). All these commandments make them a very distinct nation. God gave them all these rules, and please understand one thing, the rules are good, and they were given to protect them.
They first received the law at Mont Sinai after they left Egypt. God rescued them from slavery and made a covenant with them. It was like a marriage contract. God choose Israel to be his Bride and the law was a wedding contract.
God chose them as a role model; it was not them who chose God. Why? To introduce salvation to the world.
When God called the nation of Israel, his goal since the beginning was to make them a blessing to the nations. The law was given to them to explain about sin and redemption. All of those things, even the sacrifice in the tabernacle and later in the temple, pointed to Jesus. In Hebrew 10.1 says that it was a shadow of the good things – not the realities themselves. But when Jesus came the nation of Israel did not recognise that the cross was there to fulfil the law.
Why could they not recognize their saviour? Because they became blind, they fell in love with the law, not with the God of the Law. They were so busy examining the rules and making rules upon other rules that the missed the point. Unfortunately, many churches are doing the same nowadays.
For example, about the sabbath God told them to rest one day and use this day to worship him. What did they do then? They established how many miles you are allowed to walk on the sabbath, and many other restrictions. But instead of enjoying the day and rest they were watching who were obeying the law. And Jesus confronted them saying its lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Matt 12.12
What was happening was that the pharisees were stuck in, they were blind, so zealous of the law that they could not see the Son of God.
Pharisees tended to make the practice of religion centre upon self, rather than focus primarily upon God. They tended to make the Kingdom of God depend on men’s efforts, rather than upon God’s grace and kindness. They struggled to be perfect, but with the idea that this perfection could be presented to God as the price paid for salvation.
A huge persecution started among the Jewish believers during the time of the early church because those who were following Jesus started having a revelation. They understood that they need to repent, need to stop doing wrong, need forgive. The biggest revelation was that Jesus was the Messiah and the Kingdom of God had already started.
Even though they had the law they were always falling, betraying one another. The was no real love, only interest. Especially among the religious one.
But Jesus did everything with no second intentions, he loved and cared for the need. He did not come to fight with Rome, his fight was against the power of darkness. Because when Adan sinned in the garden of Eden, he handed this earth, which God created for man, to Satan. Jesus then came to redeem mankind from the power of darkness.
But not many accepted Jesus as their Messiah. Of course, the church started with the Jews and later the gentiles came. Today the main church is made up by gentiles, but God still has a plan for the Jews. As the church grows in this understanding we can be a blessing for the Jews and help them to see Jesus as their Messiah. When they see that we love their God and his word the Jews will become jealous and will start to see clearer and believe in Jesus.
Remember we are gentiles; we are not Jew. We were grafted to the olive tree and we need to be very thankful to God for being part of his body. Rom 11.17,18
The Whole Church is formed by Jew and Gentiles. Eph. 2:11-13, 19 – Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision”
Paul was the apostle that preached to the gentiles. As he preached some Jews believed that the gentiles needed to keep the law. They believed that they also needed to be circumcised, keep the Sabbath, the festival and the whole law.
You can see this in the book of Acts ,Galatians, and most of the letters that Paul wrote were letters to help the church understand that they don’t need to keep the law as the Jews used to do in the past, because even them could not do it.
Acts 15. 1, 2. Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?
11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.’
29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”
As we can see in verse 29 the apostles told us, gentiles, that we don’t need to become Jew to become a believer. Even for them all rules were hard to bear.
Salvation does not come by effort, good deeds, rules, regulations or traditions.
We need to be careful. Just like it happened in the past the same could happen today. People and churches trying to make you come back to the law. Even they can’t keep the law. They break the law; they can’t fulfil it themselves. They deceive and teach false doctrines in the church of Christ.
That’s why Jesus said in Matt.5.17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.
The main point I want us to understand is that in Christ Jesus all law was fulfilled.
Jesus accomplished the Law when he died at Cross in our place. We deserved death, but he took our place. All curse came upon him.
The bible says if we disobey even one of the commandments we deserve death.
Why did God give the law? Because we need it to understand who we are and what are our obligations in this relationship with a Holy God. The law is like a wedding contract.
What Jesus came to do was to re-establish the relationship with God that was lost when Adan disobeyed God.
The Law shows us what is wrong. But the ability to obey doesn’t come from an effort to obey the rules and regulations just for the sake of being ‘correct’. This is called self-righteousness. And it is very hard to keep doing good all the time with our on strength, we are imperfect.
God doesn’t want you obeying him out of fear, or to show off to others, but he called us to live by faith connected to do the will of the Father. Jesus said in Matt 7.21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
In other versions you may see this word ‘Lawlessness’ as ‘Iniquity’ – here Jesus is saying you are going to be rejected if live a life without the law, doing whatever pleases you.
Your appearance as ‘holy’ does not save you. It is only when you recognize your inability to obey and keep the law, your pride and prejudice and you surrender your life to God that Holy Spirit comes to help.
A relationship with God needs to be developed. The law that was once written in stone needs to be written in our hearts when we are born again this happen, and then good fruits develop in our lives. Its natural. As a new creature we have the spirit of God living in us helping us to be holy as God. It is called sanctification.
Understand one thing, the law never finished; we need it. It exists to show us who we are. But without the work of the cross in our life, without repentance faith and obedience we cannot be perfect.
Jesus’ commandments when we compere are harder than the Mosaic law. But he said that if we walk side by side with him, we can do it.
Jesus challenged us in many points
Like in Matt 5.38-39
38 ‘You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.”[ Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21 ] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
In order to be able to do this to an evil person your heart needs to be changed from the inside.
In Mt 5. 43- 44 tells us to pray for our enemies. It tells us to care about others.
43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
When we read the gospel, we see that what Jesus asks of us is very hight standard. We can’t accomplish it without a change inside of us and his help.
This is the promise of the Gospel: that the law will be written in our hearts, the Spirit of God is the one who writes the law in our hearts and in our minds and changes our nature. 2 Co 3:7-17
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was,
8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.
14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Conclusion
The law is good, and it restores our soul. The law points to Jesus. When God the father gave the law to his people at the Sinai he was making something similar to a wedding contract. He stablished many rules but all of them was pointing to Jesus the son, the bridegroom. What happened was that the religious ones, like the Pharisees, became so zealous of the law that instead growing in their relationship with the God of the law they fell in love with law itself. They loved it so much they started creating rules upon the rules.
And then when Jesus came they kept looking to the law instead of looking to Jesus. They thought they were so right that when Jesus started doing good on Saturday they said he was sinning.
For example: The yeast was to be take from every house during Passover festival. This was a law but Jesus taught. But the spiritual meaning of the yeast was the sin, when we are proud we have yeast in ourselves. That why we need to take it away. This is what keeps us far away from God. It’s not bread with yeast but the proudness in ours hearts.
“Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:8 GNT
Imaging you are the Bride waiting to marry and when the Bridegroom comes, instead of talking to him you grab all letters that he wrote in the past few years and you hold them and despise the author of the letters. For the past years you interpreted the letters yourself and now that the author of the letters is in front of you, you start arguing with him instead of enjoying your relationship with him.
Prayer.
Father forgive us for loving the letter and not the relationship. You said that the letter kills but the spirit brings life. Help us, each one of us to learn to listen to your voice, to grow. Give us a pure heart. Reveal who you are to us.