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Master Life
Lesson Ten
The Law And Judgment continued
What If Christians Have A Careless Attitude Toward Sin?
In the last lesson, we saw that Christians can come under judgment, but they cannot be sentenced to hell. Someone, I'm sure, will have missed the main point. I can hear it now, "I may come under judgment, but I can never come under the sentence of hell, so why not go out and live how I want to live. I will still make heaven, and that's the important thing!"
Paul faced the same problem:
"Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart's content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God? What a terrible thought! We, who have died to sin - how could we live in sin a moment longer? ...Now, what shall we do? Shall we go on sinning because we have no Law to condemn us anymore, but are living under grace? Never! Just think what it would mean. You belong to the power which you choose to obey, whether you choose sin, whose reward is death, or God, obedience to whom means the reward of righteousness." [Rom. 6:1-2, 15-16, Phillips]
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Read through these verses a few times and meditate on them. It sounds scary, doesn't it? What is Paul saying here? After I'm saved, can I still become a slave of sin to death? Yes. Sin cannot lead to eternal death, but it can lead us to physical and moral death. Even as a Christian, we can be a slave to sin, if we choose to be - and the results are terrible.
"For He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not decerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged." [1 Cor. 11:29-31, NKJV]
In relation to communion, Paul states that the judgment of God had even led to the physical death of some Christians. God has put us on the earth for a purpose. If we steadfastly refused to fulfill our mission and walk in rebellious sin, He may say, "You're not doing any good down there. You may as well come home early." That is a disgrace, not a reward.
To put it simply, if Christians choose to live as the ungodly, they will reap the same disastrous results in this life [but not in eternity] as the ungodly do. The other side of the coin is that if the unsaved order their lives to live up to the external commands of God, they will reap in this life [but not in eternity] the same external benefits as Christians. That is one reason why some unsaved people appear to have more blessings than many Christians!
Lot is a good Biblical example of a righteous man [according to 2 Peter 2:8] who chose to turn his heart toward sin.
"...and if God reduced the entire cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, when He sentenced them to destruction as a fearful example to those who wanted to live in defiance of His laws, and yet saved Lot the righteous man, in acute mental distress at the filthy lives of the godless - Lot, remember, was a good man suffering spiritual agonies day after day at what he saw and heard of their lawlessness - that you may be absolutely certain that the Lord knows how to rescue good men surrounded by temptation, and how to reserve His punishment for the wicked until their day comes." [2 Peter 2:6-9, Phillips]
Lot was a righteous man who fooled around with sin and sinners. Even in the midst of the 'pleasure', he suffered spiritually. How did this righteous man end up?
"Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains...for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave...so they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose..." [Gen. 19:30, 33, NKJV]
What an end for a once very wealthy man who walked with Abraham. He finished his race hiding in fear in a cave, and having his daughters get him drunk so they could commit incest with him. The results of sin are never pretty. If we, as Christians, flirt with sin [I didn't say struggle, we all struggle with sin in different areas], we are playing a dangerous game. We will be burned.
"As for my attitude, though I am absent [from you] in body, I am present in spirit, and I have already decided and passed judgment, as if actually present, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the man who has committed such a deed. When you and my own spirit are met together with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man over to Satan for physical discipline - to destroy carnal lusts [which prompted him to incest] - that [his] spirit may [yet] be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus." [1 Cor. 5:3-5, Amp.]
What is Paul teaching us concerning Christians who choose to live in deliberate sin? We are not to protect people from the consequences of their actions. They make their decisions, and they must stand by the results. For example, a father who is always getting his teenage son out of self-inflicted troubles is not doing him any favours.
Sin, which is breaking the Law, cannot be a light thing. We all have struggles and fail. With genuine sorrow and repentance, we can [and should immediately] return to Jesus. He freely forgives and cleanses us [1 John 1:9]. But anyone with a careless, callous attitude toward sin will fit into one of three categories:
1. He/she is a new Christian or else a very immature person who has not fully opened their eyes yet.
2. He/she has not yet seen a true picture of hell or of the horror of the cross. They have failed to see the price Christ paid for us on Calvary.
3. He/she is not really saved. They may have had an emotional experience or given mental consent to the facts, but they have not had a heart change. They have not been re-created [born again].
Christianity is not a smorgasbord. We cannot pick and choose what we want. We have to take it all - which includes the Law - or take nothing at all.
The Teachings Of Jesus And The Apostles On The Law
Jesus And The Law
In this Master Life Series, we have seen much of what the Bible teaches about Law. We have seen the nature of Law, and we have compared it with love, grace, and judgment. Now we turn to another vital aspect of the Law, and we ask, "What did Jesus teach about the Law?" After all, that is the foundational point. If Jesus rejected the Law for New Testament times, then we also must do the same. If, however, He accepted the Law for New Testament times, then again, we must do the same. We cannot afford to go against Jesus' teaching either way.
"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." [Luke 11:23, NKJV]
Every Jot And Tittle
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of the commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." [Matt. 5:17-19, NKJV]
We are beginning with this Scripture because it is often said that Jesus fulfilled the Law and therefore abolished it. If He fulfilled it, then, some believe, it is no longer binding on us. Is this a correct interpretation?
Let's ignore the word "fulfill" for a moment. We will begin with the plain words of Christ in verse 17 as quoted from several different versions of the Bible:
"Do not think that I am come to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy..." [NKJV]
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish..." [NAS]
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy..." [KJV]
"Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law and the prophets; I have not come to do away with or undo..." [Amp.]
Could Jesus have made His meaning any clearer? If we say "fulfill" means abolish, then we have missed the plain teaching of Scripture. In fact, in the last part of these verses, Jesus gives a stern warning about relaxing even the smallest commandment.
So what does it mean when it states that Jesus came to "fulfill" the Law? If He didn't abolish it, then what did He do? Although the word "fulfill" in verse 17 and "fulfilled" in verse 18 are the same word in English, they are different words in Greek. The first time it is used, it is the Greek word is "pleroo" [platroo]. It means: to cram [a net, as in getting every last fish stuffed into it], to satisfy, to execute [an office - as in completely performing the job], or to finish [a period or task]. As you can see, the word "abolish" is NOT a synonym for "fulfill" [i.e. when fishermen fulfill their nets, do they abolish them?].
One way to check what a word means is to see how it is used in other Scriptures. The following Scriptures all use the word "fulfill" [pleroo], but I have substituted the word "abolish" to see if it makes sense:
"for it is fitting for us to [abolish] all righteousness." [Matt. 3:15, NKJV]
"[Abolish] my joy, by being like-minded." [Phil. 2:2, NKJV]
"...while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be [abolished]. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy [abolished] in themselves." [John 17:12-13, NKJV]
Does the word "abolish" make sense in any of these verses? No, in fact, it makes the verse say precisely the opposite of what is intended! Then why, when we come to Matt. 5, do we insist that Jesus came to abolish the Law? It doesn't make sense in context, in Greek definitions, or in other usage. The only way we can make it say "abolish" in Matt. 5 is to read it through our own preconceived ideas. We are not listening to the plain testimony of Scripture.
So what does it mean when Christ fulfilled the Law and the prophets? He completed them. He filled them up to the brim. The plan of God is now complete; now it is a matter of working it out in history. Nothing will ever be added after Christ: He fulfilled [completed] the Law. Now we discover how the law applies to our lives and our world, but there will be no new laws. Jesus is God's final Word.
Keeping all of this in mind, what was Jesus saying in Matt. 5:17-19? Jesus was teaching that He did not come to destroy the Law. In fact, heaven and earth would pass away before the Law would pass away [as far as I can tell heaven and earth are still here;]. Jesus came to complete the law, to fill it up, and to enforce it. Not even the smallest part of the law was to be done away with. At least until the return of Jesus, we will have to obey every jot and tittle of the Law. [Now don't have a heart attack on me. We'll explain this in more detail in our final lessons on How The Law Applies Today.]
Until John
"The law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." [Luke 16:16-17, NKJV]
Here is another teaching of Jesus on the law, which is often misunderstood. Let's go back to my favourite rule: CONTEXT. Read verse 17. Jesus plainly emphasizes that the law will not pass away, at least not before the Second Coming. If you look up and read verse 18, you will discover Jesus went on to enforce the law on adultery and divorce - a law the Pharisees were notorious for breaking. The entire context of these verses is Jesus teaching the Pharisees that their perversions of the Law did not annul the Law in God's eyes. God did not accept their amendments [ and He won't take ours either!]. The Word of God stands.
According to the clear teaching of the surrounding verses, verse 16 cannot mean the Law ended with John. If that is what Jesus meant, then He contradicted Himself - something He never did. Also, it would mean that Jesus died in vain, for if the Law went out with John, then there was no reason for Jesus to die. Think about the implications of that! So it must mean something else, but what? Read it over again.
The Amplified Bible makes it clearer when it says: "Until John came, there were the law and prophets..." Christ was the center of the Law and the Prophets, but in the Old Testament, many things were veiled - they were hard to understand. But until John came, followed closely by Jesus, the Law and the Prophets were all the people had. Not only that, but it was a limited witness, limited to the people of Israel. Now the multinational Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is pressing into it. With Christ, the full light has dawned. The veil has been ripped away. We are no longer dealing with types and shadows; the glorious reality is here!
Christ did not end the Law and the Prophets, but He completed them [as we saw in Matt. 5]. Jesus brought out the fullest and deepest meaning of the Law and the Prophets. He and His apostles have given us the principles for applying them in the New Covenant.
In the next lesson, we will look at the woman taken in adultery and going the extra mile as they relate to the Law.
Master Life Assignments
Note: These assignments are written from the assumption that the student has completed the Feed Yourself Course. Some of the assignments may not make sense if you have not taken that course.
1. Explain in your own words Matt. 5:17-19. Write at least two paragraphs.
2. Memorize Rom. 6:15-16.
Return to the Lessons.
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