As the story unfolds, there will be occasional discussions of doctrinal topics. I aim to explain important points as simply as possible; however, as previously mentioned, my explanations are by no means definitive. My intention is to use only biblical evidence and sound reason. My explanations may be incomplete and my own understanding is not without limits, but I hope they will help clarify the essential points.
The first topic is sin. What exactly is sin? Different societies have different standards, but for the Jews, sin meant breaking the law—specifically, the law found in the Torah (the Pentateuch). As noted earlier regarding the Pharisees and Sadducees, both groups sought to keep the law, though each emphasised different traditions: the Pharisees valued the traditions of the elders, while the Sadducees placed the greater emphasis on priestly authority. At any rate, in the era of the Temple, the orthodox means of atonement was to obtain forgiveness through sacrifices for transgressions of the law. Jesus himself lived under this law, though his interpretation sometimes differed from that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, especially regarding the Sabbath.
There are three particular things Jesus said about the law as the standard of sin.
The first, as many will know, is:
For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. (Matthew 5:18, WEBBE)
Before reflecting on this verse, it is worth noting that “the smallest letter” and “tiny pen stroke” refer to the original Hebrew text of the law itself. In Hebrew, even minor marks and strokes can change the meaning of words, so Jesus is stressing that not even the smallest part of the law will disappear until all is fulfilled. Since Matthew’s gospel was written for Jews, and Jesus was speaking to Jews, his audience would naturally have thought of the Torah.
The second point Jesus makes about the law actually appears just before the previous verse:
Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfil. (Matthew 5:17, WEBBE)
This is clarified by Paul in Galatians:
For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10–14, WEBBE)
Paul explains that Christ, to deliver us from the curse of the law—namely, the fact that breaking even a single commandment makes one a sinner—took the curse upon himself, dying on the cross to redeem us. Thus, as Jesus said, even though the law itself is never abolished and all is fulfilled with not even the tiniest part vanishing, in Christ, we are made righteous through faith, as though we had perfectly kept the law. Even if we cannot live absolutely righteously, through Jesus we are counted as righteous by faith. Practically, this means the law is fulfilled for us, and we are no longer bound by the old regulations.
The third teaching appears in the following verses:
Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:19–20, WEBBE)
At first glance, this might sound as though we are obliged to keep the law now; but the crucial point is at the end: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” In other words, Jesus is actually declaring that even the strictest observers of the law cannot gain salvation on that basis alone. Paul’s point is the same: no one is saved by the law. Jesus is clear—the law remains the standard of sin, and should be honoured, but salvation is not achievable through human effort.
So, are we meant to keep the law, or not? Jesus appears to uphold the law, yet then explicitly denies that it can lead to salvation, which can be perplexing. This is easier to grasp in context: Jesus was speaking to Jews before his resurrection, and they remained obliged to observe the law.
Paul writes:
For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. (Romans 2:12–13, WEBBE)
For the Jews who did not believe in the risen Christ, the only way to seek salvation was to keep the law. Still, as Jesus insisted, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees”, there was no path into God’s kingdom.
For those who have died and risen with Christ, what is right is to live by the new commandment given by Jesus, and not the old law. This new commandment was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament, and was established by Jesus at the Last Supper. It appears again in Ephesians and 1 John.
First, Jeremiah says:
“‘Behold, the days come,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ says the Lord. ‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord: ‘I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will no longer each teach his neighbour, and every man teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord;' for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,’ says the Lord: ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.’”(Jeremiah 31:31–34, WEBBE)
God, through Jeremiah, declares that a new covenant will arrive, unlike the one given through Moses. This new covenant will be written on people’s hearts, and all will know the Lord. Jesus proclaimed this new commandment at the Last Supper:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35, WEBBE)
At first glance, this may appear different from the law of Moses, but in essence, it is not so. As Jesus said:
“The first is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. The second is like this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29–31, WEBBE)
Yet, in the new covenant, all the detailed rules are set aside—what remains is simply “love one another.” This is the new commandment. You can refer to the old law as a standard for sin, but to claim that one cannot enter heaven without keeping the old law is to misunderstand the Bible. Jesus' new commandment frees us from that requirement.
If you think I am inventing this, the same message is found in Ephesians:
For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby. (Ephesians 2:14–16, WEBBE)
Do not be distracted by the word “abolished”. In the New Testament, it is stated repeatedly that the law has been abolished. For Jesus, abolishing is the fulfilment of the law. As completion and abolition lead to the same outcome, the two words may be used interchangeably.
The new commandment also appears in 1 John, and I would encourage you to read it for yourself. The “new commandment” described there is the same as in John’s gospel: “love one another.”
I have explained the new commandment, but I do not mean to say that keeping it is what saves you. Salvation is, of course, attained through faith. Yet, those who possess faith will naturally act in love. Not everyone who acts is rooted in faith, but whoever has faith will, in the end, show it in their actions. I am not calling you to perfection—no one can attain that, and to try would simply be to turn faith back into law. Do not seek to do great things; do what you can. If you have been given ten talents, act accordingly; if only one, then according to the one. The problem is in doing nothing because you think you have little. Even a small effort will be praised by God. If you want to know what to do in practice, read what Jesus says in the four Gospels. Even if you cannot keep it perfectly, if you say to yourself, “If I love God and Jesus, if I love my neighbour, is this the right thing to do?”, you are keeping the new commandment which Jesus gave us.
We began talking about the law when discussing sin. Has it not been helpful? Though this has become a rather lengthy explanation, let me briefly summarise the biblical teaching about sin: Breaking the law is sin, but since God gave the law, the ultimate standard for judging sin is God himself. If something is sin in God’s eyes, then it is sin; if not, it is not. This is the case, regardless of what we may think. Understanding this—and knowing that God sometimes allows or even uses sin and evil, for the sake of someone’s salvation—may set your mind at ease about the existence of evil and sin in the world.
