Christ Fulfills the Law
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy BUT TO FULFILL. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law TILL ALL IS FULFILLED."
The Gospel is so simple, isn't it? "God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, the whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life." The Apostle Paul also said quite simply, particularly in Romans 6 and the entire book of Galatians that "We are not under Law. We are under Grace." Clear, straightforward, no gray areas. He even goes so far as to call the agency Commandments, "the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones."
So why is it that in the Church at large today we have people fighting to keep the Law, meaning the Big Ten, IN the Church if, as Paul says, WE ARE NOT UNDER LAW? It takes religion and religious people to complicate simple, straightforward issues.
Part of the confusion stems from MISunderstanding, MISinterpreting and MISapplying this verse. I personally know a pastor of a very large, successful Church who has a PhD in Divinity who doesn't understand how to correctly apply this verse.
Most Christians don't know where our new covenant is or what it's laws. They are NOT the big Ten. If you are uncertain about, "What is the new Covenant and what are it's "laws," follow this link for more on that topic:
Better yet, carefully read Hebrews 8. It's all there, although that very same pastor I know incorrectly reads into that passage meanings that follow his preconceived notion. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He's a GREAT TEACHER!
The statement above about not coming to "destroy the law but to fulfill it," is documented only one place: here in Matthew chapter 5. Five, for those who may not know, is the number of GRACE! I find it very interesting that the Holy Spirit knew to have this statement specifically placed right here where it would "end up," surprise, surprise, exactly in chapter five BEFORE THERE WERE CHAPTER DESIGNATIONS. Though there is nothing inspired about chapter designations, it's God's was of "winking" at us, letting us know "I've got this!"
#1: First gospel: "I did not come to destroy but to fulfill......" and "till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law TILL ALL IS FULFILLED."
#: Last gospel: "IT IS FINISHED!" John 19:29-31
"29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “IT IS FINISHED!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit."
It seems to be the "till heaven and earth pass away," part that confuses many pastors and theologians. Well, the heavens and the earth are still here and ALL WAS FULFILLED.....2,000 years ago at the cross.
The verse says, "they," meaning heaven and earth, will not pass away UNTIL all be fulfilled;"
NOT.....all will be fulfilled AND THEN they--heaven and earth will pass away--as if the " fulfilling" part refers to Jesus' second coming. IT DOESN'T.
I submit to you that the evidence proving that ALL WAS FULFILLED AT THE CROSS IS OVERWHELMING. It is not some future event that WILL happen at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There seems to be a whole lot of confusion about this "all is fulfilled" issue. I myself actually heard that very same PhD/pastor/theologian, who should know better, that he believes we are still under law. Told it to his whole congregation! YUK!!! He mistakenly believe that the "all is fulfilled" part refers to Jesus' second coming.
Sadly, he is not alone in his confusion. Many others also hold this mistaken opinion. However, the weight of evidence against this belief is, as I said, OVERWHELMING!
God is a God of order. It concerns Him SO MUCH that The Holy Spirit had all of His Jewish secretaries write down what He wanted IN THE ORDER IN WHICH HE WANTED IT WRITTEN. What He has put in a particular order let not man presume to change it around to suit his peculiar theology. Even the order is a message.
(For more on that topic, follow these links:
But lest you think this is just my opinion, you don't have to take my word for it. Everything in scripture can and should be confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses. That doesn't mean two or three other people; it simply means other corroborating scriptures.
When you understand God's heart, it becomes clear that He has ALWAYS been about grace; not law and punishment. That being the case, why give the law at all? Because the Israelites asked for it. They did so in a very arrogant, very self-righteous manner at the foot of Mount Sinai. You can see it in the Hebrew. They arrogantly bragged that they could do ALL that God asked them to do without even knowing what the "ALL" would entail! In essence, they were saying, "We don't need your grace anymore. We can be good enough to earn your grace." Um, I DON'T THINK SO!
Needless to say, they crashed and burned. Nobody can measure up to God's righteous, holy, inflexible standard! No not one.
God had wanted to deal with them according to His great grace and mercy as He had from the time they left Egypt up to the foot of Mt. Sinai. They murmured and complained the whole way there, just like they did AFTER the Ten were given except that NOBODY DIED BEFORE THE LAW WAS GIVEN. Check it out: It was only AFTER the law was given that they died because of their murmuring.
The Bible brings out this truth in many places that the law was replaced by grace, too numerous to document them all. But hopefully there are enough below to show that this is what God intended all along: TO REPLACE THE LAW WITH GRACE.
Following is a list of some clear passages and a couple of "hidden ones. "By "hidden" I mean that God, who loves to hide things, has hidden them in stories and even in the meanings of names. The first account is a perfect example of hidden meanings.
#1. On the Mount where He was transfigured, Jesus was talking with two others; Moses and Elijah. Peter had wanted to build tabernacles for all three, putting Jesus on the same level as the law and the prophets. But The Father intervened and declared, "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Jesus is The Son! He is far superior to the law and the prophets.
That's why were Moses and Elijah were there, because they represented the LAW AND THE PROPHETS.
That's why were Moses and Elijah were there, because they represented the LAW AND THE PROPHETS.
Notice that God stopped our impetuous, speak-before-thinking friend, Peter, from building tabernacles to the two prophets. He came down in a glory cloud and pointed out that they were now to listen ONLY to Jesus. The law and the prophets had their day.
#2. John 1:17 states that the law was given by Moses...THE SERVANT; but GRACE AND TRUTH came by Jesus.....THE SON! He came to fulfill the law and to institute the New Covenant, signed and sealed by His precious Blood.
It is also NO ACCIDENT that Jesus had these particular disciples with Him. Their names: Peter James and John, make God's meaning quite clear. Peter means "stone," a picture of the law. James means "usurp," and John means "grace."
THE LAW HAS BEEN REPLACED {usurped} BY GRACE!
THE LAW HAS BEEN REPLACED {usurped} BY GRACE!
Need more? These below are more plain like:
#2. Romans 6:14
"14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
Was that plain enough? NO? Here are some more.....
#4. Romans 6:15
"15 What then? Shall we sin because WE ARE NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE? Certainly not!" STILL NOT GETTING IT?
#5. Galatians 3:10
The Law Brings a Curse {yes, even on Christians}
"10 For as many as are OF THE WORKS OF THE LAW {notice it doesn't say "breaking" the law} are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
NEED MORE?
#6. Gal. 4:21-31 Two Covenants
"21 Tell me, YOU WHO DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic.
For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.”
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh {Ishmael} then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit {Isaac} even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free."
HOW ABOUT THIS PASSAGE?
#7. Galatians 5
Christian Liberty
"5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that HE IS A DEBTOR TO KEEP THE WHOLE LAW. 4 YOU HAVE BECOME ESTRANGED FROM CHRIST, you who attempt to be justified by law; YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."
Christian Liberty
"5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that HE IS A DEBTOR TO KEEP THE WHOLE LAW. 4 YOU HAVE BECOME ESTRANGED FROM CHRIST, you who attempt to be justified by law; YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."
STILL NOT SURE?
How about Galatians 3:1-3 Justification by Faith
#8. "1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, {GRACE} are you now being made perfect by the flesh?{LAW}
......and finally, #9: Our New Covenant as DOCUMENTED in Hebrews 8-The Entire Chapter:
The New Priestly Service
Hebrews 8
The above is a DIRECT QUOTE from the passage below:
**Jeremiah 31:31-34
A New Covenant
“31 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
NOW HEAR THIS: THE NEW COVENANT CANNOT BE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS INTERNALIZED by the above definition. They are laws GOD HIMSELF writes on our hearts. No one, be they pastors or teachers, needs to tell us what they are: WE ALREADY KNOW.
**Jeremiah 31:31-34
A New Covenant
“31 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
NOW HEAR THIS: THE NEW COVENANT CANNOT BE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS INTERNALIZED by the above definition. They are laws GOD HIMSELF writes on our hearts. No one, be they pastors or teachers, needs to tell us what they are: WE ALREADY KNOW.
What they DON'T tell us; what we DESPERATELY need to hear from them is MORE ABOUT JESUS.
We are transformed ONLY by beholding His GLORY; not our GORY. When his glory and beauty are unveiled and we hear that we are--have been from DAY 1--the righteousness of God in Christ we become more like Him!
BUT.....if you go to church and barely even hear His Name even mentioned, except in some disapproving, judgmental way, how can you to become more like Him? YOU CAN'T.
There was only one person Who could perfectly keep all the Law: our Lord Jesus, and that He did!
HE FULFILLED IT.
HE FINISHED IT.
IT IS CREDITED TO YOUR ACCOUNT.
YOU BENEFIT.
He paid the price and gave us the prize! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!
...and He did not stop TILL ALL WAS FULFILLED!
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