Matthew 5:16,17 - I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfil them

5:16

Christ has brought light into our lives and we are to let that light shine before others. This is so that they will see our good deeds and give glory to God. Soon we shall see warnings about doing things for show, in reading those verse we need to remember this verse, otherwise we will draw wrong conclusions. We get it wrong when we do things so that they will see our good deeds and give glory to us. We get it right, when we do these things so that they will give glory to God. In fact, note it says “your Father in heaven”.

5:17

Oh this is such an important verse if we are to interpret Jesus’ words aright. Jesus has just told us that we are to be a light on a hill, that people are to see our good deeds. This should be enough to make us realise that Godly behaviour is a vital part of the Christian life. Yet people will so often take the line of Jesus being kind and forgiving and would never tell us that any of our behaviour was wrong (except “judging” others!). So we get people and churches who think affirming sin is a good idea, and is consistent with Jesus’ teaching! Jesus knows what is in men’s hearts, so we have a clear warning here (though it is still ignored by many). The heart of the Law, including the moral principles on sexual behaviour, still stand. I single out sexual behaviour because it is the primary area where parts of the church think we know better than God and encourage us to celebrate sin.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law in two ways. First, He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father. Where we always fell woefully short, Jesus was without sin. He fulfilled the Law on our behalf. But that does not mean the Law is now irrelevant, for it expresses the heart of God. And the instructions to follow lay emphasis on the heart of the Law. And it is God’s desire that we live according to His ways. If we say we love God but have no concern about trying to obey Him then we deceive ourselves and are liars.