Laws of Love
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Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose (v.17).
Driving to work one day, I had a revelation. I realized that speed limits had been set to protect me and those around me, not to hamper my freedom or prove that I was a lawbreaker. If I sped and lost control of my car I could hurt myself, the lady driving toward me, or the man on the sidewalk. The traffic laws are in place because human life is valuable and should be protected.
I made a similar discovery with the Ten Commandments. This “law of Moses” was meant to protect life and help people flourish (Deuteronomy 6:24, Deuteronomy 10:13, Deuteronomy 12:28). You can’t flourish when your life is in danger (Exodus 20:13), when your belongings have been stolen (v.15), or you’re being pursued by a stalker (v.17). You can’t flourish by working without a break (vv.8-11), taking murderous revenge (v.13), or worshiping anything but God (vv.2-4).
So it’s no surprise that Jesus said He hadn’t come to abolish the law of Moses (Matthew 5:17). Speeding, theft, murder, and idolatry were still destructive even after Jesus came, so why take away the “guardrails”? What He came to do was fulfillthe law—to fill it up with meaning, to restore its life-protecting intent, and to wrest it back from the religious teachers who had distorted it by turning it into a system of merit-keeping before God. This is what He spells out in the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:28).
The Old Testament prophets spoke of a day when a Messiah would come and when God would put His laws into our hearts and give us His Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:27). That Messiah has come! Jesus shows us the life-protecting intent of God’s law and gives us power by His Spirit to live it.
—Sheridan Voysey
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Read Romans 2:28 and Romans 7:14 to see how the law and the Spirit work together in our lives.
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How have you sought acceptance from God by trying to live by Old Testament laws? Do you ever do the opposite and dismiss these laws altogether?
16 year-old stuns audience on x factor with god glorifing song! from alegator21 on godtube.
