“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).
Who do you follow? Do you follow yourself? Do you rely on your own ability to follow the rules, or do you follow Jesus – the only one who can and has fulfilled the law?
Well, if you are relying only on yourself to follow the rules, Jesus says, “…not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” I really love the wording in other translations that states “not one jot or one tittle of the law shall escape until all things are fulfilled.” What this means is that you have to follow every single rule without fail. If you happen to miss one tiny part, then you are guilty of breaking the entire law. This being so, left to our own devices and abilities, we would be doomed! But there is hope!
Nothing is complete without Jesus. He is the author and completer, the beginning and the end. Everything exists because of Him, and everything is missing something without Him – not just missing something, but the central thing that supplies true meaning and purpose to all things.
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” In other words, the Old Testament law is incomplete. What is it missing? Jesus!
So, again, I ask: Who do you follow? Do you follow yourself and your ability to follow the rules, or do you follow Jesus?
God’s Best…Steven