Deuteronomy 30:1-10, Matthew 5:11-20
True or false?
- The Law was God’s way of salvation for the Old Testament people, but it didn’t work, so now we have Jesus.
- We don’t need the Old Testament anymore, because we now have the teaching of Jesus which is far superior.
- The Old Testament is a poor reflection of God, but Jesus is a better representation.
Genuine righteousness will attract hostility. It’s not just that genuine righteousness makes us look bad, it’s that it exposes how unrighteous our hearts really are, and that exposure is naturally hated by unregenerate hearts. That is why Jesus is so hateful to self-righteous people.
Christians can expect persecution when we publicly exhibit the righteousness of Jesus and we can expect to be hated and reviled and slandered by the world just as Jesus our master was. But we can rejoice, because our heavenly reward is so much greater than our temporal suffering. Our willingness to suffer for the gospel is evidence of our Lord’s righteousness; for it is confirmation of our faith in Christ’s righteousness by which we are justified.
We are to be as salt and light to the world. The world will only see the transforming power of Jesus and give glory to God our Father when we shine our light openly.
So how does Jesus relate to the Old Testament Law? Did Jesus come to abolish the law or did he come to fulfil it?
We can’t properly understand Jesus and his sacrificial death without reading and understanding the requirements and principles of the Old Testament.