23 And he went about in all Galilee teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every illness among the people. 24 And the report of him went out into all Syria and they brought to him all those having illnesses, various diseases, suffering from torments, being demon possessed, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And many crowds followed him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 1 And having seen the crowds, he went up to the mountain. And when he sat down his disciples came to him. Matthew 4:23-5:1, Possessing the Treasure New Testament v1
The Jewish religious system that our Lord confronted head-on when he began his earthly ministry was one based upon the Mosaic Law, but the keepers of that Law had created oral traditions for the people to keep that were not part of the Law at all. The purpose of God’s Law was intended to show the people their inability to be what God commanded and, therefore, their need for a Saviour outside of themselves so that they would come to God. The oral traditions and the legalistic religious system, a system of works righteousness, kept that from happening because it actually created a system of works that people could actually “keep,” even though they were burdensome, but it deceived them into believing they were actually keeping the Law. We have flavors of this in our time in those religious systems that are all about “works righteousness” or “deeds not creeds.” Any religious system calling itself “Christian” that bases justification upon “works” rather than justification by God’s grace through faith is false.