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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Did you know that there are weightier matters of the law, things that are prerequisite to pleasing God? By prerequisite, we mean that if they are not done, all other religious efforts are of no avail. We could put it like this for purposes of illustration. Having a driver’s license is prerequisite to pleasing the enforcers of our traffic laws. It makes no difference how well a person can drive, how careful he/she might be, how knowledgeable the person is; without a license, the policeman still has a “beef” that just cannot be satisfied. A license is prerequisite to pleasing the traffic cop!
Remember, this is just an illustration and it cannot be pressed beyond the point it seeks to illustrate, namely, that some matters of the law are weightier (prerequisite) to others. Jesus taught this principle while talking to the Pharisees during His last few days on earth. As previously noted in this series, the sect of the Pharisees had a major problem with ritualism and cold formalism. They seemed to think that keeping the lesser matters of the law would make up for failure in regards to the weightier matters; Jesus said, “You are wrong to think that way!”
Hear His actual words: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23.23-24). Gnats are a bad thing to swallow; camels are worse. The fact is, neither of them ought to be swallowed. He said the same when He said concerning the lesser things of the law, “These ought you to have done, without leaving the other undone.” It makes no difference how many gnats I strain out if I swallow a camel. I can’t make up for missing a prerequisite by doing additional work in another area!
Jesus specifically mentioned three things that are prerequisite to all religious rites and functions; these were justice, mercy, and faith. A person just can’t make up for his lack of love for justice by being extra benevolent. Neither can he supplement his lack of faith by performing a greater amount of works. In the same vein, mercy is a prerequisite that simply cannot be overlooked or under emphasized. Without the attribute of being merciful, it is a forgone conclusion that we will receive no mercy. Furthermore, without mercy, we have absolutely no chance of being saved eternally!
How much mercy does it take to please God? That’s like asking how much faith does it take, or how much love. It seems to me that if I am going to err one way or the other, I had rather stand before God being too merciful (if such is even possible) than not merciful enough! The weightier matters of the law are things that cannot be overdone; they are attitudes of heart that are never mastered! We may grow in these things from the first day of our new birth until the Lord calls us home, but we will never over perform when it comes to these weightier matters of the law!
Questions:
1. What does prerequisite mean? Are some things of the gospel prerequisite to others?
2. What were the three things that Jesus mentioned as the weightier matters of the law? Do you think there are others beside these three?
3. How is it possible to make up for failures in the prerequisites of religion?
4. Do you think it is possible to out perform in the weightier matters of the law? Why or why not?
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