One Jot or One Tittle
Turn to Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus says that one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till ALL BE FULFILLED.
- What is one jot or one tittle?
They’re really the same words.
One point, one letter, one iota, one small particle, one dot …
- This is just like Isaiah 28:10:
10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:
God is very purposeful and deliberate with His Word.
Every sentence, every word is handpicked …
The number of times a word appears in the Bible is determined by God.
Every line is ordered a certain way.
Every sentence is important.
There are no accidents in God’s Word … or in His LAW.
That’s why it’s important that we have today the preserved, perfect, infallible, unchanged Word of God in the King James Bible. It’s as good as the autographs …
- And Jesus says … one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till ALL BE FULFILLED.
- That’s not the OT, that’s the NT. That’s not Paul, that Jesus Himself, affirming every jot and tittle of the LAW.
- So the question I want to raise today is how much of the OT LAW is still relevant for our lives today?
So there’s two sides to this coin:
On the one side, we have modern NIV-style baby Christians who want to throw out every law that they don’t like or that doesn’t meet their modern sensibilities or hold up to their loose cultural standards.
So their solution is that the OT outdated …
… and so let’s just throw out the whole thing, throw out all the OT Laws … and focus on our good buddy Jesus.
- And there’s no fear of God before their eyes!
- These are worldly Christians with a “Don’t Judge” attitude because they’re deeds are wicked and they don’t want you to judge them!
- And so the problem with throwing out the OT as outdated, is which Laws do you live by?
- And by which standard do you measure morality?
- OK w/ capital punishment for murderers and rapists.
- But then when it comes to Sodomy or adultery or blasphemy, they’re like, well … that’s the OLD TESTAMENT …
- So where do you draw the line?
- HEBREW ROOTS.
On the other side of the coin we have the Hebrew Roots Judaizers who want to place every Bible-believing Christian under the heavy burden of the carnal Laws & ordinances …
- … like Sunday Sabbaths, new moons and festivals, dietary law, clothing laws
- … and they reject the name of Jesus and it’s all about Yeshua and Yahushua and all the priestly ordinances of Aaron.
And it’s a real danger to the church and to the teachings of grace.
FOR EXAMPLE ON CIRCUMCISION
- When the apostles were debating about circumcision … here’s what they concluded in Acts 15:10:
10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- At the root of the Hebrew Roots movement is the idea that the Christian church has moved away from the Torah and become Romanized and paganized
- …to the point … that they deny the Trinity …
- Modern Hebrew … in the late 19th and early 20th century, a man by the name of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda led the revival of the dead Hebrew language.
- So those are the 2 opposite extremes …
So which is right?
Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Look, it’s simple:
Jesus fulfilled the priestly ordinances of the law in Himself – that’s done away with.
Melchizidek. Moral Laws.
Hebrews 7:12:
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
So all of the old priestly ordinances are done away with: they have been fulfilled.
- But ALL of the moral laws are still in effect …
- … because morality DOESN’T CHANGE OVER TIME.
- What was wrong yesterday is still wrong today!
Malachi 3:6 says: For I am the LORD, I change not …LAWS ARE A deterrent when properly executed.
· LAWS ARE A DETERRANT TO MAJOR SINS ….
· ABORTION. Before Roe v. Wade.
- Between 1963 & 1973 – 10 YEARS – there were only 12,000 secret illegal abortions in America. That’s about a 1,000 a year.
- Today, it’s over a million a year.
- Proverbs 28:4: “they that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
· Psalm 119:4-6:
4 Thou hast commanded [us] to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
NEW TESTAMENT
Romans 7:12:
12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
- OK, but people saying keeping the commandments is loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. That fulfills the whole of the Law.
- But is it loving to commit adultery?
1 Timothy 1:5 makes it very clear.
- 5Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, andof faith unfeigned:
OK but keep reading:
- 1 Timothy 1:8-11
8 But we know that the law [is] good, if a man use it lawfully;
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
Proverbs 28:9-10: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.” (Proverbs 28:9-10).
- The OT moral Laws ARE NOT irrelevant for today.
Let’s look at the Hebrew Roots Movement.
EATING PORK
There’s clear Scripture on this!
Colossians 2:16-17
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
SABBATH & FESTIVALS
Those things are done away with.
Romans 14:5
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Galatians 5:1-9
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Galatians 3:10