Are there laws of God that we rationalize away? Granted, we do believe there are items within the law that have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews teaches us that “when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12, 14 ESV) We no longer offer regular sacrifices believing in the one sacrifice of Christ which cover all of our sins.
Yet, the law remains incredibly important for us as Christians. Jesus said that “until heaven and earth pass away” nothing will pass from the law until all of its purposes are finished. This point was so important to Jesus that he included an “amen” at the beginning of verse 18 to highlight it.
We might wonder what the law does for us, here and now. Sinclair Ferguson says the law does three things for us:
- The law expresses God’s character and his will for people.
- The law teaches the true character of his people.
- The law teaches the character of salvation.
Don Carson reminds us that our attitude to the law of God is an index of our attitude to God himself. Seeing that law expresses God’s character and the character of his people, if we relax or ignore those commandments, then we are really ignoring God (in one sense). Jesus is teaching us that obedience and disobedience have their just rewards in the kingdom – we take into eternity what we have done for the Lord here.