Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Matthew 5:17

Early in His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims His purpose in coming to earth, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Christ makes it clear that He did not come to rip the Old Testament up; neither the writings of Moses nor any other prophet. Rather, Jesus came to fulfill that which the Law and the Prophets had left undone.

Paul asked if our faith has replaced the Law, and then concludes, “God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31), showing us that our faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work brings the Law to completion in our lives. Since Jesus lived all of the demands of the Law and then died as a spotless sacrifice, you and I fulfill every demand of the Law, not by right-living, but by faith in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ.

Paul said it like this, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). This means that by works, no one can be declared clean in the eyes of God. He went on to say, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:21, 22). Now we have “righteousness without the law”, meaning that we are declared righteous without keeping the law. The only reason that this is possible is because Jesus completely fulfilled the demands of the Law on our behalf!

Notice that verse 21 states, “being witnessed by the law and the prophets”. The law and the prophets witnessed true righteousness in the flesh when Moses and Elijah showed up at the Mount Transfiguration. Moses is a type of the Law, while Elijah is representative of the Prophets. Both of these witnessed the Righteousness of God in the form of Jesus and both of these will minister the message of grace during the tribulation period (Revelation 11:4).

There was nothing wrong with the original Law of God. Paul stated, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). The problem with the Law was that it demanded perfection but then provided no help in producing perfection. In fact, God did not give the Law to show man how to live, contrary to what is often preached. Paul said that “the law entered, that the offence might abound” (Romans 5:20). Law was given to show man his imperfection in light of God’s perfect standard. This was to stop the mouth and declare the whole world “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

By never breaking the Law, Jesus was a sinless man. He fulfilled every demand of the Law to perfection and then took all of our law-breaking into His own body. He died as the punishment for all of our sins, thus giving us His perfect life. The Great Exchange of Calvary was that He became our sin so that we might become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). He has fulfilled it, thus, so have you!

The Ministry of Death and Condemnation

2 Corinthians 3:6-18

Would you be shocked to learn that many Christian churches are promoting the ministry of death and condemnation? The Apostle Paul called himself an “able minister of the New Testament” and then proceeded to tell us what he DIDN’T preach. Try and figure out what it is that Paul refuses to preach, based on this statement:

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministry of the Spirit be rather glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 8)

What is the only thing in the Bible that was originally written and engraven in stones? Even our little kids in Sunday school know that it was the 10 Commandments. Paul says that these Commandments are “the ministry of death” and that they were glorious, but that the glory “was to be done away”. The New Testament of which he preaches is called, “the ministry of the Spirit” and is more glorious.

He goes on to call the 10 Commandments, “the ministry of condemnation” (verse 9), because all who looked upon their holy demands were condemned as law-breakers. He is not denying the power of the commandments, as evidenced by Romans 7:12, “Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy, and just, and good”. He does however, deny that the believer has anything to benefit by knowing those commandments. To young Timothy he states, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…” (1 Timothy 1:8, 9). Notice that the law is not for the righteous man, and you and I are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Some people prefer to function underneath the ministry of death and condemnation. Paul said that they have a veil over their face when they read the Old Testament, even though that veil has been done away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Whenever we live out from under that law, refusing the veil, we live free from the dominion of sin (Romans 6:14) and we have liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).

You may wonder how we can expect to live and look righteous if we don’t preach and teach the 10 Commandments. Paul expected this question, so he closes this great 3rd chapter with this verse:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The “open face” is us without the veil covering us, free to live by faith in Christ, not beneath the condemning weight of the law. As we see Jesus within the Word of God, both in the Old and the New Testament, we are changed into His image from one moment of glory to the next. Literally, the Law makes us all cookie-cutter versions of one another, while grace makes us like Jesus!

Which do you choose to live under, the ministry of death and condemnation or the ministry of the Spirit?

None Made Righteous By the Law

Romans 10:1-4

Paul had a burning heart for the salvation of his Jewish brethren. Verse one alone shows us that Paul did not consider you to be “saved” just because you were a Jew. In the same vein, you are not saved just because you attend church or you have a pastor in your family. Zeal for God is great, but if there is no saving knowledge with that zeal then it is just what the Greek says that it is “excitement, fervor of spirit”.

This set of verses were not written to insult the intelligence of those who seek religion for their answers, but to show us that no act of religious fervor on our part can bring us to the pristine level of God’s righteousness. Paul gives them credit for their zeal, but admits that it is “not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). The Greek word for knowledge here is ‘epegnoses’ which means, ‘correct knowledge’. It was used earlier in the book in Romans 3:20 when Paul stated that “by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Israel thought that they were capable of doing what was right in the eyes of God, so God provided them with the Law; not to teach them how to do right, but to show them ‘correct knowledge’, which was that they could NOT live up to His standards of holiness.

If you are ignorant of what God’s righteousness is, then you might go about to establish your own righteousness. Israel, because they had the Law, had become convinced that by the keeping of the Law, they could be found righteous in God’s eyes. However, their misunderstanding of the purpose was not much different than many people’s understanding of it now. They felt that a man was righteous when he did what he was told to and didn’t do what he was told not to do. There are people in the church now that would say “Amen” to that!

To submit yourself to the righteousness of God, you must come to the knowledge that among men, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). No righteous act that you can do can ever be viewed by God as anything more than a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6). His righteousness is found in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Jesus was made to be sin so that you and I could be found righteous through that sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The moment that Christ fulfilled the Law of God through a perfect life and a sacrificial death, the Law was to never again be viewed as a vehicle by which man could achieve righteousness. Though he was never able to be righteous through the Law anyhow, at least after Calvary, we had something else to set our sights on, and the Law was to fade away.

Paul said that when Moses came down the mountain, carrying the Law of God, he covered his face with a veil, because the glory that came from the Law was the glory which “was to be done away” (2 Corinthians 3:7). In other words, Moses did not want Israel to see that the glory of the Law was ALREADY FADING! Unfortunately, Paul said that many people still have that veil over their heart when they read the Law, refusing to see that its glory has been replaced (2 Corinthians 3:15).

Remove the veil and bask in the glorious light of the Spirit, finding your righteousness in Christ and His finished work.

The Easy Yoke

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus spoke these words to the Jewish people, who were students of the Law of Moses. Laden down with the burden of keeping the Law in its perfection, the people had grown weary and tired. The Law of God is holy and just and good (Romans 7:12), but man is none of those things, thus he becomes heavy-laden when he tries to live beneath its demands.

When you live beneath the demands of the law, sin will dominate you (Romans 6:14). Weariness ensues when you are always trying to live up to a standard that cannot be achieved through human effort. The Law was never given to be lived perfectly, for that is an impossible task. Instead, the Law was given to show man his sin, so that he would know his need for grace (Romans 5:20).

Some have tried to explain Law as being anything that you do to achieve righteousness, and while that definition is true; it is the weakest example of the Law. Paul described the Law as the 10 Commandments (2 Corinthians 3:7) and the ordinances written by hand (Colossians 2:14). Concentrating on everything that is Law is a form of telling you what to avoid and what to do. Within itself, that is a form of the Law! Let us concentrate on the grace and favor of God in order to be free from the dominion of sin. If we focus our attention on Jesus and His grace then we are finished with trying to figure out what is Law.

The Jews that Jesus spoke to are a type of the believer and the sinner who think that their works give them some standing with God. Believers are saved by grace, but many go on working the Law in order to achieve standing or goodness with God, though these things are unnecessary. Sinners do good works for the same reasons, hoping to earn heaven with their actions. Jesus came to set all of us free from our lifestyle of good works. The believer can rest from their deeds seeing as they are the righteousness of God in Christ; and sinners can be saved by accepting Jesus, whether they understand the Law or not.

When you lay down the yoke of the Law, Jesus gives you the yoke of His grace. While religion takes the yoke of sin and replaces it with the yoke of the Law (which unwittingly brings power back to the sin); Jesus takes off the yoke of the Law and replaces it with grace. We are not above grace, but under it, with Jesus protecting us from the cares of this life (Romans 6:14).

Christianity is a day-to-day learning experience of who Jesus is. Notice that Jesus tells us to “learn of me”, not “learn how to live”. When we learn of Jesus we are learning how to let Him live through us. Unfortunately, many of us are concentrating on how to live right, while Jesus in His mercy and grace wants to live His life through us. Learn of Him and His finished work; the price that He paid for your health, wholeness and salvation, and you will know how to live. True relationship will bring His righteousness out in your lifestyle, and you will never even think about it.

When your Christianity begins to feel hard and heavy, reevaluate your relationship with the Lord. Jesus said that the yoke of grace is “easy” and His burden is “light”. If you are told that Christianity is hard, that message is being presented to you by those who are still viewing their works as the basis for their blessings. You are free in Jesus and His lifestyle is easy and His burden is light. In Jesus, “find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

The Finger of God

Exodus 8:19

We have four separate instances in the Bible of there being a mention of God’s finger writing something. The first is found in Egypt, when the magicians that work for Pharaoh comment that the recent plague of the dust turning to lice cannot be duplicated by their tricks, thus it “is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Hence, the term “finger of God” denotes God intervening in the affairs of man to do something that no man can undo, and that no man can duplicate. What is written with the finger of man can be erased, but what is written with the finger of God abides forever.

The next three instances are actual events, not just titles used to describe events, as was the case in Exodus chapter 8. In Exodus 20, God gives Moses the 10 Commandments, which He etches into stone with His finger (Exodus 31:18). These commands are just, holy and good (Romans 7:12), but they provide no life; only death (Galatians 3:21). The first time that God’s finger appears and writes, it gives us Law, which defines God’s holiness and demands that man live up to that standard.

Many years later, God’s finger appears again, this time in the feast room of a secular king, Belshazzar. “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace” (Daniel 5:5). The “handwriting on the wall”, as it has come to be known, revealed God’s judgment against Babylon. Specifically, the judgment stated that Belshazzar had been weighed in the balances and found wanting, meaning that God’s even-handed judgment found sin and iniquity in the rebellious Belshazzar. The same night that the handwriting appeared, Belshazzar was killed and the throne changed hands.

God’s judgment must inevitably follow God’s Law. Where the Law is proclaimed, men are held accountable for their keeping or breaking of that Law. Paul wrote, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3:10). God’s finger had written the Law, and now God’s finger had written the sentence for the breaking of that Law. Since both were written by the finger of God, there was no reversing either.

Then comes Jesus, sitting in the temple one beautiful morning, when the religious leaders bring Him a woman that they have just caught in the act of adultery. They cite the law of Moses as demanding that she should be stoned, which encompasses both of the first two instances of the finger of God. In the first case, God wrote, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. In the second case, God’s finger wrote of the punishment and judgment for breaking that law, which was death by stoning. Jesus seems not to notice, instead electing to stoop down, “and with His finger wrote on the ground” (John 8:6). Do you see where Jesus is going?

The “ground” that Jesus wrote on was the pavement stones of the temple courtyard. The scuttling of many feet over the stones left the floor with a thin layer of dust, which Jesus moves with His finger, much like someone writing “Wash me” in the dust of a car window. We do not know what He wrote, but whatever it was, it caused the accusers to drop their rocks and walk away. We may not know the exact words, but based on the history of the “finger of God” and the fact that Jesus turns to the woman and says, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more” (John 8:11), it is obvious that this time, God’s finger wrote something like: “Grace”, and if God wrote it, no man can erase it!

The Walk of the Believer

Ephesians 4:17-25

Even though the Apostle Paul was a preacher of radical grace, he in no way endorsed sinful lifestyles or failure on the part of believers. He was accused of this sort of doctrine however, as he tells us in Romans 3:8, “…we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, ‘Let us do evil, that good may come’…” However, Paul’s approach towards getting believers to live right was different than what many people then, and just as many now, tend to use. He felt that an introduction of law preaching and teaching into believer’s lives would cause sin to revive in them (Romans 7:9). It is for this cause that when Paul wanted to emphasize a lifestyle problem in his churches, he introduced a different tactic.

Paul maintained that believers were already complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10), but that their minds were lagging behind their hearts. He felt that if a believer thought like a believer, he would live like one, but if he thought like a sinner, then he would see sin take root. He told the church at Ephesus to “walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). Sinners walk according to a mind “void of truth” which is what “vanity” means in Greek. They have their “understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Again, Paul is showing the saints that in many ways they are acting like sinners through their lifestyles. Now, he appeals to who they truly are:

“But ye have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20).

With this statement, Paul introduces a three-fold plan for the believer to live right:

1. Put off the old man and the way he lived, which was according to his lusts and desires (verse 22).

2. Renew the way they think, concentrating on who Jesus is in them (verse 23).

3. Put on the righteousness of God which is Jesus Christ (verse 24).

When you do these things, it will lead you to live right which is why the next verses begin to give instruction on not lying, not letting our anger get the best of us, not allowing Satan a foot hold in our life, not stealing, etc. Why doesn’t he just say, “Thou shalt not lie”, or “Thou shalt not steal”? Surely that would be easier, right? That would be Old Covenant preaching, and Paul is better than that. Instead, he appeals to who you are in Christ, and convinces you to change how you think of yourself. When we do this, we put away lying and stealing and everything else because we stop thinking like sinners and start thinking like the sons which we are.

Go in God’s wonderful grace and mercy today, putting off who you used to be by knowing who Jesus has made you to be. Renew your mind on His wonderful finished work. Stop thinking like you thought as a sinner and see your heavenly Father as well pleased with you, His adopted son or daughter.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Matthew 5:17

Early in His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims His purpose in coming to earth, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Christ makes it clear that He did not come to rip the Old Testament up; neither the writings of Moses nor any other prophet. Rather, Jesus came to fulfill that which the Law and the Prophets had left undone.

Paul asked if our faith has replaced the Law, and then concludes, “God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31), showing us that our faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work brings the Law to completion in our lives. Since Jesus lived all of the demands of the Law and then died as a spotless sacrifice, you and I fulfill every demand of the Law, not by right-living, but by faith in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ.

Paul said it like this, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). This means that by works, no one can be declared clean in the eyes of God. He went on to say, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:21, 22). Now we have “righteousness without the law”, meaning that we are declared righteous without keeping the law. The only reason that this is possible is because Jesus completely fulfilled the demands of the Law on our behalf!

Notice that verse 21 states, “being witnessed by the law and the prophets”. The law and the prophets witnessed true righteousness in the flesh when Moses and Elijah showed up at the Mount Transfiguration. Moses is a type of the Law, while Elijah is representative of the Prophets. Both of these witnessed the Righteousness of God in the form of Jesus and both of these will minister the message of grace during the tribulation period (Revelation 11:4).

There was nothing wrong with the original Law of God. Paul stated, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). The problem with the Law was that it demanded perfection but then provided no help in producing perfection. In fact, God did not give the Law to show man how to live, contrary to what is often preached. Paul said that “the law entered, that the offence might abound” (Romans 5:20). Law was given to show man his imperfection in light of God’s perfect standard. This was to stop the mouth and declare the whole world “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

By never breaking the Law, Jesus was a sinless man. He fulfilled every demand of the Law to perfection and then took all of our law-breaking into His own body. He died as the punishment for all of our sins, thus giving us His perfect life. The Great Exchange of Calvary was that He became our sin so that we might become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). He has fulfilled it, thus, so have you!

The Ministry of Death and Condemnation

2 Corinthians 3:6-18

Would you be shocked to learn that many Christian churches are promoting the ministry of death and condemnation? The Apostle Paul called himself an “able minister of the New Testament” and then proceeded to tell us what he DIDN’T preach. Try and figure out what it is that Paul refuses to preach, based on this statement:

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministry of the Spirit be rather glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 8)

What is the only thing in the Bible that was originally written and engraven in stones? Even our little kids in Sunday school know that it was the 10 Commandments. Paul says that these Commandments are “the ministry of death” and that they were glorious, but that the glory “was to be done away”. The New Testament of which he preaches is called, “the ministry of the Spirit” and is more glorious.

He goes on to call the 10 Commandments, “the ministry of condemnation” (verse 9), because all who looked upon their holy demands were condemned as law-breakers. He is not denying the power of the commandments, as evidenced by Romans 7:12, “Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy, and just, and good”. He does however, deny that the believer has anything to benefit by knowing those commandments. To young Timothy he states, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…” (1 Timothy 1:8, 9). Notice that the law is not for the righteous man, and you and I are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Some people prefer to function underneath the ministry of death and condemnation. Paul said that they have a veil over their face when they read the Old Testament, even though that veil has been done away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Whenever we live out from under that law, refusing the veil, we live free from the dominion of sin (Romans 6:14) and we have liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).

You may wonder how we can expect to live and look righteous if we don’t preach and teach the 10 Commandments. Paul expected this question, so he closes this great 3rd chapter with this verse:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The “open face” is us without the veil covering us, free to live by faith in Christ, not beneath the condemning weight of the law. As we see Jesus within the Word of God, both in the Old and the New Testament, we are changed into His image from one moment of glory to the next. Literally, the Law makes us all cookie-cutter versions of one another, while grace makes us like Jesus!

Which do you choose to live under, the ministry of death and condemnation or the ministry of the Spirit?

None Made Righteous By the Law

Romans 10:1-4

Paul had a burning heart for the salvation of his Jewish brethren. Verse one alone shows us that Paul did not consider you to be “saved” just because you were a Jew. In the same vein, you are not saved just because you attend church or you have a pastor in your family. Zeal for God is great, but if there is no saving knowledge with that zeal then it is just what the Greek says that it is “excitement, fervor of spirit”.

This set of verses were not written to insult the intelligence of those who seek religion for their answers, but to show us that no act of religious fervor on our part can bring us to the pristine level of God’s righteousness. Paul gives them credit for their zeal, but admits that it is “not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). The Greek word for knowledge here is ‘epegnoses’ which means, ‘correct knowledge’. It was used earlier in the book in Romans 3:20 when Paul stated that “by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Israel thought that they were capable of doing what was right in the eyes of God, so God provided them with the Law; not to teach them how to do right, but to show them ‘correct knowledge’, which was that they could NOT live up to His standards of holiness.

If you are ignorant of what God’s righteousness is, then you might go about to establish your own righteousness. Israel, because they had the Law, had become convinced that by the keeping of the Law, they could be found righteous in God’s eyes. However, their misunderstanding of the purpose was not much different than many people’s understanding of it now. They felt that a man was righteous when he did what he was told to and didn’t do what he was told not to do. There are people in the church now that would say “Amen” to that!

To submit yourself to the righteousness of God, you must come to the knowledge that among men, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). No righteous act that you can do can ever be viewed by God as anything more than a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6). His righteousness is found in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Jesus was made to be sin so that you and I could be found righteous through that sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The moment that Christ fulfilled the Law of God through a perfect life and a sacrificial death, the Law was to never again be viewed as a vehicle by which man could achieve righteousness. Though he was never able to be righteous through the Law anyhow, at least after Calvary, we had something else to set our sights on, and the Law was to fade away.

Paul said that when Moses came down the mountain, carrying the Law of God, he covered his face with a veil, because the glory that came from the Law was the glory which “was to be done away” (2 Corinthians 3:7). In other words, Moses did not want Israel to see that the glory of the Law was ALREADY FADING! Unfortunately, Paul said that many people still have that veil over their heart when they read the Law, refusing to see that its glory has been replaced (2 Corinthians 3:15).

Remove the veil and bask in the glorious light of the Spirit, finding your righteousness in Christ and His finished work.

The Easy Yoke

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus spoke these words to the Jewish people, who were students of the Law of Moses. Laden down with the burden of keeping the Law in its perfection, the people had grown weary and tired. The Law of God is holy and just and good (Romans 7:12), but man is none of those things, thus he becomes heavy-laden when he tries to live beneath its demands.

When you live beneath the demands of the law, sin will dominate you (Romans 6:14). Weariness ensues when you are always trying to live up to a standard that cannot be achieved through human effort. The Law was never given to be lived perfectly, for that is an impossible task. Instead, the Law was given to show man his sin, so that he would know his need for grace (Romans 5:20).

Some have tried to explain Law as being anything that you do to achieve righteousness, and while that definition is true; it is the weakest example of the Law. Paul described the Law as the 10 Commandments (2 Corinthians 3:7) and the ordinances written by hand (Colossians 2:14). Concentrating on everything that is Law is a form of telling you what to avoid and what to do. Within itself, that is a form of the Law! Let us concentrate on the grace and favor of God in order to be free from the dominion of sin. If we focus our attention on Jesus and His grace then we are finished with trying to figure out what is Law.

The Jews that Jesus spoke to are a type of the believer and the sinner who think that their works give them some standing with God. Believers are saved by grace, but many go on working the Law in order to achieve standing or goodness with God, though these things are unnecessary. Sinners do good works for the same reasons, hoping to earn heaven with their actions. Jesus came to set all of us free from our lifestyle of good works. The believer can rest from their deeds seeing as they are the righteousness of God in Christ; and sinners can be saved by accepting Jesus, whether they understand the Law or not.

When you lay down the yoke of the Law, Jesus gives you the yoke of His grace. While religion takes the yoke of sin and replaces it with the yoke of the Law (which unwittingly brings power back to the sin); Jesus takes off the yoke of the Law and replaces it with grace. We are not above grace, but under it, with Jesus protecting us from the cares of this life (Romans 6:14).

Christianity is a day-to-day learning experience of who Jesus is. Notice that Jesus tells us to “learn of me”, not “learn how to live”. When we learn of Jesus we are learning how to let Him live through us. Unfortunately, many of us are concentrating on how to live right, while Jesus in His mercy and grace wants to live His life through us. Learn of Him and His finished work; the price that He paid for your health, wholeness and salvation, and you will know how to live. True relationship will bring His righteousness out in your lifestyle, and you will never even think about it.

When your Christianity begins to feel hard and heavy, reevaluate your relationship with the Lord. Jesus said that the yoke of grace is “easy” and His burden is “light”. If you are told that Christianity is hard, that message is being presented to you by those who are still viewing their works as the basis for their blessings. You are free in Jesus and His lifestyle is easy and His burden is light. In Jesus, “find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

The Finger of God

Exodus 8:19

We have four separate instances in the Bible of there being a mention of God’s finger writing something. The first is found in Egypt, when the magicians that work for Pharaoh comment that the recent plague of the dust turning to lice cannot be duplicated by their tricks, thus it “is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Hence, the term “finger of God” denotes God intervening in the affairs of man to do something that no man can undo, and that no man can duplicate. What is written with the finger of man can be erased, but what is written with the finger of God abides forever.

The next three instances are actual events, not just titles used to describe events, as was the case in Exodus chapter 8. In Exodus 20, God gives Moses the 10 Commandments, which He etches into stone with His finger (Exodus 31:18). These commands are just, holy and good (Romans 7:12), but they provide no life; only death (Galatians 3:21). The first time that God’s finger appears and writes, it gives us Law, which defines God’s holiness and demands that man live up to that standard.

Many years later, God’s finger appears again, this time in the feast room of a secular king, Belshazzar. “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace” (Daniel 5:5). The “handwriting on the wall”, as it has come to be known, revealed God’s judgment against Babylon. Specifically, the judgment stated that Belshazzar had been weighed in the balances and found wanting, meaning that God’s even-handed judgment found sin and iniquity in the rebellious Belshazzar. The same night that the handwriting appeared, Belshazzar was killed and the throne changed hands.

God’s judgment must inevitably follow God’s Law. Where the Law is proclaimed, men are held accountable for their keeping or breaking of that Law. Paul wrote, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3:10). God’s finger had written the Law, and now God’s finger had written the sentence for the breaking of that Law. Since both were written by the finger of God, there was no reversing either.

Then comes Jesus, sitting in the temple one beautiful morning, when the religious leaders bring Him a woman that they have just caught in the act of adultery. They cite the law of Moses as demanding that she should be stoned, which encompasses both of the first two instances of the finger of God. In the first case, God wrote, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. In the second case, God’s finger wrote of the punishment and judgment for breaking that law, which was death by stoning. Jesus seems not to notice, instead electing to stoop down, “and with His finger wrote on the ground” (John 8:6). Do you see where Jesus is going?

The “ground” that Jesus wrote on was the pavement stones of the temple courtyard. The scuttling of many feet over the stones left the floor with a thin layer of dust, which Jesus moves with His finger, much like someone writing “Wash me” in the dust of a car window. We do not know what He wrote, but whatever it was, it caused the accusers to drop their rocks and walk away. We may not know the exact words, but based on the history of the “finger of God” and the fact that Jesus turns to the woman and says, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more” (John 8:11), it is obvious that this time, God’s finger wrote something like: “Grace”, and if God wrote it, no man can erase it!

The Walk of the Believer

Ephesians 4:17-25

Even though the Apostle Paul was a preacher of radical grace, he in no way endorsed sinful lifestyles or failure on the part of believers. He was accused of this sort of doctrine however, as he tells us in Romans 3:8, “…we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, ‘Let us do evil, that good may come’…” However, Paul’s approach towards getting believers to live right was different than what many people then, and just as many now, tend to use. He felt that an introduction of law preaching and teaching into believer’s lives would cause sin to revive in them (Romans 7:9). It is for this cause that when Paul wanted to emphasize a lifestyle problem in his churches, he introduced a different tactic.

Paul maintained that believers were already complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10), but that their minds were lagging behind their hearts. He felt that if a believer thought like a believer, he would live like one, but if he thought like a sinner, then he would see sin take root. He told the church at Ephesus to “walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). Sinners walk according to a mind “void of truth” which is what “vanity” means in Greek. They have their “understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Again, Paul is showing the saints that in many ways they are acting like sinners through their lifestyles. Now, he appeals to who they truly are:

“But ye have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20).

With this statement, Paul introduces a three-fold plan for the believer to live right:

1. Put off the old man and the way he lived, which was according to his lusts and desires (verse 22).

2. Renew the way they think, concentrating on who Jesus is in them (verse 23).

3. Put on the righteousness of God which is Jesus Christ (verse 24).

When you do these things, it will lead you to live right which is why the next verses begin to give instruction on not lying, not letting our anger get the best of us, not allowing Satan a foot hold in our life, not stealing, etc. Why doesn’t he just say, “Thou shalt not lie”, or “Thou shalt not steal”? Surely that would be easier, right? That would be Old Covenant preaching, and Paul is better than that. Instead, he appeals to who you are in Christ, and convinces you to change how you think of yourself. When we do this, we put away lying and stealing and everything else because we stop thinking like sinners and start thinking like the sons which we are.

Go in God’s wonderful grace and mercy today, putting off who you used to be by knowing who Jesus has made you to be. Renew your mind on His wonderful finished work. Stop thinking like you thought as a sinner and see your heavenly Father as well pleased with you, His adopted son or daughter.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Matthew 5:17

Early in His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims His purpose in coming to earth, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Christ makes it clear that He did not come to rip the Old Testament up; neither the writings of Moses nor any other prophet. Rather, Jesus came to fulfill that which the Law and the Prophets had left undone.

Paul asked if our faith has replaced the Law, and then concludes, “God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31), showing us that our faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work brings the Law to completion in our lives. Since Jesus lived all of the demands of the Law and then died as a spotless sacrifice, you and I fulfill every demand of the Law, not by right-living, but by faith in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ.

Paul said it like this, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). This means that by works, no one can be declared clean in the eyes of God. He went on to say, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:21, 22). Now we have “righteousness without the law”, meaning that we are declared righteous without keeping the law. The only reason that this is possible is because Jesus completely fulfilled the demands of the Law on our behalf!

Notice that verse 21 states, “being witnessed by the law and the prophets”. The law and the prophets witnessed true righteousness in the flesh when Moses and Elijah showed up at the Mount Transfiguration. Moses is a type of the Law, while Elijah is representative of the Prophets. Both of these witnessed the Righteousness of God in the form of Jesus and both of these will minister the message of grace during the tribulation period (Revelation 11:4).

There was nothing wrong with the original Law of God. Paul stated, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). The problem with the Law was that it demanded perfection but then provided no help in producing perfection. In fact, God did not give the Law to show man how to live, contrary to what is often preached. Paul said that “the law entered, that the offence might abound” (Romans 5:20). Law was given to show man his imperfection in light of God’s perfect standard. This was to stop the mouth and declare the whole world “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

By never breaking the Law, Jesus was a sinless man. He fulfilled every demand of the Law to perfection and then took all of our law-breaking into His own body. He died as the punishment for all of our sins, thus giving us His perfect life. The Great Exchange of Calvary was that He became our sin so that we might become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). He has fulfilled it, thus, so have you!

The Ministry of Death and Condemnation

2 Corinthians 3:6-18

Would you be shocked to learn that many Christian churches are promoting the ministry of death and condemnation? The Apostle Paul called himself an “able minister of the New Testament” and then proceeded to tell us what he DIDN’T preach. Try and figure out what it is that Paul refuses to preach, based on this statement:

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministry of the Spirit be rather glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 8)

What is the only thing in the Bible that was originally written and engraven in stones? Even our little kids in Sunday school know that it was the 10 Commandments. Paul says that these Commandments are “the ministry of death” and that they were glorious, but that the glory “was to be done away”. The New Testament of which he preaches is called, “the ministry of the Spirit” and is more glorious.

He goes on to call the 10 Commandments, “the ministry of condemnation” (verse 9), because all who looked upon their holy demands were condemned as law-breakers. He is not denying the power of the commandments, as evidenced by Romans 7:12, “Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy, and just, and good”. He does however, deny that the believer has anything to benefit by knowing those commandments. To young Timothy he states, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…” (1 Timothy 1:8, 9). Notice that the law is not for the righteous man, and you and I are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Some people prefer to function underneath the ministry of death and condemnation. Paul said that they have a veil over their face when they read the Old Testament, even though that veil has been done away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Whenever we live out from under that law, refusing the veil, we live free from the dominion of sin (Romans 6:14) and we have liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).

You may wonder how we can expect to live and look righteous if we don’t preach and teach the 10 Commandments. Paul expected this question, so he closes this great 3rd chapter with this verse:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The “open face” is us without the veil covering us, free to live by faith in Christ, not beneath the condemning weight of the law. As we see Jesus within the Word of God, both in the Old and the New Testament, we are changed into His image from one moment of glory to the next. Literally, the Law makes us all cookie-cutter versions of one another, while grace makes us like Jesus!

Which do you choose to live under, the ministry of death and condemnation or the ministry of the Spirit?