The Law Remains yet it is Perfected in Christ

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (NIV)

This is one of the most difficult verses in Scripture. It has to do with the ‘jots and tittles.” Those little things that won’t go away. People focus on the ‘jots and tittles” and lose sight of the larger context.

Mike Winger has a YouTube series called “Hebrew Roots” where he provides a Scripture wide survey of the Biblical view of the Law of Moses, the moral law given to the Nation of Israel. He does a comprehensive job of grounding the context for the Law and answers the question; What is the relationship between the life of the Christian and the Old Testament moral law? He is up to three parts for this series and I expect several more will be added. It is a very worthwhile in-depth study. The Law was for a time, a place, and a people.

I will leave the survey details to Mike. What I want to share is my take on the meaning of the word “fulfill.”  Looking at the Lexicons you can find a range of meanings for the Greek word translated “fulfil” in this verse. My take is that it has a connotation of something that is fully filled. My bucket is fully filled. If my bucket is fully filled, it is perfectly filled. “Perfect” is one possible translation. If my bucket is fully filled. it is completely full. “Complete” is one concept conveyed by the Greek word. I wonder if the translators chose “fulfill” rather than “perfect” or “complete” because the latter invokes the sense of finality, while the former maintains some ambiguity in relation to time. I can see the choice for ambiguity in that Jesus indicates that he is not going to abolish the law, not one “jot or tittle” of it. But being full and not being abolished, leads to misunderstanding. Many conclude that it means the continuation of the law for everyone, Jew and Christian. This is not so.  

Can something not be abolished yet be fulfilled, completed, perfected, at the same time? Can something remain fully in effect and still be complete? Giving answer to that question is the challenge Jesus presents in the Sermon on the Mount. He says chose which covenant you wish to be judged by. Do you remain under the moral law that you cannot keep? If so the demands of the law will not cease, and you will be held accountable for every small detail of that law. Instead, do you choose to accept what I offer, the completion of the law, the perfection of the law through me? If so, by grace you will be free of the law, its demands, and its condemnation. Through me you will have the righteousness of Christ. The choice is between the Old Testament moral law and the New Testament Law of Christ. The moral law requires a work of man, the Law of Christ is accomplished in and through us by the Holy Spirit. The law and all its requirements remain if you choose to follow the moral code. But for those who follow Christ, the demands of the law are perfected in Him. Both “not abolished” and “fulfilled” are true at the same time. The law has not been abolished, and it has been fulfilled. It is a matter of which covenant you adhere to.

The Law of Moses, the moral law, is not for Christians. For Christians the old law is complete in Christ. We no longer are held to the demands of the law. We have within us a new and better law, the law of Christ, the love of God expressed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet there are those Christian believers, like the Pharisees Jesus was speaking to, who cling to the moral law, not knowing the perfect law within them. You cannot mix law with grace. You must choose one or the other.