Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As Jesus noted in the rest of the statement cited in the question (found in Matthew 5:17), He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.

The moral portion (as distinguished from the ceremonial portion) of the Law that God gave to Israel through Moses in the books of the Bible from Exodus through Deuteronomy represented (and will always represent) God's requirements for human conduct. Those requirements are just and good. Perfect obedience or conformance to them would enable humans to obtain eternal life in God's holy (sinless) presence.

However, because of our universal sin natures, such perfect obedience and fulfillment of the Law's requirements are not possible for any mere human. Instead, the Law shows us our sin, and our need for deliverance from the penalty (eternal separation from God) for that sin.

To make that deliverance possible, God incarnated Himself in the person of Jesus, who was both truly, fully human, and -- because of the miraculous manner of His conception (Luke 1:26-38) -- also truly, fully God.

Because He was God, Jesus was able to achieve the perfect obedience to the Law's requirements that no one else could -- in other words, to fulfill the Law in its entirety. He then (although He in no way deserved it) died on the cross to atone (pay the penalty required by God) for all of humanity's disobedience, and rose from the dead to live eternally, to show that His atonement had been sufficient in God's sight.

As a result, the impossible burden of having to perfectly obey the Law (with its requirements that continue to exist, and that will always exist (Matthew 5:18)) has been replaced for Christians by putting their faith in the perfect fulfillment of the Law that Christ achieved, and the substitutionary payment of the penalty for being unable to fulfill the Law that He underwent, in their place and on their behalf.

April 24 2021 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Dave Larsen Supporter Husband, father and grand father. Student of the Messiah.

A great question! 
The answer is revealed to John in the book of Revelation, 20 years or so after Paul had written the last of His epistles. Yoshua appears to John and tells Him He is the Alef and the Tav (Hebrew) translated in most bibles as Alpha and the Omega (Greek). 

Revelation 1:8: “I am the Alef and the Tav,” says the LORD GOD, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Yoshua tells John three times in the book of Revelation that He is the Alef and the Tav (Rev 21:6, 22:13). When we read the revelation we hear Him saying that He is the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. But what John heard was a revelation to a very old mystery, a mystery that reveals why Yoshua said, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

In the Hebrew Scriptures Alef and the Tav are written over 7000 times as follows: (את). Prior to John receiving the revelation Jewish rabbis were unsure what the Alef Tav represented, though some thought they may represent divinity. When Yoshua told John that He was the Alef Tav, John immediately knew Yoshua was GOD, and He was the entire WORD of GOD. (John 1:1) 

Genesis 1:1: In the Hebrew Scripture’s is written: In the beginning GOD (ELOHIM) Alef Tav (את) created the heavens and Alef Tav (את) the earth. 

In Exodus 20:1, the first verse of the ten commandments says: And GOD (ELOHIN) Alef Tav (את) all these words saying.

Because the Alef and Tav are removed from our bibles and most bibles translate Alef Tav as Alpha Omega we’re unable to hear the revelation. Yoshua is, “The Alef and the Tav,” says the LORD GOD, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Yoshua spoke everything into existence, He gave Moses all the commandments. Alef and the Tav are a name the Father and Son share as Yoshua says.

John 17:10-11: All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

The name the Father and Son share (Alef Tav) is written more than any other name of GOD in all of Scripture. Had the book of Revelation been accepted before the canonization of the New Testament (Revelation added in 400 AD +-). And had the Alef Tav been translated as such in Revelation, and not removed from our bibles. I doubt there would be any confusion as to what Yoshua meant concerning the Law.

Matthew 4:4: Yoshua answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every WORD that comes from the mouth of GOD.'"

May 06 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report