Bible Readings — Bible Questions Answered

The Law of God in the New Testament

Jesus and the Law

What did Jesus say of His attitude toward the law? BR-ASI9 261.1

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matthew 5:17. BR-ASI9 261.2

Note.—“The law” includes the five books of Moses; and “the prophets,” the writings of the prophets. Christ did not come to set aside, but to fulfill, both. The ceremonial types and shadows contained in the books of Moses He fulfilled as their great Antitype. The moral law, the basic fabric underlying all Moses’ writings, Christ fulfilled by perfect obedience. The prophets He fulfilled in His advent as the foretold Messiah, Prophet, Teacher, and Saviour. BR-ASI9 261.3

What did He teach concerning the stability of the law? BR-ASI9 261.4

“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. BR-ASI9 261.5

Note.—“We must understand that the Ten Commandments are just as binding upon Christian people as they were upon the Children of Israel. . . . BR-ASI9 261.6

“The Moral Law is a part of the natural law of the universe. . . . Just as a natural law broken in the material world brings its inevitable consequences, so the Moral Law broken brings its inevitable consequences in the spiritual and mental worlds. BR-ASI9 261.7

“The Lord Jesus knew this. He knew it much better than anyone else who ever lived. Therefore He built His Gospel upon a firm foundation of Moral Law, knowing that such a foundation can never be upset. . . . BR-ASI9 262.1

“Christ’s teaching goes beyond the Ten Commandments, but does not thereby make the Commandments of non-effect. Quite the contrary! Christianity strengthens the authority of the Commandments.”—The Episcopal Church Sunday School Magazine, June-July, 1942, vol. 105, no. 6, pp. 183, 184, Sunday School lesson for June 28. BR-ASI9 262.2

“The basic laws of morality, and particularly the Ten Commandments, remain until the end of time as the moral and spiritual foundation upon which the New Testament religion is built.”—The Snowden-Douglass Sunday School Lessons for 1946, p. 279. Copyright, 1945, by The Macmillan Company, and used by their permission. BR-ASI9 262.3

How did He stress the importance of keeping the law? BR-ASI9 262.4

“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. BR-ASI9 262.5

Note.—“Our King has not come to abrogate the law, but to confirm and reassert it. His commands are eternal; and if any of the teachers of it should through error break His law, and teach that its least command is nullified, they will lose rank, and subside into the lowest place. The peerage of His kingdom is ordered according to obedience. . . . The Lord Jesus does not set up a milder law, nor will He allow any one of His servants to presume to do so. Our King fulfills the ancient law, and His Spirit works in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure as set forth in the immutable statutes of righteousness.”—Charles H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom (1893 ed.), p. 48. BR-ASI9 262.6

What did Christ tell the rich young man to do in order to enter into life? BR-ASI9 262.7

“If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17. BR-ASI9 262.8

When asked which commandments, what did Jesus say? BR-ASI9 262.9

“Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 19:18, 19. BR-ASI9 262.10

Note.—While not quoting all ten commandments, Jesus quoted sufficient to identify the moral law. The second great commandment called attention to the principle underlying the second table of the law—love to one’s neighbor—which the rich young man was not keeping. BR-ASI9 263.1