What does it mean for Jesus did not come to destroy the law. But rather, Jesus came to fulfil the law

alaric · Mar 28, 2025

Jesus did not come to destroy the law. But rather, Jesus came to fulfil the law. As written in Matthew 5:17.

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

What is the law that Jesus came to fulfil? The law that states that all sinners must die and perish. As written in Ezekiel 18:20 and Romans 6:23.

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What does it mean to destroy the law? For the law to be destroyed, God has to cancel the law in Ezekiel 18:20 and Romans 6:23, allow sinners to go unpunished (without receiving the wages of sin) and let unjustified sinners enter Heaven.

What does it mean for Jesus to fulfil the law? Jesus has to take all our sins (the sins of the entire world for every generations so that salvation is offered to everyone who accepts Jesus as their saviouras written in 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 John 2:2) and die with our sins on our behalf (Full payment can only be fulfilled with death, as written in Hebrews 9:22).

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he (God the Father) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

1 John 2:2 He (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Hebrews 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

How do we know that all our sins have been remove by Jesus' death?
If Jesus does not have enough capital to pay for our sins, then he still be in debt and will still be carrying our wages (The wages of sin is death). If Jesus is still carrying out wages, he will still remain dead. But Jesus DID NOT stay dead. Jesus died, was buried and resurrected on the third day. As written in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

Not only did Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus even sat on the right hand of God. If Jesus is unable to pay for all our sins, he will not be able to even enter Heaven or be in God's presence.

Hebrews 10:12 But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins (death on the cross with all our sins), he sat down at the right hand of God

Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Jesus paid for our wage of sin which is death. Through death Jesus destroyed death. Having cleared of all our sins, we direct access to God in our time of need.
Ephesians 2:18 For through him (Jesus) we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

BibleBeliever1611 · Mar 28, 2025

It just means that Christians should still live according to the law of God despite the fact that sins are taken away. At least that's how I read it. And when it says "think not..." it's saying basically to think not that the fact that salvation is a free gift means that the law of God doesn't matter at all, no it still matters a lot. And people should have the mind set that the law of God still matters.

Maria Billingsley · Mar 28, 2025

The law is the Torah. All through its pages are prophecies delivered by many prophets to Israel given to them by our Father. One main focus is the comming of the Messiah in fact, Isaiah 9 clearly states who this individual is and how one will be able to recognize Him.....

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

In addition to having the ability to recognize Him, the Torah ( law) also clearly states what He will do for Israel and the entire human race...

Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest,”
declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

This is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
So what does "fulfill" mean in context? To carry out or bring to realization. This can apply to promises, prophecies, or obligations. Additionally, it also satisfies requirements or needs by providing what is necessary to complete a job. In essence, "fulfill" signifies the act of bringing something to its intended state, whether it's a promise, a need, or a goal in which Jesus Christ of Nazareth completed all three as defined. Now one can just focus on the do's and don't's of the law but they are missing the bigger picture of what Jesus Christ of Nazareth did by His fulfillment of the law.

Blessings

stevevw · Mar 28, 2025

If we look at a particular law and how Christ fullfilled this it may help. For example, the 7th commandment to not commit adultery.

Christ says that even if someone lusts after a women in his heart he is commiting adultery. Now who could know someone was lusting after a women that they should be punished according to the 7th commandment. We could not possibly know.

But the sinner knows and this was at the heart of the law being fullfilled. It took the law and brought it back to the state of peoples hearts. Like Christ pointed out in rebuking the Pharisees for using the law to condemn people who were showing the spirit of the law with a believing heart while the pharisees hearts were corrupt in the spirit of the law. That the l;aw itself could not change the heart.

So Christ representated that change in nature of the heart that causes someone to want to not just keep the law but live out the spirit of the law by nature. That the law alone could not make someone moral or right with God but rather a transformation of the heart by believing in Christ as the ultimate sacrifice for sin once and for all by a renewing of the heart and mind.

Maria Billingsley · Mar 28, 2025

Now do you know why He said this? It is not in the law.

Christ says that even if someone lusts after a woman in his heart he is commiting adultery.

stevevw · Mar 28, 2025

Yes because that was the spirit of the law. What was behind the law which was about the state of the heart and not the law itself. The law only made us aware of our fallen nature. It has no power itself. Its like a mirror reflecting our fallen nature.

Christ was the fullfillment of the law in that he addressed the state of our hearts and our fallen nature. He said I am the way to overcome that fallen nature that will transofrm the heart into one that lives by the spirit of the law and thus makes us right with God in that we are no longer slaves to the law as it has no power over us. Or rather our hearts are transformed so that we do good, bear good fruits by nature and not by conformity.

Its actually a profound psychological principle that all bad behaviour stems from the state of ones heart and mind. The heart is said to be the place we feel which is really our psychoilogical state of mind. We are what we eat so to speak.

Jesus referred to this when he told the pharisees that it is not what goes into the body that corrputs but what comes from the inside which is the heart and mind.

The state of ones heart and mind is what leads to bad behaviour. We see this in the many stories about how people are conditioned to behave bad. Or conditioned to behave good or socially acceptable. So changing the heart and mind will change the behaviour.

The ultimate therapy is Christ as its not a forced and repeated conditioning of the heart and mind but a total transformation which comes from a spiritual tranformation which is transcedent of cognitive or psychological and emotional conditioning. Which can always be supplanted once again due to our fallen nature.

Lukaris · Mar 28, 2025

I believe much of the issues regarding the law relates to how things stood before the Lord’s life, death, & resurrection. There were only works for people to try to be redeemed in ways not fully understood ( compare Ecclesiastes 9:4-5 to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 for example). I believe Solomon went from almost saying there is no afterlife to that there probably actually is an afterlife.

The Lord’s saving grace fulfills what the law pointed us to ( in God’s plan) & revealed the answer. Much of the answer is stated in John 3:16-21. Compare the limit to what was revealed to Daniel regarding life, death & resurrection ( Daniel 12:1-4) and to the Lord’s fulfilling answer in John 5:22-30.

What is our role in this? Knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior ( Romans 10:9-13). By this we are saved by grace ( Ephesians 2:8-10). In various places St. Paul tells us the just shall live by faith ( Romans 1:17 etc.). What does this involve? Keeping the Lord’s commandments ( John 14:15-18) so Solomon was right ( Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) but not all had been revealed to him. What are these basic commandments? The Lord and the rich young man spoke to each other about the commandments ( Matthew 19:16-31 etc.).St. Paul reiterated these commandments after the Lord’s completed mission ( Romans 13:8-10). Love fulfills the law. Colossians 1:1-29 is a great summation of the Gospel, salvation, & living by faith.

timf · Mar 29, 2025

The law was given to Israel. In Romans chapter seven Paul describes the difficulty he had in trying to keep the law in his flesh. In Galatians we read that the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to understand that we needed a Savior. Even the Apostles didn't think that the law should be required of gentiles. In Acts 15 they decide to only impose the requirements of sojourners in Israel on gentiles.

Jesus is the only one who kept the law. Jesus described that the law went beyond what people thought they were keeping;

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

The gospel of the kingdom was for Israel and the gospel of grace was for the gentiles. The book of Galatians describes how the law is not for gentile believers.

Gal 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Godsunworthyservant · Mar 31, 2025

You begin by asking "What is the law that Jesus came to fulfill?" and suggest maybe it's "The law that states that all sinners must die and perish". I wonder why of all the pages and pages of the law, you would boil it down to a simple "all sinners must die and perish". The law is much more involved than I can elaborate here but Biblical scholars believe that Christ fulfilled between 300 and over 500 prophecies. Might I suggest that the first one would be enough. It is found in Genesis 3:15. Right after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He promised that a savior would be coming from the seed of the woman, Eve. God revealed right away that this seed would be the one that would crush the head of the serpent. Of course the serpent represents Satan and that seed pointed to Jesus. All one really needs to understand is that Christ crushed the head of the serpent when He died on the cross so that we all, through His sacrifice as an atonement for our sins, might be restored to communion with God through Him. Sometimes when we try too hard to define a thing, we can overlook the forest for the trees.

Yarddog · Apr 1, 2025

The law is Holy and applies to all that reject the grace we receive through faith. Jesus fulfilled the law for those of faith.

BelieveItOarKnot · Apr 9, 2025

The work is still underway, His work, in process, emphasis on the bold, below. In essence, the finale:

Isaiah 61:
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

The law was meant to perform making sin utterly sinful, Romans 7:13, to empower sin, 1 Cor. 15:56 and to make it ripe for ultimate judgment (Entire book of Rev) and putting sin and its perps away and off entirely.

Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

cough, cough, there will be no survivors, at least as it pertains to our "current" soon to be "former" state of being

An interesting matter, for sure. The most interesting to me. One that I continue to press for, in terror

2PhiloVoid · Apr 9, 2025

It means whatever Matthew intended for it to mean in the context of the whole of his own written gospel "version."

dakotariver · Apr 10, 2025

Christ fulfilled all of the laws that were found in the Torah. Only he could do that because he was both God and man and was completely sinless. No other person, no matter how hard they tried, could fulfil the entire law because all humans are sinful, and we can never not sin. If Jesus had not come to fulfill the law, we would still be bound by it and would deserve death, because we could never fulfill the law perfectly.

Jesus did not destroy the law, he did not get rid of it, he fulfilled it, and then in his sinless state (you have to understand the Jewish system of the sacrificial lamb to understand the significance of this), he took our sins upon himself and died for our sins so we could be covered in his righteousness before God. Without Jesus, we would only deserve death, because we would be covered in our sin, and sin deserves death because God cannot be near sin because he is perfect and sinless.

Yarddog · Apr 10, 2025

It means that anyone not covered by the blood of the cross will be judged by the Law.

com7fy8 · Apr 10, 2025

Everything has God's purpose of love to have many children who are like His Son Jesus. So, the Law has this purpose, but can do only so much to help. And Jesus has come to do the rest which the Law is not enough to so.

Jermayn · Apr 12, 2025

God fulfilled the law in that he was the perfect sacrifice for sin. Recall when he said "it is finished" on the cross? That means that he had perfectly upheld the law and was about to open the veil to the rest of humanity through his sacrifice for them. Basically, there's nothing more to be done besides accepting the free gift of salvation from God in regard to forgiveness of sins.

tharkun73 · Apr 12, 2025

"Abolish" and "fulfill" are rabbinic technical terms that are still used today that mean to interpret correctly or incorrectly, respectively. It has nothing to do with Jesus becoming the 'fulfillment' of the Torah, or feasts, or whatever. Not that He didn't do those things; it's just that this scripture isn't stating such a thing as is commonly supposed.

Hvizsgyak · Apr 14, 2025

Did Jesus Abolish the Law of Moses or Not?

Jesus' words cannot be understood apart from their context of giving us the new law that would both fulfill and supersede (or abolish) the Old Law.

www.catholic.com

This will help you understand the passage better.

Stephen3141 · Apr 15, 2025

Go back to the original Greek.
You are asking what the Greek word plhrow means.

It can also mean to deepen. Think of Jesus' statements in the Sermon
on the Mount.

(References in (BDAG)...
Matthew 5.17
"Mt 5.17: depending on how one prefers to interpret the context,
plhrow is understood here either as fulfill = do, carry out, or to
bring to full expression = show it forth is its true meaning, or as fill up =
complete...." (BDAG, 829)

The other verses that you quote, seem to be a grab bag, of verses
that do not use the word plhrow. It seems that you are doing mental
association ON THE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, and this mental
association deals with other aspects of theology.
---------- ----------

If you want to speculate about what Matthew 5.17 means, you really
need to go back to the original Greek text.

(By the way, the concept of "law" has multiple meanings in the New
Testament Greek. Speculating about what the English word "law" brings
tomind, is NOT dealing with the New Testament's use of "law".)

fhansen · Apr 16, 2025

Jesus models that it can be done, and brings us the grace now to begin to do it ourselves, the right way, the only way, wth Him, 'apart from whom we can do nothing'.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord." Jer 31:33-34

What does it mean for Jesus did not come to destroy the law. But rather, Jesus came to fulfil the law

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