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Why Won’t My Law Work Anymore?

Jesus is the ultimate outlaw. He “broke” the Law once for all.

After someone quoted Matthew 5:17 (in the King’s English, no less) in response to that, I thought I should clarify.

A better translation of that verse would be, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”

From the perspective of the Pharisees and other religious leaders (i.e.: legalists) Christ definitely “broke” our precious Law. That system was broken already since, as Paul tells us in Galatians, no one can ever be made right with God by keeping the Law. (Galatians 2:16)

As Luther states in his commentary on that very epistle, even if we could possibly keep the Law with total perfection, that would still not save us, for that is not the function of the Law.

Only Christ can save us.

In this sense, it may be clearer to some to say that Christ did not “break” the Law but broke, rather, our sad attempts to prop it up under the weight of our horrible use of it.

Christ broke the Law as it was being used to achieve even a shred of justification, sanctification, or even a closer everyday experience with God. It simply cannot do any of those things. From the perspective of the legalist, that looks like the Law, which seemed so functional before, is very broken indeed.

“Why won’t my Law work anymore?” we ask while shaking it and holding up to the ear. “Who broke my Law?”

For that purpose, it never was working.