“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Are Christians free from the law? This age-old question has often
been answered in two wrong ways. The error on one side is often
described as ‘legalism’—the idea that Christians are bound by some or
even most of the Old Testament law. This might mean that Saturday should
be our Sabbath (on which no work is done), or that circumcision or
other Old-Testament-style rituals are necessary to salvation, or that
certain foods or forms of clothing are out for Christians.
The error on the other side might be described as ‘anti-nomianism’
(that is, ‘anti-law-ism’)—the idea that we are so free from any concept
of law, and so thoroughly under grace, that there are really no rules to
obey, and that even if we end up doing the wrong thing, God will
forgive us through Christ anyway, so what’s the big deal?
Jesus’ famous words in Matthew 5 indicate that he is interested in
neither of these approaches. He has not come to obliterate the law, so
that it ceases to exist or have any application to life in his new
kingdom. But neither has he come simply to leave the law in place, as if
his coming made no difference; as if those who lived in the kingdom of
God would live under the same law as Israel.
There is a third option in Jesus’ mind: not to abolish, nor to leave basically untouched, but to fulfill. Continue at Tony Payne
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