“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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV)
Jesus came to fulfill the Law perfectly. His fulfillment was down to the smallest letter and the least stroke of a pen, enabling Him to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He not only saved us by His death on the cross carrying our sins and burdens on His perfect body, but He demonstrated to us how to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. Further, He died and rose again - not leaving us as orphans - rather indwelling every true believer in Him with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might walk as He walked for the benefit of our own scrawny necks and for His glory. He did not come to be in competition with the Law rather He came to fulfill the Law. Indeed, He clarified the entire Law - making it simple for us simpletons – boiling it down to its essence – Love God and Love others – this, says He, sums up the Law and the Prophets.
If we want to see the commandments fleshed out perfectly, we need only to look at Jesus’ life. That is why John tells us we must walk as He walked if we claim faith in Him. If we want to be truly wise we must seek the wisdom found in our Savior – predominately this comes from the study and application of His Word which, Isaiah states, will abide forever. Even though the grass withers and the flowers fall, the Word of our God will stand. It is eternal, standing firm in the heavens. We always seem to desire to seek to muster up our own righteousness (which is really no righteousness at all but simply pride at its best) through our own strength yet flesh will fail us in this pursuit. It gets us thinking too highly of self and taking our gaze off the Creator and on to the created – big mistake! What is man that we depend on his arm for strength?
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Get to know Him through His Word. Learn to walk as He walked through His power making both an impact in you and your spheres of influence (of which we all have). Scripture tells us it matters greatly how we live our lives – as wise, not as unwise. This is taking hold of life that is truly life and one without regrets.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NIV)