GOD’S WORD FOR SEPTEMBER 18

We are reading from a daily devotional  called “Running To Win” written by Erwin Lutzer  and the late, great D.L. Moody.   Erwin Lutzer is a light in our day as D.L. Moody was in his.  Besides his many ministries, and many books, Pastor Lutzer was Senior Pastor at Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years and now serves as Pastor Emeritus there.  He is  Chancelor and a former professor at Moody Bible Institute, where he taught Theology and Ministry, and now has numerous radio teachings.

JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”  Matthew 5:17–18

D.L. MOODY

Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them. Because He gave new commandments it does not follow that He abolished the old. Christ’s explanation of them made them all the more searching. In His Sermon on the Mount, He carried the principles of the commandments beyond the mere letter. He unfolded them and showed that they embraced more, that they are positive as well as prohibitive.

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments” (Malachi 4:4). Does that look as if the law of Moses was becoming obsolete?

ERWIN LUTZER

The clearest statement we have about the purpose of the law is found in the book of Galatians where it says the law was “our guardian until Christ came” (Galatians 3:24). The law is like a plumb line, showing that a wall is crooked but is unable to straighten it out. There’s nothing wrong with the plumb line, it simply can’t do anything more than point out how crooked the wall is.

Today, we are not under the law, we are under grace. But this doesn’t give us the liberty to be lawless. We have warnings in the New Testament about using grace to justify lawlessness (Jude 1:4).

Jesus fulfilled the demands of the law for us, but we must see the law as holy, just, and good. Let us learn to walk in the Spirit and fulfill not just the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law as Jesus emphasized on the Sermon on the Mount.

    PRAYER

    Jesus, thank you for fulfilling the law in perfect obedience and for paying my debt on the cross.

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Romans 3:20

    “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

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Galatians 3:24

    “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.”

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Romans 7:7

    “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.”

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Galatians 2:16

    “Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” –

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Matthew 5:17

    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

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Ephesians 2:8-9

    “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

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Titus 3:5

    “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

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