Sermon on the Mount, Part 3–The Law

Matthew 5:17-20

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

• Luke 24:27
• What does it mean to 'fulfill the law', to accomplish their purpose?
  • Luke 24:44-45; Romans 3:27-31

• What was the purpose of the Law?
  • Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:19; Romans 7:6; Romans 3:19-20

18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 

• Luke 16:16-17
• The law has not lost its force, as it still serves the purposes as we previously discussed, namely to show us how sinful we are, and our need for a Savior.

19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

• Jesus addresses the difference between obeying letter of the law and the heart behind our obedience in the next passages, Matthew 5:31-48.
• The Futility of Trying to Keep the Law
  • Galatians 4:21; Galatians 5:3-4; James 2:10; Romans 4:15

• Which Law? The Law of Christ
  • Does freedom from the law give us a license to sin? Romans 6:15
  • Matthew 22:37-40; Galatians 5:14; Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 9:21b; Galatians 6:2

• Old Testament prophecies of the New Covenant & Fulfillment - Tablets of Flesh
  • Ezekiel 26:25-27; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Hebrews 8:6-13; 2 Corinthians 3:3,6,11; Romans 2:12-15

20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

• Note: "better than" - implies that the teachers of the law will not enter, for they are depending upon their own righteousness

• Definitions
  • Righteousness - "the state or quality of being righteous"
  • Righteous - "acting in accord with divine or moral law; free from guilt or sin; morally right or justifiable"
  • Justify - "to prove to be just, right, or reasonable; to acquit or absolve"
  • Just - "conforming to a standard of correctness; faithful to the original design; honest, fair, upright"

• Jeremiah 23:5-6; Romans 4:3; Romans 3:23-24

Conclusion

• Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 3:10-13; Colossians 2:13-15; John 19:30