NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - A Righteousness That Exceeds That Of The Pharisees
Aired: 2024-10-07
Duration: 51:00


=== Five Star Reviews Explained (09:49) ===

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[00:00:41]  My text for today is a text from Pat Buchanan's book, The Unnecessary War.
[00:00:45]  I'm just kidding.
[00:00:47]  Contrary to popular belief, we try to teach the Bible.
[00:00:50]  So our text is the Gospel of Matthew.
[00:00:53]  We're going to be looking at chapter 5, verses 17 through 20.
[00:00:56]  Would you join me in standing for the reading of God's Word?
[00:00:59]  Again, this is the Gospel according to Matthew.
[00:01:02]  Matthew chapter 5, verse 17 through 20.
[00:01:05]  I'll read our text in its entirety.
[00:01:07]  When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say, This is the word of the Lord, at which point I would appreciate if you would respond by saying, Thanks be to God.
[00:01:13]  One final time, our text for today is the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5, verses 17 through 20.
[00:01:20]  The Bible says this Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
[00:01:26]  I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
[00:01:29]  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, Will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
[00:01:40]  Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:01:49]  But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:01:55]  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
[00:02:05]  This is the word of the Lord.
[00:02:07]  All right, please be seated.
[00:02:08]  Let's begin.
[00:02:10]  I've taken our text and broken it up into three sections.
[00:02:14]  We'll deal with verse 17 first, where we see that Jesus loves the law.
[00:02:20]  Jesus doesn't merely tolerate the law, but really, in his heart of hearts, he loves the gospel and loves grace.
[00:02:28]  No, Jesus loves the gospel.
[00:02:31]  He loves grace and not merely tolerates, but loves and fulfills and upholds the law.
[00:02:39]  He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
[00:02:42]  The second portion will be verses 18 and 19 of our text, where we'll see Jesus' formula, for lack of a better term, for how to be great in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:02:54]  How to be great in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:02:57]  As a spoiler alert, I'll say this in short you will never achieve greatness in the kingdom of heaven by being an antinomian, by being one who juxtaposes grace over and against righteousness and obedience.
[00:03:16]  To the law of God.
[00:03:18]  That is a quick path to becoming least in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:03:22]  And perhaps, if your doctrinal errors are so severe, entering into the realm of even heresy, then you will not merely be least in the kingdom of heaven, but you will, in fact, in the final analysis, find yourself in hell.
[00:03:39]  And then, lastly, verse 20 of our verse, we'll see that what is required in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
[00:03:47]  Not only to be great, but to even receive entrance into the kingdom of heaven at all, is a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees.
[00:03:59]  Again, a little bit of a spoiler alert here.
[00:04:03]  That righteousness, the easiest way to exegete verse 20, the final verse of our text today, is to hinge the entirety of your exegesis and your doctrinal argumentation.
[00:04:18]  On positional righteousness, that is justification, a righteousness that is immediate, that comes in a single moment by grace through faith in Christ alone.
[00:04:31]  And yet, however, although I don't think it's anything less than that, to be clear, certainly not less, I do believe that Jesus is getting at more.
[00:04:42]  I do believe that in verse 20 of our text, Jesus is not merely referencing a positional righteousness that comes by justification.
[00:04:50]  That is an alien righteousness, a righteousness of another, namely Jesus Christ, a righteousness that is alien to ourselves.
[00:04:57]  It's not our own.
[00:04:58]  It's the righteousness of Christ, not infused, but rather imputed to us by faith and not by works, so that no man can boast.
[00:05:06]  That righteousness, in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven, is vital, absolutely necessary.
[00:05:12]  No one will be in heaven apart from it.
[00:05:15]  You must be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.
[00:05:19]  It must be a spotless righteousness, a perfect righteousness.
[00:05:23]  A divine righteousness that even exceeds not merely the righteousness of the Pharisees, but the righteousness, as I've said many times, of angels and cherubim and seraphim, the righteousness of the second member of the divine Trinity himself.
[00:05:37]  God's very own righteousness, not earned, but imputed, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
[00:05:47]  You will not inherit the kingdom of God apart from that righteousness, and, not but, and, Your progressive righteousness, your sanctification, in that category, theological category as well, I believe that Jesus mandates and fully expects that his disciples would be superior to the Pharisees in the category of progressive, not positional,
[00:06:17]  certainly that, but also progressive righteousness, not only justification, but also sanctification as well.
[00:06:25]  That followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who have in fact truly been justified, will be sanctified.
[00:06:33]  And in that sanctification process, their progressive righteousness, obedience, outward obedience to the law of God, which is fueled by faith and grace, that even that righteousness, that outward obedience, will actually be superior to the outward obedience of the Pharisees, who were meticulous.
[00:06:54]  And yet, here's the key what was the number one?
[00:06:59]  The number one insult leveled by Jesus Christ himself towards the Pharisees.
[00:07:05]  He does not say of the Pharisees again and again that you are legalist.
[00:07:10]  That's how the modern evangelical church, which is pathetic and antinomian and wants to simply live whatever life we want, thinking that grace will cover it all.
[00:07:22]  That's what we want to say.
[00:07:23]  We want to say today, the modern evangelical church, that the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees is that he saw them as legalist.
[00:07:32]  That's not what the Bible teaches.
[00:07:34]  What the Bible instead teaches is that Jesus saw them as hypocrites.
[00:07:39]  Woe, you hypocrites!
[00:07:41]  Not legalists who are holding too tightly to obedience to the law, but rather hypocrites that teach with their mouths the importance of obedience to the law, but in their very own lives don't actually obey themselves.
[00:07:57]  Jesus' problem with the Pharisees is not that they raised the bar too high when it comes to righteousness.
[00:08:02]  His problem with the Pharisees is that they themselves were whitewashed tombs, that they themselves were like cups that were cleansed on the outside, but a petri dish on the inside.
[00:08:14]  That they were a walking contradiction, that they rightly taught.
[00:08:18]  Jesus even says this verbatim do as they teach, but not as they do, for they are legalists?
[00:08:25]  No.
[00:08:26]  Hypocrites.
[00:08:27]  Hypocrites.
[00:08:28]  In other words, the righteousness of the Pharisees, according to Jesus himself, even not merely were they lacking positional righteousness because they did not have faith in Jesus and were not disciples of Jesus.
[00:08:45]  Not only were they lacking in positional righteousness, justification, but they also were lacking in progressive righteousness, sanctification.
[00:08:55]  They were not actually righteous in any sense.
[00:08:59]  They were not inwardly righteous from the heart, and they were not outwardly righteous with their hands and feet.
[00:09:06]  They merely had righteousness that came from their lips.
[00:09:13]  They gave righteousness lip service, they tipped the hat, as it were, to righteousness.
[00:09:19]  But they did not have righteousness of the heart, no justification, nor did they have righteousness with their hands and feet in terms of progressive righteousness, sanctification.
[00:09:30]  And the Christian, if he is in fact to be a Christian, and not merely to be great in the kingdom of heaven, but merely enter the kingdom of heaven, his righteousness must supersede both the positional and progressive righteousness of the Pharisees.

=== Jesus Fulfills The Law (06:14) ===

[00:09:49]  And if you think that that's a controversial view, the first time I heard it was from R.C. Sproul.
[00:09:55]  However, I have discovered that R.C. Sproul can say many things, and Joel Webbin cannot.
[00:10:01]  So, it will still be a problem, to be sure, but with you, I am hopeful of better things, you who belong to this church and love the Word of God.
[00:10:10]  So let's begin.
[00:10:11]  Verse 17, let's read it once more so that it's fresh in our minds.
[00:10:15]  The point here, big idea, being that Jesus loves the law, not merely the gospel, but the law.
[00:10:20]  He does not come to abolish the law, but yet.
[00:10:23]  Rather to fulfill it.
[00:10:25]  Matthew 5 17 says, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
[00:10:30]  I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
[00:10:34]  Utilizing the late great Puritan Matthew Henry on this particular verse, he commentates as follows The rule which Christ came to establish exactly agreed with the scriptures of the Old Testament, here called the law and the prophets.
[00:10:49]  Jesus protests against the thought of canceling and weakening the Old Testament.
[00:10:54]  Jesus is not a fan of unhitching from the Old Testament.
[00:10:58]  Let not, now here's the thing, by Jesus saying this, I've not come to abolish the law, but rather fulfill it.
[00:11:04]  He is guarding, he's setting up a hedge against two pitfalls on either side of the path, two ditches that it's possible for us as New Testament disciples of Christ to fall into ourselves.
[00:11:16]  Here's the two hedges on either side of the road.
[00:11:18]  Here it is.
[00:11:19]  On one hand, he protests against the thought of canceling and weakening the Old Testament.
[00:11:26]  In other words, let not the pious Jews, those who do care about holiness and care about obedience to the law, let not the pious Jews who have an affection for the law and the prophets fear that I have come to destroy them.
[00:11:42]  So he's putting those in that camp, as he's preaching, he's putting them at ease, saying, For those of you who care greatly about the law of God and all that is written in the prophets and the law, Do not think that I have come to eradicate and abolish and replace it.
[00:12:01]  I haven't.
[00:12:02]  I love Moses.
[00:12:04]  Moses was sent by me.
[00:12:06]  I love Abraham.
[00:12:07]  Abraham was sent by me.
[00:12:09]  Before Abraham was, I am, says Jesus.
[00:12:12]  And he looked forward prophetically in a messianic sense, that prophecy and promise.
[00:12:18]  He looked forward to my day and he rejoiced.
[00:12:21]  Abraham rejoiced in me and I rejoice in Abraham and in Moses and in all the law and the prophets and those things which have been inscripturated.
[00:12:30]  By the very Spirit of God, both inspired by the Spirit and also preserved.
[00:12:38]  I have not come to eradicate any of that.
[00:12:41]  So, for those of you who care greatly about the law of God and obedience to Him, put your mind and hearts at ease, for I have come only to confirm and uphold and fulfill, not to abolish.
[00:12:55]  That's one hedge.
[00:12:57]  Now, on the other hand, likewise, let not the profane Jews.
[00:13:03]  Who have a disaffection to the law and the prophets, and are weary of that yoke, hope that I have come to destroy them.
[00:13:11]  Let not carnal libertines imagine that the Messiah is come to discharge them from the obligation of divine precepts, and yet to secure to them divine promises.
[00:13:25]  That's a good line.
[00:13:26]  Let me read that one more time.
[00:13:29]  Don't let the carnal among you, Not the legalists, but on this hand, the antinomians, which means those who are against law, who want to live lawlessly, those who want to live according to their own lustful passions, the lustful desires of the flesh, let them not get too excited.
[00:13:53]  For I am not here to abolish the law, but to fulfill it and uphold it.
[00:13:59]  I'm not here to give you a get out of jail free card.
[00:14:02]  Instead, I am here once more to fulfill the law of God, not to abolish it.
[00:14:09]  Do not let carnal libertines imagine that the Messiah has come to discharge them from obligation to divine precepts, that is, commandments, positive commands, and yet somehow secure to them divine promises.
[00:14:25]  I have not come to abolish the precepts of God while handing to you the promises of God.
[00:14:31]  No, I am here to uphold all his precepts, his commands, and also with them.
[00:14:38]  Offer to you promises as well.
[00:14:42]  I've come for both to make the happy and yet to give them leave to live as they wish.
[00:14:50]  To make them happy and yet to give them leave to live as they wish.
[00:14:55]  He's saying, I'm not coming for that.
[00:14:57]  I'm not coming to give you promises without any commands.
[00:15:00]  I'm not coming to make you happy and yet allow you to live as you wish.
[00:15:06]  So, on the one hand, here's a hedge for those of you who are very concerned.
[00:15:10]  With the laws of God, I have not come to abolish them.
[00:15:13]  And for those of you who are hoping that I have come to abolish them so that you can be happy with the promises and yet free from the precepts and live as you wish, I have not come to do that either.
[00:15:25]  That's the first thing that Jesus is getting at in verse 17 of our text.
[00:15:29]  He did not come to abolish, but to fulfill the law.
[00:15:32]  Now, in terms of his fulfillment, Jesus fulfills all of the law, but it is, I think, helpful for us with perhaps some doctrinal clarification to speak of.
[00:15:45]  Different categories of the law of God and the differences in how He fulfilled each of them.
[00:15:52]  There are some distinctions.
[00:15:54]  Every single iota of the law of God was fulfilled by Christ, but not all of it was fulfilled in the same sense.

=== Natural Law And Guilt (05:23) ===

[00:16:03]  What I mean by that is the simplest way I could explain, and there are some problems with this grid, but I think that in general it's mostly helpful and mostly true.
[00:16:14]  So I present it to you today.
[00:16:16]  That the law can be broken down not just into its three uses, as we often address in the liturgy of our Lord's Day worship service.
[00:16:24]  The three uses being the first that the law of God functions as a mirror, that it reflects to us the very holiness of God, and by way of consequence, in staring into the law of God and seeing God's holiness, it causes us to see our lack thereof, and therefore our sinfulness, and therefore it shows us the great chasm that exists between a thrice holy God and sinful man, and therefore our need for a Savior, and drives us to Christ.
[00:16:47]  That's the first use.
[00:16:48]  Like a mirror.
[00:16:49]  The second is the law functions as a shield.
[00:16:52]  And as a shield, what it does is it restrains wickedness.
[00:16:55]  It does not restrain, apart from actual salvation, which comes through the gospel, the law of God is powerless to restrain wickedness at the level of the heart.
[00:17:04]  But the law of God is highly effective in restraining outward wickedness.
[00:17:10]  That is, wicked deeds done outwardly that do not align with the moral law of God.
[00:17:15]  In other words, you can have an unregenerate murderer.
[00:17:19]  Who, all of a sudden, if there's a law that says if you murder, you will die, he's going to be highly incentivized to stop murdering.
[00:17:30]  And he may never be a Christian, may never believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:17:35]  And in the final analysis, when he breathes his last breath, he spends eternity under the wrath of God in hell.
[00:17:41]  And yet, for that temporal window, that moment of his life on earth, there were many outward wicked things that he was tempted and even eagerly desirous to do.
[00:17:53]  And yet, he did not, because he was outwardly restrained by the law of God, and the law of God restrains people in two ways.
[00:18:02]  One would be, well, it would be spoken of in Romans chapter 1, and particularly Romans chapter 2.
[00:18:08]  This is natural law, that the law of God, even for the unregenerate man, is written on the hearts of all men.
[00:18:15]  This is part of the reason for the record that I still, despite perhaps my better judgment, remain a credo Baptist.
[00:18:24]  I am still persuaded that.
[00:18:27]  That the law of God being written on the heart, when we look at certain texts like Ezekiel chapter 36, which I believe is prophetically speaking of the new covenant, that Ezekiel doesn't, it says that one of the marks of the new covenant is that the law of God would be written on the hearts of men.
[00:18:43]  But it goes further.
[00:18:44]  It doesn't only say that because if that's all that was said, there would be a problem because that's not really new.
[00:18:50]  That's not really distinct from the unregenerate, from those who are outside of the new covenant, who don't have faith.
[00:18:56]  Why?
[00:18:56]  Because Romans 2 tells us.
[00:18:58]  The argumentation of the Apostle Paul himself to pagan Gentiles is precisely this.
[00:19:04]  He says, You stand condemned and without an excuse, as he previously said in Romans chapter 1, you're without an apologia, without an argument, without a defense.
[00:19:15]  You stand condemned.
[00:19:16]  Why?
[00:19:16]  Because you know, you know that you're a sinner.
[00:19:19]  You're not ignorant.
[00:19:21]  Ignorance, first and foremost, is not an excuse to be disobedient to the law.
[00:19:26]  But furthermore, if you claim ignorance, you're only heaping up.
[00:19:29]  Further condemnation because now you've committed another sin, namely the sin of lying, because you're not ignorant.
[00:19:34]  Your own, Paul says, Romans chapter 2, own conscience.
[00:19:38]  Your own conscience is testifying against you.
[00:19:41]  You know, what he's saying essentially is this that you have a moral compass written on the fabric of your own soul.
[00:19:48]  As a human being made in the image of God, even apart from saving grace, even as an unregenerate, non Christian man, your own moral compass testifies against you.
[00:19:59]  Not only have you failed to live up to God's standard, You can't even live up to your standard.
[00:20:05]  The law of God has been written on the hearts of every man on the basis not only of Christian faith, but on the very basis of mankind being made in the image of God, even apart from Christian faith.
[00:20:16]  So, Ezekiel 36 goes further.
[00:20:18]  Ezekiel 36, speaking of the new covenant, is superior to what Paul writes of natural law, even for the unregenerate man in Romans chapter 2.
[00:20:27]  What Ezekiel 36, speaking of the new covenant, says is not only will the law of God be written on your hearts, but I think by way of implication, We can exegete from that that the law of God written on the hearts of every man, even before he was saved, will now be illuminated and intensified for the Christian because the very Spirit of God now dwells within you, calling your attention to that law written on your heart.
[00:20:49]  And then, furthermore, Ezekiel 36 says, And I will cause you to walk in my ways, and I will place the fear of myself, the fear of the Lord, within you.
[00:21:01]  These are two additional benefits spoken of of the new covenant that are lacking.
[00:21:07]  Intentionally absent in Romans 2 when speaking of natural law for the unregenerate man.
[00:21:12]  For the unregenerate man, you do have the second use of God's law functioning as a shield at the individual level, the heart level, that the law of God is written on his heart, in his conscience, so that even a non Christian has a sense of guilt.

=== Conscience Without Hope (02:39) ===

[00:21:27]  Again, another Sproulism.
[00:21:29]  I don't know why I'm thinking of Sproul today, but he had a lot of good things.
[00:21:33]  Disagree on some points, but he had a lot of good things.
[00:21:35]  One of them was this.
[00:21:37]  When he would give examples of doing personal evangelism, he said that oftentimes there were individuals that he'd be sharing the gospel with who were particularly hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:21:48]  And eventually they'd go back and forth arguing over situational ethics and arguing over doctrine and arguing over scripture and arguing over this and that and the other.
[00:21:58]  And eventually, if it wasn't really progressing and getting anywhere, it wasn't very productive, he would eventually land the plane on a single question.
[00:22:05]  The question being this What do you do with your guilt?
[00:22:10]  Now, notice, intentionally by design, the question was not, do you have guilt?
[00:22:14]  But rather, the question was, assuming, knowing with confidence that the person, as all people do, wrestles with guilt, he rather, instead of asking, do you have guilt, he simply asked, what do you do with your guilt?
[00:22:28]  And for the non Christian, there is no sufficient answer.
[00:22:32]  The honest answer for the non Christian is, I attempt to assuage my conscience at some degree or another by balancing the scales.
[00:22:41]  Of doing some good things to counteract all the bad things I know I've done, but at the end of the day, my head hits the pillow and I lie awake at night.
[00:22:49]  And before drifting off to sleep, I struggle still knowing that I'm a sinner, still knowing that at some level I'm a monster and that I'm not just ignorant, but there's real malice and there's real sinister and wicked intent that I'm a bad person.
[00:23:04]  And what do I do with my guilt?
[00:23:06]  I try to counteract it, I try to put my conscience to sleep.
[00:23:09]  But the true answer is what do I do with my guilt?
[00:23:12]  Nothing.
[00:23:13]  I've been lying in the puddle, the sea of my own guilt, constantly, in perpetuity, without any solution.
[00:23:24]  Without any hope at all, because only the gospel has the power to defeat guilt.
[00:23:31]  No fear in death, no guilt in life.
[00:23:33]  Only the Gospel Of Jesus Christ is able to deal with that problem.
[00:23:39]  The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, the Son Of God, enduring and drinking in himself the full cup of the white, hot wrath of God, so that not one drop of God's wrath remains for those who are in Christ.
[00:23:51]  Jesus, the blood of the lamb over the mantle, that the angel of death and the wrath of God should pass From you and your house, only Christ can accomplish that.
[00:24:01]  It is the only solution and the only answer to the guilt of man.

=== The Third Use Of Law (05:59) ===

[00:24:06]  But what Sprowl is referencing is back to the second use of the law of God.
[00:24:10]  There is an individual inward use, even for the unregenerate Christian.
[00:24:15]  The fear of God has not been placed within them.
[00:24:19]  That's the new covenant, Ezekiel 36.
[00:24:21]  The law of God has not yet been intensified and illuminated on their hearts as the Spirit of God.
[00:24:29]  Now, dwelling within the new creation, uses and works in conjunction with the law of God written on the heart and intensifies it with conviction of sin.
[00:24:39]  That's not there.
[00:24:41]  And the promise of God causing us to walk in his precepts, that's not there.
[00:24:48]  But even for the non Christian, the law of God written on their hearts, in a natural sense, a conscience, a sense of guilt, some inner sense of ethics is still there.
[00:25:00]  And Paul argues in Romans 2 that's precisely.
[00:25:03]  What condemns them?
[00:25:05]  That's precisely what renders them excuseless, what renders them guilty before God.
[00:25:12]  And so the second use as a shield of the law of God first use, mirror, drives us to Christ, shows us our need.
[00:25:19]  Second use, shield.
[00:25:20]  There is a shielding, restraining effect of the law of God for corporate people, polis, insofar as the law of God is actually legislated and upheld and enforced by natural governments.
[00:25:37]  By human civil magistrates.
[00:25:39]  So, insofar as a nation adopts the law of God, legislates and enforces it righteously, there is a corporate restraining effect.
[00:25:48]  It doesn't change the heart, it doesn't restrain evil at the level of intent and motive and desire, but it does restrain outward deeds of evil done by the populace within that nation.
[00:26:01]  It holds evil at bay with the fear of God, no, with the fear of the sword.
[00:26:06]  And that's enough.
[00:26:07]  There is no fear of God before the eyes of the wicked.
[00:26:10]  That's Romans chapter 3.
[00:26:11]  But there can still be fear of the sword.
[00:26:15]  So there's a restraining effect, shield, at a national level, but also a restraining effect at the conscience level, individual level.
[00:26:22]  And that's Romans chapter 2.
[00:26:24]  It's Romans 13 and Romans chapter 2.
[00:26:27]  That's the second use of the law of God as shield.
[00:26:29]  Third use is compass mirror, shows us our need for Christ, drives us to Christ.
[00:26:35]  Shield, restraining evil, not at the level of the heart, but outwardly.
[00:26:39]  And then lastly, compass.
[00:26:41]  And this is what David says when he says, I delight in your law.
[00:26:44]  It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
[00:26:48]  That the law of God shows, this is the third use, is in reference to the Christian.
[00:26:52]  For those who have been born again, the first use has kicked in, showed us our sin, showed us God's holiness, showed us our need for a Savior.
[00:27:00]  And by grace, the Holy Spirit drew us to Christ, and we were caused to become regenerated by the Spirit, caused to become a new creation, and gifted the gifts, granted the gifts, not conjured by the work of man, but the gifts of faith and repentance to turn to Christ, faith, and turn from sin, repentance.
[00:27:19]  And now, as a new creation, as a Christian, Because the first use of the law of God worked.
[00:27:24]  Now, the third use kicks in.
[00:27:26]  This is exclusively for the Christian.
[00:27:28]  That the law of God speaks to the Christian and says, Here is the path to obedience to God.
[00:27:34]  And it is not the path that leads us to salvation.
[00:27:37]  The third use of the law for the Christian is the path that leads us from salvation into further sanctification.
[00:27:45]  So it's not saying, Hey, here's the law of God and how you need to outwardly obey.
[00:27:49]  And if you go down this path far enough, eventually you will merit the favor and love of God and be born again.
[00:27:55]  No, that's a heresy.
[00:27:57]  Rather, it's you've already been born again.
[00:27:59]  1 John 4 19, we love because he first loved us, and because we now love and have been caused to become new creations, the first question that is asked by those who truly love Christ is, How can I show you my love?
[00:28:12]  And Jesus says, If you love me, you'll obey me.
[00:28:14]  Obey what?
[00:28:15]  My commands.
[00:28:16]  Here's the law.
[00:28:17]  Here's how to walk.
[00:28:18]  Not to earn salvation, but as a response of gratitude for the free salvation we already received by grace through faith in Christ.
[00:28:26]  That's the third use of the law.
[00:28:27]  So, mirror.
[00:28:29]  Shield, compass.
[00:28:32]  None of that deals with the text.
[00:28:33]  Okay, so back to the point.
[00:28:35]  But it's good.
[00:28:36]  It's good stuff.
[00:28:37]  Some of my best.
[00:28:38]  All right, so, okay.
[00:28:39]  Here's the point that's the three uses of the law of God.
[00:28:43]  The three categories, remember that?
[00:28:45]  Like 15 minutes ago.
[00:28:47]  The three categories of the law of God are as follows.
[00:28:50]  Again, there's some problems here.
[00:28:52]  There are arguments to be made of, well, I don't know if these categories are.
[00:28:56]  In general, though, in general, this has been held historically within the Reformed tradition.
[00:29:01]  I don't think that we need to reinvent the wheel and get cute.
[00:29:06]  I personally, for those, most of you won't even know what this is.
[00:29:08]  And I would say, if you're like, what's that?
[00:29:10]  I don't know what it is.
[00:29:10]  I would say, good.
[00:29:12]  Let's just keep it that way.
[00:29:13]  I'm glad you don't know what it is.
[00:29:14]  But I am not a federal visionist.
[00:29:17]  I don't think it's helpful.
[00:29:19]  I think just the good old categories of covenant of works and covenant of grace, I think that works just fine.
[00:29:26]  I understand.
[00:29:27]  Well, covenant of works technically is a covenant of life, or it's a creational covenant.
[00:29:31]  And if Adam was, he would technically still be operating by faith and by grace.
[00:29:36]  And I get it.
[00:29:38]  But you just muddy the waters.
[00:29:39]  It's doctrinally confusing.
[00:29:41]  I don't think it's particularly helpful.
[00:29:42]  So, if you're in Adam, you're spiritually dead.
[00:29:45]  You're going to hell, unless by grace you're born again and now in Christ as a new covenant, you know, federal head, a new covenant head.
[00:29:51]  So, covenant of works, that's the Reformed tradition, always has been.
[00:29:54]  Covenant of grace.
[00:29:57]  And then within that, the Reformed tradition holds to three different categories of the law of God you have the moral law, you have the civil code, civil law, and ceremonial.

=== Four Hundred Years Of Silence (03:38) ===

[00:30:06]  Now, Jesus, in his fulfillment of the law, back to verse 17, first verse of our text, his fulfillment is total.
[00:30:12]  It's in total.
[00:30:14]  A total fulfillment of all the law of God, all three of these categories moral, civil, and ceremonial.
[00:30:20]  But there is a distinction in the way in which he fulfills the law in each of these three categories, and certainly a distinction in regards to what that means for you and me.
[00:30:30]  Okay?
[00:30:31]  Jesus' fulfillment of the ceremonial law.
[00:30:35]  His fulfillment.
[00:30:36]  So let's start there.
[00:30:37]  Ceremonial law this is the priestly animal sacrificial system that belonged to Judaism in Israel.
[00:30:45]  At that time.
[00:30:46]  And at that time, as you guys know, I've said it before, it bears saying again, and I won't spend much time on it.
[00:30:52]  But even at that time, this is after 400 years of, as the scripture says elsewhere in the Old Testament, that the sky had turned to brass, or some translations say bronze, and the word of the Lord was hew, meaning that leading up to the scene when Jesus comes in his incarnation, you have that's on the heels of 400 years.
[00:31:17]  Of primarily, predominantly silence from the Lord to Israel.
[00:31:23]  And during those 400 years, with mostly silence from the Lord, the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and rulers of the law wasted no time during those four centuries when the word of the Lord was few to make sure to pervert Judaism as much as they possibly could.
[00:31:42]  So that when Jesus arrives on the scene, that's why he's constantly juxtaposing.
[00:31:47]  Look at his preaching style.
[00:31:48]  Look at his argumentation, his rhetoric.
[00:31:50]  Again and again, what he's constantly doing is he's doing this.
[00:31:52]  He said, You have heard it was said, but I tell you.
[00:31:55]  You have heard it was said, but I tell you.
[00:31:57]  Now, here's the mistake that I think a lot of modern evangelicals make, and even within the Reformed tradition.
[00:32:02]  We read that in the Sermon on the Mount.
[00:32:04]  That's where we currently are in this series through the Gospel according to Matthew.
[00:32:08]  We read that, and we think that Jesus is juxtaposing Moses against himself, Christ.
[00:32:16]  He's not.
[00:32:17]  When he says, you have heard it said, he's not saying Moses said, and Moses was wrong.
[00:32:23]  I tell you, but I tell you something different.
[00:32:26]  No, when he says, you have heard it was said, he's saying, you have heard your rabbis, your rabbinical teachers, exegeting and teaching Moses with the twist.
[00:32:39]  They have so neutered and perverted and twisted Moses that it's no longer Moses.
[00:32:45]  So Jesus isn't saying, you've heard it was said, Moses said, but I say.
[00:32:49]  No, he's saying, you have heard your modern day Judaizers teach something that in the name of Moses, but it's not actually Moses.
[00:32:59]  And so, my point is this that's 400 years of the skies being turned to bronze, where the word of the Lord is rare, and Judaism at that time was already severely perverted.
[00:33:11]  And I think that it's safe to say, without any of this being anti Semitic or anything like that, it's safe to say, if that's where we were after 400 years.
[00:33:22]  From Malachi to Jesus, where do you think Judaism is now 2,000 years later?
[00:33:32]  Do you think it's more on track?
[00:33:35]  No, of course not.
[00:33:36]  That's silly.
[00:33:38]  And you can hate an ideology.
[00:33:42]  That's wrong.
[00:33:43]  Let me say that better.

=== Hating False Ideologies (15:08) ===

[00:33:44]  You must, it's not permissible, it is morally obligated.
[00:33:50]  You must hate any ideology or any false religion.
[00:33:55]  That hates Christ.
[00:33:57]  Of course, you must.
[00:33:58]  Of course.
[00:34:00]  So, Jesus comes on the scene.
[00:34:01]  Things are already well off track.
[00:34:05]  But he comes into this system that's already perverted.
[00:34:07]  That was the point.
[00:34:08]  It's already perverted.
[00:34:09]  But there is something that God actually did institute.
[00:34:13]  Right?
[00:34:13]  It's perverted.
[00:34:14]  But underneath all the perversion, all the twistings, and all the trims and trappings that don't belong there, and the traditions of men, there is an actual real religion that at that time, Under that covenant, that covenantal period was instituted by God Himself.
[00:34:31]  And in this priestly temple sacrificial system in Israel, the purity of it that God actually instituted, that ceremonial piece, which would deal with the ceremonial law, meaning washings.
[00:34:44]  There were certain washing rituals with hands and these kinds of things, animal sacrifices, other ceremonial laws, things dealing with cleansing, certain food rituals and dietary restrictions.
[00:35:01]  No shellfish, no pork, these kinds of things.
[00:35:04]  These would all be what we would consider to be ceremonial.
[00:35:07]  And so Jesus fulfilled all the law.
[00:35:09]  That's verse 17.
[00:35:11]  Not some, all of the law and the prophets.
[00:35:14]  Not just the moral law of God, which we'll get to in a moment, and that's the most significant, but also the civil laws and the ceremonial laws.
[00:35:22]  But there's a distinction in how he fulfilled each of these three categories of the law, and certainly a distinction of the ramifications, the results of his fulfillment of all three categories of the law as it pertains to us.
[00:35:37]  Jesus' fulfillment of the ceremonial laws, what does that mean for us?
[00:35:41]  He fulfilled those laws in such a way, with such finality, with such beauty, and such perfection, that for us to engage in an attempt to uphold any of the ceremonial laws today would actually undermine the sufficiency of his fulfillment.
[00:36:00]  Meaning that if you and I on the Lord's day were bringing in animals for sacrifice, it would actually undercut.
[00:36:08]  The perfect, final, finished, sufficient work of Christ.
[00:36:12]  He fulfilled the ceremonial laws so perfectly that for us to continue an observance of the ceremonial laws, what that looks like, the righteous observance of the ceremonial laws for the New Testament Christian today, what that looks like is not performing any of those things.
[00:36:32]  Because we're saying every time we don't do an animal sacrifice, every time we don't go through washing rituals, that you can wash your hands for sanitary purposes, but not as a religious.
[00:36:43]  Every time we don't wash our hands and we don't undergo certain food sacrifices, like that, that's why not only is it permissible to eat certain things that were not permissible for Israel under the old covenant, but I eat those things now in faith.
[00:37:00]  In fact, there are times I will go out of my way, especially during Lent.
[00:37:04]  It's a great time.
[00:37:06]  So, whenever it's Lent, when that rolls around those 40 days, I'm going to, every bit of shellfish and every bit of pork, I don't even really like pork.
[00:37:15]  Beef is way better for you.
[00:37:16]  Eat beef.
[00:37:17]  But I have to make an exception because I want to honor the Lord.
[00:37:20]  For 40 days during Lent, we're eating pork, we're eating crab, we're eating shrimp, all these things.
[00:37:26]  And they're not particularly healthy because there actually is an endearing, you know, like with the civil code.
[00:37:30]  There's the general equity.
[00:37:32]  I think there is even a general equity of sorts in the ceremonial law of God.
[00:37:37]  If you eat nothing but shrimp, you'll probably shave off like 10 years of your life.
[00:37:40]  So it's not a great thing to do, again, from a scientific perspective, a health perspective.
[00:37:45]  But you get my point, right?
[00:37:47]  I'm a Protestant.
[00:37:47]  We protest.
[00:37:48]  So, I'm going to protest Rome and I'm going to say, you know, hey, it's Lent.
[00:37:52]  Everybody's given something up.
[00:37:53]  I'm going to add some things on.
[00:37:54]  I'm going to be eating all the things that we're not supposed to eat because now we are, because Christ is sufficient.
[00:38:00]  Christ is perfect.
[00:38:01]  Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law of God.
[00:38:04]  So, what does it look like for the New Testament Christian in regards to the ceremonial laws and Christ's fulfillment of them?
[00:38:09]  It means that we can engage those things, embrace those things, and receive them with gladness and joy in faith.
[00:38:15]  It is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, but rather what comes out of it.
[00:38:19]  That's what Jesus said.
[00:38:20]  And thus, the parenthetical statement right there in the gospel narrative says, and thus he declared all foods clean.
[00:38:26]  Okay?
[00:38:27]  Now, notice that is actually the opposite of the way he fulfilled the moral law.
[00:38:34]  Take that same logic and apply it to the moral law.
[00:38:37]  The moral law of God being most succinctly a summary law, a summary in the Decalogue, Exodus chapter 20, the Ten Commandments.
[00:38:44]  In regards to the moral law, if we said, you know what, Christ has so sufficiently fulfilled the moral law of God that the best way that we can honor his fulfillment of these moral commandments is by breaking every single one of them that we possibly can.
[00:38:59]  That would be a problem.
[00:39:02]  That's a conflation, theologically.
[00:39:04]  That's not the way that he did fulfill the moral law of God perfectly.
[00:39:08]  It's not like he fulfilled the ceremonial laws more perfectly or in a superior fashion, and then he kind of fulfilled them more.
[00:39:14]  No, he perfectly fulfilled all the law moral, civil, ceremonial, all of it.
[00:39:19]  And yet, the way that we appreciate and show gratitude and love and faith and trust in Jesus with his perfect fulfillment of the moral laws. Is by seeking to obey those moral laws in faith, by grace, and knowing when we fail that we've been covered.
[00:39:37]  And the way that we appreciate his fulfillment of the ceremonial laws is when Lent rolls around, we order lobster, if we can afford it, and we get out of Kamala and Biden's economy.
[00:39:47]  So that's the difference.
[00:39:50]  Do you understand?
[00:39:51]  That Jesus, I'll use it with the sacrificial thing.
[00:39:53]  So forget the dietary restrictions for a moment.
[00:39:57]  I think the better example that'll be clear in your minds is this think of the animal sacrifices.
[00:40:02]  Right, bulls, rams, goats, lambs, doves, grain all these different sacrifices that had to be made.
[00:40:12]  Jesus is the Lamb of God, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
[00:40:16]  When Jesus died, that sacrifice was so perfect.
[00:40:20]  It's not because this is what we'll say, even confessionally, it'll say the word abrogated that the ceremonial laws have not only been fulfilled, right?
[00:40:29]  God fulfilled Jesus, fulfilled the moral laws, but He fulfilled and abrogated the ceremonial laws.
[00:40:35]  I get the language, I think it's good.
[00:40:37]  That's fine.
[00:40:38]  But technically, the ceremonial laws of God, Rushdun even says this, they're not actually, in the technical sense, abrogated, meaning that they've gone away.
[00:40:47]  They just evaporated into the ether.
[00:40:50]  Why?
[00:40:50]  And here's the reason why it matters, okay?
[00:40:52]  Because we love confessions, but we love the Bible more.
[00:40:55]  And what the Bible says in our text today, verse 18 now, moving forward a little bit, he says, For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away.
[00:41:04]  Has that happened?
[00:41:05]  Has heaven and earth passed away?
[00:41:06]  No.
[00:41:07]  So, until that happens, which has not happened yet, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law, not just moral, but the whole law of God, which includes the ceremonial laws, not a single dot or iota will pass away until all is accomplished.
[00:41:23]  So, technically, in the technical theological sense, the ceremonial laws of God have not been abrogated, but they have been fulfilled, just like the moral law.
[00:41:32]  They have been fulfilled by Christ, but fulfilled with such finality that they never need to be done again.
[00:41:38]  All the ritual washings, Christ has washed you no longer with water but by his blood.
[00:41:44]  And when it comes to his blood and that washing, it is so sufficient, so efficacious, that you never need to take a bath again.
[00:41:52]  Does that sound familiar?
[00:41:53]  Didn't Jesus literally exactly say that to Peter when he says, Well, then, if this is the case, I have no part in you unless I allow you to wash my feet, then wash my head and body also.
[00:42:02]  But Jesus says, No, you don't need that kind of washing.
[00:42:05]  That washing is already done.
[00:42:09]  He was speaking in the theological sense.
[00:42:10]  Although he had not yet gone and died, he knew that the sacrifice was once and for all for the saints and applied even for Old Testament saints, such as Peter retroactively, by the finished work of Christ, because he was put forward in the providence of God according to the counsels of eternity before the world was even made.
[00:42:29]  It pleased the Father to crush him.
[00:42:31]  And that sacrifice was already counted as righteousness for Peter by faith.
[00:42:36]  So Peter didn't need to be washed.
[00:42:39]  Why?
[00:42:39]  Because the ceremonial laws no longer are there because they disappeared.
[00:42:43]  No, not one dot, not one iota.
[00:42:45]  Not one dotted I, not one cross T will disappear.
[00:42:48]  They're still there.
[00:42:50]  You have to wash.
[00:42:51]  You have to wash again and again and again and again if it's water.
[00:42:54]  But once it becomes blood, then you never have to wash again.
[00:42:58]  Not because the law disappeared, but because the obedience of Christ to that particular law is an obedience that is so efficacious that it's a one time obedience and never needs to be obeyed again.
[00:43:09]  That's the ceremonial law, fulfilled in that sense.
[00:43:12]  The moral law of God, we don't have to obey His law in order to supplement the righteousness of Christ.
[00:43:18]  Likewise, in that category as well, perfectly sufficient.
[00:43:22]  And yet, what we do is we seek to obey the moral commandments of Christ as a sign of our faith, our trust, and our gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.
[00:43:33]  We're not doing it in order to inherit salvation.
[00:43:35]  We're not doing it to make up for the partial obedience of Christ.
[00:43:39]  No, his active obedience and his passive obedience are perfect and full and sufficient and done.
[00:43:45]  What does he say on the cross?
[00:43:46]  It is started.
[00:43:48]  No, it is finished.
[00:43:51]  It's finished.
[00:43:52]  It's enough.
[00:43:53]  It's enough.
[00:43:55]  And yet we seek to obey in gratitude, not in desperation to earn, but in gratitude for what Christ has already earned.
[00:44:04]  So his fulfillment is total over every kind of law, all three categories of the law of God, but our response to that fulfillment does differ.
[00:44:15]  In regards to the ceremonial law, his perfect fulfillment of those laws means that we can embrace in faith certain things that old covenant Israel could not.
[00:44:27]  And his fulfillment of the moral law, the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, and all their expressions, as they find their general equity in the civil law as well throughout the Old Testament, his perfect fulfillment of the moral law, our response to that is that we seek to be moral and that we don't put the Lord God to the test.
[00:44:44]  And we don't view his grace and sacrifice as a license for sin.
[00:44:48]  But we know in the final analysis that we are justified by his obedience and not our own.
[00:44:56]  Okay, that's verse 17.
[00:44:58]  That's mostly verse 18.
[00:44:59]  And we're going to skip and go now to verse 19.
[00:45:02]  We're going to go to verse 20.
[00:45:05]  But notice what Jesus says in terms of greatness.
[00:45:07]  The last thing I'll add on this middle portion, verses 18 and 19.
[00:45:10]  In terms of greatness, he says this it is both the doing and the teaching.
[00:45:15]  And again, he's indicting the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the rulers, religious rulers of his day.
[00:45:22]  He's saying, You teach, but you do not do.
[00:45:24]  Remember, his indictment against them is not that you're legalist, that you hold the law too tightly, you care too much about holiness.
[00:45:31]  That's your problem.
[00:45:33]  That's what the evangelical, modern evangelical church today wants to think Jesus' problem with the Pharisees was.
[00:45:38]  That was not his problem.
[00:45:40]  His problem was not, you care too much about holiness, and if you really love God, you'll relax the law of God a little bit.
[00:45:49]  You'll loosen up.
[00:45:50]  No.
[00:45:52]  You care immensely about holiness, and it's in your lips, it's in your teachings, but you don't actually do it.
[00:45:59]  Your problem is not that you're legalists, your problem is that you are hypocrites.
[00:46:03]  And so, how juxtaposed, in contrast to the religious rulers of his day, those Judaizers who perverted the law of God, what does Jesus say to be great in the kingdom?
[00:46:15]  You can't just teach it, but you have to do it.
[00:46:18]  It is both the teaching of the law of God and doing, obeying the law of God.
[00:46:23]  That is what makes someone great in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:46:26]  Here's the last one.
[00:46:27]  I already covered it in the intro a little bit.
[00:46:30]  I'll give a little bit more of a fine point in detail on it.
[00:46:32]  We'll be done.
[00:46:33]  Verse 20, let's read it once more so it's fresh in our minds.
[00:46:35]  Matthew 5 20.
[00:46:37]  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
[00:46:43]  I've written in your notes the following Jesus is not merely addressing the need for a superior positional righteousness, justification.
[00:46:51]  He is also speaking to the need for a superior progressive righteousness, sanctification.
[00:46:57]  In other words, Jesus is not saying that the Pharisees have a meticulous outward righteousness, but inwardly their hearts remain corrupted.
[00:47:06]  Therefore, you merely need to receive the superior inward righteousness of Christ by faith.
[00:47:12]  That's not what he's saying.
[00:47:13]  It's not at least entirely what he's saying.
[00:47:17]  Instead, Jesus is actually saying the Pharisees are not truly righteous in any sense of the word, neither inwardly nor outwardly.
[00:47:26]  They possess a willingness.
[00:47:28]  I'm sorry, they are hypocrites.
[00:47:31]  The problem with the Pharisees is not merely a failure to obey from the heart, but rather they possess a willingness to twist the scriptures so that even their outward obedience falls utterly short of what God commands.
[00:47:44]  Therefore, You must have both.
[00:47:47]  You must be justified inwardly by faith.
[00:47:50]  That way, you have an inward, positional righteousness, justification, and also sanctified outwardly by holding faithfully to the scriptures without twisting or perverting them and seeking to actually obey them, outwardly obey them in your actions, your word, your deeds, your speech, and to do all this by grace.
[00:48:15]  In order not to be great, to be great in the kingdom of heaven, you must obey the law.
[00:48:20]  And properly instruct, lovingly instruct others to obey the law as well.
[00:48:26]  Teaching the law and being a doer of the law.
[00:48:31]  And you can do this whether you're a pastor or not, but simply as a Christian, as a father, as a mother with your children, and as you seek to disciple others even outside of your home.
[00:48:40]  You can obey the law and teach the law.
[00:48:44]  And as we do so, by the grace of God faithfully, that's the way to achieve greatness according to Jesus in the kingdom of heaven.

=== Superior Righteousness Required (02:07) ===

[00:48:52]  But before greatness, the first question is merely entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
[00:48:58]  And entrance into the kingdom of heaven, not merely to be great, but simply to enter.
[00:49:03]  To enter the kingdom of heaven requires not just teaching the law to others while obeying, but it requires a superior righteousness to the righteousness of the Pharisees.
[00:49:16]  And of course, first and foremost, this is speaking of the inward righteousness of the heart that is received by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, being declared righteous in a moment.
[00:49:27]  By God and the perfect work of Jesus Christ imputed to you by faith.
[00:49:32]  But secondly, it's not just being declared righteous in a moment, but made righteous over a lifetime by the Spirit as we seek to obey the law of God outwardly from a heart that has been transformed by grace.
[00:49:48]  Positional righteousness must be superior.
[00:49:50]  That's the righteousness of Christ.
[00:49:52]  You get it by faith and faith alone.
[00:49:55]  But progressive righteousness.
[00:49:56]  I believe if the positional righteousness in terms of justification is actually there, then the progressive righteousness in terms of sanctification will also be superior to the Pharisees.
[00:50:08]  Because, remember one final time, the Pharisees were not legalists but hypocrites.
[00:50:13]  Not only were they lacking the righteousness of justification that comes through faith by denying Christ and rejecting Him, but they were also, therefore, lacking the progressive righteousness of sanctification that comes by outward obedience to the law.
[00:50:27]  They taught the law, but they did not obey the law themselves.
[00:50:31]  The Christian will have both.
[00:50:33]  They'll have the righteousness imputed from Christ by faith, but they'll also, because they've been justified, as an evidence, they'll be sanctified.
[00:50:42]  And they'll have the outward progressive righteousness that actually, in that category as well, is superior to the Pharisees because the Pharisees weren't legalists.
[00:50:52]  The Pharisees were hypocrites.
[00:50:54]  Let's pray.
[00:50:55]  Father, thank you for your word.
[00:50:56]  Bless it to your people.
[00:50:58]  All for your glory.
[00:50:59]  In Jesus' name, amen.