Grace and Law: Jesus and the Old Testament

There once was a businessman who walked to work each day. On his way to the office, he would always stop in front of a store that sold clocks and timepieces. There, he would stand for a few moments staring into the window. His attention always focused on a beautiful antique mantel clock on display in the window. He would look at it intently for a while, check his watch, and then continue on his way.

The owner of the store happened to notice this man’s pattern. Every morning at the same time, the businessman would come to the window, stare at the antique mantel clock for a few moments, check his watch, and then walk away.

Finally, the store owner’s curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to find out what the businessman was doing. So the next morning, when the man came along at his regular time, the store owner stepped outside and introduced himself

He said, “Sir, I couldn’t help noticing that you stop by my store window at the same time each morning. You seem to be quite interested in the antique mantel clock in my window. Do you have any questions about it? Would you like to step in and have a closer look at it?”

“Oh no, thank you.” the businessman replied. “The reason I stop by every morning is that I like to set my watch by your mantel clock. You see, I’m the new manager at the factory in town, and I want to be sure that I’m blowing our noon hour whistle at the right time.”

“But sir,” the store owner cried, “I’ve been setting my mantel clock to the sound of your factory whistle.”

That story shows us how easy it is to live our lives by the wrong standard. And that’s an issue that Jesus dealt with in the Sermon on the Mount. Turn to Matthew 5:17 (page 959).

While you’re turning there, let me tell you that the Jews of Jesus’ day were a people who were steeped in the Old Testament. They were known as the “people of the book.” They didn’t call that book the OT, they called it the Law. That was their name for the Scriptures. The Law—Torah in Hebrew.

Every society has a group of people who are the elite. They are on the top rung of the social ladder. In ancient Israel, the elite class were not the kings and nobles. They weren’t the politicians or the military leaders. They weren’t the entertainers or the athletes. They were the men who studied the Law.

They were the scribes and Pharisees who gave their lives to the study of Torah. They were the rabbis who interpreted the Law and who taught it to their students, who in turn would become rabbis. These were the elite. These were the men who shaped the values and the thinking of the whole nation of Israel.

Now when Jesus began his public ministry, he very quickly gained a reputation as something of a maverick. He was a great teacher. His stories and parables were spellbinding. He could answer any question, and the answers he gave left the people gasping in amazement. His teaching was like nothing they had ever heard before.

It certainly wasn’t anything like the teaching of the rabbis and the Pharisees! While they were endlessly arguing and debating the fine points of the Law, and setting up very restrictive codes of behavior, Jesus was talking about things like grace, and faith, freedom and forgiveness.

No, Jesus didn’t teach the way the Pharisees did. He didn’t follow their rules and regulations. And he didn’t hang around with them either. He spent time with the simple folks - fishermen, farmers. He went to dinner with tax collectors. He associated with the kind of people that the Pharisees would never get close to for fear of contaminating themselves.

So, given the obvious division between Jesus and the teachers of the Law, the burning question on everyone’s mind was “What does Jesus think about the Law? Does he believe the Scriptures or doesn’t he?

Has he come to do away with the Torah? Is he trying to tell us that the Law is passé, that it’s obsolete, that it’s not important anymore? Is he trying to overthrow the Law? Has he come to introduce a new standard, or defend the old one? Is he a liberal or a conservative; a radical or a traditionalist?”

So it’s in the context of that question that we need to read Matthew 5:17…

Matthew 5:17-20 “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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

In one fell swoop, Jesus answers the question. But as usual, he answers it in a way that nobody anticipates.

He says in verse 17 “I haven’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.” Jesus has an exceptionally high view of the Law—not one letter of it would become obsolete. Jesus says “Don’t call me an antinomian. Don’t ever think that I have come here to do away with God’s Law.” So that would seem to put him in the Pharisees camp, wouldn’t it?

But then look at what he says in verse 20. “I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus says “I’m not an antinomian; I’m not against the Law. But that doesn’t put me in the Pharisees’ camp. Their understanding of the Law is totally inadequate. Their concept of righteousness isn’t even going to get them into heaven.”

It must have been pretty hard for the disciples to imagine how anyone’s righteousness could ever surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These were men who had given their whole lives to interpreting and observing the Torah. They were unbelievably scrupulous about keeping even the minutest detail of the Law. How could anybody’s righteousness ever surpass theirs?

So we’ve got a dilemma. Here is Jesus saying on the one hand “The Law is important, the Law is going to stand forever” but on the other hand “You can’t get to heaven by trying to keep the Law, as the Pharisees are doing.” So what is the answer?

It’s a new standard: the way of grace. You see, there are three ways that we can respond to God, if we care about Him at all.

1. The way of License:

That is to say that God doesn’t have any particular standard of holiness or purity for me at all. I can live however I want, I can do whatever I please—I have a license to do so—and God will accept me. He is all love, and no holiness. He is all forgiveness, and no judgment.

So I go through life just trying to get my needs met, knowing that in the end, God is going to forgive me and accept me. And down through the years of church history, there have been Christians who have lived that way.

In fact, Paul wrote to some of them in the city of Corinth. Some of the Corinthians were antinomians; they didn’t think it mattered how you lived, as long as you accepted Jesus. And so they tolerated sin and immorality in the church. They were licentious.

In more recent days, we have seen more than one televangelist stand up and confess to immoral behavior. But in the next breath, he goes on to say “but God has forgiven me, and so should you. And I am going to continue on in my ministry.” It’s all acceptance and no consequences; all forgiveness and no discipline; all love and no law.

Jesus said “Don’t think that I’ve come to abolish the Law. God’s righteousness is going to stand forever. It’s not going to change. And we have a responsibility before God to live up to that standard.”

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that it is not appropriate for us as Christians to learn and study the Ten Commandments, to study the Old Testament. The principles of righteousness that are expressed there have not gone out of style. They haven’t become obsolete. Jesus said so here in the Sermon on the Mount.

But there’s another way of responding to God that is the opposite of the way of license.

2. The way of Legalism:

The legalist says that God’s righteous regulations are all that matters. God expects me to live up to His standard, and he’s going to nail me if I don’t. God is a holy God; he’s a stern taskmaster. When he looks at me, he’s usually frowning. He’s just waiting for me to mess up so that he can give me what I deserve.

And there have been Christians all down through history who have tried to live like this. Paul wrote to some of them in the region of Galatia. The Galatians had become Christians, but then they were trying to live the Christian life according to legalism. Paul writes to them, and he has some strong words for them. He says…

You foolish Galatians! You are turning to a different gospel. Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to attain God’s favor by your own efforts? Have you forgotten that no one is justified before God by the law? If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Your attempts to be justified by the law are alienating you from Christ; you are falling away from God’s grace.

There is nothing more tragic than a Christian who is trying to live the Christian life on the basis of legalism. He mistakenly believes that you gain God’s favor as a Christian by living up to a list of do’s and don’ts—some of which are derived from Scripture, and some of which aren’t; they’re simply cultural. But for the legalist, the list becomes everything.

I grew up in a Christian home, and I remember as a child that we simply did not watch television on Sundays. We just didn’t do it. Now my parents were not legalists; they simply preferred to leave the TV off in order to give us a chance to do other things on Sunday.

But it would have been easy for me to grow up believing that no TV on Sundays was a distinctive mark of a Christian. And I suppose I could have become very critical and judgmental of other Christians who did watch TV on Sundays. It’s very easy to become a legalist.

I knew a Christian man who wouldn’t eat pork. He sincerely believed that the Bible taught that a Christian should not eat pork. He mistakenly believed that the OT dietary laws still applied to Christians. And he went around telling everybody about it.

Recently, I read a true story about a missionary couple who had to leave the mission because they allowed their children to eat peanut butter. The other missionaries believed that eating peanut butter meant that they really weren’t willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus. It was an artificial standard of spirituality that they had set up.

When I was pastoring in Buffalo, the Jack Van Impe evangelistic crusade came to town. And they let us know that, while we were invited to attend the crusade, nobody from our church would be allowed to serve on the planning committee, because we let our women to wear slacks to church. Another artificial standard of holiness.

By the way, I should tell you that Jack Van Impe later repented of this kind of thinking. He wrote a book about his change of heart. And in that book, he told of how back in the early 70’s, he wouldn’t allow a man who wore wire-frame glasses to sit on the platform during a crusade.

Why not? Because John Lennon of the Beatles wore wire frame glasses, and John Lennon had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. An artificial standard based on externals, not on what was in the man’s heart.

Back in 1989, when the Communists were still in power, I went to Eastern Europe on an underground mission to do leadership training. And one of the issues that the Christians in Romania were struggling with was whether a man should wear two buttons on his suit jacket or three.

The Romanian Christians were very poor. Many of them had lost their jobs and were being persecuted for their faith. And in that environment, they felt that if a Christian man had three buttons on his jacket, he was trying to be too fancy—he was trying to show off—and therefore he would not make a good church leader.

Legalism is when we set up artificial standards of spirituality, based on externals, and then try to force everybody to adhere to those standards. And legalism can be a terrible problem in the church.

There are people who will try to rob you of your freedom in Christ by telling you what you can do and what you can’t do. They’ll say things like “You can do this on Sunday, but you can’t do that.” or “You can do this in the church, but you can’t do that.”

They reduce the whole Christian life to a list. They say “I do this, and I don’t do that, and therefore I am pleasing to God.” They become proud of how well they’re keeping their list. They focus on the outer conduct, but not on the inner heart attitude.

Jesus said there’s a better way.

3. The way of Grace.

Let me give you a very simple definition of two tremendous theological terms: Mercy and Grace:

Mercy is when God doesn’t give you what you do deserve;

Grace is when God does give you what you don’t deserve.

God is both a holy God and a loving God. And he expressed his holiness and love by giving us salvation in Jesus Christ as a free gift. He saved us because he loves us. But in saving us, he didn’t just ignore our sin. Someone had to die as our substitute to satisfy the demands of God’s holiness. And that someone was Jesus Christ.

How do we respond to that? Do we say “Thank you, God. Thank you for your grace. Now I’m going to try to win your favor.” Of course not! God has already shown us his favor by saving us in the first place!

As Christians, we don’t have to embark on a big do it yourself project to get into his good books. We’re already there. We just need to relax and enjoy that fact. We’re free. We’re living in the light of God’s love and the sphere of his grace.

I have a friend who lives in New York and also owns a ranch outside of San Diego, California. One evening, this man and his daughter were out walking in their neighborhood in New York, and they happened to notice a stray dog.

The dog had no collar, and it was dirty and mangy. It was rooting around in the garbage cans trying to find something to eat. They whistled for the dog, and he came over, timidly at first, with his ears pinned back, not sure of what kind of reception he would get. But pretty soon, he was licking their hands and wagging his tail.

Well, you probably know what happened next. My friend’s daughter begged her daddy to take the dog home, so they did. They cleaned him up, gave him a bath, and combed out his coat.

Later that week, my friend, who happens to be the president of an airline, took the dog to the airport, put him into one of those special pet transporters, and flew him to San Diego on one of his jets. He took the dog out to his ranch, where that dog is now king of all he surveys. He’s living the life of Reilly, with plenty to eat, lots of love, and all the jackrabbits he can chase.

Oh by the way, they gave that dog a name. They called him Lucky, because he is a lucky dog! And Lucky wants to please his master, and obey his master, not because he’s afraid of him, but because of all the master has done for him.

That story is about grace. And if you are a Christian, you are just like that dog—once a stray, lost and alone, with nobody to love you and care for you. But now, a king.

Let’s live the Christian life in light of what has happened to us. In light of the grace that God has shown us.