So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” John 5.19

I have sometimes heard people say they don’t need to keep the Law, just to follow Jesus. As long as they believe in Jesus and live as He did, they’ll be just fine.

And, of course, I always agree with them.

But Jesus said that He had come to fulfill the Law of God, not to set it aside (Matt. 5.17). So how, I wonder, do people conclude that somehow they can follow Jesus without also seeking to fulfill the Law of God?

Certainly the Apostle John would not have agreed with such a statement (1 Jn. 2.1-6; 5.1-3). Nor would Paul (Rom. 3.31; 7.12). One cannot set aside the Law of God and follow Jesus at the same time. If you follow Jesus, you will walk as He did and seek to fulfill the Law of God.

At the same time, Jesus’ work of fulfilling the Law of God was different from that which we pursue. He fulfilled the Law while we may only ever seek to fulfill it. His obedience was perfect. Ours will always be imperfect, at least, in this life. His obedience was always in His own strength, as the Son of God. Our obedience is never in our own strength, but always that which He gives us by His Spirit. By His obedience to the Law Jesus gained eternal life for all who believe in Him. By our obedience to the Law we experience the life Jesus has gained for us. The righteousness and life Jesus gained through the Law are His; the righteousness and life we experience as we obey the Law are not ours, but His (Gal. 2.20).

Jesus’ obedience to the Law took two forms. First, as He explained, He actively and fully obeyed whatever the Father taught or willed. Now since all the Law of God came from the Father, we can assume that Jesus always and completely obeyed the Law of God. It was necessary for Jesus, as He explained to John the Baptist, to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3.15). Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by perfectly and entirely keeping the Law of God. Thus, He achieved righteousness, not only for Himself, which He always possessed anyway, but also for those He would bring with Him unto the Father.

If we would follow Jesus, therefore, we must follow Him in the pathways of the Law, not unto salvation, but for the sake of it, that is, that we may fully know and enjoy God, through Christ, by the Spirit, according to His Law and all His Word.

T. M. Moore

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