The Mustard Seed

“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

With these words, Jesus stated an important part of his mission here on earth. He was to be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In no way was it to be understood that he was abolishing the Law, rather he came to introduce “the obedience that comes from faith” as Paul puts it in Romans 1, which is the fulfillment of the Law.

Do you live a life of obedience from faith? In the New Testament, Old Testament Law (the Ten Commandments and many other ceremonial laws) is shown to clearly demonstrate our inability to live the righteous life required by God (see Romans 3:19 & 20). The sin nature that lives in all of us creates in us the desire to be Law breakers, not Law abiders (Romans 7:7&f). As long as we try to keep the Law by observing the letter of the Law, we will fail. We must fail. That is human (read ‘sinful’) nature.

So how is it possible for sinful man to commune with a holy, sinless God? If we cannot possibly keep the Law of God and that Law is the standard of God’s judgment, how can we hope to avoid judgment? Paul states in Romans 7:14 “the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” In order to fulfill the Law of God, we must become spiritual people. Jesus said “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5) In other words, we must be born again. Are we more comfortable being ‘moral’ people than ‘spiritual’ people? The truth is that the kingdom of God has very little to do with morality. It has everything to do with righteousness – and only Christ can provide the atonement before God that makes us righteous in his sight through a spiritual rebirth. If we have that righteousness, we have all that we need.

Sometimes I think that we have over-complicated things to the point where we totally lose site of the basis for our faith – the message of the cross. It is by holding fast to that message that we build our faith and continue to grow in the Lord. Remember that faith comes from hearing the message (Rom 10:17) – it is not something that we muster up. This is part of the reason that sharing the Gospel is so important in the life of the believer – it is a continual reminder of what God has done for each of us and a tremendous faith-building exercise.

Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed. Though the seed is small, it contains everything needed to become a mighty tree. The message of the cross is like that – it contains everything we need to live Godly in Christ Jesus. If in all of our lives we were never taught anything other than the gospel, and we grabbed hold of that message and held tightly to it, we would have all we need to live a life that pleases God.

Take a moment today not just to thank God for your salvation, but to remember what salvation is. Think over what you were saved from. Think about what you were saved to do. Survey the wonderful cross once again and see if tears still come to your eyes. Then stop struggling and let the One on that cross be the fulfillment of the law in you. Then get out and share the message with someone else!