20070203 Bible Study for the Day- Matthew 5:17-48

Context for Matthew 5:17-48

After establishing for us the nature of the righteous, Jesus goes on to clarify the Law, not in an effort to abolish it as some may have hoped for, but to show the harmony between God’s righteousness and His law.

Matthew 5:17-48

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5:17 NASB

Jesus came to fulfill the Law because we could not fulfill it ourselves. In our sinful state, our nature is to reject the Law, and because of that rejection, we have no hope of Heaven on our own. Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law, however, fulfilled God’s requirement of righteous perfection as the criteria for entering Heaven. Because of Jesus fulfillment, we can now enter Heaven by faith in Him.

Further, through faith, we see the value of conforming ourselves to the Law, that is to righteousness, not because we receive our righteousness through the Law- righteousness is only achieved by faith- but rather because that conformation brings us closer to Christ who fulfilled the law, thereby strengthening and protecting the very faith from which our righteousness comes.

DLH

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