The Smallest Letter of the Law

  "Until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter of the law, not the smallest part of the letter, shall be done away with until it all comes true." Matthew 5:18

Seems like I need to be a lawyer or a Greek scholar to be able to understand Jesus' words!

Hebrews 10:1 reads: "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship."

Romans 7:6-7, "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."

2 Corinthians 3:6, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."

Sometimes it can seem like the words of Saint Paul contradict Jesus' words! But Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. The good thief who was crucified alongside Christ also reviled Christ at the beginning along with the crowd. "But one of the thieves repented and rebuked the other. 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' And he said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise'" (Luke 23 39:43).

I may not understand everything in the Bible. But one thing I understand is, I need to repent. I need to stand beside Jesus and defend Him. And I need to say, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom!"