Matt 5:17

Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Question: What did the Lord Jesus mean when He says " I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill"

Answer: Here for Christ to fulfill the law means

(1) that, on the positive side, He kept the law,

(2) that, on the negative side, through His substitutionary death on the cross He fulfilled the requirement of the law, and

(3) that in this section He complemented the old law with His new law, as repeatedly expressed by the word "But I say to (or, tell) you" (vv. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44). Christ's keeping of the law qualified Him to fulfill the requirement of the law through His substitutionary death on the cross. Christ's fulfilling of the requirement of the law through His substitutionary death on the cross brought in the resurrection life to complement the law, to fill the law to the full. The old law, the lower law, with the demand that it be kept and the requirement that man be punished, is over. The kingdom people, as the children of the Father, now need to fulfill only the new law, the higher law, by the resurrection life, which is the eternal life of the Father. The old law was given through Moses, whereas the new law was decreed by Christ personally.

Concerning the law there are two aspects: the commandments of the law and the principle of the law. The commandments of the law were fulfilled and complemented by the Lord's coming, whereas the principle of the law was replaced by the principle of faith according to God's New