In our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, He corrects future accusations His enemies would hurl against Him with these words: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). In their self-righteousness, the scribes and Pharisees made the law their servant rather than obeying it in honor of God. Their all-consuming goal to attain to the law of righteousness by their own law-keeping forced them into a corner (Romans 9:31). They could not keep the law. Left unmodified, the law would only condemn them as guilty, expose them as corrupt and leave them without hope before God. They made right knowledge and being right before men their primary aim. To achieve their goal, they modified the law by their practice and teachings. Jesus assures His hearers of the certainty of the complete fulfillment of God’s holy law and the importance of the least commandment, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). If all must be fulfilled, then breaking the least commandment and teaching men so pits me against God’s holy, unfailing law. The Master, the Son of God, testified against this insidious error in His sermon. “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). It is pride, spiritual pride, that gives birth to such heinous thoughts and practice.

But Jesus had a much more important and glorious aim than to correct His enemies in stating His purpose for coming. He goes on to say, “That except your righteousness shall exceed the [righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). According to scripture, if any man continually keep every commandment perfectly, he will attain to the righteousness of the law and receive life (Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:5). But if any fail even once to perfectly keep every law, the curse of the law will come on that one (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26; 18:13; 32:3-4). Continual, perfect, actual keeping of every law is the emphasis. And because the law is spiritual, all must be kept internally and not merely externally. The law is black and white in its requirements and judgments. There is no middle ground. Either keep it and be blessed, or break it and be cursed.

The scribes and Pharisees, like every natural man, saw only the options that put man in the spot light and depend on man: keep the law and live, or fail to keep it and be damned by it. Like those men in John 8 who brought to Jesus the woman caught in the act of adultery, they only saw the options held by men with low views of God and high views of themselves: condemn the guilty without mercy, or clear the guilty at the expense of justice.

But as in the case of the woman in John 8, our Lord Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the fulfillment of the law for all who believe (Matthew 5:17; Romans 8:1-4; 10:4). Unlike the scribes and Pharisees who attempted to make the law serve their ego by circumventing it that they might appear better than others, our Lord Jesus, as our eternal Surety, magnified the law by obligating Himself to keep its every command on behalf of His people, and taught men so, commanding them to believe Him. He, therefore, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19). Only He kept every command, even the least, perfectly, continually, without fail. Only He fulfilled the law and the prophets. Only He could hold the mirror of the law up to Himself without hypocrisy. His obedience unto death is the everlasting righteousness that fulfills the law and the prophets and earns everlasting life for all of His people (Daniel 9:24). The two greatest commandments in the law are to love God with all the heart, mind, soul and strength; and to love our neighbor as our self. Christ fulfilled these as the Surety to God for His Church by His own death (John 15:13; Romans 5:6-10; 1 John 3:16; Ephesians 5:25). Therefore, He not only kept the least, but the greatest, and He brought honor to God by upholding His word, not letting even the smallest jot or tittle of God's word fall to the ground.

Our Lord teaches us to keep every commandment, even the least. To enter heaven we must have perfect righteousness. But the law was never given that we might establish our righteousness by our own law-keeping. Rather, it was given to shut us up to undeniable guilt before God, expose the exceeding sinfulness of our hearts, and leave us without hope outside of Christ. Christ alone fulfills the righteousness of the law (Psalms 71:16; 119:142,144). It is in believing Christ that we therefore fulfill the righteousness of the law, even in the least commandment. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:3-4). To walk in the Spirit is to to abandon all confidence in the flesh and believe Christ alone, to rely on His grace apart from my works or worth. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). Christ’s obedience to His Father for His people fulfilled the law and the prophets (Daniel 9:24; Romans 10:4; Philippians 2:5-8). God’s operation of faith in us compels us to embrace and confess that Christ has done everything in our salvation and is therefore all of our boasting (Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 1:3; 10:1-18; Exodus 14:13; 2 Chronicles 20:17; Isaiah 45:22; Galatians 6:14).

But when I make my knowledge and my “being right” my aim, and consider something I am or do as the means or measure of achieving my preferred status, then I set myself above others in self-imagined superiority, rather than loving others by seeking and praying for their blessing in Christ and rejoicing when they are blessed in Him. By making “being right” my aim rather than being found in Christ, I look to my accomplishments rather than Christ's accomplishments. I elevate myself above the law and break the greatest commandment of all: to love God and my brother and sister in Christ.

In the core of my being, I must acknowledge that there is nothing good in me, and that Christ and Him crucified is the only righteousness "Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come, and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed" (Isaiah 45:24). God only recognizes and accepts and is pleased with the righteousness of Christ. Faith sees this and says so, because faith is pleased only with Christ and with all of Christ.

Only faith produces love, because faith puts me in the dust in loving admiration of Christ and esteems His people above myself (Philippians 2:3). Only faith sets me free me from spiritual pride and makes service to Christ and His people my life’s aim. With Paul I pray, Oh Lord, find me in Christ alone, having His righteousness alone (Philippians 3:9)! Make all of my righteousness more repugnant to me than dung! Give me this grace to believe Him and to seek the good of my brethren at the expense of my own reputation and ease. “Only by pride cometh contention” (Proverbs 13:10). The LORD hates six things: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands the shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet swift to do mischief, a false witness that speaks lies and him that sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19). At the head of the list is the insidious spiritual pride of self-righteousness. Lord, help my unbelief; increase my faith!

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:1-2)

Our Master is not telling us here that we must not judge between truth and error, between right and wrong. Whatever God forbids is wrong; whatever He teaches is right.  Rather, by His apostles Christ exhorts us to be constantly “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:10-11).  “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Christ is not telling us that we must never condemn as evil the opinions, behavior, and doctrines of men. Our Lord teaches later in His Sermon on the Mount the necessity of spiritual discernment: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). We are to “try the spirits” (1 John 4:1). “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). We are to hold fast to that which is good and hold fast the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:13). There is only one Lord, one Body, one Spirit, one God and Father of all, and there is only one name under heaven given men whereby we must be saved (Ephesians 4:4-6; Acts 4:12).

But the Pharisees in John 8 made a fatal mistake. First, they judged a woman to be guilty of death for her sin of adultery before hearing Christ’s judgment. Second, they judged Christ as guilty of breaking God’s law because He received sinners. Third, they tempted Christ to take one of the only two options that they considered possible: either condemn the guilty without mercy, or clear the guilty without justice. But, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15).

Christ reproved the Pharisees in John 8 for their treachery. He exposed their hypocrisy and revealed that they were worthy of the judgment which they thought to bring on the woman. Paul did the same thing in Romans 2:1-2, “Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things”.

John 8 teaches many lessons. First, If we are judged for our sins, none of us will stand. “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3). Second, Christ alone searches the hearts (Jer. 17:10). Third, the Judge of all the earth will do right, and this is  our salvation and the basis for our godly fear (John 5:22; Hebrews 12:28). Fourth, God reveals His heart in the case of the woman: He is both just and merciful. In Christ He justifies those who in themselves are ungodly because Christ propitiated God for them; all such are made to look to Christ only (Romans 3:26; 4:5). God found the only possible third option. The Pharisees could not discover it. But with it, He silenced all self-righteous accusers, saved the guilty, and makes known His wisdom, grace and justice in Christ.

The woman represents every believer and all believers for whom Christ died. God the Father did not spare His Son from the justice of His wrath, but delivered Him up to it for all of His elect. God judged His people in Christ. Christ substituted Himself under the wrath of God for them. God convinces His people that their judgment was accomplished in Christ. Every believer knows that his or her own sin deserves God’s judgment. They fear that judgment. But God has given His word, the Gospel. The Gospel is that Christ answered God’s law for them and silences all accusers, Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:34. Christ answered all of God’s demands for judgment against chosen sinners. He was made sin for His people. God judged their sins in Him, 2 Cor. 5:21. His answer is the answer He gives to their conscience from His word, Hebrews 10:1-23. All that God requires of His people, He finds in Christ, 1 Cor. 1:30-31.

With what judgment we judge, we shall be judged. What is that judgment with which every believer judges? Every believer relies on the judgment Christ endured in their place in their conscience, in their prayers and as they consider the day of judgment. In the heart of every believer is the conviction that God judged Christ for them, and He is all their confidence, 1 John 4:17-18.

Do you hold to Christ as your only hope, and hold Him out as the only hope for any sinner who sues for mercy at the throne of God’s grace? Or do you hold to some thought of escaping judgment based on your own personal obedience? Maybe you hold out only condemnation for those who don’t toe the line? Or maybe you threaten real sinners with judgment who look to Christ alone as their only sin payment and obedience? With the judgment you judge, you shall be judged.

Don’t ignore God’s third option. The first option condemns all sinners. The second option denies God’s justice. The third option both saves sinners and glorifies God’s Son for His wisdom, justice, grace and love for sinners. It is the only assurance and the on-going hope and joy and peace of every believing sinner (Romans 15:13). The third option is Christ and Him crucified. Every believer declares this as his only hope and the only hope for sinners. Outside of Christ, all will face God in judgment. In Christ, justice has been answered and continues to receive an answer that pleases God and secures all blessings to believing sinners: His mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life and all grace. What an Advocate we have in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Micah 7:7-9   Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. (v8)   Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. (v9)  I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

When I think that we must all give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment (Romans 14:12), a demand to answer for my life, I take immeasurably great comfort in this promise, “Until He plead my cause.”

By nature and by birth I am a Gentile, a stranger to all Old Testament promises. By nature, by birth and by practice, I can claim no OT promise as mine. But in Christ, all of the promises of God are “yea and amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christ has brought me nigh by His blood (Ephesians 2:13). And this is the inheritance of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26) “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

God’s indignation against sin is real. Those who sense it seek relief from it. I cannot plead innocence. I am guilty. There remains but one hope. Either God must plead for me, or He must appoint an Advocate for me. In Christ, He has done both! Christ is both God and man. God appointed Him to the task. It was God’s love that moved Him to do so. And my Advocate joyfully accepted the appointment because His own love engaged His heart to approach the throne on behalf of His sheep (Jeremiah 30:21). God hears the plea of my Advocate because He pleads the Father’s love; He pleads His Father’s eternal will; He pleads His own substitution; and He pleads His own accomplishment of that will in His own blood, offered up to God in love. (John 17:4; Eph 5:1-2; Hebrews 10:1-23). But He does not stop even at these! He continues even now to plead. And bless God, He will yet plead my cause in the Day of Judgment. The Spirit of God teaches me with this gift of faith to believe and rest so (Hebrews 10:15-23; 4:14-16).

But not only does my Advocate plead, but God Himself pleads for me. “I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him until He plead my cause.” Justice joins mercy, rising in defense for my case with the voice of Christ’s blood (Romans 8:31-33). His blood speaks better things than Abel’s blood (Hebrews 12:24). Abel’s blood called for vengeance; Christ’s blood calls for justification (Romans 5:9).

Nothing gives me greater peace than knowing that Christ is my Answer. I can almost now hear His call to me to give an account of myself to God:  “What is your answer?!”  I draw from this promise in reply, “Lord, if you do not answer for me -- if the answer you gave with your own blood and righteousness and intercessions are not enough for me -- then I have no answer.” Romans 8:30-39 provides my answer: “It is God that justifieth.” Thus He pleads for me: “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” "I need no other argument, I need no other plea..." I have no other and I want no other plea than Christ’s answer to God, and God’s answer to Christ. My account in the Day of Judgment will be the same that God now gives me through faith in His word: “It is Christ that died!” Lord, be my Answer! You answered when you were delivered up for my offenses. You answer now in heaven. You answer now in my conscience with your blood and righteousness. You, O blessed Advocate, are my only Answer. Lord, remember me, answer for me; plead my cause!

Believers are uniquely salt and light in this world. There is no salt or light in the world apart from Christ’s disciples (Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:49-50). What does salt signify in scripture? First, it signifies judgment. God rained fire from heaven on Sodom. He left the land barren in salt (Deuteronomy 29:23). Lot’s wife turned back and was turned to a pillar of salt. Abimelech sowed salt in the soil to make his enemies land barren (Judges 9:45). Second, salt also signifies blessing. Salt heals. Elisha poured salt from a new vessel into a spring to heal the waters that otherwise resulted in death to people and barrenness of land. Salt also signifies God’s covenant. God’s covenant is eternal and unalterable. Salt signifies this. As salt preserves by preventing putrefaction, so God preserves His people in the covenant of promise. God also required salt to be offered with every sacrifice. Salt seasoned the sacrifice, Leviticus 2:13. Job said that salt made unsavory things taste good. He meant not only food, but the trials of life, Job 6:6. Because salt was offered with every sacrifice and because it made things taste good, God accepted the sacrifice. The blessings of God’s covenant of promise come through the accepted sacrifice. Salt signifies judgment poured out, and blessings on those named in God’s covenant through Christ, who, through His suffering unto death, endured God’s judgment by virtue of His person and work. Grace comes out of judgment because Christ endured the judgment of God’s wrath against our sin by virtue of His holy person, sinless life and His love for His Father and His people (Luke 1:35; Hebrews 7:25-28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 5:1-2). Just as God healed the waters into which salt was poured by Elisha from the new vessel, so all who look to Christ, though bitten by sin and under the curse of God’s law, are healed from their sin, are set free from condemnation and inherit eternal life (John 3:14-15). His stripes alone heal our sin-sick souls (Isaiah 53:5).

All these things teach us at least two basic principles. First, salt signifies grace out of judgment. The blessings of God promises in the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20) are given to God’s elect, the promised seed (Romans 9:8), because Christ their Surety endured the wrath of God against their sin in His own person. Thus, grace comes out of judgment. By virtue of Christ’s righteousness, the judgment of God is extinguished against God’s people in His suffering, and only blessings are given them because in their Surety they endured the full punishment for their sins and fulfilled God’s requirements for their righteousness. Second, salt signifies that outside of Christ there is only judgment. There is no covenant without salt. There is no accepted sacrifice without salt. There is no healing without salt. There is no comfort in trials without salt. In short, all is tasteless and barren without Christ and Him crucified. God required salt to be mingled with every sacrifice. Christ loved His people and gave Himself for them. That was a sweet smelling savor to God. It smelled and tasted good to Him (Ephesians 5:2). And the priests who ate the sacrifice (Leviticus 2:13) tasted that salt too. Believers look in faith to Christ alone (John 3:14-15; 6:51). Without Christ and Him crucified, without faith in Him, all in life and all in God’s word is barren, without comfort and only a curse. Therefore, believers uniquely are the salt of the earth. They make known the savor of the knowledge of Christ in their walk and by the Gospel (2 Cor. 2:14-17; Ephesians 5:1-9). Their message is pure: it is Christ alone. In their heart, they hold to Christ alone. Before men, they confess that their only hope is Christ and Him crucified. And to all who hear, they hold out Christ alone as the only way in which God is gracious to sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). In Christ, God is merciful and gracious to sinners (Romans 8:1-39). Outside of Christ, there is only destruction, judgment, fire, barrenness and burning. Everyone outside of Christ will be salted with fire (Mark 9:49). Every disciple of Christ holds to Christ alone, holds out Christ alone in their coming to God, and holds out Christ alone to men as the only hope for sinners under the wrath of God. The speech of believers is to be with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). This is nothing short of declaring that there is grace from God nowhere but in Christ alone, and there is nothing but judgment from God if we hold to anything but Christ alone.