It appears as though you have simply not seen Grace yet. You believe in the kindness of a loving God, but then you also believe that He will also “sort you out” whenever you step out of line. You have one foot in the New Covenant and one foot in the Old. This is not in line with scripture. Here is the good news: God is not angry with you anymore! He never will be, no matter what you do!

Isaiah 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

Many 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. Who appointed us as the moral policemen of the church? Who gave us the right to point to the mistakes of another person? Did you ever read what Jesus said about removing the beam from your own eye?

Let us look at what the Bible really says about living under the law, and if we are still bound to it. All scripture has to be interpreted by scripture, so let’s take a big picture look. First off, let’s start with the scripture you are struggling with:

Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Yes Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but He fulfilled it! Jesus was in all ways 100% obedient to the law for his entire life, thereby fulfilling its requirements. And therefore because He fulfilled it, when we put our faith in Jesus, His perfect obedience and righteousness is granted to us as a free gift!

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 Jesus 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 anymore. Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

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. How much clearer can it get??

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to “seeds”, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. and also Gal 3:19 What then is the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions, till 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 ritghteousness). Then when the SEED (Christ) came, the law was fulfilled and we are not under it anymore.

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 as a free gift when we put our faith in Jesus (2 Cor 5:21), it means that by faith we have been made righteous and that the law has ended for us as well. 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 the law and the prophets will one day, in the “court of law” of heaven, stand up as a witnesses, point their fingers to us and say: “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 live by the works of 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 are actually living in sin!!

Let’s lastly look at Heb 12. I see you inserted the word “punishment” there by yourself. Well this is yet again more proof of your bias to expect God to treat you on the basis of your own behaviour. The word “punishment” does not appear anywhere in Heb 12. If you believe that God still punishes sin in these days, you are saying that the punishment that God bestowed upon His own Son was not enough, and that God murdered His Son for nothing because He still has to punish us as well. It also simply shows that you do not yet understand the depth of God’s love. Let’s look at a verse from your favourite book of 1 John.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (NIV). This says that if you stil fear any form of punishment, you have not been made perfect in love yet.

The kind of chastening that Heb 12 talks about is not the warped idea of punishment that some people have had to endure from their earthly fathers. God’s chastening is a loving correction, because everything God does is out of love, after all, He is love! A good friend of mine, Cornel Marais, wrote the following:

A rebuke is to verbally tell somebody what mistake they made. Chastisement or discipline means to educate and train. So after God shows you something you are doing wrong, He comes and educates and trains you how to do it right. Jesus did this so many times. He rebuked his disciples many times. When you are full of self righteousness, you will take offense even at a loving rebuke aimed at bringing you back into relationship, since your self righteousness refuses to accept that you made a mistake and that you don’t know everything. That is when you despise discipline and when you are discouraged by a rebuke. Heb 12:5 calls the Lord’s rebuke encouraging and exhorting. The rebuke of God will always leave you encouraged and exhorted by the recognition that He does know best and that you have indeed made a mistake. If you hear a rebuke that discourages you, that pushes you down, that makes you feel worthless, you can know that rebuke is not from God. Your attitude will also determine how you receive a rebuke. Humility says “Oops, sorry Dad. Let me try Your way now.” Self righteousness says, “You don’t know what You are talking about. How dare you say I did something wrong? I am doing this my way so leave me alone.”

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

then how come Christ states this: Mathew 5.17 Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Of course Christians do not have to follow ritual law, but they are bound by the Spirit of Life in Christ/ Furthermore there are still NT laws: Ressurection power laws; sermon of the mount laws, laws dealing with church brothers and sisters. However these are spiritual laws, not ritualistic or legalistic. To imply that the OT law is nulified is to ignore Christ’s own words on the matter, for example, this statement is totally false: “You see, where there is no law there is no transgression of the law. And where there is no transgression, there is no punishment.” … hebrews 12.5 specifically discusses God’s discpline and punishments for believers who sin: and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.