IF JESUS CAME TO “FULFILL” THE LAW, DOESN’T THAT MEAN IT IS NOW ABOLISHED?
Bible Study / Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
Average reading time is about 5 and a half minutes
It is evident from this passage that Christ was responding to those critics accusing Him of doing away with the law. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets” (my emphasis). Instead of abolishing it, He was actually doing the opposite.
The word “fulfill” means just what it says, “to fill” or “to make full.” The same word is used in Matthew 3:15, where Jesus speaks concerning His baptism: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
There is nothing in this passage that suggests Jesus brought an end to or abolished God’s law. The “Law or the Prophets” included not just the Ten Commandments, but all the Old Testament writings. Christ fulfilled those Scriptures, just as He fulfilled all righteousness at His baptism, by His obedience to them.
The apostle Paul used the same word in Colossians 1:25: “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.” This does not mean to bring the Word of God to an end, but to fully carry it out in obedience.
Romans 8:4 uses the same word, stating “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Even those who think the law was abolished will admit that the righteousness in people who walk after the Spirit does not come about by abolishing the law.
Finally, Paul gives a classic example of the word “fulfill” in Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Not one Christian would interpret this to say, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so abolish the law of Christ!” The same is true with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:17. In fact, the rest of the Sermon on the Mount raises God’s law to even greater heights.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17
Bible Study / Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
Average reading time is about 5 and a half minutes
It is evident from this passage that Christ was responding to those critics accusing Him of doing away with the law. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets” (my emphasis). Instead of abolishing it, He was actually doing the opposite.
The word “fulfill” means just what it says, “to fill” or “to make full.” The same word is used in Matthew 3:15, where Jesus speaks concerning His baptism: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
There is nothing in this passage that suggests Jesus brought an end to or abolished God’s law. The “Law or the Prophets” included not just the Ten Commandments, but all the Old Testament writings. Christ fulfilled those Scriptures, just as He fulfilled all righteousness at His baptism, by His obedience to them.
The apostle Paul used the same word in Colossians 1:25: “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.” This does not mean to bring the Word of God to an end, but to fully carry it out in obedience.
Romans 8:4 uses the same word, stating “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Even those who think the law was abolished will admit that the righteousness in people who walk after the Spirit does not come about by abolishing the law.
Finally, Paul gives a classic example of the word “fulfill” in Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Not one Christian would interpret this to say, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so abolish the law of Christ!” The same is true with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:17. In fact, the rest of the Sermon on the Mount raises God’s law to even greater heights.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17
IF JESUS CAME TO “FULFILL” THE LAW, DOESN’T THAT MEAN IT IS NOW ABOLISHED?
Bible Study / Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
Average reading time is about 5 and a half minutes
It is evident from this passage that Christ was responding to those critics accusing Him of doing away with the law. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets” (my emphasis). Instead of abolishing it, He was actually doing the opposite.
The word “fulfill” means just what it says, “to fill” or “to make full.” The same word is used in Matthew 3:15, where Jesus speaks concerning His baptism: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
There is nothing in this passage that suggests Jesus brought an end to or abolished God’s law. The “Law or the Prophets” included not just the Ten Commandments, but all the Old Testament writings. Christ fulfilled those Scriptures, just as He fulfilled all righteousness at His baptism, by His obedience to them.
The apostle Paul used the same word in Colossians 1:25: “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.” This does not mean to bring the Word of God to an end, but to fully carry it out in obedience.
Romans 8:4 uses the same word, stating “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Even those who think the law was abolished will admit that the righteousness in people who walk after the Spirit does not come about by abolishing the law.
Finally, Paul gives a classic example of the word “fulfill” in Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Not one Christian would interpret this to say, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so abolish the law of Christ!” The same is true with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:17. In fact, the rest of the Sermon on the Mount raises God’s law to even greater heights.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17
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