Mathew 5:17

NAS Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

Our Savior says two critical things in this single verse that are central to our study today (and also especially to New Testament study). First He says that He did NOT come to abolish the Law (meaning the legal section of the Torah that Jews often call the Law of Moses), nor did He come to abolish the Prophets (meaning He did not come to discard or change what Yehoveh proclaimed would eventually occur regarding Israel’s future and mankind’s redemptive history). Second He repeats (for emphasis, apparently) that while His purpose and mission is not to abolish, His purpose IS to FULFILL the biblical legal code as well as the numerous ancient prophecies of Holy Scripture (especially as pertains to Him).

I have spoken scores of times about this passage (and the next 3 verses that further cement what I’m about to tell you). I’ve explained to you that the sense of the word “fulfill” is not to “end” something (not to eradicate or stop something), which is the typical and erroneous explanation that most denominations offer. Let me quote for you Webster’s New World College Dictionary as to the meaning of the word “fulfill”. 1) To carry out something that has been promised. 2) To obey. 3) To fill all the requirements. 4) To satisfy all the conditions. All of these 4 variations of meaning of “fulfill” are generally in line with what the Greek word that is being translated (pleroo) intended. A 5th definition is offered and it is to “complete or end” in the sense of to finish writing a term paper, or deciding that your family is large enough so you’ll have no more children. If you complete a term paper and turn it in, you haven’t also abolished your term paper or the requirement to have one. The arrival of the last child you intend on having (thus “completing your family”) certainly doesn’t mean that you have abolished your older children or discarded them in favor of something or someone else.

Thus just as He so plainly said, Christ didn’t end the biblical legal code; to the contrary He obeyed it. Yeshua didn’t erase and discard the Laws of Moses; rather He carried them out to their ultimate purpose and accomplished all their requirements. So was Jesus a legalist? Should we accuse Messiah Yeshua, His disciples, Paul the Apostle and others of legalism because they continued to obey the Law of Moses? Were they not “under grace”? Did the grace offered to them collide with their obedience to the Law? If one is under grace does this, of necessity, separate a person from the obligation of obedience to God’s laws?

Let me ask you another question: are you committing “legalism” because you obey your community’s posted speed limits? Are you committing legalism because you pay your taxes? Are you a slave to the law because you don’t murder people or steal from them?

Here’s the point: the relationship that all disciples of Yeshua have with God is absolutely the result of Yehoveh’s laws that are written down in His covenants. At Mt. Sinai the God of Israel established the basis of any relationship we might hope to have with Him, and it includes laws and a justice system that enforces those laws. God established and maintains a legal relationship with the people He redeemed, Israel. And that legal relationship continues with those who are spiritually grafted-in to Israel: the Church.

Of course what entitles us and obligates us to that legal relationship between God and all members of His Kingdom is our faith and trust in His Son, the Messiah Yeshua. And ironically the legal relationship is formed from a mutual love between God and we, His worshippers. I did NOT say that Salvation comes to us by following God’s Laws; but the legitimacy of Our Savior, Yeshua, indeed WAS established by His faithfulness to God’s Laws and to bringing about what the Prophets foretold.

 

 Let me illustrate another aspect of how it is that as Believers we have agreed to subject ourselves to a way of righteous living that is defined by and expressed in God’s laws and ordinances.

 

 As an Austarlian  citizen living in Brisbane do you have a legal relationship with England? No you don’t, but if you go there you will be subject to some of their laws. If you voluntarily become an English citizen (even a dual citizen of the Australia and England) THEN you have established a legal relationship with England and are now subject to ALL of their laws. You will receive the benefits of that legal system as well as the consequences of violating its laws.

 

Yeshua is Our Messiah because He met all the biblical legal requirements. That is, He did not sin. What is sin? The breaking of God’s legal code. Does obeying all of our American laws make you or keep you a citizen? No. Neither does obeying all of God’s laws make you or keep you a citizen of Heaven. But there are varying degrees of consequences when you don’t obey God’s laws. Generally speaking God’s grace offered through trust in Jesus mitigates those penalties so that we are not eternally destroyed.