More Righteous Than the Scribes and Pharisees

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We have been remarking that there is a seeming contradiction in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus told us that no part of the Law of Moses or of the Prophets shall pass away until everything has been accomplished. Yet, the writer of Hebrews claims that the Law of Moses is is obsolete and will soon disappear. How are these two statements reconciled, because we know there is no true contradiction in the Scriptures?

(9/25/2005) The seeming contradiction is resolved readily. Under the new covenant the true and eternal meaning of the Ten Commandments is written in our heart and mind. Thus the Law does not pass away, it passes from stone tablets and is engraved in the human personality.

Each of the Ten Commandments is included in the forming of Christ in us. The forming of Christ in us is equivalent to writing the Law in our mind and heart.

We have been reviewing the Commandments and have arrived at the fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment. How is the Sabbath Commandment expanded and applied to us under the new covenant?

The heart of the Sabbath is, I believe, set forth by Isaiah in the following words: "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."

If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day.

If you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honourable.

If you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words.

To my way of thinking, this is the heart of the Sabbath Commandment, rather than the emphasis on not working on Saturday.

The Lord Jesus always kept these aspects of the Sabbath, although He was criticized for healing on the Sabbath.

The primary thesis of the Book of Hebrews is that of ceasing from our own works and pressing into the rest of God. This is the same idea as abiding in Christ. Here is the heart of the Sabbath.

But unlike that of not exerting ourselves on Saturday, the true, eternal Sabbath, the eternal rest of God, is that of abiding in Christ every moment of every day and night.

God finished everything, including your life and mine, on the seventh day. Therefore our first responsibility in life is to press into that which God foreordained for us.

The decision that is placed before every human being is simply understood: either I am going to determine my own life, or I am going to look to God for my life. We cannot possibly enter our Kingdom inheritance until we are willing to forsake our own imaginations and enthusiasms and set ourselves continually to finding out what the Lord desires at the moment. If we are not in the habit of hearing from God, we can continually acknowledge Him in all our ways and He shall direct our paths.

We can exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in every one of the Ten Commandments because we have grace they did not have. The several aspects of new-covenant grace are as follows: The blood atonement.

The born-again experience.

The Holy Spirit guiding us, comforting us, helping us, enabling us to bear witness, enabling us to overcome sin, and dwelling in us forever. While the blood of the cross gives us the authority to enter the Kingdom of God, it is the Holy Spirit who provides the wisdom and power that enable us to live in a manner pleasing to God.

We have the gifts and ministries of the Spirit.

The testimony of the Apostles.

We have the writing of God's eternal moral law in our heart and mind.

We have the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If we keep Christ's commandments faithfully, the Father and the Son will make Their eternal abode in us.

If we are faithful in overcoming sin today, when the Lord comes we shall receive a body that is filled with righteousness instead of sin.

God has spoken to us in the two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. These are messages to America, saying that we are sinning and must repent. Otherwise there are going to be more catastrophes.

If we would save ourselves and our loved ones we must lay hold upon the various aspects of grace I have mentioned until we are able to keep the true, eternal commandments of the eternal moral Law of God.

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