What did Jesus teach concerning the stability of the law?

Question

Matthew 5:17,18 state:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."
VS 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled.

Note: Christ fulfilled the moral law by perfect obedience.

We must understand theologically that the Ten Commandments are just as binding upon Christian people as they were upon Israel.

The Episcopal Church Sunday School magazine, June-July, 1942, Vol. 105, No.6. pp.183, 184, Sunday School lesson for June 28 state:

"Christ's teaching goes beyond the Ten Commandments, but does not thereby make the Commandment of non-effect. Quite the contrary! Christianity strengthens the authority of the Commandments."

The basic laws of morality, and particularly the Ten Commandments, remain until the end of time as the moral and spiritual foundation upon which the New Testament religion is built.

Answer 1

Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Think about it, the vast majority of "Christianity" claims that Christ's words have passed away and they now follow a convolted view of Paul's writings. Very few realize that Christ was the Lawgiver of the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:4), and the Torah, not just the 10 commandments, is His word that shall not pass away.

Answer 2

In place of the Old Testament law, we are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) which is to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). If we do these two things, we will be fulfilling all that Christ wants for us to do, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Technically, the Ten Commandments are not even applicable to Christians. However, 9 of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament (all except the command to observe the Sabbath day). Obviously, if we are loving God we won't be worshipping other gods or worshipping idols. If we are loving our neighbors, we won't be murdering them, lying to them, committing adultery against them, or coveting what belongs to them. So, we are not under any of the requirements of the Old Testament law. We are to love God and love our neighbors. If we do those two things faithfully, everything else will fall into place.

Answer 3

Notice that the passage you cite PREDICTS THE END OF THE LAW.

The last clause of verse 18 is very often missed. It presumes that the law was temporary and would one day be set aside. This is what Paul, and others, tell us happened at Jesus' death and resurrection.

And NO, the "10 Commandments" ARE NOT BINDING any longer...

Ephesians 2:15 Through his body on the cross, Christ put an END to the LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS AND RULES. He wanted to create one new group of people out of the two. He wanted to make peace between them.

Colossians 2:14, 16, &21 (excerpts) He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross… No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.... What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Romans 3:20 So it can’t be said that anyone will be made right with God by obeying the law. Not at all! The law makes us more aware of our sin. 21 But now God has shown us how to become right with him. The Law and the Prophets give witness to this. It has nothing to do with obeying the law.

Galatians 5:4 Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. You have been separated from Christ. You have fallen away from God’s grace... The ONLY verse that talks about falling from grace, and they did it by trying to follow the law!

The 10 commandments along with the rest of the law ("commands and rules" from Ephesians 2:15) were "set aside" when they were fulfilled or completed at Jesus' resurrection. We are no longer bound by that law.

BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE LAW IS WORTHLESS OR MEANINGLESS !

Romans 15:4 Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us strength to go on. They cheer us up and give us hope.

Paul's teaching is exactly in line with Jesus' own prophecy about the law. Early in Paul’s ministry, the other apostles and the elders in Jerusalem were asked about non-Jewish converts to Christianity and their relationship to the law. Here was their UNANIMOUS RESPONSE:

"The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the non-Jewish believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. We all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: YOU ARE TO ABSTAIN FROM FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS, FROM BLOOD, FROM THE MEAT OF STRANGLED ANIMALS AND FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY. YOU WILL DO WELL TO AVOID THESE THINGS.

Farewell." -- Acts 15:23-29

Notice that the entire body of rules contained in the Old Testament was reduced to one sentence... NOT the 10 Commandments + one sentence.

Answer 4

Psalm 89:34 "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I change not..."

Thus, God will not change the rules in the middle of the game. The above respondent says the Sabbath commandment wasn't repeated in the New Testament. Such people don't have an accurate understanding of God's Word and I, therefore, encourage them to go to their knees and confess to the Holy Spirit that you need more Light and more Truth in your life. Here is that command from Jesus' own lips:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)
"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (John 14:21)
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." (John 15:10)

Most will say, but He is not talking about the Sabbath commandment -- He is speaking of the Two Great Commandments He gave to replace the Old Testament law. My answer? A resounding, incorrect! Here is what He really said:

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law [Torah] and the prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)

(Check your favorite Bible dictionary for the meaning of that word "law" which I noted as standing for the entire Torah.) Now, did He say these were the ONLY two commandments? No! And did He say only the Ten Commandments hang on these two commandments? Again, No! He said "On these two commandments hang *all* the law [Torah] *and* the prophets." Meaning, just for starters:

1) If you truly love God, then you will have no other gods before Him.
2) If you truly love God, then you will not make an idol nor worship it.
3) If you truly love God, then you will not take God's name in vain.
4) If you truly love God, then you will worship Him on the Seventh-day Sabbath as God has asked you to.
5) If you truly love God, and your fellow man, then you will honor your Father (and your father and mother) all the days of your life.
6) If you truly love your fellow man, then you will not murder one of them.
7) If you truly love your fellow man, then you will not commit adultery with or against one of them.
8) If you truly love your fellow man, then you will not steal from one of them.
9) If you truly love your fellow man, then you will not lie about one of them.
10) If you truly love your fellow man, then you will not want what your neighbor has.

Even beyond this, God gave many Statutes in order to more fully explain just what His Ten Commandments mean. He had to do this because we humans will justify any excuse to circumvent God's Holy Law. That is why they are *all* still binding upon all mankind -- because *all* of the law *and* the prophets hang upon the Two Great Commandments Jesus iterated and told us we would keep if we love Him.

Also, the respondent before that claims that Christ's Sacrifice fulfilled *all* of the Old Testament law. If that is true, then why, as the next responder pointed out, were nine of the Ten Commandments explicitly repeated as being still in force in the New Testament? Also, if that is true, then why, as *wasn't* pointed out, were many of God's Statutes also explicitly repeated as carrying the force of eternal death (Rom. 1:16-32; 1Cor. 6:1-10) even in the New Testament -- *after* Christ's Sacrifice was already given? The answer... Because Christ only fulfilled the Sacrificial Law -- not the Ten Commandment Law nor God's Statutes.

Thus, since *all* of the Law [Torah] has *not* been fulfilled, that means *all* of the Law [Torah] is still binding upon *all* mankind. If you try to insist on anything less, then you have not received the love of the Truth.

2Thes. 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Thes. 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Thes. 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Answer 5

YES!! and amen!