Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Lost Pages and the 50 Commandments of Christ

A number of years ago, I challenged myself to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7) every day. Here’s what I learned. Law is hard; law brings condemnation. Yes, it was a great idea, but when I missed, I felt my failure.

To be sure I DID read the Sermon on the Mount many times over, in fact, so much so that the pages fell out of my Bible and eventually were lost. That is the point of this post. This sermon of Jesus’ describes a spiritual life that is beautiful. It inspires and compels us. But it also condemned me when I failed...which I did, and do...almost daily...ouch!

When God separated the Israelites out from among all the peoples of the earth, He gave them a precious gift and a curse. He gave His “Rules for Lining””—the Law. This law was the way for them to live in relationship to God. That was the blessing. But the relationship was limited, partial, and ultimately only served to show them their failure and condemnation when they could not keep it.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount took the law even further. Jesus preached that it was no longer enough to keep the outward requirements of the law; God was looking for inward purity. It wasn't enough to refrain from adultery; if one even looks at another woman with lust, he is guilty. I have to remove “the log” out of my own eye before I can talk about the splinter in someone else. These teachings must have worn on the disciples’ soul for eventually they would cry out, “Who then can be saved!” Exactly! It is impossible to win God’s favor by keeping the law. But God provided the way.

The Law, written on tablets of stone, was stone to hardened hearts. In this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was declaring the coming of a new kingdom in which Jesus’ cross work would ultimately bring the Holy Spirit to our hearts. His power would transform stony hearts to receive a new royal law of liberty written on hearts of flesh, and that is faith working through love.[1]

The disciples were right. No one can be saved by the law, and neither can we be made righteous by our depraved efforts to keep it. I once read an article in which the author proclaimed that the 50 commandments of Christ would transform the world. The missing pages from my Bible explain why this is a problem.  Striving to live this sermon by our own self efforts is a lost cause. It is simply law heaped upon law. None of our “good works” can merit us the benefits of God’s favor and grace.

It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us that we can live this beautiful sermon. I did eventually copy the lost verses and replace them in my Bible. God’s Word itself explained the solution to my problem. Jesus died and rose again to redeem me from the curse of the law: the condemnation for my failure. Salvation is the way into His Kingdom, and that is the good news of the Gospel. In the same way Jesus also provides the means to live in His kingdom. He is the One who grows us, and changes us as we obey Him.

As we read through the next three chapters of Matthew, I pray that you will know the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ through the salvation He provided and the enabling power of His grace to live it as you yield to Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.



[1] Ezekiel 36:26; James 1:25, 2:8 ; Galatians 5:6


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