Originally posted by Shane Roach
I can see I'm going to have to be more specific for you as to what is wrong with excising that one statement out of a 3 chapter disertaion that is explicitly recorded as one sermon. If you look towards the end of Jesus' sermon you will see the very fundamental Christian belief that is adressed concerning the righteousness and nature of the law.
Hi Shane. Let's stay focused on what Matt 5:17-19 says to make sure we agree on what it actually says. I think you might be challenging the very meaning of the words spoken, and we have to reach some agreement or we will not be able to move beyond it.
Jesus is talking about the Law of Moses in Matt 5:17-19. Agreed? Jesus claims that jots and tittles of the Law of Moses will pass away at some time in Christ's future. Are we still agreed? If you say 'yes' then we can proceed.
Next Jesus says that UNTIL the eschatological time of the passing of "heaven and earth," Christ demands that every mintue detail of the Law of Moses down to the very least of its 600+ commands be kept. He says:
"therefore whosoever shall break one of these LEAST commandments and shall teach others to do so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven." The passage calls for the keeping of the Law even BEYOND what the Pharisees produced in their practice and observance (Matt 5:20). Is Jesus or is Jesus not talking about the commands of the Law of Moses? If you say 'yes' then we can proceed.
Jesus is certainly and contextually talking about the Old Covenant Law down to the very least of its 600+ commands, demanding a strictness required to the very smallest jot and tittle. Are we still agreed that this discussion is over the Mosaic Covenant Law?
From your posts it would appear that you are not certain that Jesus is addressing the Law of Moses in this passage with its commands written down in jots and tittles. As you know, I maintain he is talking about the Law of Moses with its written jots and tittles and he goes on to cite specific commands of Mosaic Law and he STIFFENS the threshhold requirement in every case to make his point clear what he means. He has said that they must keep EVERY jot and tittle so that their righteousness could exceed that of the Pharisees (5:20). The only way to do that is to keep both the LETTER of the Law (as the Pharisees believed they did but actually did not) AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW (which the Pharisees always violated). Christ did BOTH in perfect harmony, and we read in the book of Acts how the Jerusalem Church also did both until they fled Jerusalem at 66AD according to the prophecy of Luke 21:20-21/Matt 24:15-20. The Jerusalem Church kept the vows, blood sacrifices, temple worship and feasts of the Law of Moses in the book of Acts all the way up until the system was dissolved at the Day of the Lord against Israel (66-70AD).
I assume that you are not keeping the Law of Moses even down to the very least of its commands (observing every jot and tittle of the Mosaic Law), and thus you will be the least in the Kingdom since you don't believe heavens and earth have passed yet and the Mosaic Law is therefore still in existence.
I look forward to your response.
Blessings in the Covenant of Christ, the new heavens and earth.
GW