In this episode, Pastor Ted Wilson talks about the spirituality of the law, as part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.
In this episode, Pastor Ted Wilson talks about the spirituality of the law, as part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.
People think that spirituality and the law are two separate things. But they blend together perfectly.
Ellen White says, "The law given upon Sinai was the enunciation of the principle of love, a revelation to earth of the law of heaven. It was…spoken by Him through Whose power the hearts of men could be brought into harmony with its principles" (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 46).
Unfortunately, the law is often seen as a list of instructions. But Jesus shows us that spirituality is more than just keeping the letter of the law.
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19-20).
Here, Jesus points out that the law goes deeper than outward appearances. For instance, in the sixth commandment, "you shall not kill," cultivating hatred and anger is as serious as the act of murder. The same goes in the case of the seventh commandment, "you shall not commit adultery," for Jesus said, "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (verse 28).
To keep the commandments of God means being reconciled with our fellow men (verse 24), turning the other cheek (verse 39) when other people mistreat us, and going the second mile (verse 41) even for those who don't deserve it.
God asks us to do these seemingly impossible things so we can be like Him. "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (verse 48). And it will only be possible with God (Matthew 19:26).
"By His own obedience to the law, Christ testified to its immutable character and proved that through His grace, it could be perfectly obeyed by every son and daughter of Adam…Because the law of the Lord is perfect and therefore changeless, it is impossible for sinful men in themselves to meet the standard of its requirement. This was why Jesus came as our Redeemer. It was His mission, by making men partakers of the divine nature, to bring them into harmony with the principles of the law of heaven" (Ellen White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 50).
Therefore, let us surrender ourselves to Jesus and have His law written in our hearts so we can be more like Him.
To learn more about this topic, read Ellen White's book Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing and download its digital copy at https://egwwritings.org/.