Jesus Came to Fulfil the Law-What Does It Mean?
Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish (destroy, dissolve, overthrow) the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill (make full, complete) them” (Matthew 5:17)
[Abolish: Greek 2647. kataluó: To destroy, to dissolve, to overthrow, to abolish; Fulfil: Greek 4137. pléroó: To fill, to make full, to complete, to fulfill]
“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.” Matthew 5:18
“…the scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35
What does not being under the law mean?
There seems to be a whole lot of misunderstanding about believers in Jesus no longer being under the law because of Paul’s words in Romans 6:14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
Some people erroneously believe the Old Testament law has been abolished and believers no longer need to be concerned about it or keep it. Some think being under grace means that they can now sin and live how they want because “we are no longer under the law but under grace.” They almost seem to use Jesus’ brutal death on the cross (for sin) as an excuse to sin, violate God’s law, and offend God.
But that is not what ‘not being under the law‘ means, neither is it what Paul meant. It simply means that we no longer try to earn our righteousness by trying to keep the law through human effort, sacrificing animals, and all the ceremonial rituals and laws the Jews kept to atone for sins in the Old Covenant.
This system never succeeded in making them righteous because they could not keep God’s laws by human effort. Instead, in the new covenant, we are under grace (God’s unmerited favor,) which has been displayed by God sending his son to die for our sins as a perfect sacrifice once and for all. As a result, God has imputed the righteousness of HIS SON (the only one who kept the law perfectly) freely to us.
That old covenant system is what Paul was talking about as having been abolished, and not the actual laws and commands of God.
The New Covenant standards are higher
In the new covenant, through God’s grace, we become righteous through Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice and shed blood on the cross. Through faith in Jesus, we receive HIS Spirit, who is HOLY, who now helps us to keep God’s laws and obey him. Christ in us enables us to keep the laws’ righteous requirements.
Jesus said, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
The standards are higher for New Testament Christians because Jesus lives inside of us through his Spirit, enabling us to fulfill the law.
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:3-4
Only the ceremonial laws of atonement and cleansing of sins were abolished because a better sacrifice (Jesus Christ) came. These laws included circumcision, purification rites, blood sacrifices, ceremonial cleansing and washings, dietary restrictions, and so forth.
But none of the moral laws were abolished. Anything God called evil or an abomination in the old covenant is still evil and an abomination to him today. God does not change. God has not changed his mind, so he now accepts sin in the name of grace. That is impossible. Anything God termed as sinful in the Old Covenant is still sinful today because God is still holy. Grace provides the power to obey God’s commands; it does not condone sin.
“God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind.” Numbers 23:19
Jesus fulfilled the law so that we could be enabled to keep it
Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish the law and prophets but to FULFILL them. This means everything the law attempted to do has been fulfilled (made possible) in him, and now man can be made righteous through his blood and made obedient like he was to God’s laws (he came to bring many more (obedient) sons to glory—Hebrews 2:10).
Jesus never disobeyed God’s laws and would never ask us to. Instead, he even made the standards even higher in the New Covenant because our consciences and spirits are now regenerated through the sacrifice of his blood. This is something the blood of bulls and goats could not do (Hebrews 10:4).
“He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5
Do not be deceived by those who claim the Old Testament has been abolished. God does not change. What he hated before, he hates now; his holiness never changes, and God does not change his mind like men do. “I AM GOD; I CHANGE NOT” (Malachi 3:6).
The word of God must be studied from Genesis to Revelation with revelation, to understand the nature and character of God. We are in days of increasing deception where many are disobeying God’s word and teaching others to do so, which Jesus warned about.
“So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19
As I was meditating on this topic to finalize this article, the Holy Spirit told me, “the law brings men to Christ by revealing their sin and Christ helps men fulfil the righteous requirement of the law.”
Many deceivers claim that Christians have nothing to do with the Old Testament law and God’s commands, but they are wrong. Jesus FULFILLED the law. He fulfilled its requirements and what it pointed to, and those who are in Christ are enabled and empowered to KEEP the law just as he did because he lives in them.
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