This deception is indeed a vicious system of interpretation. It dishonors what God has decreed righteous. It is the willful dismantling of the eternal principles found in God's law. It is bad enough to believe such lies but to then teach them and lead others into the same contemptuous position? There are hundreds of thousands of people who in seeking God have fallen in with these wolves. Led astray down the broad path that leads to destruction. Realize also that those reduced to the least in the kingdom may indeed be saved but a great many people who follow this heresy are not. They are sold a fake christ that cannot save them. You cannot treat a spiritual wound that needs the salve of Jesus Christ with a carnal band-aid. You do not tell someone dying of cancer that they just need to eat better and exercise. Don't tell me how many people came up for an altar call after you told them nothing about the Gospel and destroyed the law for them.
God still is not done however. He also then says that whoever obeys the commandments and teaches them will be called the greatest in the kingdom! You heard that right! Whoever teaches them! Wait a minute preacher - you're teaching law! Absolutely. As Jesus instructed. Returning to the commentary:
but whosoever shall do and teach them--whose principles and teaching go to exalt the authority and honor of God's law, in its lowest as well as highest requirements. The same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven--shall, by that providence which watches over the honor of God's moral administration, be raised to the same position of authority and honor to which they exalt the law. - Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
We should be exalting the authority and honor of God's law. Not in terms of it saving us because it cannot save us. We are only saved through grace. That grace however does not eliminate the law. It does not eliminate the authority of the law. It does not eliminate the honor the law is due. It does not eliminate the holiness and righteousness of the law. It does not eliminate that the law is still beneficial for our temporal benefit. Do not allow the grace hustlers to muddy the waters. This has nothing to do with eternal judgment. Christ canceled the debt we owed under the law and nailed it to the cross. We need to leave that debt there. Do not mix law and grace in any discussion involving salvation.
We are not talking about salvation though. If we were, there would be no disagreement. If they simply said, the law is useless when it comes to our eternal destination and the judgment we all must face I would shout a resounding amen. They do not leave it there however. They take it beyond grace and try to remove the law from the lives of believers. I understand why. Who would not want a God that could care less how we conducted ourselves? Joseph Prince has literally preached sermons entitled - God is Never Angry With You and You Stand Permanently In The Favor of God. You cheated on your wife? God's favor will still rain down upon you! You swindled everyone at work? God is not angry with you! Do you see the lunacy of this theology? When you remove the law, what are you left with beloved? Nothing. You are left with an empty god. A god who is just a blessing dispenser for our whims. He becomes Santa Claus without the naughty and nice lists. Everyone's nice! Even Santa has some law to what he does!
The key verses conclude this teaching by reminding us that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. How does this relate? The Pharisees righteousness was all external. It was all for show. They used the law to justify themselves. To lift themselves above people. As believers this cannot apply. We cannot use the law to justify ourselves. Only the grace of God will justify us. Our righteousness is internal, based upon the indwelt Holy Spirit. Jesus confirms for us here what we have been saying all along. When it comes to matters of righteousness and judgment, the law cannot help us. We will not enter into the kingdom of heaven if we are left to be judged by the law. No one is arguing that. Do not believe the standard hyper grace talking points. No one is arguing that without the grace of God we stand guilty before God.
All we are saying is the Bible is clear that the free gift of grace does not nullify the existence of the law in the lives of those who follow Christ. In fact - the opposite. Those that seek to minimize or eliminate the law will actually be the least in the kingdom, assuming they are genuinely converted. Those that strive to obey what God has deemed holy and righteous and teach others to do the same will be considered the greatest in the kingdom. Do not cheapen the sacrifice of Calvary by using it to encourage sin in your life. That is not grace; it is deception.
Reverend Anthony Wade - October 2, 2014
