Not to abolish but to fulfill

In Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus made the following statements:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Some people have assumed from these statements that the law given to Moses is still to be the guiding principle in our lives. But this is based on a misunderstanding. The key to understanding these verses lies in the phrase “Not to abolish but to fulfill.” To abolish something refers to completely and utterly destroying something – doing away with it altogether. Jesus most certainly did not destroy or do away with the law. The fact is that the law of God is still very much in force in the earth, and is the governing principle to anyone who does not believe in Jesus.

What Jesus did do, on the other hand, was fulfill the law. This is something altogether different and far more powerful. This does not simply mean that he kept the law himself, although he certainly did. What it means is that he fulfilled the purpose of the law – that which the law was supposed to do but could not because of the sinful nature of man. In Romans 7:12 Paul said that “the law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” In other words, the problem was not in the commandment, but in the fallen nature of mankind, which was set in rebellion to God and so could not keep his law.

In Romans 10:4 Paul said the Jesus is the “end” of the law as a means of righteousness. This word translated “end” in this verse literally means, “The goal, or point aimed at.” The ultimate goal of law is to govern people’s actions so as to cause them to act in a “law-abiding” manner. The goal of God’s law is to cause our actions to conform to God’s standard of righteousness. Romans 8:3 says that the law could not accomplish this in man, but verse 4 tells us that the spirit of Jesus can and does accomplish this in us, thereby fulfilling the requirement of the law in everyone who puts their faith in him.

In Romans 7:4 Paul said that we were made to “die to the law” so that we might be “joined to another (Jesus) in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Then in verse 6 he said that, “we have been released from the law.” Notice that neither of these statements say that the law was abolished, but rather that we are released from its power. As I said earlier, the law is still very much in force, but it is not in force over us, because we now have a new governing principle inside of us – which Paul referred to in Romans 8:2 as the “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 8:13 says that the Old Covenant has been made “obsolete” and that it is “growing old and ready to disappear.” But just because something is obsolete does not mean it has ceased to exist. For example, it is possible to have a computer system that is obsolete, and yet continue to use it every day, even though newer and better technology exists. In the same way, it is possible to continue to live under the Old Covenant, even though a newer and “better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22, 8:6) exists.

The simple fact is Jesus has fulfilled, or achieved the goal of the law – to bring about our righteousness. And anyone who will put their faith in him can experience the joy of having their wants, thoughts, words and deeds conformed to the righteousness of God by the presence of His spirit working in them “to will and do his good pleasure!” (Phil. 2:13)