Can You Keep God's Law?

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Summary

Rick, a ruling elder, lingers over Matthew 5:17-20 to show that Jesus came not to abolish God's law but to fulfill it perfectly in our place. The law is preeminent, permanent, pertinent, and purposeful — but it is a mirror that reveals our dirt, not a ladder we can climb to save ourselves. The big idea is that our righteousness is received in Christ, not achieved by us, so we honor God's commands out of gratitude and flee to the Savior for a righteousness we could never produce.

Sermon Outline

1. 1

   Why we need divine law ▶ 3:38

   Rick introduces himself and, drawing on the Pilgrims and our shared sinfulness, shows why we all desperately need a standard outside ourselves.

2. 2

   The law's four crowns and the big idea ▶ 4:53

   Scripture is crowned with preeminence, permanence, pertinence, and purpose; the central truth is that righteousness is received in Christ, not achieved by us.

3. 3

   What Jesus does: the law fulfilled completely ▶ 8:45

   Jesus is the divine accomplisher who upholds and fulfills every part of God's law — moral, ceremonial, and judicial — embodying its heart of love for God and neighbor.

4. 4

   The law as mirror, not ladder ▶ 16:08

   God's law was never a ladder for self-salvation; it is a mirror exposing our sin and our need for grace, magnifying the glory of the gospel.

5. 5

   What we do: honor His commands faithfully ▶ 22:42

   Believers must neither relax nor pick and choose God's commands but obey out of grateful hearts, letting the whole counsel of Scripture shape us.

6. 6

   Don't treat the Bible like a vending machine ▶ 32:36

   Scripture both comforts and confronts; the verses that make us squirm are often the ones we most need, because God's Word is a wrecking ball to a comfortable life.

7. 7

   How we receive righteousness sovereignly ▶ 36:23

   Unless our righteousness exceeds the Pharisees' we cannot enter the kingdom — so renounce self-righteousness, repent of pride, and receive Christ's imputed righteousness by faith alone.

Key Points

• Jesus came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them completely in His perfect life and atoning death.
• God's law is preeminent, permanent, pertinent, and purposeful — the highest, unchanging, relevant standard designed to lead sinners to Christ.
• The law is a mirror that reveals our sin, not a ladder we can climb to save ourselves.
• Our righteousness is received in Christ, not achieved by us; selective obedience is disguised rebellion.
• Scripture should both comfort and confront us; the passages that make us squirm often target the sins we most need to face.
• Only a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees — Christ's own, imputed by faith — can bring us into the kingdom.

Quotable Moments

Discussion Questions

1. 1

   Read Matthew 5:17-20. What does it mean that Jesus came to fulfill the law rather than abolish it, and why does that matter for us?

2. 2

   Rick called the law a mirror, not a ladder. Where have you been tempted to treat obedience as a way to climb up to God instead of letting it reveal your need for Him?

3. 3

   Which commands or passages of Scripture do you tend to 'pick and choose,' and what might it look like to honor the whole counsel of God's Word?

4. 4

   Rick warned against using the Bible like a vending machine for comfort. How can you let Scripture confront you this week, not just console you?

5. 5

   Jesus says our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees'. How does receiving Christ's imputed righteousness change the way you stand before God?