The commandments demand righteousness; the gospel supplies righteousness

Matthew 5:17-18

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

Many people read this scripture as if it says, “Jesus did not come to destroy the Law, but to help you DO the law”

The problem is that Christians are uneasy with having nothing to do. They judge spiritual maturity by behavior and they are happy when people seem to get what they deserve.

Yet the whole assignment of Jesus Christ was to get for you and me everything we don’t deserve or qualify for!

Jesus perfectly fulfilled every aspect of the Law and now it has passed away. The Law is now only relevant to lawbreakers, to show them their need of a Savior. However, their need is not merely to be confronted with the standards they have failed to meet, but to hear about the mercy and grace of God to totally remit their sin and cleanse them of all unrighteousness, past present and future.

Church people accept that their sin prior to being born again is washed away, but they become nervous about present and future sin. They make fine-sounding declarations about God’s judgment on America, the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, or on the excesses of human depravity in our world.

Yet Jesus bore the judgment in His body for ALL human sin.

He now sits at the right hand of the Father and the holes in His hands say, “You can’t punish them any more!”

Since sin has been paid for, why are we trying to pay again with our acts of human goodness? We are consigned to failure since grace has not lowered the standards of God’s righteousness, but Grace Himself came to fulfill them perfectly and become our substitute.

Since we cannot earn anything from God, no flesh can glory in his presence and He is no man’s debtor. He owes us nothing, yet He has chosen to give us everything.

The law demands righteousness, but the gospel of God’s unmerited favor supplies righteousness; and with it we have become heirs of the world.

The work of the believer is to believe that Jesus did it ALL.