THINK NOT THAT I CAME TO DESTROY THE LAW

By Nana Yaw Aidoo

Let a person contend that the law of Moses, with all of its ordinances like the Sabbath, Tithes, Instrumental Praise etc, has been abolished, and he'd immediately be hit with cries of, "Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfil". By this it is meant that the law of Moses is still extant.

The text from which this conclusion is drawn is Matthew 5:17. In this text Christ said; "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill". By using this text to teach that the law of Moses still exists, the assumption is that the word "destroy" means "abolish". Thus they have Jesus saying; "...I did not come to [abolish] but to fulfill".

The problem is that, right in the next verse Christ said; "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled" (Matt.5:18). Notice the use of "till". If I say, "Don't eat the food till I return", I mean that when I return you can eat the food. Therefore, Christ by using the word "till" was in effect saying, "Until all the law is fulfilled, it won't pass away. However, when all is fulfilled, it'll pass away".

Did Christ fulfil the law then? Absolutely! For we see Him give inspired commentary on Matthew 5:17-18, after His resurrection. Listen; "Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:44-47). Thus, we see that Christ Himself was the fulfilment of the law of Moses and the law was fulfilled when He died, was buried and resurrected from the dead.

This is all there is to it friends. By combining the entirety of God's word on the issue (Psa.119:160), we see clearly that the law passed away or was abolished, when Christ fulfilled it through His death on the cross. This is exactly the argument of Paul when he wrote; "having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col.2:14). Thus, when Christ said He did not come to "destroy but to fulfill", He did not mean He wasn't going to abolish the law but rather, He wasn't going to destroy the law and make it void of fulfilment.

The old law, my friends, is a dead covenant and to not make the new covenant, the sole source of faith and practice, this side of the cross, is to not submit to Him of whom Moses wrote; 'And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' (Acts 3:23).

"then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second" (Heb.10:9).

"In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away" (Heb.8:13).