You keep saying, “Christ fulfilled the law”, but I don’t think that word means what you
think it means.
It's time to UNLEARN the lies.
UNLEARN
Hey, welcome to UNLEARN.
My name is Lex, and I'd like to invite you to join us each week as we UNLEARN the lies
and dig deeper into the truth of God's Word.
Now, let's get started.
Many people think the phrase “Christ fulfilled the law” means He did it so I don’t have
to.
The idea is that since He did it, there is no longer a need for us to do it.
I have also heard people say that “fulfilled” means that He brought an end to the law, indicating
that He abolished it.
This phrase comes from Matthew 5:17, but the context of what He is saying is the exact
opposite of what people seem to think.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
I did not come to destroy but to fulfill (plērōsai).
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (genētai).
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
- Matthew 5:17-20
Right here in the context of the verse Yeshua says, “do not think I came to destroy the
law” and He goes on to say, “till heaven and earth will pass away, one jot or tittle
will by no means pass from the law”.
I would argue that both heaven and earth are still here and have not passed away, which
means not even a dot has passed away from His law.
Yeshua also said, “whoever therefore breaks the least commandment and teaches others to
do the same will be called least in the kingdom, and whoever does and teaches them will be
called great in the kingdom”.
Yeshua is not telling us we no longer need to keep the Law.
He is telling us not to even think that He came to do away with it, and if we want to
be great in the kingdom, we need to be doing and teaching His commandments.
Now, let’s look at the two words that are translated “fulfill” in this passage.
The first word is Plerosai, and means “to fill up, to make full, or to fill to individual
capacity”.
So, Yeshua is saying that He came to make the law full, not diminish it.
The second word is Ginetai, and means “come into being, become, come about, or happen”.
This word is used to say, “till all has happened”.
The English translators used the same word “fulfill” to translate these two different
Greek words.
This is part of the confusion, but the definition of the word fulfill also lends to the confusion.
The English word fulfill means “to bring to completion or reality; achieve or realize,
or to carry out (a task, duty, or role) as required, pledged, or expected.”
Most people apply the first part of the definition, “to bring to completion” and ignore the
part that says “to carry out a task or duty as required”, which I would argue fits the
context of this verse best.
So, the first part is best understood as saying, “I did not come to destroy but to carry
out”, or “I did not come to destroy but to make full.”
And the second part is best understood as, “till all is complete”.
To illustrate my point that plerosai translated as “fulfill” does not mean “bring to
an end”, let’s look at some other verses where this word is used and see if that makes
sense.
“Now may the God of hope fill (plerosai) you with all joy and peace in believing, that
you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
- Romans 15:13
This is the exact same Greek word Yeshua used when He said, “I did not come to destroy
but to fulfill”.
So, to better understand this word, we need to ask how is it used in other places?
Is Paul saying may God abolish or end your joy and peace, or is he saying may God give
you more joy and peace?
People seem to think Yeshua was saying He came to end the law, so is Paul saying “may
God end your joy and peace”?
Obviously that is not what Paul is saying.
The context of this is very clear that plerosai means to give you more joy and peace.
He is saying, “may God fill you up with joy and peace.”
Likewise, Yeshua is saying, I did not come to destroy the law but to fill it up or make
it full.
Let’s look at another example of this word.
“of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given
to me for you, to fulfill (plerosai) the word of God,”
- Colossians 1:25
Is Paul saying he is a minister of God to end or diminish or do away with or abolish
thew word of God?
Obviously not.
He is saying that he is a minister of God to fully preach the word of God.
Likewise, we could understand Yeshua to be saying, “I did not come to destroy the law
but to fully preach it.”
Yeshua is NOT saying, “I did not come to destroy the law but to end it.”
This is an absurd translation because it makes no sense in the context.
It’s no different than saying, “I did not come to destroy but to destroy.”
Obviously that is not what He is saying.
Also, we need to remember what else He said in this context.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.
I did not come to destroy but to fulfill (or fully preach).
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the law till all is complete.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
- Matthew 5:17-20
Is heaven and earth destroyed?
No.
So, nothing has been removed from the law.
Do you want to be great in the kingdom?
Then according to Yeshua, you need to do and teach all of the commandments, not breaking
even the least important commandment.
So, yes, Christ fulfilled the law, because He fully preached it and brought it to it’s
fullness.
Yeshua is the greatest in the kingdom, which means He did and taught all of the commandments.
And He says we should do the same.
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