Christ Came to Fulfil the Law
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 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.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 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.
One of the things that some people misunderstand is that the Bible, the sixty six books are one book.
Some believe that the New Testament replaced the Old Testament and because we now have the 27 books of the New Testament, then we can put aside the Old Testament because it is no longer relevant.
The Old Testament is seen as obsolete and because we have a new covenant and we are no longer under the laws of the Old, then it is ok to discard it.
However our passage makes it quite clear that this is not the case.
In fact what we see is that in Christ all the things spoken of in the Old Testament has not been abolished but rather fulfilled or will be fulfilled, for there are still unfulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament.
This becomes clearer as we read the New Testament in such scriptures as: Matt 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matt 22: 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Luke 16: 16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
Acts 24: 14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
Acts 28: 23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
Romans 3: 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it
The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
The Old Testament speaks of what would happen in the New Testament and the New Testament reveals what was written in the Old Testament.
Jesus when speaking to the Pharisees said, John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
When Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the scripture says, Luke 24: 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Jesus did not come to destroy the teachings of the Old Testament but to fulfil all the requirements in the Law and also to fulfil all that the prophets had spoken.
E.G. Does the coming of Christ mean we can take no notice of what the law states?
Of course not, we still should not break God’s laws.
We should not kill, steal, bear false witness. We should not commit adultery or any other of the commandments.
Jesus points out to us that in keeping the two greatest commandments, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself, you in fact keep the whole of the law.
Every requirement by God in the Old Testament was fulfilled in Christ and every prophecy concerning Himself was fulfilled and will be fulfilled in Him.
Now we have the New Testament, do we need the Old?
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
Mat 5:18 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.
Both the Old and the New Testaments contain prophecies concerning the coming of Christ, both His first and His second coming.
Both are relevant to us in our studies. Until all is fulfilled, Jesus says not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law.
Not one dot or crossed “T”.
We can have confidence in the whole of scripture and we can find comfort, strength and inspiration in it all.
Many Bible readers tend to skip certain books in the Bible because they are boring or seen as irrelevant to Christian life.
However, when we consider that Jesus Christ can be found on every page in the Bible, whether by type, figure, or pattern, we must see that it is all relevant.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
The law of God stands. We have mentioned earlier that it is important for us to not break the laws of God.
It is true that the New Testament says that we are not under the law. That Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. But does this mean we can do and act anyway we want?
Of course it doesn’t. Why? Because we are in Christ who fulfilled the law.
Freedom in Christ does not mean we can act any way we want.
Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
1 Peter 2:16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.
Christ gave us a new commandment.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus said, Love God and your neighbour.
Matt 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Mat 5:20 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.
The scribes and Pharisees righteousness was based on keeping the law.
However, we are told that no one is justified by the law.
Gal 3:11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Gal 2:16a knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
The only righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees is the righteousness of Christ.
Without this righteousness no one will inherit the kingdom of God.
This cannot be bought, it cannot be worked for, it comes only through faith in the finished work of Christ at Calvary.
Gal 2: 16b but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Is the Old Testament important?
A quote by someone called Roald.
Without the Old Testament we would not understand as well the original problem to which Jesus is the solution, that being our sin and rebellion against God (Genesis 3); we would miss out on reading about God’s mighty acts of rescue through which we see his character on display (eg in the book of Exodus). we would miss out on the predictions of Jesus death and resurrection which were 1000 years before they occurred exactly in Jesus. In short we would not understand Jesus as well as we do without the Old Testament. As we read and reread the Old Testament, what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf will become clearer and clearer still.
The Old Testament is essential for us to understand God’s work of redemption. It is filled with history, prophecy and teaching that is an aid to our Christian faith.
It is filled with great role models and types of Christ.
When we read the Old Testament prophecies with the character traits of Godly men, we have an excellent resource to understand the New Testament and to become more Christ-like every day.
