Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, "You would think these Jewish leaders and these Pharisees were Moses, the way they keep making up so many laws! And of course you should obey their every whim! It may be all right to do what they say, but above anything else, don't follow their example. For they don't do what they tell you to do. They load you with impossible demands that they themselves don't even try to keep. Everything they do is done for show.
   "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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
   Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight, by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. For if a man keeps the whole law apart from one single point, he is guilty of breaking all of it. For the One Who said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," said also, "Thou shalt not commit murder." You may not be an adulterer, but if you commit murder you are a law-breaker all the same.
   . . . Those who rely on obedience to the law are under a curse; for Scripture says, "Cursed are all who do not persevere in doing everything that is written in the Book of the Law." It is evident that no one is ever justified before God in terms of law; because we read, "he shall gain life who is justified through faith." The Word became a Man and lived among us. We saw His glory - the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. Out of His full store we have all received grace upon grace; for while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Taken from Mt. 23, 5, Rom. 3, Eccl. 7, Jas. 2, Gal. 3, Jn. 1, The Living Bible,
The New International Version, The New American Standard, The New English Bible
and The Everyday Bible. For free Lifescope book, write to Box 1575,
Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.