36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 36-40
Baseball is a sport where failing can be a good thing. If a batter successfully hits the
baseball for a hit, one-third of the time, he stands a very good chance of wining a
batting title!
The Mosaic Law, ten commandments delivered personally by God to Moses and
then given to the Hebrew people, were not designed for success! When I look at
those Holy commands, then search for my success rate, I fall way short of being
successful. Back before I realized what Christ was saying in His list of "but I tell
you's," I thought I was doing okay in some areas. After all, I hadn't killed
anyone. Then Jesus expanded upon those commands in rebuking the Pharisee
legal attitudes..... example....
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 6
I guess the fact that I had, at one time or another, wished for the demise of another
person sort of qualified me for failure.
Then, amazingly, I discovered that Jesus answered a question by naming two great
laws or commands that were to be followed. Oh boy, now I stood a much better
chance. No I did not!
The bottom line, here, is that we, as humans, filled with sin, are unable to
accomplish any of the commands, whether ten or two, that God laid out as
goals for righteous behavior and standing.
So the point is (was)...
WE NEED JESUS! They were designed to point us to our incapacity and
to the one true Fully man who could and did fulfill the law. Did His success
in keeping full righteousness cancel the law? No. He said that He came to
fulfill it, not to cancel it.
We who are in Christ are being transformed, being sanctified by the work
of God's Holy Spirit toward men and women who are more and more
righteous and more and more like the one true second Adam. We won't
get there, won't stop sinning until we go to be with Jesus in a place
where there will simply be NO sin.
Glorious! Praise our God!
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