The Doorpost: Don’t ignore the law

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 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. 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, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-20

None of us is capable in our own strength of living a life of righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. The only way our righteousness can exceed theirs is when we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a free gift. Because this is true, we may sometimes be tempted to downplay the importance of the law. After all, we are saved by His grace, not by our works of the law.

But the fact that the law brought us condemnation instead of life does not mean that the law is bad. God gave us the law to show us how far short we fall from His perfect righteousness. The law could do this because it is good.

When we become Christians, we are freed from the penalty for breaking God’s law, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. It is still good and it reveals God’s standard for how we should live.