Sometimes Christians tend to disregard the Old Testament as irrelevant to our faith today. But Jesus declared God’s law to be authoritative and necessary for us. The law is like a teacher who shows us God’s holiness, our sinfulness, and our need for salvation. In fulfilling the law through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus enables us to attain a righteousness greater than that of the Pharisees—as God’s holy people sent out in His name into the world.
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word
Psalm 119:14-16
Law and Gospel go together, for the Law without the Gospel is diagnosis without remedy; but the Gospel without Law is only the Good News of salvation for people who don’t believe they need it because they have never heard the bad news of judgment. The Law is not the Gospel, but the Gospel is not lawless.
–Warren Wiersbe
Christ moves beyond the work of the law. He does not intend to abolish it but to enhance it by fulfilling it.
–Hilary (circa 300-368)
[God’s love] provides the motive and the motivation for obedience, while the law provides the direction for the biblical expressions of love.
–Jerry Bridges
If the law is so commendable, how is it now adequate to bring us into the kingdom? After the coming of Christ we are favored with a greater strength than law as such. Those who are adopted as children are bound to strive for greater things.
–John Chrysostom (circa 347-407)
In Christianity we will do things for God. But what we do will be a grateful response to what He’s done for us, not because He needs our help.
–J. D. Greear
The righteous man is the one whose inner intention is clearly revealed in his outer intention; there is no duplicity, no internal hypocrisy.
–Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
You do not become Christian by just refraining from some actions and doing others; the Christian is a man who is in a particular relationship to God and whose supreme desire is to know Him better and to love Him more truly.
–D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
Taken together, Jesus’ words reveal a beautiful story. Jesus didn’t do away with the law but showed us its fullest revelation. He completed God’s promise to write the law on our hearts. And this righteousness that exceeds all earthly expectations is only made possible because of Jesus, who upheld the law perfectly throughout His life and then died for you and me.
Because of that good news, we who were crushed by the law’s demands are now freed from our burden. The law stands before us now as an invitation—an opportunity to follow Jesus and live “the good life” as God intended. We are invited to new relationships between us, Him, and creation, relationships that are harmonious and beautiful. This transformation of the law from burden to opportunity is undergirded by a glorious, singular gift from Jesus—His righteousness. We exchange our shame for His glory, our ashes for His beauty.
So how do we respond to Jesus’ words? We follow Him. We become people who love the law, committing ourselves to studying it, meditating upon it, filling our days with it. One psalmist, having discovered the beauty of the law, declared: “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (Ps. 119:14-16).
Jesus demanded obedience from His followers, but His idea of obedience went beyond human traditions. Religious observance can become a way of hiding our rebellious hearts and focusing all our attention on the things we do instead of who we are. In exposing the Pharisees’ obsession with outward rituals, Jesus showed the connection between the heart and our behavior. Only the gospel changes the heart, and therefore, only the gospel can lead to lasting change in our lives.