Sermon - Trinity VI 2024 - Matthew 5:17-26

Moses Descends from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, Ferdinand Mol, 1662

The Good of God’s Law

1. The law is God’s eternal will for man to live wisely

2. Our righteousness is not from the law, but from Christ

3. God’s law sets us apart as His people to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world

What good are the ten commandments and God’s law? Do they have any bearing on us today? It used to be quite normal to have the ten commandments posted in courthouses, but that has been hotly debated over the past decade or so. I’ve seen surveys done of Christians and many have a difficult time listing even a few of them. It does beg the question whether or not the ten commandments and God’s law matter anymore, or if those are just relics from the past.

Yet, we heard it said by our Lord: “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.” Indeed, from the beginning God wrote His law onto the hearts of man. But in time, due to our increasing weakness, it became necessary to write the law onto tablets of stone. Thus the ten commandments were delivered by God to man so that we might have a helpful summary of His law.

The law, therefore, is the eternal will of God for us to live wisely. From Psalm 19 we read: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the just decrees of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” The law of God is good and wise and sets His will before our eyes, as we sing.

The ten commandments and God’s law in general do show us our sins, since all of us are sinners. However, God’s law is good because it shows us the will of God, and God does not change, therefore His will and His law also do not change, and they are always good. Presumably, Adam and Eve prior to sin lived according to God’s law in the Garden of Eden. Also, presumably, we will all live according to God’s law in the resurrection when we live in the new heavens and the new earth, since His law endures forever.

That means God’s law, the ten commandments, are still just as valid today as when God wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to Moses. They may not always be easy to keep nor approved by this world, but that doesn’t make them any less valid. In some ways, when the world has such a skewed view of morality, as it does today, perhaps that makes God’s law even more applicable and necessary to study. Since our culture doesn’t promote a Christian worldview, we need to know God’s law well enough so that we aren’t led astray by worldliness. The way of Godliness is known only in the law of God.

Nevertheless, just as we know godliness through the law, that doesn’t mean that our salvation comes from the law. Our righteousness is not from the law, but from Christ. Jesus said: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The pharisees were masters of following the law, not necessarily God’s law, but the laws they had invented and which they were able to keep perfectly. However, they did not keep God’s law perfectly, and therefore they were not as righteous as they appeared from the outside.

Thus, our righteousness is not from the law, but from Christ. All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Our old man was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. If we have died with Chrsit, we believe that we will also live with Him. United to Jesus through baptism, His death has served as the price for our sins, and we are forgiven, and His righteousness is made our own. Through baptism we live in Christ’s resurrection and His life of perfect obedience to the law is ours. Only through Christ does our righteousness exceed that of the scribes and pharisees. 

But our sinful hearts can be easily deceived. It’s very tempting to see God’s grace and presume that sin doesn’t matter anymore, therefore we live in even greater sin. It’s tempting to continue in sin because of God’s grace. It’s tempting to think that since my sins are forgiven, then God’s law is abolished and I can live however I want. That has been an ongoing temptation for Christians.

Our Lutheran churches are no exception to this temptation. People like to use Luther’s statement of “sin boldly” out of context to mean that we should sin big time and not worry about it because God will forgive us anyways. That’s not what Luther meant, but that’s how people use it. I’ve met plenty of Christians, including Lutherans, who think that drunkenness, adultery, divorce, fornication, gluttony, and other addicting sins aren’t to be worried about, but embraced, because God forgives us anyways.

It’s true that God does forgive us our sins when we repent, but nowhere in scripture do we see God taking sin lightly and shrugging it off. God had to die for our sins; this isn’t something to take lightly. Instead we hear Jesus taking the law very seriously. Much of the Sermon on the Mount, which is where our Gospel reading comes from, is about the law of God. Jesus goes on to talk about how murder is more than killing but even includes anger, adultery is more than physical intimacy but includes lust. Jesus fulfills the law on our behalf, but He doesn’t abolish it; we must still live in it because it is God’s good and eternal will for our lives.

One of the great things about God’s law is that it sets us apart as His people to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. God desires His people to stick out in this life. In the Old Testament God had some civil laws to make the Israelites stick out just by their outward appearance. Today God’s law continues to do that same thing for us, because when we live in God’s law we stick out.

Jesus tells us: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” When you follow the ten commandments and God’s law as you read it in the Bible, you will stick out in this world because others will see your good works.

More and more this is becoming obvious today as the world becomes more evil. Christians dress differently with modesty, Christians don’t speak with such profanity, Christians seek to maintain marriage, Christians are open to God’s gift of children, Christians distinguish between men and women, Christians don’t watch and listen to the same entertainment, Christians set aside Sunday morning for worship, Christians have different priorities, Christians have different goals, the list goes on and on. Sometimes this means that the world calls us names and accuses us unjustly. So be it. We do stick out from the world because God has set us apart to lead holy lives, because we are His holy people.

Far from this pushing unbelievers away from us, God tells us that this will lead them to God and even to give glory to God. If you’re looking for a biblical passage to tell you how to grow the church, here it is: be a weird Christian. When those who are wearied by the changes and chances of this gruesome world see that there are people who live entirely different and yet are filled with hope and joy in the almighty God, they are going to want what you have. If we’re indistinguishable from the world around us, then we won’t be persecuted, but we also won’t draw anyone to God.

God’s law is good. It’s God’s eternal will for your life so that you may have true joys. When Christians live in it, and are set apart by it, they draw unbelievers to Christ and to true righteousness. So, yes, God’s law and His ten commandments are still useful today, and have much bearing upon our lives.