THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW
Has the Old Testament. Law been abolished? Did not Jesus say in Mat 5:17, “ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”? To “destroy” here, according to Strong's (1) is:
kataluo
kat-al-oo'-o
From G2596 and G3089; to loosen down ( disintegrate ), that is, (by implication) to demolish (literally or figuratively)
So Jesus never destroyed the Law but Paul says later that the Law is abolished in Christ in Ephesians 2:15, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace."
So what gives? Jesus says the Law will not be destroyed but Paul says the Law is abolished.
Let us consider some more verses:
Mat 5:18 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.
So nothing of the Law will pass away until It is fulfilled; it was fulfilled in Christ according to Matt 5:17.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
So the Law of Moses cannot justify a man.
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
The Law, called the enmity, has been abolished! Enmity , as defined by Noah Webster (2):
Enmity
EN'MITY , n.
1. The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence. It expresses more than aversion and less than malice,and differs from displeasure in denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is more transient.
I will put enmity between thee and the woman. Gen 3.
The carnal mind is enmity against God.Rom 8.
2. A state of opposition.
The friendship of the world is enmity with God. James 4.
Col 2: 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us , which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross ;
The Law is blotted out, taken away, and nailed to the cross. Jesus fulfilled the Law by taking the FULL penalty of the Law on the cross. Therefore, the Law has been completely fulfilled past, present, and future! Hallelujah!
Heb 7:18 (KJV) For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
Let us look at this verse in other translations to gain a little more insight as to what the writter of Hebrews meant:
(CEV) In this way a weak and useless command was put aside ,
(Darby) For there is a setting aside of the commandment going before for its weakness and unprofitableness,
(GNB) The old rule, then, is set aside , because it was weak and useless.
(GW) The former requirements are rejected because they are weak and useless.
Consider also the following verses:
Heb 8:12, 13For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away .
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
In conclusion, we can say that the Law is (1) fulfilled in Christ and (2) abolished, blotted out, taken out of the way, disannulled, put aside, set aside, rejected, decayed, old and ready to vanish away.
So the question remains, are we to keep the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath, animal sacrifices, or any of the Law?
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I d you, that ye also love one another.
This verse is the only Law we are to keep. We are not to keep the Sabbath as Law but it is okay to honor it as a memorial. We are not to keep animal sacrifices however they will be reinstated in the Millennium as a memorial. We are not required to keep any part of the Ten Commandments but we are to keep the Law of love which will cover all of the Ten Commandments and more. Jesus has brought us a higher standard of love but simultaneously removed the penalty of death associated with breaking the Law. Glory to God!
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1. Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible . Madison , NJ : World Bible Publishers, Inc., 1986.
2. Webster, Noah. American Dictionary of the English Language . 1828
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