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If someone tries to
live a good life by keeping the Ten
Commandments, can that person know for
certain they will be with God for all
eternity? Is it even possible to keep the
Ten Commandments and if not, then why did
God give them to Israel in the first place?
When
Jesus ministered on earth, He said that He
came to reach the “lost sheep of the house of
Israel” (Matt. 10:6; 15:24; Luke 24:47; John 4:22;
cf. Gal. 4:4-5). At times, He would
minister to non-Jews, but at this point in
God’s plan of redemption, Jesus was focused
on reaching his fellow Jews with the good
news that they could be delivered from their
sins and have peace with God.
Jesus
taught Israel the true meaning of the
law.
When God delivered
Israel from bondage in Egypt He led them to
Mount Sinai so they could receive His Law.
God wrote the words of the covenant (the Ten
Commandments), on two tablets of stone to
serve as the framework for the rest of the
613 laws of the Old Covenant (Exod. 20:3-17; 34:28;
Deut. 4:13; 29:1; 2 Chron. 34:31).
God told Israel that if they faithfully kept
His covenant, they would be His chosen
people and a holy nation (Exod. 19:5).
The Ten Commandments
were given to reveal God’s perfect standard of
righteousness and to show us our need for
God’s grace. The Law shows us just how far we have
fallen short of God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:23).
Paul said the law is “holy and righteous and
good,” but sadly, we are not (Rom. 7:12-25).
In fact, even on our best days we don’t even
come close to keeping the Ten Commandment. What the Law does
do is show us how sinful we really
are!
Jesus’s teaching
on the Law.
Matthew 5:21-22
says, “You have heard that it was said to
those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and
whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
But I say to you that everyone who is angry
with his brother will be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother will be liable
to the council; and whoever says, ‘You
fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Matthew 5:27-28 says, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that everyone who looks at
a woman with lustful intent has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:38-42 says, “You have heard
that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not
resist the one who is evil. But if anyone
slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him
the other also. And if anyone would sue you
and take your tunic, let him have your cloak
as well. And if anyone forces you to go one
mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one
who begs from you, and do not refuse the one
who would borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:43-45 says, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love
your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be sons of
your Father who is in heaven. For he makes
his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.”
And finally in Matthew 5:48
Jesus said, “You therefore
must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.”
In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus was contrasting what the leaders in
Israel were teaching about the Law compared
to the Law’s true meaning.
Jesus
wasn’t questioning the Old Testament
scriptures, but the faulty interpretation of
the Jewish scholars.
“Jesus
rejected the traditions of the Pharisees
(Matt. 5:21-48) and their practices (Matt. 6:1-7:6).
Six times Jesus said, “You have
heard that it was said.... But I tell you.”
These words make it clear that Jesus was
presenting (a) what the Pharisees and
teachers of the Law were saying to the
people and, by contrast, (b) what God’s true
intent of the Law was. This spelled out His
statement in Matthew 5:20 that Pharisaic
righteousness is not enough to gain entrance
into the coming kingdom.”
[1]
Jesus came to show Israel
the true intension of the law and to correct
the peoples’ misunderstandings of the Old
Covenant that were prevalent at the time.
The scribes and
Pharisees taught you could be saved by
keeping the Law, but the Law is
an impossible standard to live up to as a
means of salvation. The Apostle Peter
said that trying to keep the law
was like having a yoke of bondage around
your neck.
Acts 15:10-11 says, “Now, therefore, why are
you putting God to the test by placing a
yoke on the neck of the disciples that
neither our fathers nor we have been able to
bear? But we believe that we will be saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as
they will.” (cf. Gal. 5:1-4).
“If the law was a yoke that the Jews
could not bear, how did having the law help
them throughout their history? Paul wrote
that the law was a guide that pointed out
their sins so they could repent and return
to God and right living (see Gal. 3:24, 25).
It was, and still is, impossible to obey the
law completely.”
[2]
No one can keep the law completely!
Romans 3:10-12 says, “As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God. All have turned away, they have
together become worthless; there is no one
who does good, not even one.’” (NIV)
In Romans 3:10-12, “Paul focuses on the sinfulness of every
human being, citing Ps. 14:1-3 and perhaps
echoing Eccles. 7:20. When Paul says none is
righteous, no one seeks for God, and no one
does good, he means that no human being on
his own seeks for God or does any good that
merits salvation. Paul does not deny that
human beings perform some actions that
conform externally to goodness, but these
actions, prior to salvation, are still
stained by evil, since they are not done for
God’s glory (Rom. 1:21) and do not come from
faith (Rom. 14:23).”
[3]
The Law makes us conscious of
our sins.
Romans 3:20-23 says,
“For by works of the law no human being will
be justified in his sight, since through the
law comes knowledge of sin. But now the
righteousness of God has been manifested
apart from the law, although the Law and the
Prophets bear witness to it— the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ for all who believe. For there is no
distinction: for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God,”
“Works of
the law is understood by some to refer only
to the ceremonial law, i.e., those laws that
separate Jews from Gentiles (such as
circumcision, food laws, and the Sabbath). But
the context gives no indication of such a
restriction, and therefore the phrase should
be taken to refer to all the works or deeds
required by the law. The law required
perfect obedience to God’s will. All people
sin and fall short of this standard,
therefore no one is justified by the law.
Justified is a legal term and indicates that
no one will be declared to be righteous by
God, who is the divine judge by virtue of
his own goodness, since all violate and none
fulfill God’s requirements.”
[4]
Failure to
keep the Law perfectly brings
death.
Galatians 3:10-13
says, “For all who rely on works of the law
are under a curse; for it is written,
“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by
all things written in the Book of the Law,
and do them.” Now it is evident that no one
is justified before God by the law, for “The
righteous shall live by faith.” But the law
is not of faith, rather “The one who does
them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is
everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”
If we try to live by the
Old Covenant Law we will stumble and fall
every time. The Law demands perfection and a
curse was attached to failure to keep any
part of it. The breaking of only one
command, even once, in either thought or
deed, brings a person under
God’s curse. Everyone fails to keep the Law
perfectly so everyone comes under the curse.
The belief that a person can gain salvation
through human effort is completely
foreign to the scriptures.
The Law
was meant to lead us to faith in Christ.
Galatians 3:19-25 says, “Why
then the law? It was added because of
transgressions, until the offspring should
come to whom the promise had been made, and
it was put in place through angels by an
intermediary. Now an intermediary implies
more than one, but God is one. Is the Law
then contrary to the promises of God? May it
never be! For if a law had been given which
was able to impart life, then righteousness
would indeed have been based on law. But the
Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so
that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe. But
before faith came, we were kept in custody
under the law, being shut up to the faith
which was later to be revealed. Therefore
the Law has become our tutor to lead us to
Christ, so that we may be justified by
faith. But now that faith has come, we are
no longer under a tutor.”
When Jesus
told His followers to “be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect” in Matthew 5:48,
He was expressing the holy nature of God and
His law, and He was also burying the human
race under their sins. He was not telling
His listeners to try harder in their own
strength. He was not giving them a blue
print on how to receive eternal life. His
disciples needed to understand that no
matter how good they become they will still
fall short of God’s holy standards revealed
in the Law. They needed to see their need
for God’s grace to save them. They needed to
know the only way to be saved was through
faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The
Law is holy, and righteous, and good, but
is powerless to save anyone. It can only
show us our need for a Savior.
The Law and the
promise of faith are not in opposition to one
another, God gave them both. The Law and the
promise work together to reveal man’s
sinfulness and our need for God’s salvation
freely offered in the promise. If the Law
could have provided righteousness and
eternal life, then there would be no need
for the promise of faith.
We are saved
by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
alone!
John 1:17 says, “For the
law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
says, “For
by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, not a result of works, so that
no one may boast.”
Galatians 2:21
says, “I do not nullify the grace of God,
for if righteousness were through the law,
then Christ died for no purpose.”
John 3:16
says, “For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal
life.”
John 1:12-13 says, “But to all who did
receive Him, who believed in His name, He
gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will
of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.”
Romans 3:28 says, “For we hold
that one is justified by faith apart from
works of the law.”
Romans 5:1 says,
“Therefore, since we have been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 5:6
says, “For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for
anything, but only faith working through
love.”
And 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says,
“All
this is from God, who through Christ
reconciled us to himself and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation; that is, in
Christ God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the
message of reconciliation.”
“Without God’s
grace salvation would not be possible. God
is the Redeemer. The whole work of salvation
from start to finish is God’s work. In its
entirety salvation is the work of God the
Father who was reconciling a rebellious
world to Himself.”
[5]
Jesus Christ
fulfilled the Law’s requirement to be
perfect for us so that we could have eternal life.
Colossians 1:21-22 says, “And you, who
once were alienated and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in
his body of flesh by his death, in order to
present you holy and blameless and above
reproach before him,”
And Romans 8:1-4 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law
of the Spirit of life has set you free in
Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by
the flesh, could not do. By sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for
sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order
that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is a
life-giving Spirit who gives us the power we
need to live the Christian life on a moment
by moment basis (John 3:6; Acts 1:1-5).
Salvation is not achieved by human efforts
but comes through God’s mercy alone when we
are born again through the power of God’s
Spirit living inside us (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19).
Being under
grace does not mean we are free to sin;
Christ has called us to an obedient faith.
Some people seem
to think because we are under grace we have
freedom to sin, but under the New Covenant,
sin is still sin. According to the
scriptures, if we continue to live in sin because
we say we are under grace, the result is death.
Romans 6:15-16 says, “What then? Are we
to sin because we are not under law but
under grace? By no means! Do you not know
that if you present yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one
whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to
death, or of obedience, which leads to
righteousness?”
The power of sin
is broken in our lives when we walk by the
Spirit!
Titus 2:11-12
says, “For
the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people, training us to
renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright, and
godly lives in the present age.”
Galatians 5:16-18 says, “But I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires
of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh
are against the Spirit, and the desires of
the Spirit are against the flesh, for these
are opposed to each other, to keep you from
doing the things you want to do. But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the
law.”
1 Peter 1:13-15 says,
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action,
and being sober-minded, set your hope fully
on the grace that will be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient
children, do not be conformed to the
passions of your former ignorance, but as he
who called you is holy, you also be holy in
all your conduct,”
And 2 Peter 3:17-18
says, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, take care that you are not
carried away with the error of lawless
people and lose your own stability. But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory
both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
We need Christ’s
righteousness imputed to us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our
sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.”
The word impute means “to
credit something to the account of another”.
The moment a person is born again, the
righteousness of Christ is imputed, or given
in place of their righteousness and the
sinner’s sin is imputed to Christ’s account.
We need the righteousness of Christ imputed
to us because we have no righteousness of
our own. We are all born sinners! It is our
nature to sin and there is nothing we can do
to make ourselves right with God (Rom. 7-8). Because Christ lived a perfect life,
God can impute, or give us His
righteousness in place of our own. All we
have to do is believe in Him as Lord and Savior. Galatians 3:6
says, “just as Abraham “believed God, and it
was counted to him as righteousness.” (cf.
Rom. 4:3, 22). Without Christ’s
righteousness given in place of our own we
are still dead in our sins.
When God
looks at us, He doesn’t see our failures to
keep His law, He sees Jesus Christ the
crucified one, and the perfect life He lived
for us.
Once we are
born again God begins the process of
transforming us, from the inside out.
Romans 12:1-2 says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this
is your spiritual act of worship. Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV).
And
Ephesians 4:24 says, “and to put on the new
self, created after the likeness of God in
true righteousness and holiness.”
Transformation of this kind can only occur
when the Holy Spirit changes our thinking
through the power of prayer and the study of
God’s Word (Phil. 4:8). But He won’t come to
live inside of us without our invitation. As
we grow in our Christian life we should
gradually notice that our thoughts are being
changed, moment by moment into
Christlikeness as we yield our will and
desires to Him. This kind of transformation
does not happen overnight. It is a growth
process. When we are born again our
regeneration is instantaneous, but our
transformation, or sanctification, is both
instantaneous and continuous. It is a
lifelong process were we are gradually
conformed into Christ’s image as we spend
time in fellowship with Him, and pray to be
transformed by Him (Gal. 5:17; 2 Cor. 3:18;
Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; 1 Cor. 9:27).
Our mind is transformed through prayer
and the study of God’s Word as the Holy Spirit
molds us into Christ’s image.
We
can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit
living His life through us! Everyone who
becomes a Christ-follower receives the Holy
Spirit into their lives (Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:5-9).
The Holy Spirit regenerates us, and
makes us into Christ’s image (John 3:5-6;
Rom. 8:4), and He gives us the
control we need to live the Christian life
(Rom. 8:9-11). The Holy Spirit seals us as
God’s guarantee of our salvation (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30;
1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:21-22), and He teaches us what we need to know about
God and
our salvation (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:12-16). And
finally, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray
when we don’t know the right thing to say, or
do (Rom. 8:26).
Whenever we are
focused on keeping the law, we are focused
on ourselves and the things we can do. God
doesn’t want us to focus on keeping the Law,
He wants us to walk by the Spirit and focus on the finished work of
Jesus Christ on our behalf.
The fruit of the Spirit is the natural
result of being in Christ.
Galatians 5:22-25 says, “But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. And those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live by
the Spirit, let us also keep in step with
the Spirit.”
Jesus came
into this world to free us from the burden
of sin and guilt and give us the assurance
of eternal life.
John 5:24 says, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal
life. He does not come into judgment, but
has passed from death to life.”
John 3:36
says, “Whoever believes in the Son has
[present tense] eternal life; whoever
does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him.”
1 John 5:11-13 says, “And this is the
testimony, that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not have the Son
of God does not have life. I write these
things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
Remember,
God wants us to be Christ-led, not law-focused.
Philippians 1:6
says, “And I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you will
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus
Christ.”
Our salvation is
assured when the Holy Spirit takes up
residence in our lives, not when we strive
to do good or keep the commandments
perfectly. To live by grace alone is to
live by the merits of Jesus Christ alone,
and what he accomplished for us through the
power of His death and resurrection, not by
the good things we try to do. Christ is the
one who conforms us into His image through
the power of the Holy Spirit living within
us. 2 Corinthians 3:18
says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
God wants us to have
eternal life and that life is only found in
His Son. Are you willing to put your trust
in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation?
References:
1. The Bible
Knowledge Commentary: Matthew 5:21-48.
2.
Life Application Study Bible: Acts 15:10.
3. ESV Study
Bible: Romans 3:10-12.
4. ESV Study Bible:
Romans 3:20.
5.
Disciple’s Study Bible: 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.
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