ATTN: I was listening to a podcast of Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist, and he was asked by a young Muslim student this question. It was more of a statement. He said, and I paraphrase, “Islam is superior to Christianity because we Muslims take our laws seriously. For example, if someone steals something and is caught, we cut off his hand. If a woman is found to have committed adultery, we stone her to death. But you Christians don’t do anything to these people. Jesus simply let the sinners go free. Your God is not holy like our Allah.” How would you have answered that question? Ravi Zacharias answered it this way: On the contrary, our God, Jesus, is even more strict than the Sharia, Muslim, law would dictate. Jesus said, “if you get angry at a person, you have committed murder. And if you have looked at a woman lustfully, you have committed adultery. In Christianity, not only is committing an act a sin, but just thinking about it is sin!”

Today, we come to a passage that speaks about the relationship between God’s laws and Jesus. What do we do with the Old Testament laws? What did Jesus do to them? Are we still bound to them? There are so many different angles from which we could approach this issue of Christians and the Old Testament laws, but rather than being comprehensive, I prayed much and decided that I will give you one of many angles today. I will put one picture, one illustration in your mind, hopefully to help you understand this passage that I think is crucial to our walk with God.

We will answer two questions: I) What does it mean that Jesus came to fulfill the law? II) How do we live in light of this?

1. What does it mean that Jesus came to fulfill the law rather than to abolish the law?

I doubt that many Christians have a good understanding of what this means. But it is so vital to Christian life. It dictates such things as, “are the OT laws still applicable to NT Christians?” “What is the relationship between our getting saved and obeying the law?” “Are we supposed to tithe to the church even though the New Testament never mentions it?” “What about divorce for Christians?” We need to know what Jesus meant when He said He came to fulfill the law.

One thing is for sure. He didn’t come to abolish or get rid of the law. So, it is flat out wrong to think “Well, since we live in the New Testament time, we can just ignore anything in the Old Testament. They are not applicable to our lives anymore.” That would be wrong since Jesus said He didn’t come to abolish or do away with it. Instead, He said He came to fulfill it. What does it mean? How do you fulfill the law?

Matthew Henry, a renowned commentator said, [To fulfill the law] is “to fill up the defects of it, and so to complete and perfect it. Thus the word plērōsai properly signifies. If we consider the law as a vessel that had some water in it before, he did not come to pour out the water, but to fill the vessel up to the brim; or, as a picture that is first rough-drawn, displays some outlines only of the piece intended, which are afterwards filled up;

So, Jesus did not come merely to obey the law perfectly as an example for us to follow. But He came to fulfill it, which means that it was incomplete as it was and it needed something more. It was as if the laws were waiting for Jesus to come and make them complete. How did that happen? Let me draw you a picture. (And this is the one illustration that I talked about)

ILL: You are all familiar with a fingerprint sensor to open your phone or your tablet. Apple calls it Touch ID, Samsung calls it fingerprint sensor. Instead of punching in a passcode, you can simply put your finger on the home button, and it will read your fingerprint and know that it’s you and will unlock the device. I want you to imagine, next to the door to heaven is a whole body sensor! This sensor has an outline of a person on it and if you stand in front of it, it will scan your whole body and if it recognizes you, then it will unlock the heaven’s gate and you can enter in. But if it doesn’t recognize you, it will flash red and will not open. So, you and many others go up to this sensor to be recognized. But each time anybody goes up, it flashes red and does not open! So, you look at the outline on the sensor and try to stand just right so that you will match the outline on the sensor. But still no avail. It looks like this outline of a person has a little more muscles than you and longer hair and so you try to exercise to grow your muscles to match and grow out your hair, but still no avail. There are others who are trying different things to have a match. For example, there is a group of people called the Pharisees who think that what the sensor actually reads is your religious activities and not physical attributes. And so, they go around and do things that are religious in nature, like praying, fasting, reciting scripture, and giving offering. Maybe the sensor read their phylacteries on their wrists and headbands… And they come back to the sensor only to flash red again. Some people think the sensor reads your dedication and sacrifice to God. So they go off to a mountain and become a monk for years, forsaking all with strict discipline and asceticism. But the sensor still does not recognize them. Some people think the sensor reads your brain and special knowledge you have about mystical things and God. So after acquiring all this knowledge of the scripture and spiritual things, they stand in front and the sensor still flashes red. Some people think the sensor reads their joy level. If they just enjoy the world they have been given and live carefree and happy, then the sensor will recognize that they are heavenly people already and unlock. But nope. It continually flashes red.

But one day a man name Jesus who doesn’t really look any different than anyone comes up to the sensor. And when he stands in front of the sensor, you realize that the outline of a person on that sensor matches Jesus exactly. And that sensor flashes green and it unlocks the door to heaven.

After that, all those who would come after Jesus that have been touched by Jesus can stand in front of that sensor and be recognized so that the heaven’s door unlocks for them as well. But you are curious as to how the sensor really works. You want to know what it is that the sensor is reading. And so you go up to a guy named Paul who looks like an author who wrote the book on it standing next to the sensor and you ask him to tell you the secret of the sensor. And this is what he says, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-13

Now you realize why the sensor recognized Jesus. Jesus was the very embodiment of love. He is the only one who gave Himself completely to God in love and completely to us in love. The sensor, the law, which was created to guide and direct us toward love, recognized what it was created to recognize – love – and unlocked the heaven’s door right away! Jesus fulfilled it because He is love Himself.

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Now, we understand how Jesus came to fulfill or complete the law, don’t we? The laws were given to us for our good – for peace, for well-being, for harmony. Shortly put, the laws are what people who love God and love each will naturally keep as a fruit. And that is what Jesus was saying when He talked about two commandments summarizing the whole Old Testament laws. For example, the Ten commandments – the law – can be summarized into one sentence with two parts – love God and love people! For example, if we love God, #1) We are not going to have any other god besides him, #2) We are not going to reduce Him down to an idol, #3) We are not going to misuse his name to promote our own cause, #4) we are going to trust Him and rest on the Sabbath. And if we love people, then #5) we will honor our parents – if we can’t love the very ones who gave birth to us, who can we love? #6) we will not murder people that we love, #7) we will not commit adultery against our brother or sister we love #8) we will not steal from someone we love, #9) we will not lie to our loved ones and #10) we will not be jealous of what our loved ones have. We will be happy for them!

If we have love in our hearts for God and for others, then we will naturally be keeping the law. But that is not to be. We are selfish beings with only self-love. The self comes before anything and everything. So we constantly butt heads with God’s law. Rather than loving God, we will love money, sports, sex, fame, etc to the detriment of our lives. Jesus saves us from all this by sacrificing Himself, winning our hearts with His love so that we will love Him more than we love any other thing. When we love Him and love others, our lives will be such that we are obeying the laws even without trying…

1. How do we live in light of this?

We live looking daily to the source of love, Jesus Christ, as we glance at the law as a mirror and guardrail, to use another metaphor. Think about a pleasant and safe drive along the coast. You are not looking at the mirror to see what you look like the whole time. You are not looking at the guardrail as you drive because you will run into them! No. you are looking ahead to your destination, which is Jesus Christ in our case. But we will time to time look at the mirror to see behind us to marvel how far we have come and check our distance from the guardrail time to time to make sure we don’t get too close. That’s the role of the laws. We do not focus on the laws and be consumed by them. But we look to the fulfillment of the law, the completer, Jesus Christ, and as we move forward doing that, we will see that the laws have been obeyed by us and fulfilled in us as a fruit.

            Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

 APPLICATION:

            So, practically, are we or are we not to obey the Old Testament laws? For example, tithing. The New Testament never commands it, but the Old testament did. Think of it this way: What would love for God and love for fellow men do? Would you spend all of your earnings on yourself and would you give it toward God trusting that He will provide? If people living in the Old Testament who didn’t know that their God would come down to sacrifice Himself for them were giving 10% to God, what would be appropriate for us who have known what God has done for us?

I want to leave you with 3 resolves that will help you to keep fulfilling the law walking behind Jesus.

1. Commit to meet. “Do not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25

There are seasons when you want to be around other believers because it’s sweet and wholesome. But there are seasons when you wont’ want to be around other believers. Church service becomes a chore and something you have to endure. But persevere through it. Do not give up. Be consistent in season, out of season. Community Groups.

2. Commit to grow. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes from the word of Christ.” I was overhearing some of the youth struggling to keep up with the Bible reading. It’s Okay if you’ve missed reading the word, and praying here and there. But it’s not okay to give up just because you haven’t kept up. Try and try again. God will be pleased by your good effort that aligns with God’s grace.
3. Commit to help: It ‘s not just between God and us. It’s also between us and us. We are to commit ourselves to each other. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Hewbrews 10:24. When Mr. and Mrs. Fejarang went to visit their family for several weeks, we struggled. It wasn’t the same. Because we are a body, when you are missing a kneecap, for example, it makes it hard for the whole body. So, we volunteer. We sacrifice our time. Some of you have decided to sacrifice your Fridays to help with the youth. Some, your Sunday mornings to help setup. Some your Saturday nights to prepare for kids Sunday school. You know whose life gets enriches when you do that? Yours! There’s nothing more boring and meaningless than just living for yourself. It may seem fun, but it will catch up with you real soon and you will wonder why you live. You were created to love. It’s when you commit yourself to other and give youself, you receive what you’ve always wanted, which is love.