Jesus the Legalist

Sermon by the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at True Life BPC, 8 August 2010

Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least  commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:17-20).

Christians who take the commandments of God seriously are often written off as “legalistic” by those who loathe to hear the “Thou shalt not’s” of Scripture. When law- haters and law-breakers charge law- keeping and law-abiding believers with “legalism,” they paint them in a bad light, as narrow-minded, unloving, and self-righteous people. Of course, there is a sort of legalism or legalistic behaviour that should be avoided, namely, the proud, pharisaical, holier- than-thou sort, but that does not negate the  truth  that  there  is  such a thing as Biblical legalism and that Christians are duty bound to obey God’s commandments. Jesus for example was legalistic, but not like the Pharisees for He kept the law with full of love for God and man without compromising the commandments of God or condoning sin and error.

What is legalism? According to Chambers Dictionary, legalism is generally defined as a “strict adherence to law.” If we accept this definition of legalism, then Jesus was certainly legalistic for He upheld the law and kept it perfectly and taught the people to obey the law as well.

Jesus Kept the Law Perfectly (Matt 5:17-18)

The word “law” for instance appears more than 500 times in the Bible. The word “law” in the Bible can mean the Ten Commandments, the Pentateuch (ie first five books of the Bible), or the Old Testament, even the whole Bible itself. Our God is a God of Law and His Bible is a Law Book. The Bible is full of “Thou shalt not’s”; there are a total of 239 of them.

Jesus said that He did not come to destroy but to fulfil the law. What did Jesus mean by this? The word “destroy” (kataluo) here has been used of demolishing a house (Matt 24:2) or of releasing a load that is on one’s shoulders (Luke 9:12). Jesus did not come to get rid of the law or dilute its demands. He came to fulfil, not nullify it. The word “fulfil” (pleroo) means to make full or to fill up. Here it has the idea of accomplishment or achievement— Jesus was going to perform fully or keep perfectly the law, and to complete what was lacking in the law and to satisfy the very purpose for which it was given.

Understand that the law was ordained unto life (Rom 7:10). If we want to live forever with God, God’s requirement was holiness, a perfect keeping of the law to earn our right to heaven. We see this in what Jesus said to a certain rich man in Matthew 19:16-26. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jesus was not misleading this rich man. His answer was true and correct. Anyone who wants to enter heaven must keep perfectly the Ten Commandments. The rich man then said to Jesus, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” This rich man was blind to his sinfulness and conceited to think that he was good and a perfect keeper of the law. But the truth is, “There is none righteous, no, not one … For all have sinned, and come short of the glory God” (Rom 3:10, 23). Jesus then said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” But when the rich man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” Jesus proved how the rich man was a sinner and a law breaker. Money was his god. He was a transgressor of the very first commandment—“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exod 20:3). He loved his earthly wealth more than heavenly treasure. Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt 6:24).

What happened to this rich man is explained by Romans 7:10-12, “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”

But here is salvation: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 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 sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom 8:1-4)

Jesus Christ our Saviour fulfilled or obeyed the commandments of God totally and perfectly not for Himself but for you and for me. He was the One who earned the righteousness that we need to enter into heaven. As totally depraved sinners we can never keep the law. That was why our Saviour must keep the law for us, fulfilling all righteousness according to God’s legal requirements. That was why God had to send His Son to earth and subject Him to the law, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:4, 5). It was for our sake that the sinless Son of God came, to be our perfect law-keeper, so that we as sinners might become saints through faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Jesus was a Legalist. He not only kept the law in His life by obeying the commandments of God, He also took upon Himself the penalty of our sins by dying on the cross. The law required Him to die for our sins. He kept that law as well. He died for you and for me, shedding His precious blood. God’s justice must be satisfied, and man can only be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Hebrews 9:22 says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Jesus Christ redeemed us by His blood, and He conquered death by His resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:56, 57 says, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If Jesus was not a Legalist, He could not be our Saviour. We would still be under the Law and under its curse because of sin. But Jesus Christ is our eternal Life-Giver because He was our perfect Law-Keeper.

Jesus Taught the Law Perfectly (Matt 5:19-20)

The Gospel does not make Christian life “free and easy”—“Believe in Jesus Christ and then sin all you like.” Although the gift of eternal life is free, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:7), and the yoke of Christ is easy to bear and His burden light (Matt 11:30), yet we are called to obey God’s commandments. The Bible contains plenty of rules and regulations. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

In the days of Christ, the scribes and Pharisees taught and applied the law of God wrongly. Jesus warned that those who break the law and teach others to break the law are unworthy and worthless (Matt 5:19). That was why Jesus said, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:20). The so-called “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees was of the hypocritical, self-righteous sort. They taught the law for their own selfish ends. Jesus on the other hand taught authoritatively because He was the author of the law, and gave the correct interpretation to the law. For instance, in Matthew 5:42-45, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”

God never taught the Jews to hate their enemies. The Pharisees were the ones who taught that, misinterpreting and misapplying the law. Jesus Christ taught according to the Law of Moses as originally given. The Rev Dr Timothy Tow in his book, The Law of Moses and of Jesus, explained how our Saviour upheld the law of love as originally taught in the Old Testament:

“Hate thy enemy” is nowhere to be found in the whole Old Testament, much less in Moses’ Pentateuch. This is simply an erroneous interpolation of his law, first made by them of old times and now taken for granted by them of this age. Moses’ teaching on loving one’s enemy is no less positive than Christ’s, as may be seen in this enactment: “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him” (Exod 23:4f). A collateral state of love for one’s enemy is the law on the hospitable treatment of aliens: “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:33f). It is further observed that the Mosaic commandment to love one’s enemy reaches into the remotest recess of the heart and stretches to the uttermost reach of the hand. This may be seen in the Book of Proverbs: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth; lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn his wrath away from him” (Prov 24:17f). “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty; give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee” (Prov 25:21f).

What a good and loving God and Saviour we have! True disciples of Jesus Christ should not negate nor dilute the law or commandments of God, but uphold and apply them in their lives.

Jesus was a true Legalist because He was the perfect Law-Giver, Law-Keeper and Law-Teacher. As Christians, we should walk in the steps of our Saviour by loving God and keeping His commandments. We are saved by faith and by faith alone, but faith is not dead but alive and lively, and will cause one to live a life that is Christlike, sanctified by His Word and His Spirit.