From "The Law after Christ," by Stephen E. Robinson, Ensign, Sept. 1983
.....And yet it is vital to note that in the teaching of Jesus, the Law was not revoked nor repealed but fulfilled. (Matt 5:17.) Under the gospel of Christ, murder, adultery, and dishonesty are still prohibited, and the formal requirements of the Law are still essentially in place; but the demand of the Law of Moses has been expanded, has been filled to its fullest extent. Where there is no hatred or greed, there can be no murder; where there is no lust, there can be no adultery. With the coming of Christ, the ethical portion of the Law had not been abolished; it had been caught up by, included in, and expanded to a broader application its intention, its potential as an ethical standard, had been fulfilled.
The ceremonial portions of the Law, however, were fulfilled in a different way. These were not moral or ethical rules which could be transformed into broader principles, but were what Abinadi and Alma called performancesrituals that symbolically prefigured coming historical events. (Mosiah 13:30; Alma 25:15.) For example, animal sacrifice prefigured the future sacrifice of the Savior, the Lamb of God. But when the events prefigured actually occurred, they could no longer be anticipated; they could only be remembered.
After the atonement of Christ, the anticipation of the event found in the Law was replaced by the remembrance of the event which is part of the gospel. Thus those parts of the Law which anticipated the atonement of Christ were fulfilled in the events of the atonement and had an end, just as a prophecy is said to be fulfilled when the event prophesied takes place. (See Luke 22:37.) In this way, neither the moral nor the ceremonial portions of the Law of Moses were undone or abolished. Both were fulfilled, the former by being included in the broader principles of the gospel which replaced them, and the latter by finding realization in the events which they had prefigured......
......Paul, the great Apostle to the gentiles, like Peter knew that the Law of Moses had been fulfilled in the gospel of Christ and that it was not necessary for gentiles to live it. So, naturally, when Judaizers came into his mission field and began to preach the necessity of the Law to the churches he had established, Paul resisted them. Out of this struggle over the Law came the New Testament epistles to the Galatians and Romans, and at least parts of Colossians and 1 and 2 Corinthians, all of which were intended to drive home the point that as a means of salvation the Law of Moses was obsolete.
Pauls famous response to the question of the Law is found most forcefully stated in the epistle to the Galatians, who were in danger of adopting the Law of Moses:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Gal. 2:16, 21.)
In other words, if living the Law of Moses and observing its performances could justify us before God, then the atoning death of the Savior would have been unnecessary. But as it is, Christiansboth Jewish and Gentileseek to be justified through faith in Christ.
Pauls logic in support of his position is simple and direct. First, he shows that righteousness is obtainable without the Law of Moses. He uses the example of Abraham, who lived centuries before the Law was even given to Moses, yet who, even without the Law, was still accounted righteous through his faith. (See Gal. 3:7-9.) If Abraham could be counted righteous because of his faith, then those who follow his example can also be accounted righteous through their faitheven (like Abraham) without the Law of Moses.
Next Paul points out that the Old Testament itself declares that the just shall live by faith rather than by the Law. (Gal. 3:11, quoting Hab. 2:4.) Paul then goes on to show that, in fact, righteousness is not possible by the Law of Moses alone. He points out that those who would rely on the Law for justification, instead of on the atonement of Christ, must keep the Law perfectly, for the Law of Moses provides no means of atonement for intentional sins. Rather, it curses those who fail to live it perfectly:
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Gal. 3:10, quoting Deut. 27:26.)
In other words, Paul saw the Law of Moses as an all-or-nothing contract. In order for a Jew to be theoretically just as far as the demands of the Old Testament Law were concerned, he would have to live the entire Law perfectly. If he were to fail in the smallest detail to live all the precepts of the Law, he would fall under the curse of the Law and under the power of sin. (See Gal. 3:10-13, 21-22.) Of course, even if he could live the whole Law perfectly, he would still need the principles and ordinances of the gospel in order to receive exaltation in the kingdom of God. Thus, according to Paul, one reason why the Law of Moses fails as a means of justification is that the Law lacks the power to forgive or redeem those who fail to live its precepts; it can only accuse them. Human beings need more than just a rule-book; we also need a means of gaining forgiveness when we break the rules. We need repentance; we need redemption; we need atonementand these can only come through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As hard as it was for Judaizers to accept the end of the Law of Moses, there were those in the ancient Church who went to the other extreme. These people have been called antinomians, and they believed that the end of the Law gave them license to do as they pleased as long as they professed a belief in Christ. Some went so far as to claim that Christians, who were no longer bound by the Law of Moses, were even under an obligation to behave contrary to the commands of the Law. (See Rom. 6:15.) Particularly among the gentile churches, a misunderstanding of Pauls teachings about the end of the Law of Moses caused some to believe that for Christians all laws and rules had been abolished. By distorting the scriptures, the antinomians were able to reject the demands of the Law without accepting the demands of the gospel. In the New Testament the epistles of James, Jude, 2 Peter, and 1 Corinthians deal in part with this error. James shows that belief without proper behavior and commitment is not enough for salvation. (See James 2.) The gospel does not destroy the Law, but is itself a new law which incorporates and fulfills the olda higher law certainly, but a law nonetheless, and one which must be obeyed. It is likely that Peter is referring to antinomians when he condemns those who distort the teachings of Paul, in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. (2 Pet. 3:16.)
Of course, both ancient tendencies can still be found among the modern Christian churches. There are modern Judaizers who insist, for example, that the Sabbath be observed according to the Law of Moses, on the seventh day (Saturday) rather than on Sunday. There are also modern antinomians who insist that a mere statement of belief in Christ guarantees salvation regardless of ones subsequent behavior. In each case the cause of the error is the sameboth the antinomian and the Judaizer fail to understand the fulfillment of the Law of Moses in Christ. The one fails to realize that the Law has not been revoked or destroyed; the other fails to realize that it has been fulfilled in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and in the principles of his gospel. As Jesus said, Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (Matt. 5:17.)
