The Undying Law

So far in Matthew 5, we have seen Jesus give a description of the people who belong to Him, with The Beatitudes. He then moves into explaining the type of effect that those same people have on the World around them; preserving and illuminating the good, true, and beautiful.

The actions we take and the words we speak, brothers and sisters; the totality of the lives we now live; are nothing short of the streams which flow from the waters of life we have drunk. We, like the woman at the well before us (Jn. 4:13&14), have wet our lips with the blood of God, and it has become “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” deep within the very center of who we are. And as that fountain does what fountains do, the waters of God flow out of our daily words and actions.

For some of us; those waters rage in a foaming torrent of white capped glory, breaking mountains from their foundation. For others, there is but a stream; a thin line that weaves its way ever forward, stopping only to erode away the roots before it.

Both of which, brothers and sisters, are ordained by God.

All of our actions echo forward into the corridors of eternity, bringing a smile of fatherly affection to the face of God, as He fashions the crowns we will one day cast at His beautiful feet. And as our words and deeds do travel through those hallways of time, they pass by everyone in our life. Our children and grandchildren; our spouses and families; our coworkers and friends; all of them see our God glorifying actions crawling into eternity, and are left for the better by them.

Before we move into our Main Verses this morning; ask yourself: Does the fountain of life that now lives within you…produce hurricanes of glory? Or a small unstoppable stream? With that, let us stand and read the Word of the Lord together.

Reading → Matthew 5:17-20 & Opening Prayer

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ was explaining the spirit behind the letter, as He spoke to those well aware of what God requires of a person. All through the Old Testament we see teaching after teaching that God is the very definition of perfection, and commands nothing but it from humanity.

He gave numerous laws, yes; and later on this morning we will discuss how we can see what “carries over” into the New Testament. Before we get there however, when we say “The Law” we are broadly speaking of all of them, and specifically speaking of the Moral Law (The 10 Commandments).

What we need to understand is that when God gave us The Law (broad and specific) He wasn’t simply handing down a set of dictates and stipulations for us to follow. Yes…that is how we can see and understand them, of course. We don’t murder because God says not to; we don't engage in pre- or extramarital sex because God says not to; we don’t steal, lie, or dishonor our parents; etc because God says not to. But deeper than that; in giving us The Law (broad and specific!) God was revealing His character and nature; He was revealing Himself.

The Law of God is His communicable attributes expressed in a way that allows us to interact with Him. Plainly stated; “The Law” is the answer to the question of: “How can I interact with the character and nature of God?” How can I, a fallen, broken, sinner that is prone to wander…interact with the God of the Universe?” → The Law.

And because The Law is His character and nature made manifest; it never has, never will, and in fact - can’t change…because God can’t change. (Ja. 1:17; Num. 23:19)

In his vision of the end of the World, John the Revelator records the words of Christ in Rev. 22:13 when He said → “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” And in the 8th verse of the 13th Chapter of Hebrews, the author writes → “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

In eternity past, before He created all of space and time ex nihilo (from nothing); the triune God existed in spaceless, timeless perfection. There was no horizon at the edge of His sight, and He didn't experience any succession of moments ticking away. Nothing but the Father, Son, and Spirit joined in one essence as the very definition of pure existence. That is why, when Moses asked His name, He revealed it to be “I AM” (Ex. 3:14). God simply is.

And that God; the eternal headwaters of pure existence; the unchanging, timeless, spaceless, King; revealed Himself to a people perpendicular to Him, in the giving of The Law.

Perhaps this can help us to see why there were so many laws (broadly) in the Old Testament. Why all of the specific measurements and fabrics for the Tabernacle? (Ex. 25-27) Why the specificity surrounding the sacrifices? (all through Levi.) Why are there so many civic laws covering everything from property rights (Deut. 19:14; 21:15-17; 22:1-4, 8; 25:5-10); due process (Num. 35; Deut. 16-19); public health and safety (Levi. 13-14; Deut. 22:8; 23:12-14); and economic justice (Levi. 19:35-36; Deut. 24:14-15)?

Because the neon King of the Universe was showing us who He is, in a way that we can interact with. But also, He was showing us what He demands; and what He demands is nothing short of Himself.

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When God called Abram out of his home to become the father of many, He said “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless”(Gen. 17:1); and then called those who belong to Him “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). When His people were wandering for forty years, every step of guidance He gave to them was one of instruction as He taught them to be holy just as He is holy (Lev. 11:44 & 45; 19:2; 20:7).

For us today, we have an advantage over the saints of old with the very book that now sits in front of us. Within these golden pages we read that we are to “let patience have its perfect work…” why? → “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Jm. 1:4). We also see this command of perfection repeated by Christ Himself, at the end of this Sermon we are studying. After telling us to act like God did for you…and love your enemies; He says: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mat. 5:48).

We see Peter quote this same Old Testament truth in 1 Peter 1:14-16 when; after telling us that the angels themselves have a desire to understand how God’s enemies have now become His friends; he tells us to → “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; [15] but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16] because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Brothers and sisters, we are to be holy…not like other people who give their best efforts. Not like the prophets; and not like our parents or pastors. We are to be as holy as God is. Period. He will not accept your best efforts, does not grade on a curve; has taken every single extenuating circumstance into account…and still requires us to be holy like He is holy. And how can we humans know the level of Holiness for a sinless, spaceless, timeless, changeless God that we must attain? The Law, both broad and specific.

In Revelation 22:14, just a breath away from the final words of the only words of God we have today, we read this → “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”

Do you want to have access to the Tree of Life? Do you want God to see you as His friend and not His enemy? Do you want to go to Heaven when you die? Do you want to be holy…just like God is holy? Then you need to carry out the commands of God. You need to follow the Law. In fact, if we aren’t carrying out the commandments of God in our life, it not only means nothing but Hell awaits us in the next life…it means we don’t love God in this life. 

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…” (John 14:21)

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…” (John 14:23)

“He who does not love Me does not keep My words…” (John 14:24)

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love…” (John 15:10)

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments…” (1 John 2:3-5)

“This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments…” (1 John 5:2 & 3)

“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments…” (2 John 6)

If you are someone who claims to love God, yet do not keep, abide, or walk according to what He has long said…then repent. Here and now. Before your eyes close for the last time; before your heart sings its final chorus from the depths of your chest and the tears of your family stain the stone over your buried body…provide no explanations for your sin; provide no excuse; but rather, accuse yourself before God; admit your fault; admit your guilt. Forsake your fornications and false gods. Turn your back on your lies, laziness, and adulteries; repenting with every turn.

Orient, not only your actions, but your thoughts, upward. Spend your mental and emotional energy on “...whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things - and the God of peace, within whom darkness cannot dwell, will forgive you.” (Phil 4:8 & 9)

If you believe in God, yet do not follow His commandments…why? What’s stopping you? 

Is the cost of abandoning that way of life…higher than Hell? 

How we live our life shows the contents of our hearts, brothers and sisters.

If you love God, then prove it by living like it.

Does God live braided into your soul? Then prove it, by living like it.

Are you innocent in the eyes of a Judge who knows your deepest, darkest secret?

Then prove it, by living like it's true.

Take no examples from the Christ-less conservatives who hate their enemies instead of loving them; and do not follow after the liberal-minded perverts who claim to love God yet do not follow His commandments. 

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So…which ones, right? If The Law is the character and nature of God made manifest; and God doesn't change; if Christ says in our verses this morning that the smallest and most minute aspects of the law will remain until the consummation of history in the Eschaton in v.18, and then in v.20 He says → “...unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”...that means we need to live out The Law of God to the extreme, never missing a single one, at all times. Right?

Are we to follow the Old Testament Ceremonial Law? Or the Sacrificial Law? What about the Civic Law? Or the Moral Law?

Are we to wear specific colored clothing, made of specific material, at all times, no matter what? What about Shellfish or Tattoos? 

If The Law is God made manifest, and we are commanded to be like Him; if The Law isn't going to pass away until the end of time; if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and need a righteousness that surpasses the Scribes and Pharisees who followed all of them…doesn't that then mean we need to follow all of them as well? …

Yes.

Yes to the Sacrificial.

Yes to the Civic.

And Yes to the Moral.

Yes to all of them.

Yes.

“But Pastor!...” you might be thinking right now, “what about Sola Fide? What about when Romans 3:28 says → “a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”? How can you say that we need to follow all of them?”

It's rather easy, considering that Jesus said our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees who did such a thing, in our verses this morning.

Now, before you get the stones out to drive me from the Pulpit, stay with me here.

Yes, all of The Laws are “still on the books” so to speak. God’s character and nature will never and can never change, and therefore The Law can never change. He isn’t going to annul His commands, replace them with other ones, alter them depending on the person or society, or abolish them completely…because they are the manifestation of who He is.

However, because all of Scripture is the voice of God (2 Tim. 3:16), with the words of Paul being just as authoritative as those of Moses (2 Pet. 3:16); we need to see everything that God has said about The Law.

In Gal. 2:23-25, the famous “justification by faith alone” Chapter, we read this → “before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. [24] Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

God gave us The Law to keep us under guard, to protect us from veering off in those directions that a fallen heart desires to veer off towards. When our heart tells us to lie, steal, cheat, lust, and murder; The Law was given to interrupt those desires and keep us from carrying them out. And those verses also say that The Law was given to be our tutor, our teacher. To show us what God is like and to bring us to Christ. 

Why? Because Christ fulfilled The Law on our behalf. “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Mat. 5:17)

Christ; the incarnate, flesh-having-air-breathing-human nature-having Godman; the second Person of The Trinity; fully God and fully man; fulfilled The Law of God in every aspect, down to every jot and tittle. Jesus Christ is The Law.

The Law was given to show us, brothers and sisters, that we aren't God, and can never be. Seeing list after list of laws and statutes should have prompted our broken hearts to cry out: “God, I can't do all of that! I am so weak and small, and “I don’t understand why I do the things I do. The things I want to do, I don't, but instead I do the things that I hate!” (Rom. 7:15 - paraphrased). Help me God! “I agree with the law that it is good…but I see another law inside of me, waging endless war against Yours! And it is always bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in me! Oh wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death!” (Rom. 7:23&24 - paraphrased)

To repeat myself; The Law was given to prompt us to cry out for mercy. And because God is perfect, The Law is undying. And because God is merciful, He sent His only begotten Son to fulfill The Law in the place of all of His children. So now, for those who have cried out for mercy in light of the perfect Law of God, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:1-4)

The Law is still on the books, it will never be abolished; and absolute divine holiness is still required of us in every aspect of our lives; however, when we repented of our sins and believed in Jesus Christ; we were given the divine Law-Keeping righteousness of The Son, and our fallen, wretched, Law-Breaking sin was given to Him. God provided what He required.

When you see the unmoving intricacies of Old Testament Law, do you then see yourself as unable to fulfill them? Do they cause your sin and shame to blink aloud in the eyes of your heart? Then repent and believe upon Him who fulfilled what He required. Are you wrecked by the weight of guilt, crushing you under your inability to do what God requires of you? Then repent and believe upon Him who was crushed under the weight of an angry God.

Brothers and sisters, when Christ spoke our verse this morning, He was drawing a God-shaped line down through the center of human thinking. It is these verses (among many), that show us the truth of Hebrews 4:12 & 13 → “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [13] And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

What are the thoughts and intents of your heart?

Are they to prove your own holiness through unending law following?

Or do you admit your weaknesses in light of what God requires, and depend on Christ?

Do we haphazardly abandon everything we read in the Old Testament, giving in to perversion and anarchy? Or do we grind our knees and hearts to dust by a literal observation of everything we read? Should there be a complete & total abandonment of everything we read in the Old Testament? Of course not. “For assuredly” Christ “say(s) to you,” that” till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (v.18)

The Law is still on the books, and still needs to be followed. Well then, should we double-down and literally observe every single one, from the moment our eyes open till they close again, day after day? Of course not, because there is no way our righteousness can “exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees.” (v.20)

So what do we do? We follow Christ’s understanding of the Laws, and see His fulfillment in them. Christ, His words and works, is the continuity between the Old and New Testament. Just like He is clarifying and interpreting the Moral Law first given on Mt. Sinai here in the Sermon on the Mount; He continued to do through all of His teaching. Or, teaching that He fulfilled them.

In Colossians 2:16 & 17 we see that He fulfilled the Ceremonial laws:

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”

In Mark 7:18 & 19 we see Him interpret the Food laws:

So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”

In Matthew 19:4 & 5 we see the Christ as the continuity in regards to marriage:

“And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

In Hebrews 10:11-14, we see Him fulfill the Sacrificial laws, & the Civic laws:

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

And in 2nd Corinthians 5:20 & 21 we see Christ fulfilling the Moral law:

“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

When questions of “this or that law” come to your mind; ask: what does Jesus have to say about it? Does He have anything to say about them? Does He reference or quote them? Are they laws that He fulfilled? Does Jesus interpret Old Testament Laws in ways different from yourself, your Pastor, or the random talking head on social media? He is the gold standard for how to understand the Old Testament…and the Old Testament is the gold standard for how to understand Him.

The entirety of the Old Testament, every Chapter, points towards Christ. He is the goal of every event that was carried out, every prophecy that was spoken, and every law that was established. He is the Living Law of God, perfect in all of His ways, and is the final say for how life should be lived under the sun, both individually and socially. Find continuity between the Old and New Testament in His words and actions. 

This is something we desperately need to carry out, brothers and sisters; because when Jesus describes those who belong to Him in The Beatitudes, then explains the effect their lives have on the world around them; He anticipates our response by saying that the salt and light fulfills their purpose when they live in accordance to The Law He fulfilled. Plainly stated:

How are we to follow every single Old Testament Law?

By repenting and believing upon Him who fulfilled them all.

Be reconciled to God, children of Clyde-Savannah. Turn to Him who knew no sin, see The Living Law, wounded for our iniquities, and be healed by His stripes. Then go out and live like you love Him.

Rev. Jacob Marchitell

March 1st 2026