The Lord Jesus said, “For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
- Matthew 5:18
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
According to the Bible, the Lord Jesus, on multiple occasions, emphasized that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So, why is it that the Lord’s words and work fulfilled the law? What message does this convey to us? And how does it help us follow God’s work? Discover the answers as you read the following content!
The Lord Jesus said, “For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). As we all know: When the incarnate Lord Jesus came to the earth, He expressed many truths, and carried out the redemptive work based on the foundation of the law. He provided the path of repentance and ushered in the Age of Grace for us. However, at that time, many people did not understand the principles of God’s work, nor did they have a seeking heart for the truth. This was particularly true for the Jewish Pharisees. They saw that what Jesus said and did seemed to be different from the law, or even in contradiction to it: For example, the Lord Jesus led His disciples to pick and eat the heads of grain on the Sabbath; additionally, He said, “You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38–39). Then the Pharisees believed that Jesus’ actions and words were an attempt to abolish the laws they had been observing for thousands of years. Consequently, they made every effort to resist and condemn Jesus, leading to His crucifixion through collaboration with the Roman authorities, committing an enormous sin. Now we might understand that even though Jesus’ words and work were different from the law, He actually fulfilled the law. Why is it said so? To understand this, we need to look at the principles of God’s work. God’s work of saving people is based on His management plan and the needs of humanity. Before God gave the law, humanity was in its early stages and did not understand how to live or how to worship God, let alone realize they were sinners. Therefore, God issued the law and commandments to guide people in their earthly lives, enabling people to discern between good and evil, understand what is sin and what is righteousness, and learn how to worship God. They also came to know: Anyone who violated the law was committing a sin, and would be stoned to death or be incinerated by the fires of heaven. They also learned that after committing a sin, they had to offer a sin offering to be spared from punishment. But in the latter days of the Age of Law, human corruption under Satan’s influence became more profound; people were unable to keep the law and there were not enough offerings. In this state, humanity faced the danger of being condemned and killed by the law. Based on the situation and needs of humanity, God incarnated as the Lord Jesus to usher in the Age of Grace. He spoke new words, presented new requirements, and carried out the work of redemption, forgiving people’s sins and making them righteous through faith and saved through faith. In this way, people are no longer bound by the regulations of the law. Instead, they only need to believe in Lord Jesus, pray to Him, confess their sins, and repent. The Lord forgives their sins and delivers them from the bondage of the law. Indeed, the words and works of the Lord Jesus marked the end of the Age of the Law and ushered in the Age of Grace. It was not about abolishing the law, but rather fulfilling it completely. Just as God says, “The work done by Jesus was merely a stage higher than the Old Testament; it was used to begin an age, and to lead that age. Why did He say, ‘I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law’? Yet in His work there was much that differed from the laws practiced and the commandments followed by the Israelites of the Old Testament, for He did not come to obey the law, but to fulfill it. The process of fulfilling it included many practical things: His work was more practical and real, and, furthermore, it was more alive, and was not blind adherence to rules. Did the Israelites not keep the Sabbath? When Jesus came, He did not observe the Sabbath, for He said that the Son of man was the Lord of the Sabbath, and when the Lord of the Sabbath arrived, He would do as He wished. He had come to fulfill the laws of the Old Testament and to change the laws. All that is done today is based upon the present, yet it still rests upon the foundation of the work of Jehovah in the Age of Law, and it does not transgress this scope. To watch your tongue, and not commit adultery, for example—are these not the laws of the Old Testament? Today, what is required of you is not only limited to the Ten Commandments, but consists of commandments and laws of a higher order than those that came before. Yet this does not mean that what came before has been abolished, for each stage of God’s work is carried out upon the foundation of the stage that came before. As for the work that Jehovah then did in Israel, such as requiring people to offer up sacrifices, honor their parents, not to worship idols, not to assault or curse others, not to commit adultery, not to smoke or drink, and not to eat dead things or drink blood—does this not form the foundation for your practice even today? It is upon the foundation of the past that the work has been carried out up until today. Though the laws of the past are no longer mentioned and new demands have been made of you, these laws, far from being abolished, have instead been raised higher. To say that they have been abolished means that the previous age is outdated, whereas there are some commandments that you must honor for all eternity. The commandments of the past have already been put into practice, have already become the being of man, and there is no need to place special emphasis on such commandments as ‘Do not smoke,’ and ‘Do not drink,’ and so on. Upon this foundation, new commandments are laid down according to your needs today, according to your stature, and according to the work of today. Decreeing commandments for the new age does not mean abolishing the commandments of the old age, but lifting them higher upon this foundation, to make the actions of man more complete, and more in line with reality.”
From God’s words, we can see that His work always progresses forward, rising higher and growing deeper with every step. God does not abide by rules, but rather, His work is tailored to meet the needs and stature of people. Only in this way can He gradually save people from the influence of Satan.
Based on the principles of God’s work, let’s reflect on ourselves: Even though we believe in the Lord and our sins are forgiven, we still often fall into sin and resist God, unable to break free from the bondage of sin. Therefore, the Lord Jesus prophesied multiple times that He would come again in the last days and bring forth new work and truths. Faced with God’s new work in the last days, how can we avoid repeating the mistakes of the Pharisees, follow God’s work, receive God’s salvation in the last days, break free from sin, and attain purity to enter the kingdom of heaven? If you want to understand more, please contact us through the online chat window at the bottom of our website. Let’s study God’s words together and communicate.