Transcript
>Article: Law and Grace in the Millennial Kingdom
My title is Law and Grace in the Millennial Kingdom. Law and Grace in the Millennial Kingdom. The Apostle Paul wrote,
You are not under the law but under grace.
Romans 6:14.
But when Jesus reigns, he will fully enforce the law. Does this fact contradict Paul's statement? If not, how do both these truths fit together?
Part one. Law in the Millennial Kingdom.
Someone may wish to question my statement that the Lord Jesus Christ will fully enforce the law in his kingdom. But I would contend that Jesus said so very plainly. I am thinking here of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-19.
Our Lord says this,
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. 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.
I think this is quite clear. If there is someone in the Kingdom of Heaven who breaks a very small command of the law and teaches others to do it, that person will have the lowest possible standing in the kingdom. This is certainly the most natural and straightforward way to read this passage.
Jesus' large audience would have understood him to be referring to the future Messianic kingdom which the nation expected. They would not be likely to theologize this statement in some way as modern readers are tempted to do. The obvious idea is this is how it will be in the kingdom.
Furthermore, the reference to heaven and earth not passing away until the law and prophets are fulfilled supports this understanding. As we learned from the book of Revelation, heaven and earth do not pass away until the first thousand years have run their course. Jesus is therefore thinking of the end of the first thousand years of his kingdom as being the terminal point for this fulfillment.
That is to say, the law will have been fulfilled when the old heaven and earth are burned up. But some might raise the question, will there really be law breaking when Jesus is king? Of course there is no doubt about it. In fact, before heaven and earth pass away we have the rebellion of Gog and Magog participated in by an uncountable multitude, Revelation 20:7-10.
Do you remember Zechariah 14:16-19? It tells us a lot about the status of the Jewish law in the Messianic kingdom. Listen to it.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain. They shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
I need hardly say that keeping the Feast of Tabernacles involves obedience to a major command of the law. Furthermore this requirement is not simply imposed only on the Jewish nation in the kingdom. It is required of all nations.
Breaking this command therefore results in a major penalty which consists of drought and plague. By contrast, in the words of Jesus, the person who breaks a very small commandment and teaches others to do the same is merely reduced in status in the kingdom. This is a relatively light punishment compared to what happens for example if Egypt refuses to attend Tabernacles.
Obviously the idea of retribution for infractions of the law of Moses in the first thousand years is clear and unequivocal in the Zechariah passage. The kingdom will inaugurate a time that is unparalleled in human history. Every command of the law will be enforced in the kingdom and there is no command that will be completely ignored.
Thus for the first time ever obedience will be offered at least by many to every requirement of the law of Moses. In that sense the law will be fulfilled before heaven and earth pass away.
Part two. Destroying the law.
There is a statement made by Jesus in Matthew 5:17 that I have never heard discussed. I have heard a lot of discussions from Matthew but I have never heard this discussed. Listen to it closely.
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Does that surprise you? Well it should, especially the words “Do not think that I came to destroy.” The Sermon on the Mount was very early in the ministry of Jesus. Apparently the sermon was preached not long after the imprisonment of John the Baptist which is noted in Matthew 4:12. The execution of John is not recorded until chapter 14.
At such an early stage of his ministry why should anyone have the idea that Jesus intended to destroy the law and the prophets? Have you ever thought about that?
Let me suggest an answer. Before the arrest of John the Baptist Jesus had already begun to evangelize. This is evident from statements made in John 3:24 and 4:1-4.
John 3:24,
For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
John 4:1,
When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus Himself did not baptize but His disciples, He left Judea and departed again into Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.
Obviously these statements show that the discourse with Nicodemus and the conversation with the Samaritan woman took place before Jesus had preached the Sermon on the Mount. In addition before the conversation with Nicodemus Jesus had been in Jerusalem at the Passover. There many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did, John 2:23-24.
Therefore by the time of the Sermon on the Mount the Gospel Jesus preached had been plainly declared by him. But his message was contrary to the normative expectations of religiously inclined Jewish people. Jesus did not say a word about a person needing to observe the law or the prophets in order to have everlasting life. Not a word.
Don't you think that must have bothered a lot of strict religious Jews? Jesus sounded to them like an antinomian. Was he out to destroy the law and the prophets? Some idea like that must have been circulating. If Jesus needed to say “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets,” if no one was thinking it why would he say it?