“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23.23

It is not enough, for our salvation, to know that Jesus fulfilled the Law of God. If we would follow Jesus, we must also seek to fulfill the Law ourselves. We cannot do this on our own strength, as we know (Rom. 7,14-19).

However, we who believe in Jesus have received the Spirit of Jesus, that we might know the things freely given to us of God, including all the teaching of His Law (1 Cor. 2.12, 13; Ezek. 36.26, 27). And the Spirit Who dwells within us empowers us for obedience – for entering into the righteousness of Jesus Christ – by making us willing and able to do what pleases God, and by transforming us into the very image of Jesus Himself (Phil. 2.13; 2 Cor. 3.12-18).

Thus, for our part, we must “work out” the salvation given to us, and which is given more fully day by day, as we walk in obedience to the Law and all the Word of God (Phil. 2.12; Ps. 116.12-14).

But we must not be content with merely partial obedience to the Law of God. Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for boasting about certain very public matters of obedience while, at the same time, ignoring the larger issues of the Law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Remember, Jesus fulfilled all the Law of God, and we who follow Him must seek to do the same.

That means we must learn the Law by reading and meditating in it day by day (cf. Ps. 1). We must learn as much as we can about every “jot and tittle” of the Law, at the same time, waiting on the Spirit to lead us into the “weightier matters” toward which the Law directs us – not mere obedience for obedience’s sake, but justice, mercy, and faithfulness in all things.

As we have seen in previous series, the Law of God teaches us how to know and do the will of God for every good work. It speaks to all aspects of life, guiding us in the way of salvation and righteousness as the Spirit, by His power, works to realize in us exceeding abundantly more than we’ve ever dared to ask or think (Eph. 3.20). Thus, by reading, studying, and meditating in God’s Law – hiding the Law in our hearts, so to speak (Ps. 119.9-11) – we may expect to know more of the salvation of the Lord and to enter more fully into all the righteousness and joy and glory of the Lord.

Which is precisely why Jesus commended obedience to all the Law of God: not unto salvation, but for the sake of it.

T. M. Moore

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