Those who insist that you must obey the commands of Jesus in order to be saved/blessed/forgiven/righteous/holy are assuming that you are either

(a)  a time-traveler from Israel’s distant past
(b)  the devil

If you are (a), then I suggest you pick up a Sports Almanac, go back in time, and make a lot of money à la Marty McFly. Alternatively you could stick around here in the future, repent and believe the good news of God’s awesome grace, then go tell others.

If you are (b), then, um, well, er… this is awkward. I don’t really have any good news for you at all. You’ve been judged, condemned and disarmed and you have no future at all.

But if you are neither (a) nor (b) then arise, shine! For the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him. (Rom 10:4, AMP)

Christ has become for us wisdom from God. He is our righteousness! He is our holiness! He is our redemption! Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord!

Jesus lived under law

Jesus lived at the crossroads of two covenants. As humanity’s representative He came to fulfill the old law-keeping covenant in order that we might relate to God through a new and better covenant forged in His blood. Since the new covenant could not begin before He died, Jesus lived all of His pre-cross life under the old covenant of the law:

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Gal 4:4-5)

Jesus was born under law, circumcised by law, and presented in the temple according to the law. Every Jewish person that Jesus met was also born under law. We need to keep this in mind when we read the red letters of Jesus.

What law did Jesus preach?

To those under the law, Jesus preached the pure and unadulterated Law of Moses. When religious people came to trap him with theological puzzles, Jesus would respond with, “What did Moses command you?” (Mk 10:3). If someone asked, “What is the greatest commandment in the law,” Jesus would provide an answer from the law (Mt 22:36). In His law-keeping ministry, Jesus honored the Law of Moses:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. (Mt 23:2-3)

Since the law-teachers often made Jesus angry, we might conclude that Jesus was opposed to the law. He was not. Jesus had no problem with what the Pharisees were preaching. “Do everything they tell you.” What really burnt His toast was their hypocrisy – they weren’t practicing what they preached:

Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. (Joh 7:19)

Why did Jesus preach the law?

Like every grace preacher, Jesus esteemed the law and the purpose for which it was given. The law was given to silence every mouth and hold the whole world accountable (Rms 3:19). The purpose of the law is to make us conscious of sin and reveal our need for a Savior.

Since Sinai, the Jews had had fourteen centuries to learn what the law would teach them – that the flesh is incapable of dealing with sin. However, the law-teachers and Pharisees had ring-fenced the Law of Moses with their traditions and interpretations. By honoring their traditions ahead of the law, they diluted the law and removed the key to knowledge. As a result, the menace of sin was not fully recognized and the self-righteous weren’t silenced.

If the law had been allowed to do its proper work, the Jews would have been primed and ready for a Savior. Every one of them would have had an experience like the one Paul describes in Romans 7. “Nothing good lives in me. Oh wretched man that I am!” Live under the condemning ministry of the law and you will inevitably come to this question: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” If the law-teachers and prophets had done their job, then the entire nation of Israel would have gathered outside that stable in Bethlehem in eager expectation. “He’s here! The Savior has come!” they would have said. “The One who will deliver us from the curse of the law and reconcile us to God has been born. Glory to God in the highest!”

Sadly, it didn’t happen. Since the law-teachers had been negligent, Jesus had to do their job before He could do His own. Before He could save the world from sin, He had to preach the law that made sin utterly sinful. Before He give Himself as the answer, He had to make sure we were asking the right question. Who will deliver us?

So Jesus became the greatest law preacher of all time. As the prophet Isaiah had foretold, He made the law magnificent. He lifted up what others had knocked down and raised the standard to glorious levels of perfection. Never again would mankind be without excuse. You want to know what God expects? Just read the Sermon on the Mount. In it Jesus says that God demands perfection and nothing less.

How did Jesus preach the law?

Preaching the red letters of Jesus is a bit like drinking whatever you find in the laundry. If you’re not paying attention – if you fail to distinguish His life-giving words of grace from His death-dealing words of law – then you could really do some damage. Don’t believe me? Then consider these red letters:

If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:14-15)

This is one of the most-quoted passages in the Bible and it is vintage law. It is a killer scripture. It is not good news. This verse should make us shudder for it says that our forgiveness hinges on our ability to forgive others and we are poor forgivers indeed. Men sin against us repeatedly. Have we honestly forgiven them all? What if we miss one? And what do we say to those who have been raped and abused? What do you say to a young child who has been molested? “Sweetie, you need to forgive that evil man otherwise God won’t forgive you.” That’s not grace. That’s the condemning ministry of the law in full bloom. How do you forgive the unforgiveable? You can’t! Then you’re in trouble. The law condemns you as an unforgiver. Now you’re beginning to recognize your need for grace and this is a good thing.

Any time you read a conditional statement from Jesus, you should interpret it as law. “Do not judge and you will not be judged” (Lk 6:37). That’s good advice but it’s also law. To avoid something (judgment) you have to do something (don’t judge). It’s a blessing you have to pay for. And anytime Jesus makes a threat, you should interpret that as law as well. “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Mt 5:22). That’s bad news for anyone with a brother!

The law is not for you

Jesus came to reveal grace but those who are confident of their own righteousness are incapable of receiving it. They don’t see their need. What they need is the law and Jesus gave it to them in spades. But Jesus’ larger purpose was to give us His life and His righteousness. So He also told stories about God justifying sinners and shepherds finding lost sheep. Then He went to the cross fulfilling the law on our behalf that He might be the end of the law for all who believe (Rom 10:4).

Jesus’ came to set the captives free and give sight to the blind. The law sets nobody free. But the law does reveal your need for a Great Deliverer.

___
Related posts:
- 5 ways Jesus revealed grace
- Seven signs that you might be living under law
- Rightly dividing the word: How to read your Bible without getting confused

Ask any Christian to list the works of the flesh and they will likely respond with the list found in Galatians 5:19-21: adultery, hatred, idolatry, murder, etc. Paul calls these the “manifest” or “obvious” works of the flesh. They are the biggies, the elephantine examples of what it means to live apart from God. But the Bible also provides dozens of lesser examples of fleshly living that you may not be so familiar with. I’ve listed some of these lesser works of the flesh below.

Walking after the flesh is when you attempt to get your needs met independently of God. It’s trusting in yourself (your abilities, your understanding) and living solely from the basis of your earthly experience (what you see, hear, touch, etc.). Now here’s the important bit: You can walk after the flesh in the pursuit of both good things and bad things. Paul’s manifest works of the flesh – the biggies – are all clearly associated with bad deeds, but some of the lesser works in the list below are not bad at all. This is a critical point. We are not comparing good deeds with bad but flesh with spirit. And as we saw in the last post, when you’re walking after the flesh even good things can be bad for you.

A classic example of something that is good yet bad for you is God’s law. It is not sin, it is good! But try to live by it and you will find yourself walking after the flesh. Paul said his ability to keep the righteous requirements of the law was ineffective because he tried to do so in the puny strength of his flesh (Rm 8:3). Living under self-imposed law is one of the primary ways we walk after the flesh – hence its position at the top of my list.

Just a reminder: The wrong way to read this list is the carnal way – identifying things you should or should not do. Christianity is a bit like marriage – it’s a love-relationship. You will kill it if you try to reduce it to a set of rules. We are less interested in the what than we are in the how. So how do we walk after the flesh? Here are 20 ways:

20 ways to walk after the flesh

1. Try to keep God’s law (Rm 7:9-25): Think that you have to do stuff to be blessed (Eph 1:3), that you have to perform to stay saved (Gal 2:21). The old covenant is the fleshly covenant; the new covenant is the spirit covenant.

2. Set your mind on earthly things (Php 3:19, Jn 3:12): Keep your eyes on the here and now. “What you see is all there is” (Col 3:2). Entangle yourself in the affairs of life (2 Ti 2:4).

3. Think about how to gratify the lusts of the flesh (Rm 13:14): If it feels good, do it (Rm 14:17).

4. Pursue your goal through self-denial (Col 2:21-3): Don’t look. Don’t drink. Don’t touch. Fast twice a week. Practice perfectionism (Gal 3:3, KJV).

5. Make sacrifices to impress God (Heb 10:1,8): Be conscious of your debt to Jesus and consider it your duty to serve. Put your ministry or business before your marriage.

6. Load others with heavy burdens (Lk 11:46): Expect your Christian staff to work harder for less pay. Send the message that the work is more important than their families or their health. Shackle them to your vision. Use emotional manipulation or, worse, scripture, to pressure people to support you.

7. Take pride in your independence (Jer 17:6): Respect no one (1 Pe 2:17). Scorn authority (2 Pet 2:10). Flaunt your freedom (1 Co 8:9). “Who needs fathers? I follow Christ” (1 Co 1:12).

8. Worry about your life (Mt 6:25, Lk 8:14, Php 4:6): “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?” Entertain fear and doubt. “I can’t do it” (Php 4:13).

9. Cultivate self-belief (2 Co 12:10): “I can do it!” Boast in your accomplishments (2 Co 11:30). Boast in your wisdom, strength and riches (Jer 9:23).

10. See yourself as a victim (Rm 8:37): “Woe is me. I’m not worthy. My sinful nature made me do it.” Blame God (Jas 1:13). Blame the devil (1 Jn 4:4). Blame your circumstances (Deu 28:13).

11. Be a man-pleaser (Gal 1:10): Wonder, what will my boss think? How will the board react? How will this affect the tithers? Say only what they want you to say.

12. Make plans in a worldly manner (2 Cor 5:7, Jer 17:5): Do a SWOT analysis; list the pros and cons; make decisions based on money. Manage the risks and stay in control.

13. Try to grow a ministry (Ps 127:1, 1 Co 3:6). Work hard to make things happen.

14. Define success by human standards (Jn 8:15, 1 Cor 1:26): It’s all about the numbers. “How many soldiers do we have? How many attend the prayer meeting? Are donations increasing? Are we doing better than last year? Am I doing better than my predecessor?”

15. Nurture your reputation (Php 3:8): Put on a good show and make a good impression (Lk 16:15; Gal 6:12). Be face conscious. Make a name for yourself (Gen 11:4) and blame the wife when things go wrong (Gen 3:12).

16. Pray long prayers, especially if others are listening (Mt 6:5-8).

17. Regard people from a worldly point of view (2 Cor 5:16): Engage in office politics. View new-comers as potential recruits or leaders for your programs. Cultivate task-based friendships. Choose the best-looking man for the job (1 Sam 16:7). Show favor to the one with money (Jas 2:3).

18. Sacrifice people on the altar of your principles (1 Cor 3:1-4): “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Judge the weak (Rm 15:1). Distance yourselves from those who aren’t as doctrinally pure as you (1 Cor 9:22).

19. Combat worldly problems with worldly weapons (2 Cor 10:4): Put your faith in politics. Start fights (Zec 4:6). Picket the abortion clinic. Protest the gay parade (Is 42:2).

20. Pretend to be Jesus (Mt 24:24): Draw people to your ministry and build toward yourself (1 The 3:8). Teach others to depend on you. Stand in the gap. Try to crucify yourself (Col 2:20).

This is a yukky list and frankly, I didn’t enjoy writing it. Just about everything on this list, I’ve done. God help me, some of the things on this list I’m still doing! Don’t let this list condemn you. A better response is to get mad because we’ve been conned! The prince of this world has deceived us into thinking that this is how things are done, that the fleshly way of life is normal. But this is not normal life for one born of the spirit. We act this way out of habit and ignorance. We walk after the flesh because when we were in the flesh this was how we lived:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. (Col 3:7)

I have to say this again: Some of the activities on this list are good! Please don’t think I am against the law or fruitful ministries or planning or praying without ceasing. I am not. But understand that the carnal mind longs to be told what to do when God is much more interested in how we are doing it. Are we trusting in the power of our might or are we resting confidently in His? Are we walking as “mere men” (1 Cor 3:3) or are we being revealed as mature sons and daughters of our Father? Flesh cannot give birth to spirit. Neither can walking after the flesh empower you to live the life God has called you to live.

I encourage you to review the list again and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify those areas that He wants to deal with today. “But Paul, that’s pretty much everything on that list!” Don’t panic! Your heavenly Father knows you are a work-in-progress. Some of these issues can be dealt with now; others can wait. He loves you regardless, without any reference to your performance. He knows everything that you’ve done and everything that you’re ever going to do. It’s impossible to disappoint Him.

In this post I’ve given you 20 generic examples of walking after the flesh. In my next post I’m going to provide some classic examples of walking after the flesh found in the Bible. Then, in the post after that, I will give you a simple “flesh test” that you can take on your own. This test consists of two easy questions that will help you determine whether you are walking after the flesh or the spirit in any given situation. In other words, it will reveal those areas in your life where freedom and joy and peace are about to come bursting through!
___
Related posts:
- Are you religious? Take the test
- Two religions: Works and blood
- Seven signs that you might be living under law

Consider the religious person who reads the Bible to learn what pleases God. They are essentially asking, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Mat 19:16). Their line of thinking runs like this: If I do good and avoid evil I will be judged to be a good person. From a religious perspective, this makes perfect sense. It also explains why so many go to church asking, What must I do?

But there’s a problem. In the Bible you will find some good things that are bad for you. Other things are good for one person but not for another. And then there are things that used to be good but aren’t good any more. It’s almost as if the Bible was purposely designed to frustrate the religious quest for being good! It’s almost as if the Author is trying to say, “Why do you ask me what is good? That’s the wrong question.”

The law is good…

The best example of something that is good yet bad for you is the law. Paul said the law is “holy, righteous, and good” (Rm 7:12). He also said, “the law is good if one uses it properly” (1 Tim 1:8). When a religious person discovers the law his initial response is delight. Finally, some good instructions to live by! But when he tries to keep the law he finds himself breaking it despite his best intentions. He tries harder and fails again. Then the law – which is good – begins to condemn him (2 Co 3:7). Worse, sin which he did not know he had until he met the law, rises up and begins to kill him (Rm 7:10).

Paul said the law is good but those who rely on it place themselves under a curse (Gal 3:10). How is this possible?! How can something that is good be bad for us? Is the law defective? No – it’s good! The problem is not with the law but your flesh. Your flesh is too weak to cope with the law (Rm 8:3). And it’s not just the law. Anything that is good will become bad for you once your flesh gets involved:

For if you live according to the flesh you will die… (Rm 8:13)

…but your flesh is weak

What does it mean to live according to the flesh? And why is this bad for us? Every day the Christian chooses between walking after the flesh or walking after the spirit. It’s a mutually exclusive choice. We walk after the flesh when we rely on our own resources – our resolve, our abilities, our understanding. We walk after the spirit when we rely on His. It’s the difference between walking by sight or by faith.

The problem is, walking after the flesh comes naturally to us. We’ve had a lot of practice. “You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived” (Col 3:7 NIV). Before we were born of the Spirit, the flesh was all we knew and old habits die hard. An illustration may help. I lived in Hong Kong for 15 years but now I live in New Zealand. But even though I am in New Zealand, I can still walk after the ways of Hong Kong – and to some extent I do. (I love Chinese New Year!)

The ways of Hong Kong are no better or worse than the ways of New Zealand, but the same cannot be said of the flesh. Walk after the flesh and your life will be barren and unprofitable:

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. (Jn 6:63).

The supernatural and abundant life that we’re called to live can only be received by faith and experienced by walking in the spirit. This is why the New Testament writers repeatedly admonish us to put off the old ways of the flesh and put on the new ways of the spirit:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-24, NIV)

We don’t put off and put on to become spiritual; we do this because we are spiritual. Everyone who is born again is born of the spirit (Jhn 3:7-8). Since we are already in the spirit, let us walk after the spirit:

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Gal 5:25)

The great religious blind spot

One of our biggest blind spots is we’ve bought into the idea that good things are good for us while bad things are bad for us. But this good versus evil logic is fruit off the wrong tree. It gets us keeping score in a game that God isn’t playing. The real issue is life versus death. And if you sow to the flesh you will reap corruption regardless of what you do.

“Wait a second Paul. Are you saying I can do no good walking after the flesh?” You can do a lot of good walking after the flesh! But it won’t do you any good. “The flesh profits nothing.” Live like this and you will be functionally identical to a moral sinner. You will miss opportunities to reveal the kingdom of God supernaturally. You will be acting like a “mere man” (see 1 Cor 3:3).

Jesus didn’t suffer and die to make sinners good but to make the dead live. Christ is in you and He is your life. When you walk after the flesh, you are acting like the dead man you used to be. You are wasting your life in dead-ish pursuits. You can spend all your days doing good works but none of it will result in praise to your Father in heaven because they are your works and not His. You may feel like you’re making a mark but in reality you’re just accumulating fuel for the fire.

Sadly, this is exactly how many Christians choose to live. Ask them to define the works of the flesh and they will recite Paul’s list of “manifest” examples in Galatians 5. These are the biggies, if you like. It never occurs to them that walking after flesh can also bring death to the humdrum activity of everyday life, as the Bible describes elsewhere and as we will see in the next post. Do you begin to grasp the dangers of walking after the flesh? Here’s a simple test to find out: Which of the following works of the flesh gives you greater concern as a Christian?

1. Doing something bad in a moment of rash passion, or
2. Wasting my life doing my good works that God has not prepared for me to do.

I suspect more people are fearful of doing something bad in a rash moment than they are of wasting their lives doing good. But a Christian who, in a momentary loss of sanity, fools around with “bad” sin, may be more likely to come to his senses than one who has been dulled by years of good service done in the flesh. I am not encouraging you to do bad things. I am discouraging you from walking after the flesh even if what you are doing is good. What seems right to you will in the end lead to death.

It’s time we discarded the forbidden fruit and got our nourishment from the Tree of Life which is Christ. Our innate tendency to judge ourselves as good or bad based on the good or bad things we are doing, is doing nobody any good at all.
___
Related posts:
- The greatest law preacher
- Is Christ the end of the law for you?
- How do we pervert the gospel of Christ?

I doubt there’s a Christian alive who hasn’t been troubled by this verse at some point in their lives. It’s one of those things you read that causes you to do a double-take. What?! Did Jesus really say that? Was He serious? I’d better ask the pastor.

I’ll guess the odds are ten to one you came away thinking that Jesus wasn’t being serious. Afterall, Jesus is the kindest person there is. He healed people. Surely He doesn’t want us to go around maiming ourselves. Then you looked around your church and saw that no one had actually chopped off their hands and so you took comfort in the fact that everyone thought the same way as you did. There’s safety in numbers.

No doubt this is an uncomfortable pair of verses. Maybe you don’t think about them that much. But your interpretation of Jesus’ words is extremely important! So let’s cut to the chase with this question: was Jesus being figurative or literal when He made this statement? If you think He was using a figure of speech, how do you know that He wasn’t speaking metaphorically all of the time? Do you just assume that anytime Jesus said something that was tough to swallow that He was speaking figuratively? Or if you think Jesus was being literal, what are you going to do about it? Have you done what He said or have you ignored Him? Hmm. It seems your choice is presumption or disobedience. This is a tricky one. Let’s look more closely at the arguments for each conclusion.

Was Jesus speaking figuratively?

Jesus loved metaphors, especially when describing the kingdom of heaven. “It’s like a mustard seed” and “it’s like a treasure buried in field” and “it’s like a pearl of great price.” Jesus often used word pictures to convey revelation.

I guess the default view is that Jesus is making another metaphor when He tells us to gouge out our eyes and chop off our hands. “Jesus is using strong words to convey something about the seriousness of sin. He’s not really preaching self-mutilation but self-denial. What He means to say is we must be sensitive to sin and renounce it and run from it and do whatever it takes to avoid it.”

Does this sound familiar to you? It should, for this has been the standard interpretation for most of church history. But there are two fatal flaws with this conclusion. First, it assumes that Jesus was exaggerating and Jesus never exaggerated. Preachers sometimes exaggerate to make a point but Jesus always meant what He said and said what He meant. He is Truth personified. It is inconceivable that He would play with words for the crude purpose of ramming home a lesson. When Jesus spoke in parables He did so to conceal truths, not to stretch them (Mt 13:13). In any case, the passage above is not part of a parable. The context is the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus has just been speaking about anger and lust. His language is plain because the issues are serious. There is nothing metaphorical about His choice of words.

The second flaw with this interpretation is that it suggests we can do stuff to save ourselves from hell. Maybe we don’t have to self-amputate, but we can do things like confess, abstain, renounce and what have you. There’s nothing wrong with these things; the error comes in thinking we can save ourselves by doing them. No doubt it is better to enter eternal life handicapped than for your whole body to go to hell. But it does not follow that you can do things to earn eternal life.

Was Jesus speaking literally?

Most people think Jesus was speaking figuratively because they cannot conceive for a second that He meant what He said. But what if He did? Does it then follow that He actually wants us to chop off our hands? Of course not! We are sanctified by the blood of the Lamb of our severed limbs (Heb 10:29). Self-mutilation does nothing to deal with sin for sin is conceived in the heart not the hand (Mt 5:28). Besides, if you chop one hand off you’re left with another. You can still sin!

So what’s going on here? Why would Jesus tell us to do something He doesn’t really want us to do? He’s doing it so people will realize the absurdity of trying to impress God with their acts of self-righteousness. He’s preaching law on steroids not so that you will try to keep it but so that you will give up pretending you are.

It is hard for some Christians to grasp the idea that Jesus could preach both grace and law without confusing the two, but He did. Jesus is the perfect physician. He knows exactly what medicine you need. If you’re broken and hurting you’ll get grace, but if you’re self-righteous and religious you’ll get law. A self-righteous person is one who thinks he can impress God with his religious performance. The only language he understands is law. He says, “all these commands I have kept from my youth, what else do I lack?” And Jesus responds, “Okay, you asked for it, here it is – receive some more law.”

Why preach the law?

The law is not a standard to live up to, but a mirror that reveals our faults. The law was not given to help you overcome sin, but to help sin overcome you (Rms 7:8-9). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was preaching to people who thought they would be judged righteous if they kept the law. But instead of being silenced by their inability to do so, they had watered it down making it easier to keep. In Matthew 23 Jesus gives some specific examples of how the Pharisees had diluted the law, but in Matthew 5 He sets about raising the standard of the law to its proper level. In other words, He was polishing the mirror.

Why did Jesus do this? Why did our gracious king spend so much time preaching the law? Because some people will never appreciate the good news until they’ve heard the bad news, which is this:

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20)

The law is holy, righteous and good, but try to live by it and it will condemn and kill you (2 Cor 3:6,9). The purpose of the law is to bring man to the end of himself and reveal his need for a Savior (Gal 3:24). If you are self-righteous, you will never appreciate Jesus until the law has done its job and plowed the pride out of your smug little heart. I’m a decent person, you say. I’ve never killed or committed adultery. Not good enough, says Jesus. God knows your heart. If you’ve entertained murderous or lustful thoughts you’ve as good as done it. You’re in danger of hell-fire. This is a serious business, says Jesus. If you persist in this pathetic course of self-reliance, you had better be prepared to go the whole way even if that means sacrificing an eye and a hand. (Paul says something similar in Galatians 5:12.)

And knowing there would be some religious wackos out there who might miss the point and actually go to such extremes, Jesus hits them with this:

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48)

God expects perfection and nothing less. If you’re not perfect, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you’re in serious trouble. Now here’s the good news:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mt 5:17)

Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the law on your behalf. You are not perfect, but thank God you have a perfect high priest!

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” (Heb 7:25-26)

Why did Jesus make such a big deal about the law in Matthew 5? He did it to prepare our hearts for the good news of God’s grace. Jesus is saying you can either trust your own law-keeping performance or you can trust His. But what you can’t do is dilute the law to some standard lower than perfection and think that impresses God.

Jesus wasn’t foolin’

Jesus was born under the law and fulfilled the law to redeem those under the law so that we might receive the full rights of sons (Gal 4:4-5). Because of what Jesus has done we are no longer under the law but the grace of God (Rms 6:5). The good news is that His righteousness far surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees and He offers it to you as a free gift (Rm 1:17).

To the answer the question at the top of this post – was Jesus serious? – yes, He was deadly serious! He was so serious that He suffered and died to redeem you from the curse of the law that He himself preached. So the next time someone tells you that Jesus was playing with words, that He didn’t really mean what He said, don’t let them get away with it. Don’t let them water down His words to suit their own religious performance. Jesus was not exaggerating to make a point. Neither was He using fear to motivate us to pursue dead works of religion. He was telling us that God expects nothing short of perfection and that He – Jesus – is the only hope we have.
___
Related posts:
- What makes Jesus sick?
- Are you religious? A simple test
- Seven signs that you might be living under law