What does it mean for Jesus to fulfill the law and the prophets?

tonychanyt said:

After the resurrection, Jesus spoke to the disciples in Luke 24:


Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets in at least the following ways:

1. Jesus lived a sinless life under the Law.
2. The OT prophesied the Messiah-King. Jesus fulfilled that role. He came to open the Kingdom of God to everyone who believes. We (our spirits) now live in this kingdom.
3. By dying on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the temple sacrificial laws. We no longer need to offer animal sacrifices.
4. The law brings death. Christ fulfilled the law of death to bring us eternal life. (Romans 7:4)

Jesus fulfilled and annulled the OT law but did not demolish it.

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NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo
"to fulfil, i.e. to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment"

After Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law in Matthew 5:17-20, he then proceeded to fulfill it six times throughout the rest of the chapter by teaching how to correctly obey it as it should be, and he said nothing in that chapter about his death on the cross or about causing us to no longer need to offer animal sacrifices, but rather he warned against relaxing the least part of the law. According to Galatians 5:14, anyone who has ever loved their neighbor has fulfilled the entire law, so it is referring to the way to correctly obey it and it is referring to something that countless people have done, so while Jesus living a sinless life is an example of fulfilling it because it is an example of correctly obeying it, we are not required to live a sinless life in order to fulfill it. In Galatians 6:2, bearing one another's burdens fulfills the Law of Christ, yet you are consistently interpreting that as saying that bearing one another's burdens causes us to no longer need to obey the Law of Christ. In addition, there is much discussion in other Jewish writings about how to fulfill the law in regard to the way to correctly obey it as it should be.

There are multitudes of verses that say that God's law brings eternal life, such as Deuteronomy 30:16, Deuteronomy 32:46-47, Leviticus 18:5, Proverbs 3:18, Proverbs 6:23, Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28, Romans 2:6-7, Romans 6:19-23, Romans 10:5, Hebrews 5:9, and Revelation 22:14.

tonychanyt said:

I am having trouble understanding your point. Are you saying that Jesus' death on the cross fulfills nothing in the OT?

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Sorry for not being clear. Christ's death on the cross is an example of fulfilling the law is far as it was an expression of his love, but the concept of fulfilling the law is not specifically about his death on the cross. As I quoted from the NAS Lexicon, fulfilling the law is about obeying it as it should be. I'm not sure if you caught the edit to my most, but there is also much discussion in other Jews writings about the way to fulfill the law in regard to correctly obeying it as it should be. If a husband is fulfilling his marriage vows, then he is correctly doing what he vowed to do, not causing it so that he no longer needs to do what he vowed to do. We are fulfilling our obligation to obey God's law whenever we correctly do what it instructs us to do.

tonychanyt said:

Only Jesus can do that. Are you trying to do that?

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Again, I cited Galatians 5:14 to show that there are countless people who have fulfilled God's law. Likewise, in Galatians 6:2, bearing one another's burdens fulfills the Law of Christ, which is something that anyone can do, so while only Jesus was sinless, it is incorrect to think that only Jesus can fulfill the law.

tonychanyt said:

Galatians 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

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Righteous people fulfill God's law by practicing righteousness in obedience to it (1 John 3:4-10), but we do not earn our righteousness as a wage as the product of our obedience to it. Righteousness is a gift and gifts can't be earned, which is why trying to earn it sets aside the grace of God. In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and he chose the way of faithfulness by setting God's law before him, so this has always been the one and only way to experience the gift of righteousness by grace through faith.

tonychanyt said:

Thanks for the verses. This is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the quoted verse.
2. Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.
3. Be concise and to the point.

This is what I do for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee you: it will improve your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it.

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Thank you for the tips. Citing a verse reference on this forum automatically creates a link that people can click on or mouse over if they want, so that is usually sufficient to support my point without needing to quote a full verse unless there is sufficient reason to do that. Not fully quoting every verse that I reference also helps to make my posts more concise, which is always something that I struggle with. The majority of people often interpret the Bible in a way that I disagree with so try to make the strongest case that I can for why I disagree and for what how I think it should correctly be interpreted, which does not lend to being concise.

Soyeong said:

by teaching how to correctly obey it as it should be

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God expressed dissatisfaction with the Israelites' attempts to follow the law, desiring genuine obedience and a heartfelt relationship rather than mere outward rituals. He seeks justice, mercy, and humble devotion from His people. From the very beginning, we see this with Cain and Able. Both brought offerings to God, but God showed favor only to Abel's offering, while rejecting Cain's.

"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.'"

Even after Cain committed the grave sin of killing his brother, God showed compassion and mercy by sparing Cain's life and marking him to protect him from harm (Genesis 4:15).

This story continues to serve as a lesson on the significance of genuine repentance, seeking forgiveness, and striving to live according to God's ways. It reminds us of the importance of maintaining a humble and contrite heart before God and seeking His guidance and grace in our lives.

Soyeong said:

In Psalms 119:29-30

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Nothing has had more of an impact on me than 119 Psalm.

1. Psalm 119:97 (NIV): "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."

Throughout Psalm 119, David uses various synonyms to describe God's law, such as "law," "word," "commandments," "statutes," "precepts," "testimonies," and "decrees." He extols the value, wisdom, and righteousness of God's instructions and acknowledges the importance of following and obeying them.

Your original answer mixes up multiple meanings of plhrow (to fill up).
And, I do not think that you do not understand the relationship between the animal sacrifices of the jews, and their forgiveness of sin.

Your point (1) is an example of "fulfilling" as obedience to the law of God. This is fine.
But having someone "fulfill" god's law in this way, does not put aside the need for everyone else to keep God's law.

Your point (3) seems not to understand that the spiritual befits that God gave the ancient Jews, were given THROUGH the future death of Christ. It is not a question of animal sacrifices versus the death of Christ.

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 10:1–5.

The point that the New Testament makes, is that converts from a Gentile (pagan) background no longer to keep the law of Moses. They can appeal directly to the death of Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins.

Your point (4) misunderstands that Paul uses multiple and different meanings of the word nomos (law).
Without God's moral-ethical laws, there is no standard that we have to live up to. Paul is not talking about the law of Moses, here.
Also, your comment the law bringing death, misunderstands Paul's basic statement that the moral-ethical standards of God define what a sin is. Paul is not talking specifically about the law of Moses. And your view contradicts the MANY references in the Old Testament about the great and elevating view of God's law, in the Old Testament. (See, for example, Psalm 119).

Jesus did NOT "fulfill" God's moral-ethical law, in the sense of setting aside its moral-ethical authority over us. God's moral-ethical law still has authority over us, to define what sin is.

The tendency of human beings to sin, is yet another meaning of nomos/law in the Greek New Testament. It refers to a general trend, or characteristic. This has nothing to do with the law of Moses.


Your post doesn't seem to understand, at all, the meanings of nomos in the New Testament.
You need to study the Greek of the New Testament, instead of doing free-association with English words.

tonychanyt said:

This is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

1. Display and indent the quoted verse.
2. Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.
3. Be concise and to the point

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Even scholars with doctorate degrees differ on interpretation of scripture.

tonychanyt said:

This is what I do for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship.

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Do you believe that some or all of the nine Supernatural Gifts of the Spirit are no longer as Active in the 20th and 2st century as they were during the time of the original Apostles including Paul ...


If being academically minded (Luke 18:11) was so important then why do so many "academically-minded" believe that some or all of these nine supernatural Gifts ceased after the passing of the Apostles?

Truly the measure of a born again Believer is as a Continualist and not a Cessationist. Paul's inspired writing as with the other apostles was due to the inspiriation of the Holy Spirit.

Talking down to Soyeong implies that you think a scholarly academic of your reasoning makes for a better theologian as measured by religious mankind.