Christian, do you follow the law?

On Sunday nights I am preaching through the Sermon on the Mount. This past Sunday our text was Matthew 5:17-20, dealing with Christ and the law (audio of the sermon available at the link).

I want to focus on one of the points brought up in the sermon. Christians often wrestle with the relationship between Christians and the law. We know we are not under the law (Romans 6:14) and that Christ has in some sense been the end of the law (Romans 10:4) but we also know that this does not release us from God’s moral commands and that Jesus taught the law would not pass away (Matthew 5:18).

It was this last verse that puzzled me as I prepared to preach. There are two things Jesus says in Matthew 5:18:

1. Not even the smallest part of the law will pass away, even if the world passes away.
2. Nothing in the law will change until everything is accomplished.

On the one hand Jesus says the law will not pass away. Then he immediately turns around with the caveat, “until all is accomplished.” Something will happen that will cause at least some change in the law.

To determine what Jesus meant it is helpful to take a closer look at the law. When we talk about the Old Testament law we usually refer to the covenantal law established through Moses. The commands of the Mosaic law can be grouped into three categories or three kinds of law:

1. The judicial law. This was the law governing the people of God as a political assembly or nation. God’s law did not just govern individual life, it also governed the political and judicial life of the people. These commands gave instructions for how to behave in war, how to punish various sins, etc.
2. The ceremonial law. This law guided the religious life of the people. In the ceremonial law the people learned about the feast days, rituals and sacrifices to be carried out before God. The centerpiece of the ceremonial law was first the tabernacle then the temple.
3. The moral law. Here we have the commands that governed individual life. Through the moral law God revealed to his people how he wanted them to live their lives and interact with one another. The moral law is generally summarized in the ten commandments.

Looking back at the words of Jesus, in what way does the law not pass away and in what way is it accomplished? I argue that the whole law is fulfilled in Christ (as he himself states in Matthew 5:17) but the first two types of law have been altogether accomplished while the third type, the moral law, will never pass away. Look at the three types again:

1. Through the judicial law God emphasized the seriousness of sin against a holy God and he taught that sin will be punished (these are also taught in the ceremonial law but from a different slant). It was also through the judicial law that God laid down the framework for life in his kingdom: his people would be obedient to him and his rule. The judicial law was fulfilled in Christ who by his death serves as the greatest demonstration of just how great an offense sin is. He has also transformed the judicial landscape. The people of God are no longer defined as a geopolitical entity but as a body, the church, the bride of Christ. The reign of God is no longer centered on a throne, whether the throne of God at the Ark of the Covenant or the throne of a king in a palace. The reign of God comes through human hearts by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not just fulfill the judicial law, through Jesus the judicial law has accomplished its purpose. It was given as a pointer and when the One it pointed to arrived, its purpose was completed.
2. Through the ceremonial law God taught the people that sin must be paid for. Sin requires blood. Either your blood or the blood of someone else. The Old Testament sacrifices did not themselves accomplish any atoning work – the blood of bulls and goats will not cover our sins – but they served as a symbol of the One who would come, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law by perfectly following every one of its precepts. And like the judicial law, through Jesus the ceremonial law was accomplished. It was no longer necessary once the eternal Lamb had come.
3. With the moral law we have something a bit different. The moral law existed before the judicial or ceremonial. Even in the garden Adam and Eve were guided by God’s expectations for how they should behave. Jesus fulfilled the moral law by living without sin. He was holy and righteous, never doing wrong. But the moral law was not accomplished with Jesus. The judicial and ceremonial laws were pointers to Christ but the moral law points not to Christ but to his expectations for us. These expectations did not end with the birth of Jesus or at his cross or resurrection or ascension or the giving of the Holy Spirit. God continues to expect all humans to live according to his moral commands.

The judicial and ceremonial laws have been accomplished and have passed away but the moral law remains binding on humanity. This is why in Matthew 5:19 Jesus says the people of God ought to be both doing and teaching the law of God. He does not mean we ought to do and teach that which has been accomplished but we should do and teach that which remains of the law.

Christians are not antinomian, anti-law. We believe that we are not made righteous by the law but we also believe we are still subject to the law’s commands. The law ought not be a burden. Whenever we find God’s commands burdensome it is not because of the command but because of our continuing sinfulness. We are not free to live life as we please but follow the instructions of our Master, knowing that only by his will and by his way and by his power will we live life to the full.