Jesus and the Law.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] Well, let’s talk about the law of God. [0:11] You know, what’s interesting is the law of God is something that you either love or you [0:17] don’t want to talk about. [0:19] It’s either something that you glory in or it’s something that you really want to apologize [0:24] for where God is concerned. [0:25] And what we’re seeing in the Sermon on the Mount as we enter into this is that Jesus

[0:31] has a way of reframing things that have been for a long time, but we as people struggle [0:38] to get right. [0:40] And he doesn’t do that any greater than when he does that in the Old Testament law. [0:47] And that’s specifically what he’s going to talk about today. [0:50] And in the first week of the Sermon on the Mount, we talked about the Beatitudes, which [0:54] gave us basically the law of the new creation, that if Jesus redeems you, this is what will

[1:02] flow out of your life. [1:03] These are not things that you’re going to be able to white knuckle and through effort [1:07] make happen in your life. [1:08] These are things that are only going to be a reality for you if you trust and follow [1:13] Jesus Christ. [1:14] And then last week, we took a look at the salt and light metaphors.

[1:18] We took a look at the city on a hill metaphor that if we are in Christ, we will live as [1:25] those who shine the light of Christ on everyone and everything around us. [1:31] Well, he transitions a little bit in this coming section to talking about the law. [1:38] And the reason that he does that is that as he was going into the synagogues, the thing [1:43] that was happening is that he was teaching the Old Testament, what we would call the [1:47] And people were astonished and they would say things like, he teaches with an uncommon

[1:52] authority. [1:52] He has gracious words that are unlike anybody that’s ever taught these things before. [1:57] And in that, the people kind of started to think and the Pharisees really started to [2:03] accuse that Jesus was actually demeaning the law of God and meaning to subvert the law [2:09] of God with a new revelation. [2:12] And so what you see happening here, starting in verse 17, is that Jesus seeks to set the

[2:17] record straight. [2:18] And here’s what we read. [2:21] He says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. [2:25] And what he means by that when he says law or prophets is what we call the Old Testament, [2:29] the whole thing. [2:30] He says, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

[2:34] For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a iota, not a dot will pass [2:40] from the law until all is accomplished. [2:43] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to [2:48] do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. [2:51] But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [2:56] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,

[3:02] you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [3:07] And so what Jesus is doing here is he is actually connecting the old and the new. [3:14] He’s saying that it’s not that he has come to do a new work, he has come to fulfill [3:18] the eternal plan of God, the work that has always been there. [3:23] Have you ever heard someone say, oh, I don’t need to worry about that, that’s Old Testament. [3:27] All right.

[3:28] What Jesus is doing here is he’s telling you, you’re wrong. [3:31] And you should never say anything like that because Jesus actually is the one who gave [3:38] the Old Testament. [3:39] He is the one who gave the law of God and his work, what he’s saying here is that if [3:44] you hope to understand what Jesus is doing in his life on the cross and in the resurrection, [3:51] you have to understand the Old Testament.

[3:55] You need that so that you can have a picture of what Jesus was actually doing. [4:00] And so the big thing we glean from that is number one today, God’s word is good. [4:05] God’s word is good. [4:07] The whole thing from Genesis to Revelation, you have the word of God. [4:14] And for Jesus’ purpose at this point, he is looking at Genesis through Malachi and [4:20] he is saying, my word is good.

[4:23] I will not abolish what I gave because what I gave is good. [4:31] So to fully understand the work of the gospel is to fully understand what God is doing throughout [4:35] all of history, from creation to even today. [4:40] But for this purpose and this context, what Jesus is saying is for you to understand the [4:44] work that God is doing, you have to understand the Old Testament because it is good. [4:50] In Psalm 119, 160, Jesus notes, he says, the sum of your word is truth.

[4:57] Every one of your righteous rules endures forever. [5:02] That’s a long time. [5:04] That’s the law of God. [5:06] Jesus is saying the law reigns. [5:09] And what you have to understand is the purpose for which God gave the law and he is telling [5:15] us that he gave the law as a foundation for the gospel.

[5:20] And so what a lot of people try to do is they kind of almost form this theology. [5:25] And I had a great idea for a book that would be completely heretical one time called The [5:30] Heart of the Father. [5:32] And this didn’t make it in any other sermon. [5:34] I don’t know why I started telling this story. [5:36] It was, but I got to now.

[5:37] It’s one of those situations where I’m in it. [5:39] Me and Nate were actually talking one day, Pastor Nate, and this was many years ago. [5:43] This was probably 15 years ago. [5:44] And we said, well, let’s write a book that’s heretical because we believe it’ll sell.

[5:50] And the premise of the book was, is that when you have a child, and this did happen to me, [5:56] I mean, when I had my first son, it does something to you. [5:58] Doesn’t it kind of change you? [6:00] I mean, it really changes your life. [6:02] And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Father’s heart was completely changed. [6:06] And he went from the bad mood God of the Old Testament to the good mood God of the New

[6:10] Testament. [6:11] He wasn’t as mad at the Midianites anymore. [6:13] And so Jesus had nothing but love, nothing but affection. [6:17] And God, just his heart was changed by the very birth of Jesus Christ. [6:21] The only problem with that is how wholly unbiblical it is. [6:25] It’s completely wrong.

[6:27] But I’m telling you, if Life Way wasn’t shuttering the doors, they’d sell it [6:30] because they love bad books. [6:32] But the whole key, that’s for free.

[6:38] The whole key here is to understand that what Jesus is doing is saying that if you just [6:45] begin with the book of Matthew for our purposes, all right, and you say, I don’t want to worry [6:50] about the Old Testament, there’s a lot of things I can’t explain in there. [6:53] There’s a lot of things that I personally wouldn’t excuse in there. [6:56] There’s a lot of things that offend my preferences and offend my personality and offend my [7:00] sensibilities in there.

[7:01] So I’m just going to start with the book of Matthew with Jesus. [7:06] And all of my theology is going to start right there. [7:09] What Jesus is saying is that if you do that, you cannot hope to fully understand the work [7:15] of the gospel. [7:17] Because to understand what Jesus came to accomplish and what he did accomplish and what he is [7:24] accomplishing, you need to understand what God has been doing throughout all of history.

[7:31] You need to understand that the gospel isn’t just New Testament. [7:37] The gospel is all of the Bible. [7:40] The gospel is everything that God was doing. [7:44] And so what the problem was in that day and age is that they were misunderstanding what [7:50] God wanted them to do. [7:51] And they had set up, instead of a system that showed their sin and their need for a

[7:57] work of God, they had tried to turn the system of Old Testament law into a way to prove [8:04] their own righteousness, into a way to prove their own worthiness to be the people of [8:11] God. [8:12] And so the office of the Pharisee was actually the type of person that would look to the [8:17] Old Testament and look to all of the different laws and then create a system around that [8:23] so that you could know if you were measuring up to the right standard.

[8:28] And so just take one, the Sabbath laws. [8:31] You know, remember the Sabbath. [8:33] Honor it. [8:33] Keep it holy. [8:34] It’s the day of rest. [8:36] What the Pharisees would do is that they would come in and they would say, okay, if you’re

[8:40] supposed to rest on the Sabbath day, how many steps are too many? [8:45] And so say, if you take one more step than this, you didn’t rest that day and you broke [8:49] the Sabbath rule. [8:50] If you took too much flour out of the pantry on the Sabbath day and they would have a [8:56] wait for it. [8:58] Say, if you took over X amount of flour out, you broke the Sabbath laws.

[9:03] And they would do this for every single law. [9:07] And so what Jesus is saying in this text is that you have misunderstood the purpose for [9:14] the law came because the Bible isn’t good because you are so good. [9:20] The Bible is good because God is so good. [9:24] He’s stating, though, that even the smallest aspect of the law will never fade away. [9:31] An iota is the smallest Greek letter in the alphabet.

[9:36] A dot represented the smallest Hebrew mark in their alphabet. [9:42] And so when he’s saying is that so many of your laws actually go and say, this is such [9:49] a big one, you forget about other ones, don’t you? [9:55] And what Jesus is saying is that if you’re going to have a standard of righteousness [9:58] that is based out of the Word of God, you need to understand that every single aspect [10:04] of God’s law is from God, is good, is eternal, and will reign in your life.

[10:12] And Jesus wanted them to understand. [10:13] Here’s what he says in John 5.39. [10:15] He says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life [10:19] and it is they that bear witness about me. [10:22] He’s saying, you missed the point. [10:25] The point isn’t how many steps am I taking.

[10:27] Am I righteous today or am I unrighteous today? [10:30] How much flour did I take out of the pantry? [10:32] Did I eat too much? [10:33] Am I righteous today or am I unrighteous today? [10:35] But how many of you do that?

[10:38] You get to the end of the day and you say, okay, how righteous was I? [10:42] Did I measure up? [10:44] Did I meet the standard? [10:45] Was my quiet time long enough? [10:49] I mean, 15 minutes. [10:50] I think I only did 14.

[10:53] On the Super Holy Days I do 16.

[10:57] How many chapters a day of the Bible do I need to read? [10:59] Is two enough? [10:59] Three? [11:00] Four? [11:00] Five? [11:02] Did I pray long enough?

[11:04] And all my prayers were about me. [11:05] Uh-oh, God’s going to get me.

[11:09] See, it’s not that we’re so unlike those people. [11:12] We measure righteousness based on us rather than measuring righteousness based on God. [11:16] And Jesus came to help them understand the Old Testament isn’t about you. [11:21] The Old Testament is about God. [11:24] It wasn’t meant to make them look within themselves for the answers. [11:29] It wasn’t meant to make them think that they could work and form a system by which they

[11:34] could earn salvation. [11:35] Instead, it was supposed to point them to their need for God to do something in order [11:39] to redeem them. [11:41] And that’s why the Bible is so good. [11:45] But it’s also why so many of us struggle to understand what is going on in the Old [11:50] Testament.

[11:51] You see, the Bible points to Jesus when it is used properly. [11:54] The problem with people is that we can find all sorts of ways to use things improperly. [11:59] We can take something that is good and the minute that we make it about us, we make [12:04] it bad. [12:05] See, so many people will take the Bible and they will make it the story about themselves. [12:10] You will use it and just say, Jesus is with me wherever I go.

[12:13] I’m going to chase my dreams. [12:15] And Jesus promises he’s going to be right there with me as I’m chasing my dreams. [12:18] You know the only problem with that? [12:19] Who’s the hero of that story?

[12:22] You. [12:24] Jesus isn’t with you as you chase your dreams. [12:27] He’s with you as you follow him because he’s God, because he’s Lord. [12:33] And the Old Testament is not meant for you to see it as a vehicle through which the [12:39] law makes you righteous. [12:41] Instead, it is a vehicle through which God shows you your need for his work in your

[12:46] life. [12:47] And so in understanding that, we have to realize Jesus didn’t come to give you a better [12:52] understanding of the Old Testament.

[12:56] Now, you will understand the Old Testament because of Jesus, but that’s not why he came. [13:00] Jesus didn’t come so that you could find inspiration from the Old Testament through [13:06] Jesus. [13:06] You will get that, but that’s not why he came. [13:09] Jesus came to fulfill the covenant and promises laid out by the Old Testament. [13:15] Jesus came to meet every standard that you can’t.

[13:19] Jesus came to fulfill every promise that you need. [13:22] He came to fulfill every covenant that God ever gave to man, that man could never and [13:30] was never meant to live up to because of our sin. [13:36] And so we have to understand that Jesus is looking to the law of God and he is saying [13:41] it is good. [13:43] But the reason he is saying it is good is because it leads us to him.

[13:50] And so here’s what’s going to happen this afternoon. [13:52] Some of you are going to get convicted and you’re going to feel guilty and you’re going [13:56] to go home and you’re going to crack open the Old Testament. [13:58] You’re going to say, all right, I’m going to read Leviticus.

[14:02] Steve said it’s good. [14:04] And then you’re going to start to despair about 15 minutes in and you’re going to be [14:08] like, I don’t understand what’s happening. [14:11] And it’s so bloody. [14:13] It’s blood here, blood there, blood behind the earlobe, blood on the big toe. [14:17] What is happening here is a bloodbath.

[14:21] And you’re going to despair and you’re going to say, my faith is inadequate. [14:26] And so I just want to give you just two tips on how you can avoid that type of despair. [14:31] All right. [14:31] And the reason for that is you have to understand that much of the Old Testament is about a [14:36] culture that’s nothing like ours. [14:39] It’s a context that is nothing like ours.

[14:43] And so there are certain aspects of the Old Testament that if you read it at first glance, [14:47] it’s not going to make a ton of sense if you’re reading it through the lenses of a free American [14:52] who’s never seen a heifer massacred. [14:57] All right. [14:57] Unless you lived on a farm, which don’t tell me. [14:59] But the key is an understanding that you do have to do some study.

[15:05] And I love the Old Testament. [15:06] If you know me, you know that I love the Old Testament. [15:08] And so I love that type of study. [15:10] But you have to get in depth with it. [15:12] But if you are just starting out, here are two principles [15:16] for you to find joy in the Old Testament.

[15:19] The first one, determined to agree with Jesus on this point. [15:26] Determined to agree with Jesus that the Old Testament is good. [15:29] And you say, what does that mean? [15:31] It literally just means if Jesus died on the cross for your sin, if he rose from the dead, [15:39] if he is Lord and Savior and he says, I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets, [15:47] he’s saying the Old Testament is good because the Old Testament is from him.

[15:53] And when you read the Old Testament, you just look at it. [15:56] And no matter how you feel about it, you say this is good because Jesus is good. [16:03] All right. [16:03] That’s the first thing. [16:05] The second thing that you need to do when you’re reading the Old Testament [16:08] is ask a very simple question.

[16:12] How does this point me to Jesus? [16:16] How does this point me to Jesus? [16:19] And sometimes the answer will be simple. [16:21] Sometimes the answer will take some thought. [16:24] But in every place in the Old Testament, here’s the thing that I’ll guarantee you. [16:27] It all points to Jesus.

[16:29] I promise you that. [16:30] I’ve seen it and it does. [16:32] If you will do those two things, agree with Jesus [16:36] and ask how does this point to Jesus, it will revolutionize your reading of the Old Testament. [16:43] Now, there’s a lot more in depth that you could go, but that’s just the beginning. [16:47] So agree with Jesus.

[16:49] Don’t try to explain away or limit the authority of any part of Scripture. [16:57] Because when you do that, you ultimately take away from Jesus. [17:01] There are going to be questions. [17:03] There are going to be parts that you don’t get. [17:05] There are going to be parts where you’re like, did they really deserve that? [17:09] But here’s the key.

[17:10] If Jesus is good, so is the Old Testament. [17:14] Number two this morning, Jesus has fulfilled the law for us. [17:18] Jesus has fulfilled the law for us. [17:20] That’s another reason that it is good. [17:22] That’s point number two this morning. [17:23] Now, the problem with Jesus saying, I have come to fulfill the law

[17:28] is how freely we will just agree and we will spout it out. [17:31] Jesus has come to fulfill the law.

[17:35] Problem is, some of you have no idea what that actually means. [17:39] What does it mean that he has come to fulfill the law? [17:41] Have you ever heard anybody say, we are not under law, we are under grace.

[17:47] I hope someday God gives me the opportunity for you to say that in front of me. [17:53] Because here’s what I’m going to do. [17:54] And I’m going to do it in the most loving way I can. [17:56] And be like, unpack that for me. [17:59] What does that mean? [18:01] Well, that was the law.

[18:07] And Jesus saves.

[18:11] Grace.

[18:14] And that’s about as much as you can explain. [18:16] Because we say things sometimes and we have great intentions and we’re very well meaning. [18:21] But we will use a Christian type of language with actually no idea what we’re actually saying [18:26] or what we’re actually communicating. [18:28] And here’s the key. [18:29] I don’t think that’s a very good phrase.

[18:31] Maybe you’ve said it before and you’re well meaning about it. [18:34] But it kind of contradicts what Jesus says here. [18:38] Because Jesus says, I have not come to abolish the law. [18:42] I’ve come to fulfill the law. [18:43] And if you say, I’m not under the law, I’m under grace. [18:46] You’re actually disagreeing a little bit with Jesus.

[18:50] Not 100%, but about 60%. [18:53] You’re disagreeing with what Jesus is saying here because you’re trying to say, [18:56] he has kind of abolished it for me. [18:58] But if he has abolished the law, he has abolished something that is righteous. [19:05] Because the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, [19:08] in a significant number of times make the statement that the problem isn’t the law.

[19:14] The law of God is holy. [19:17] The law of God is righteous. [19:19] Just read all of Psalm 119 and you will not walk away thinking the Bible has a problem with itself. [19:27] The Bible believes that it is just. [19:29] You see, if Jesus is righteous and the law is righteous because it came from Jesus and it did, [19:36] then for me to say, do away with the law, I’m not under the law, I don’t like the law,

[19:42] the law was a problem, is for me to say the exact same thing about Jesus. [19:46] Jesus doesn’t contradict himself. [19:49] If the law is righteous, then it doesn’t need to go anywhere. [19:54] Something needs to happen to me and not the law. [19:58] So what’s the purpose of the law? [19:59] How does it get fulfilled?

[20:01] First, understand that the law shows your need for the gospel. [20:05] Jesus doesn’t want to abolish the law because in abolishing the law, [20:09] you lose your understanding of why you need the gospel of Jesus Christ. [20:13] Look at Galatians chapter 2 verse 16. [20:16] The apostle Paul writes, and he says, [20:18] We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

[20:22] So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ [20:28] and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. [20:34] One chapter later in Galatians chapter 3 verse 24, we read this. [20:38] It says, So then the law was our guardian until Christ came [20:42] in order that we might be justified by faith. [20:48] You see, the key is you need to be justified.

[20:50] But the law can’t do that because it wasn’t meant to do that. [20:55] Justification or to be justified is a legal declaration. [21:00] The law doesn’t justify you because the law actually serves to show why you need to be [21:06] justified. [21:07] To be justified means to appeal to the one who wrote the law, the judge, God, Jesus. [21:15] And what Paul is saying in this text is the guardian actually showed you your need for a

[21:23] savior or you would be condemned. [21:26] And the judge through faith has made you right with God. [21:32] The law does serve its purpose. [21:35] It was never meant to free you. [21:38] You see, the Old Testament actually never sets up a system by which obedience to the law earns [21:42] you righteousness.

[21:43] Did you know that? [21:45] It was never meant to earn you salvation. [21:47] I’ve heard it said that in the Old Testament people got saved differently than people do [21:52] in the New Testament. [21:52] That’s false doctrine. [21:54] That’s not biblical at all.

[21:56] That’s not the system that it set up. [21:57] If you read through the Old Testament, read through those narratives. [22:00] Does it show you a righteous people saving themselves through their own works? [22:05] No, it shows you a very misfit band of failures who over and over again get it wrong, who [22:13] over and over again disobey God. [22:16] But what’s fascinating, especially if you read through the prophets of the Old Testament,

[22:20] the major and the minor prophets, you see this amazing theme where people are in sin [22:26] and God looks to them and says, repent of your sin, return to me, trust in me for salvation, [22:36] and I will forgive you. [22:39] Does that sound familiar? [22:41] Sounds a lot like the New Testament, doesn’t it? [22:43] That’s because people have always been saved in the same fashion.

[22:48] It is always through repentance and trusting in God for redemption. [22:55] And so in the New Testament what God is doing is he is just making it clear the means through [23:01] which he brings that forgiveness, and that is what Jesus serves to show us. [23:07] The sacrifices, ceremonies, and restrictions on what we find odd in the Old Testament was [23:14] meant to show first the distinction of God’s people, but then also to show the cost of sin. [23:20] See, the very sacrificial system itself shows us that these people were not able to save

[23:25] themselves. [23:26] They needed to seek God for forgiveness over and over and over, and they did. [23:33] But it wasn’t ultimately the blood of bulls and goats that was saving them. [23:38] Those were but a foreshadowing of what God was going to do in Jesus Christ. [23:43] Now verse 20 is where many of the people in that day would have really gotten worried. [23:49] When he looks to the people and he says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes

[23:56] and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [24:01] For us, we are like, yeah, because the Pharisees are the bad guys, right? [24:05] We understand what is going on there. [24:07] They are not the good guys. [24:09] But for them, understand that that wasn’t the viewpoint that they had. [24:13] The viewpoint that you would have had as a first century Jew was, if the scribes and

[24:16] Pharisees can’t get into the kingdom of heaven, I am sunk. [24:20] I am never going to get into the kingdom of heaven because they were seen as the pictures [24:24] of righteousness in their era. [24:26] The scribes were the people who were entrusted with writing the scriptures on scrolls. [24:32] And then in the synagogue, they would read the scriptures from the scrolls. [24:36] And they were meticulous in the way that they would make copies of the scrolls.

[24:41] They would seek to make zero mistakes. [24:44] They would seek to get every little jot and tittle of the alphabet in the Hebrew dialect [24:49] right. [24:50] And it was a holy venture to be a scribe. [24:55] The Pharisees were the people that actually came up with the system by which they knew [25:01] if they were living up to the standards of God to begin with.

[25:05] And so they themselves actually sought to live up to the standard. [25:09] And for the most part, especially if you read the writings of Paul, who was a Pharisee, [25:13] he says, I measured up. [25:15] I wasn’t a hypocrite as a Pharisee. [25:16] I was really seeking to make myself righteous. [25:21] So for a first century Jew to hear that message, it was not welcome.

[25:26] So what is Jesus doing? [25:28] Jesus is actually telling them that the righteousness that they needed didn’t come from a human [25:34] source. [25:35] It was going to have to come from God. [25:38] And so we look back and we say, well, that’s obvious. [25:41] Those Pharisees were bad guys.

[25:43] The problem is, is that quite often we measure righteousness the exact same way the Pharisees [25:48] measured righteousness. [25:50] We’re just as legalistic as they were sometimes. [25:53] There’s three ways that I want to say that we struggle with this just like they did. [25:57] And I want to talk about three senses of legalism here. [25:59] First, the first way that you can attempt legalism is to attempt to attain or retain

[26:04] salvation by works. [26:07] I would never try to work my way into salvation.

[26:14] I think every one of you have probably done it.

[26:17] Now, before you came to faith in Christ, you obviously did it. [26:20] But let’s talk about retaining salvation. [26:24] Many of you walk every day hoping God isn’t mad at you. [26:28] Oh, no. [26:30] I missed my quiet time this morning.

[26:34] I hope God doesn’t get me.

[26:38] Oh, my goodness. [26:40] Did I pray enough for other people this morning or were all of my prayers self-centered [26:44] and self-focused?

[26:46] Oh, my goodness. [26:47] I hope a cop doesn’t pull me over. [26:50] Okay, if I drive with my Bible in my car, maybe the radar gun will get jammed.

[27:01] Oh, man.

[27:04] If I don’t go to community group tonight, I know I’ve got a fever, but I’m going to [27:07] be a little less holy. [27:09] I might be a little less saved tomorrow. [27:11] Oh, my goodness. [27:13] And you fret and you worry and you wonder, am I even a Christian?

[27:21] See, that’s a form of legalism that you’re doing to yourself. [27:24] You are condemning yourself. [27:27] The second form of legalism is fabricating new laws. [27:30] As a pastor, I love to watch. [27:33] I hate it because it’s rough, but it is humorous to me the amount of new legislation [27:38] some people make as to what righteousness is supposed to look like in people’s lives.

[27:42] And usually, it’s just something that you want to do or be a part of. [27:46] And so you just condemn anybody that doesn’t want to be a part of every single thing that [27:51] you want to be a part of. [27:53] When I was growing up, the tradition that I was in viewed it as a sin to go to a movie [27:58] theater because you could be going to the wrong type of movie and we don’t know it. [28:03] Some people thought that it was wrong to play cards because you could be gambling and,

[28:08] well, you know what happens to those guys. [28:11] And so what we will do sometimes is we will fabricate new laws for people to follow, [28:18] and they will be something that we are interested in and we want to do, [28:22] and we want to be a little bit above everybody else, [28:24] and so we will condemn everybody that doesn’t live up to our standard with our new law as unrighteous.

[28:32] But the third way is something that I think is the most prevalent, [28:36] is that we will give exceptional concentration to a specific law and we will ignore other ones.

[28:48] I am the best at non-murder of anyone. [28:55] Here’s the deal, guys. [28:56] I’ve never even attempted to murder. [28:59] No. [29:00] I’ve never thought about it. [29:02] Really.

[29:08] I don’t murder, ever. [29:10] It’s not something that’s ever on my purview. [29:12] I don’t think at night laying there, maybe I should go kill somebody right now. [29:16] That doesn’t happen to me, and you know what? [29:19] Non-murder is the best way because I’m the best non-murderer that exists, [29:24] and you can do that with different laws in the Old Testament, and then you can just not

[29:28] care about the 50 that you are guilty of because you think you are so good at the one that you [29:35] are not guilty of. [29:37] And so what happens when you do that is you will get really passionate about something [29:41] because it is a really good something, and it is obviously a Biblical something, [29:46] and then you will take that something that you are passionate about because it has helped you [29:51] so much in your Christian life, and you will take that one law and you will bulldoze everyone in

[29:58] your path with that one law because you want to show everyone how good you are at keeping that [30:05] one law.

[30:08] And what Jesus says is that, yeah, you might be obedient here, but there are nine others [30:12] pointed right your way that you are not obeying.

[30:17] See, these little legalisms that we have in our lives expose a lack of righteousness. [30:26] Have you ever found a Bible reading plan that really helped you, and you went to someone, [30:33] you said, I have got this Bible reading plan. [30:35] I have never been able to follow a Bible reading plan as well as I have followed this [30:38] Bible reading plan, and it has led to all sorts of righteousness in my life. [30:43] And you give it to them, and you say, you need this.

[30:47] And a month later, you come back and you say, dude, did you start that new Bible reading plan [30:53] I gave you? Isn’t it something? And they look back and they say, yeah, no, I just really didn’t want to.

[31:05] Well, I guess you are just not at my level yet. Maybe someday, bro.

[31:13] You see, the way that we measure righteousness so often is at such a human level that all it is [31:19] an attempt to show how good we are to everyone around us. [31:24] And so when you think you are so far removed from the righteousness of a Pharisee, [31:29] remind yourself of the dozens of pharisaical thoughts that you have every single day. [31:35] But see, that greater righteousness was never meant to come from human action or inaction. [31:42] That greater righteousness was always meant to come from Jesus Christ.

[31:46] Here is what Hebrews 9 says starting in verse 11. It says,

[32:29] Some of you are like, I didn’t understand half of what you just read. Here is the key. [32:39] What the apostle is saying right here is that Jesus has fulfilled everything that the law [32:47] ever required. He fulfilled the moral law. He never disobeyed. He fulfilled the ceremonial law. [32:56] And he fulfilled even the civic law for us. And he reigns right now. And what Hebrews 9 is trying [33:03] to say is that any attempt to live up and save yourself is an attempt to say, [33:12] I can do better than Jesus did. And you can’t. You cannot do better than Jesus.

[33:22] So Jesus didn’t abolish any part of the law. Even the ceremonial aspects of the law are still in [33:28] play today. You might say, wait a second, so why have we never sacrificed to Heifer?

[33:38] Because Jesus has already done it. See, any attempt that I make at fulfilling the law [33:46] is frivolous. It’s foolish. It’s still binding. It’s still there. But the key is that Jesus has [33:56] fulfilled it in the best way possible. Jesus has perfected every aspect of the law in such a way [34:06] that if I were to attempt to save myself, it would do nothing but demean the author of the law, God.

[34:21] And what so many people miss when they’re talking about the law of God is the love.

[34:30] See, this passage ultimately is about the love of God. The word love isn’t in there. [34:34] Jesus never says that. But think about it this way. The eternal God over all creation, [34:43] He creates us. He gives us a standard by which He desires for us to live. [34:51] And none of us measure up. None of us obey it. In actuality, we disobey it. And many times we see [35:00] not only is there disobedience, but there is resentment because He gave a law in the first [35:05] place. We say, how dare you do that to us, God? We’re sunk. We’re condemned. And in the face of

[35:14] that, instead of looking to us and saying, well, I’m just done with a whole lot of you. I’m going [35:19] to clear the slate. You’re all condemned. I’m done with you all. And I’m going to start fresh. [35:25] Instead, God says, I’m going to send my son to show you what it looks like to measure up, [35:34] to show you what it is to fulfill the law. And He’s going to pay the penalty for your sin. [35:40] And He’s going to give you forgiveness through faith. That is love. The love of a holy God to [35:53] His sinful creation. And no greater love has ever existed. And so when we consider the law of God,

[36:04] when you think about it through the lens of love, you’ll get to number three. Number three this [36:12] morning is that Christians will delight in the law of God. You will. We have no other option. [36:20] Because of what Jesus has done, and we’ll delight for three different reasons. The first one is, [36:23] is because the law is from God. You will delight in the law if you love God. If you don’t love God, [36:31] you won’t delight in the law. But since it is from God, and since God is this loving God, this loving [36:39] Lord, who at great expense to Himself sought to save sinners like me. Well, I’ll delight in anything

[36:49] that comes from that God. The second reason is you’ll delight in it because of the gospel. [36:55] You’ll delight in it because of Jesus. It’s not just that it’s from God. It’s also what God did. [37:01] I have great gratitude because God did the work of the gospel in Jesus. Because Jesus came and [37:07] He didn’t abolish the law. He fulfilled the law. He gave me hope. He gives me life. [37:13] But then the third reason is because the burden is lifted. The burden is lifted. 1 John 5, [37:23] starting in verse 3, says it this way, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments,

[37:28] and His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the [37:36] world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. That means that because the [37:47] law has been fulfilled, whenever I fail to live up to the standard of the law, I don’t have to [37:54] fret. I don’t have to panic. I don’t have to despair because I know that Jesus has already [38:04] earned my forgiveness. And then when I receive that great forgiveness, I don’t just lay there [38:10] in my sin. It says I will seek to keep His commandments. And the reason is because the

[38:15] commandments aren’t a burden to me anymore. They don’t hold condemnation over my head at every turn. [38:21] And so when I fail, I look to the cross. I look to the resurrection. I say, God, forgive me. And [38:28] then I get up for a new potential to obey Him. And that potential is brand new every single day.

[38:41] And then I walk in the love of Christ, and I am free to obey the law. [38:50] And what’s amazing is, is that I don’t have to measure my prayers. Did I get 10 minutes today? [38:59] Did I get 15 minutes today? If not, God’s gonna get me. Did I pray the right words? [39:07] Did I say, Lord, Father, God, enough? Did I confess every sin? Wait, was there one I forgot about?

[39:19] See, He’s not holding that condemnation over my head. He’s just saying, come, enjoy my presence, [39:24] because the burden has been lifted. And the question that I have for some of you this morning [39:33] is just frankly, has the burden been lifted? Or is the burden there? Is it hanging over your head? [39:43] Are you in despair over how much you don’t believe you can live up to what God wants you to do with your life?

[39:53] Or have you turned the law into a weapon, like a Pharisee?

[39:59] Or are you just living every single day in despair because you know how unrighteous you actually are?

[40:08] Here’s the key, friends. If you’re in here and the law is a burden,

[40:15] if you trust Jesus Christ, the burden will be lifted. You cannot save yourself. [40:22] It’s impossible. You are not good enough. You will never be good enough. But the good news is, [40:31] Jesus is good enough. And He proved it in His life. He died for your sins on the cross, [40:39] and then He rose from the dead to give you a brand new life.

[40:44] Every week here at Village Church, we reflect on communion. [40:48] And what’s interesting about communion is that it actually stands as a testament to the law of God. [40:54] It stands as that type of testament because the bread represents the broken body of Jesus. [40:59] The cup represents His shed blood. You see, His life was given for the penalty of you breaking [41:08] the law. And He gave it willingly. And so if you’re in here and you’re a follower of Jesus [41:13] Christ, in just a moment I’m going to call you to come eat and drink. And when you do that,

[41:19] you profess to everyone around you, His sacrifice was for me. His life is in my life. But if you’re [41:26] here and you are not a Christian, I’m going to ask you to abstain. I’m going to ask you to go out [41:32] into the foyer when everybody’s coming up here. There’s going to be somebody that will pray with [41:36] you, somebody that will answer any questions that you might have, somebody that will explain the [41:40] gospel, how the burden can be lifted. But today can be the day of salvation for you if you will [41:49] trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you’re ready, come.