◄ What Does Matthew 5:17 Mean? ►

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Matthew 5:17(NASB)

Verse of the Day

The Law was a large body of rules and regulations given to Israel through Moses, which was summed up in the moral principles of the 10 Commandments. It could not provide salvation but was God's tool to reveal our sinfulness, to bring us to repentance, and to point us to Christ, our sinless Saviour and Kinsman-Redeemer.

Adam's sin in the garden placed all men under the curse of death, and God gave the Law to a tiny segment of humanity to demonstrate to a fallen world the sinful nature within the heart of every man. To break one part of God's perfect Law was to fail in every aspect, and Israel's miserable failure pronounced all men guilty before a holy God. And the wages of sin is death; eternal separation from our Heavenly Father and spiritual death for the soul of every man.

God is holy, God is righteous, and God demands that full payment for our sinfulness is made, and the wages of sin is death. Humankind is a race of guilty sinners, but God in His love and grace gave His only begotten Son to be born as 'Jesus' Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world. The eternal Son of God became the incarnate Son of Man, to become the single substitute for sin for a race of condemned sinners.

Jesus was born under the Law, lived a sinless life under the Law, and by His life and death met every single demand of God's holy Law. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil its righteous requirements. He became the only Man who met its perfect demands, qualifying Him to become our sin substitute, our Kinsman-Redeemer.

Jesus was the one and only Man who met the legal demands of God's Law, fully satisfying its righteous requirements on our behalf. NO, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law; Jesus came to fulfil the Law. He did this through His sinless life, and He did this on behalf of you, me, and for all who believe on His name. Jesus willingly chose to pay the enormous price of sin for you and for me so that all who believe in Him are no longer under the curse of the Law, but under God's gift of grace.

As born-again believers, we died in Christ and are rendered dead to the Law, removing forever its fearful curse and eternal consequences. He gave us His life so that we could live our life through Him.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, I confess that I am a guilty sinner and deserving of punishment for my sin. Thank You that in Your grace, You gave the Lord Jesus to live a sinless life and take the punishment for my sins. Through His life and death, I have been removed from the curse of the Law and set free from Your righteous condemnation. Thank You, Father, in Jesus' name, AMEN.