The Law Fulfilled Not Abolished

“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.”

(Matthew 5:17 ESV)

         In the above verse Jesus contrasts the words “abolish” and “fulfill.” What did He mean? Too many people think “fulfill” means the same as “abolish.”  They actually think He came to abrogate the Law and the Prophets. To show what He really meant let’s look at some of the laws He did not abolish but fulfilled.

         Circumcision is not abolished. It is fulfilled in baptism according to Colossians 2:11-12. “In him also you were circumcised… in baptism…”  Since Christ kept the law by being circumcised, those who are baptized into His body are, too.

New Moon Sabbaths

         The Feast of Passover is not abolished. It is fulfilled in The Lord’s Supper. The Lamb of God fulfills the Passover lamb.

         The Feast of Pentecost is not abolished. The feast that celebrated the giving of the Law on Sinai is fulfilled by the giving of the Law in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

         The Feast of Tabernacles is not abolished. It is fulfilled in the Great Commission throughout history.

         Unclean foods are made clean in the conversion of Gentiles. “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15).

       “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17 ESV).

The High Priest is not abolished but is fulfilled in Christ our High Priest who makes intercession for us.

The Temple is not abolished, but is fulfilled as the living stones of the church.

Israel is fulfilled as the church, the “Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). “And so all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26).

Jerusalem is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem and Mt. Zion. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels…” (Heb 12:22).  

The Promised Land is not abolished, but is fulfilled by making Abraham’s children heirs of the whole world and not just that small piece of real estate. Paul understood this when he said, “the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4:13 ESV). Nowhere does the Old Testament say that Abraham’s heirs would inherit the world, but Paul was able to read the Promised Land type.

The Ten Commandments are not abolished, but are fulfilled by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. By being under grace instead of under law, the Holy Spirit enables believers to keep them.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

The Civil Laws are not abolished but are to be fulfilled when civil governments obey the moral law of God. Armenia was the first Christian nation state, then Rome, then Christendom.

Now we are living in a time when Gog and Magog are coming against the Camp of the Saints. But God will again rain down fire on them and the Little Stone of Daniel 2 will grow and grow until it fills the whole earth. The meek shall inherit the earth before Christ comes because “the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” (Daniel 7:22) when Christ ascended to the Ancient of Days.

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