Related Topics: Discipleship, Forgiveness, Law, Matthew | More Messages from Rev. Jan Devine

From Series: "The Heart of God's Law"

BECOMING FLOURISHING DISCIPLES: PURSUING THE HEART OF GOD’S LAW If someone gave you a great book to read, you wouldn’t open it up and begin reading 2/3 of the way through the book. It would be very difficult to understand the characters or the plot, much less the ending of the story. In the same way, we can’t fully understand the New Testament unless we first understand the foundation that was laid in the Old Testament- not just the stories, but also the laws, covenants, sacrificial system, and prophecies. Jesus said: “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” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus fulfilled the Law by revealing- and living according to- the deep principles underlying the Law. He showed us how to live by the spirit of the Law, not just the letter of the Law. We can try to obey the Law without having God’s heart, but if we truly have God’s heart, we will seek to follow the Law in its deepest, fullest sense. Join us as we continue in Matthew 5, where Jesus will challenge us to go beyond mere external obedience and find the heart of God’s Law.