GRACE - 3

I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW, BUT TO FULFILL IT – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

There have been too many argument concerning “Law” and “Grace” that it has almost become a long time debate among believers.

Some of these arguments are:

·                     Whether we are completely no longer under the law

·                     That getting saved does not guarantee the entrance into the kingdom of God; that we need to keep certain laws especially holiness to the end before we can be sure of our salvation.

·                     That Jesus Christ has not come to abolish the law at all as recorded in the book of Matthew

·                     That the OT laws still apply to us today as believers and we must not violate any

·                     That if a believer is found wanting in all of God’s divine laws, despite being saved by Grace, they will still go to hell.

Now these things have divided the body of Christ for a long time now. God is not the author of confusion; these conflicts were developed by early Christian fathers who did not take their time to study what the scripture’s judgment is, concerning law and Grace.

Although, many agree that we are no longer in the dispensation of the law as this is very clear in the bible. We are now in the dispensation of Grace. However, certain persons seem to get offended by the simplicity of this Grace, because it does not condone 0.0001% of the law at all.

Paul said, if it is of works, then it is no more Grace and if it is Grace, then it is no more works. 

Otherwise we would say that Grace is not really Grace and works is not really works. That is, if we say something is Grace, then it is actually PURE GRACE.

Grace actually is something that is totally unmerited, not worked for. It is something that is undeserving. Therefore it is very logical to say that Grace and works cannot be mixed. Grace is a gift and not dependent on the receiver but on the giver.

Now, the conflict of whether we are still required to observe the law together with Grace is what I will like to address right now. The word of God is clear, but because of the weakness in the flesh of man, it becomes difficult to comprehend God’s love for humanity. The gospel of Grace is VERY SIMPLE. We often say “as simple as ABC”, but the gospel of Grace is even simpler than ABC. This is because God saves the sinner by a free gift independent of the works of righteousness of such person. A sinner is always saved by Grace; no works of righteousness can save anybody.

So the issue of whether one needs to DO SOME WORKS to preserve or maintain the salvation that was received by Grace is unreasonable. And that is why some persons get offended, by its simplicity!

And since we shall address this simplicity and why Grace needs no maintenance in the next lesson, let us ONLY do justice to the popular confusion of what Christ meant in the book of Matthew by NOT ABOLISHING THE LAW BUT FULFILLING IT.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”

Now, let us bear in mind; that the dispensation of the law ended with Christ. We have seen that over and over, that we have been translated from being under the law to Grace the day Christ resurrected. 

So the bone of contention is not whether we are now under Grace or not… see how Paul puts it “For sin shall no longer be your master, because YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE.” Romans 6:14

So now we just need to settle the conflict of whether we can MAINTAIN GRACE WITH OUR WORKS as some persons have claimed referencing Jesus’ statement.

Now Jesus Christ said “I have not come to ABOLISH the law.”

Now the word “abolish” means to formally put an end to (a system, practice, or institution). So definitely Jesus is saying that he has not come to put to an end to the practice of the law. That since he did not give the law (Moses did), then he won’t be the one to ask them to stop obeying demands of the law.  

But was Jesus encouraging them to continue with the law? See what he said next…

 “I am not come to destroy, but to FULFILL”

Now what does Jesus mean by fulfilling the law?

The verb “fulfill” means TO FILL A NEED OR WANT. It also means to meet expectations, or live up to a standard.

So when Jesus said he has come to FULFILL THE LAW, it means he has come to provide the need or want that the law could not provide. It means Christ has come to meet up with the expectations of the law that NO ONE has been able to meet. It means Christ came to meet up with the standards of the law, so that he could free every man from the yoke of the law.  Christ represented us all in fulfilling the demands of the law.

Recall that we said in the previous lesson that the law was given to man in order to point man to the need for Grace. That man was put under the law to in order to expose the inadequacies of man. So when Christ said he has not come to abolish the law, he meant he cannot ask them to do away with the law just like that, he has come to fulfill the demands of the law instead so that we can be freed from its dominion.

Therefore indirectly, Jesus Christ was the end of the rule of the law. When Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, the law became powerless because all humanity was in Jesus Christ.

Remember that all humanity was in Adam before he sinned. You did not become a sinner because you sin; you became a sinner because Adam sinned. Therefore when Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, you also did fulfill the law in him. That is just why you are no longer under the law. You fulfilled the law with Christ.

See how Paul puts it finally…

Romans 8:3-4 “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US.

We didn’t run away from the law because it is too tough, the law was fulfilled by Jesus Christ for us.

Amen.