Fulfilling the Law

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:19-20

Having seen that Christ did not come to abolish the Law, and that we have the responsibility to seek to live according to its precepts, what does it mean to say that the Law has been fulfilled? Are there parts of the Law that do not apply? Frankly, yes. Although the principles enshrined in the Ten Commandments are timeless, there are some aspects of the Jewish Law that do not apply today. Believers no longer need to be circumcised; no longer are we required to offer animal sacrifices; we are not condemned when we fail to observe the Jewish Sabbath. In these, and in many other ways, the Law has been fulfilled and is now superseded.

The ceremonial aspects of the Law no longer apply because Christ, the sacrificial Lamb, has been offered, once for all. No further sacrifice is necessary. Jesus paid it all, so the whole corpus of ceremonial Law has been fulfilled. In the same way, the national aspects of the Law have been superseded. The special relationship with the people of Israel has been replaced with the New Israel, the Christian church. The Law is no longer restricted to a particular ethnic or national group in the Near East. Now, people from every tribe and tongue belong to the Kingdom because of their shared allegiance to the King. Ceremonies linked to the land, therefore, no longer apply or, rather, they have a much wider application. We no longer need to bring our firstfruits to the temple in Jerusalem, but we offer a sacrifice of praise in hundreds of languages, in sanctuaries large and small, in every corner of the globe. We no longer celebrate the seventh day as set aside to the Lord, instead we gather to praise our God on Resurrection Day. The Law has been superseded, but the spirit of the Law remains.

Many years ago, the prophet Jeremiah looked forward to a day when a new covenant would be made between God and His people.[1] Instead of an external rulebook, God’s Law would be written on their hearts. This prophecy has been fulfilled in the new people of God, the church. The Law is no longer an external force, it is an internal compulsion, and it begins and ends in the limitless love of God.[2]

Lord God,
I am so grateful for the sacrifice of my Savior,
by which I am set free from the Law’s demands.
I see that, by myself, in my own strength,
I could never hope to satisfy the Law.
But You could, and You did, through the blood of Jesus.
Now, Your Law is no longer a demand, it is my delight.
Amen.

[1] Jeremiah 31:33
[2] John 14:15