Command 5 : Honor God's Law | Day 29

Enter Into Fulfillment!

The Apostle Paul declared, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." He also stated, "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Romans 7:12, 14).

Many people have a general awareness of God's Law as it is expressed in the Ten Commandments, and since they have not murdered anyone or committed adultery, they feel that they have kept the Law as much as is humanly possible. However, we must all admit to telling at least one lie, and James made this statement: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10).

So often we acknowledge that we have broken God's Law, and take refuge in the teaching that Christ came to do away with the Law. However, Jesus said:

Command Five: “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).

There are three primary ways in which Jesus fulfilled God's Law. First, He fulfilled all the prophecies and analogies in the Law that related to Him. He is the spotless Lamb of God (see John 1:29), and He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

Second, He perfectly fulfilled all the regulations and requirements of the Law. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by healing a man, He pointed out a statute in the Law that allowed them to pull an ox out of the ditch on the Sabbath.

Third, He fully satisfied God's requirement for the penalty of sin. Because man sinned, blood had to be shed: “...Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). The perfect and complete fulfillment of God's Law has great significance for us.

When a person becomes a believer, he enters into Christ and becomes one with all that Christ did—including the perfect fulfillment of God's Law. (See Romans 7:4-7.)

Being "in Christ" through salvation means that when He died, we died with Him. When He was buried, we were buried with Him, and when He rose up from the grave, we rose with Him! (See Romans 6:4 and Colossians 2:12.)

Therefore, God's requirement of holy perfection in order to enter heaven was met by every believer at salvation. We are now perfect in Him. (See Colossians 2:10.) Let us recognize our willful violation of God's holy Law and affirm or reaffirm our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and our acceptance of His perfect life, death, and resurrection. Salvation came to the publican when he cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Have you cried out with such a prayer?