"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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." Matthew 5:17-20
Some in Jesus' day misunderstood and thought that Jesus was trying to throw out all that is taught in the Old Testament Scriptures because He offered forgiveness and life though faith in His name. Unfortunately, some today assume that Jesus' teaching does away with the Old Testament and makes these Scriptures obsolete and unnecessary for Christians. Many even believe and teach that one can be a Christian and disregard some or all of what the Bible teaches. This couldn't be further from the truth!
It is as Jesus said: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Jesus, the long promised Messiah and Savior, came to fulfill all that is taught in the Old Testament, not to destroy it. Not the smallest letter (jot) of the Law or the smallest part of a letter (tittle) in the Scriptures would pass away until all is fulfilled.
Thus, Jesus went on to say: "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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."
Jesus came to keep every commandment of the Scriptures perfectly for us. He regarded the Scriptures as the very Word of God and was obedient to every teaching of the Law and the Prophets! He fulfilled all and regarded all as absolute truth. And Jesus, as prophesied by the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament Scriptures), took our place under God's law and took the guilt and punishment of our sins upon Himself, that we might have forgiveness and life through faith in Him and His blood shed for us upon the cross.
Thus, it is a grave offense to break even the smallest commandment in the Scriptures and teach others so. How can one who follows Jesus disregard what He lived and died to fulfill! And, as a study of the Scriptures will reveal, the righteousness which God demands is far greater than the outward righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. In fact, it far exceeds the righteousness of those churchgoers of our day who depend on their own righteous works and deeds. The Scriptures demand perfect righteousness of heart, soul and mind. The Scriptures demand a holy life in thought, word and action. Jesus fulfilled the righteous demands of the Scriptures for us, and these same Scriptures offer to us the imputed, perfect righteousness of Messiah Jesus -- they declare Christ's full atonement for our sins and the acceptance and pardon of a merciful God for Jesus' sake!
Dear LORD Jesus, holy Son of God and true man, our Savior, thank You for fulfilling for us the perfect righteousness taught and demanded in the Holy Scriptures, and thank You for bearing upon the cross the full and just punishment for all our sins and then rising again to grant us forgiveness and life -- perfect righteousness -- through faith in You. Amen.
[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]
Community on 08/19/2015