New Covenant Grace

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Category Archives: Christ is the End of the Law

Did Jesus End the Law or Not? (Let’s Settle This!!)

Many people that still believe they have to live according to the Old Covenant Laws have thrown Matt 5:17-18 at Grace Preachers to try and prove their case. Let us now therefore look at what the Bible really says about living under the law, and if we are still bound to it, because all scripture has to be interpreted by scripture. First off, let’s start with this week’s main scripture:

[Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 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.]

Peter Ditzel from www.wordofhisgrace.org explains these 2 verses as follows: “Jesus is giving us two either/or conditions here: The law cannot pass until heaven and earth pass OR the law cannot pass until all is accomplished. One or the other can do it. Heaven and earth have not yet passed, so we will leave that aside. But what did Jesus mean by ALL being accomplished? He was referring to what He had just said in the previous sentence: the fulfilling or completing of the law AND the prophets. Once He had completed the law and the prophets, the law could pass. Why is it that so many people who accept that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies have a hard time understanding that in the same way, He fulfilled the Old Testament laws — all of them?”

When you are under a contractual obligation to someone, and you fulfill all the requirements of the contract, the contract is finished & over. But if you simply destroy the contractual agreement before you have fulfilled its requirements, you are not released from its obligations, which is why Jesus said He did not come to destroy the Law. But the moment you do fulfill it you are set free from it! In exactly the same way Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but He fulfilled it, see verse 17 above again. Jesus was in all ways 100% obedient to the law for his entire life (isn’t that amazing???), thereby fulfilling its requirements. Let’s look at more verses (and there are many more than the ones below) that prove the law has passed.

[Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.] Because all the righteous requirements of the law have been fulfilled in Jesus, and since we are given the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit as a free gift when we put our faith in Jesus, it means that in Christ we have fulfilled the requirements of the law as well, therefore the law has ended for us as well. [Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.]

[Matt 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.] The entire law and the old testament prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah who would forgive the sins of the whole world. The law was our tutor (schoolmaster), teaching us “right living” until we should put our faith in Jesus and begin to live by faith. Now that we put our faith in Jesus, we don’t need the tutor of the law anymore. [Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.]

[Luk 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”] This verse implies that if you still preach law-based living, you are NOT preaching the Kingdom, because you are preaching the things that ended with John the Baptist over 2000 years ago – read the verse again. How much clearer can it get??

[Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.] And also [Gal 3:19 What then is the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions, UNTIL THE SEED SHOULD COME to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.] This verse says that the law was given because of transgressions UNTIL THE SEED should come (and if you will read the story of Israel in Exodus you will see it was specifically the sin of self righteousness). Then when the SEED (Christ) came, the law was fulfilled and we are not under it anymore.

[Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.] This verse says that if there were such a thing as the “court of heaven”, that the law & prophets would have stood up as witnesses, pointed their fingers to us who put our faith in Jesus and said: “This person is righteous!”

We are now not under the law anymore, but instead we live by faith. And here is a shocker, something that will no doubt shut the mouths of those who still try to be justified by obeying the law. Lets look at 2 verses first: [Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith…] and also [Rom 14:23b … for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.] Can you see what it says when you combine these 2 verses? Can you see it??? Since the law is not of faith, and since anything that is not of faith is sin, then it means that those who try to be justified by their own good works and try to live up to some moral code (the law) are actually living in sin!!

Lastly, look at what Jesus said just after this week’s 2 key verses: [Matt 5:20 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.] The scribes & Pharisees prided themselves in how well they kept the laws of Moses, it’s what they did for a living! These laws included all the rituals & daily sacrifices, not just the 10 commandments. In fact most people who try to live up to the Law of Moses today would pale in comparison against your average Pharisee. No, the righteousness that Jesus was talking about was not about us trying to live more obedient or more holy, He was talking about a righteousness that comes from God, given to every believer as a free gift at the point of salvation when we put our faith in Jesus, the exact same moment where Jesus is given our sin & transgressions and we are given His perfect righteousness: [2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.]

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe
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Preaching the Law

The only people Jesus talked “law” with were those who were heavy-handed with the law. He spoke harshly with the Pharisees & the scribes, who were the religious rulers of the day. [Matt 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers].

Jesus wasn’t trying to get the people (including the Pharisees) to obey laws and rules more. Instead He was showing the Pharisees their hypocrisy for teaching others to keep all the rules while they themselves did poorly at that. Read verse 3-4 above again.

Like many preachers today, these religious rulers were preaching a “watered down” version of the law, making it almost possible for them to be able to obey their own man-made rules! Well have you taken a good look at what the law actually says to people who break the law?

[Deut 28:19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. 30 You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes].

Actually the list goes on – take some time to read Deut 28 from verse 15 onwards. Now if people that still want to preach the law today were to actually preach the law to its full extent, they should be including all these curses as well! If a modern day preacher wanted to preach that you still have to obey the 10 commandments, they should include in their sermon that all these curses will come on you if you don’t obey God’s laws 100% all of the time!! This is why the Grace message sounds so radical to most people, but actually it is no more radical than the law as we can clearly see from the above verses. It’s just that the law has been preached at a reduced level and mixed up with a little bit of Grace. How can we ever think to mix up or “balance” two things that are so different from each other??

The Pharisees and scribes preached that people should live holy, obedient & obey the laws of Moses and they also acted as though they were doing it themselves, but their hearts were full of evil. The Pharisees preached that as long as you didn’t commit the act of adultery, or if you weren’t angry with your brother without a reason, you didn’t break the law. But Jesus then told them that the standard of the law was actually much higher, and if a person even by accident insulted their brother or entertained a single lustful thought, they were guilty of breaking ALL the other laws as well, and the penalty was death. Jesus then showed them that if they wanted to preach the law, they should actually preach it to its full extent and also include all the horrifying consequences for breaking even a single law – consequences such as death, having their hands cut off, their eyes plucked out, stoning someone who has sinned, etc. This is what Jesus meant when He made the following statements:

[Matt 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…… But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire].
[Matt 5:27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell].

But Jesus through the cross made an end to the law [Col 2:14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross], destroying for ever its constant demands of correct “behavior”, and making us free to live for God because we love Him, and not be cause we fear punishment. [1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love].

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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What is Disobedience?

The answer to this question might surprise many. Most people will say: “Disobedience is doing what God told you NOT to do”. This will include things like lying, stealing, envy, licentiousness, etc. Some will also say that disobedience is NOT doing what God commanded you to do, doing good works, like giving to the poor, loving your neighbor as yourself, tithing, etc. However all these things are old covenant laws. Yes even the commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart & love you neighbor as yourself” was a quote from an Old Testament law (Deut 6:5).

As born again believers we know that we have been redeemed from the curse that comes from disobedience to these laws [Gal 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us]. The law with its requirements that stood opposed to us has been canceled so that we can be free to love God and live for Him without the fear of judgment. [Col 2:14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross].

If there now exists in us any fear of judgment, we have not been made perfect in love yet. [1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love]. The full wrath & judgment for sin was poured out on Jesus, & God took an oath in Isaiah 54 never to rebuke us or be angry with us ever again.

So if we can not break the law anymore (because there is no more law to break – [Rom 4:15 for where there is no law there is no transgression], what is disobedience then? The following verses are a key:

[1 Pet 2:7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient “ The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”8 and“ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They (unbelievers) stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed] (emphasis my own).

Verse 7 contrasts two different groups very distinctly: Those who believe, and those who are DISOBEDIENT. This tells us that those who don’t believe are disobedient. Verse 8 says they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word. What is the Word? The word is Jesus – [John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 3 He was in the beginning with God]. The word is a person, and anybody that doesn’t believe in Him stumbles over the stumbling stone, and is called “disobedient”. Verse 7 says that to those who believe, He is precious. This is because He becomes the author of their salvation, their savior and their brother; they are adopted into His family.

There was only 1 sin that Jesus could not die for: Unbelief in Him. You can see our previous article on this subject by clicking here: http://www.newcovenantgrace.com/unforgivable-sin/

All other sins were forgiven at the cross 2000 years ago.

[Eph 2: 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience]. This passage says that we were once dead towards God when we still had an old sinful nature, the same nature that still lives on in those who refuse to accept Jesus. They are called “the sons of disobedience”.

But once we accepted Jesus, all His obedience was credited to us as a free gift, making us 100% righteous and acceptable to God. Our salvation is now just as secure as Jesus Himself, because we are IN Christ. The only way we could ever lose it is if Jesus were to backslide, which of course could never happen.

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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