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by
Bill Grimes, Co-Editor
Recently, a visitor to this web site sent me an email in
which he raised a good point. He
put it in the form of three questions.
1.
Are we in the new heavens and the new
earth?
2.
If not, is it true that not one jot or tittle has
passed from the law?
3.
Is the Old Covenant Law still binding then in every
jot and tittle? If not, why not.
My reply is as follows:
The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand
for ever. (Isaiah 40:8 AV)
Isaiah’s sentence here is self-explanatory.
God’s Word lasts forever. Now
consider what Jesus said in Matthew 5:18.
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. (Matthew 5:18
AV)
Also, consider Matthew 5:18 in light of a similar passage in Luke.
And
it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to
fail. (Luke 16:17 AV)
Jesus said it is easier for heaven and earth to pass from the scene than
for one stroke of the Law to fail. Consider
yet another sentence from Luke.
Heaven
and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
(Luke
21:33 AV)
My conclusion is that God’s word will not pass
away, nor will it fail. Now,
let’s look back at Matthew 5:18 in its context.
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.
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.
(Matthew 5:17-20 AV)
This paragraph serves the literary purpose of
introducing what follows in the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s analyze this paragraph sentence by sentence.
Jesus opened His teaching with this statement.
Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
Jesus’ teaching astonished the people:
And
they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had
authority, and not as the scribes.
(Mark 1:22 AV, Cf. Matthew 7:29; Luke 4:36)
Because Jesus’ teaching was different, perhaps
the question arose as to whether He came to destroy the Law and the
Prophets, which is what the Jews accused Stephen of doing.
(See Acts 6:11)
Jesus answered this unspoken question in the next phrase of the
sentence:
I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfill.
I pay special attention to verses that tell me
what Jesus came to do. He did
not come to destroy the Law. He
came to fulfill the Law. Jesus’
next sentence proceeds from this one.
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.
Heaven and earth will not pass away until Jesus
accomplishes His stated purpose. Did
Jesus accomplish His stated purpose? Yes He did.
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4 AV)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
(Romans 10:4 AV)
He
then drew a conclusion.
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.
Because His stated purpose was to fulfill the
Law, Jesus said that whoever teaches men to break the commandments, and
teach others to do so is least in God’s kingdom and whoever keeps the
commandments and teaches others to keep them is great in the kingdom.
If one of His purposes in coming to this planet was to fulfill the
Law, then certainly it follows that we should obey it.
From this statement, the next sentence follows.
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.
The Pharisees were guilty of breaking the
commandments and of teaching others to break them as well:
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. For
laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the
washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto
them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your
own tradition. For
Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or
mother, let him die the death:
But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by
me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or
his mother; Making the
word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have
delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:7-13 AV)
In the passage that follows, Jesus stripped away
the Jewish tradition that had grown around the Law and then told us what
it really means. There is a
series of teachings that begin with:
Ye have heard that it was said by them …. But I say unto you,
(Matthew 5:21-22 AV)
This same literary formula is used six times in
the passage that follows. The
Law became the Law of the kingdom.
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. (Matthew 5:19 AV)
Portions of the Law are renewed in the New
Covenant, and we are bound to obey them.
For example, as New Testament believers, we still do not to kill. We still do not steal, lie, commit adultery, covet, etc.
So,
are we in the new heavens and the new earth? No, for the reasons I have
stated in my most recent article, A
Letter to a Full Preterist
.
If
not, is it true that not one jot or tittle has passed from the law?
Yes, God’s word stands forever.
None of God’s Word will fail or pass away.
Is
the Old Covenant Law still binding then in every jot and tittle? If not,
why not?
No, because Jesus finished the work which He came to do.
ã Bill Grimes, January, 2001.
Permission to copy and distribute is granted under the following
conditions: the contents of
the article are not to be altered in any way, and any distribution of
copies must be for free.
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