The Law: Fulfilled or Abolished? | Romans 13:8

Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has _G4137fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the _G4137fulfilling of the law.

The following are two ‘doctrines’ that I was taught by mainstream theology; see if either of them sound familiar:

1. Jesus ‘fulfilled’ the Law of God given through Moses so now we don’t have to.
2. The Law of God given through Moses, which Jesus ‘fulfilled’, has subsequently been abolished and is no longer valid post-Resurrection.

First ‘doctrine’: It is taught that “Jesus fulfilled the Law so now we don’t have to”.

So then, my question is: we don’t have to “what“?

I submit it is universally accepted and taught that, “we don’t have to ‘observe or keep the Law of God given through Moses’ because Jesus fulfilled it for us.”

The words that I have underlined directly above are not found anywhere in the entire Bible, yet this is a ‘doctrinal-truth(?)’ which has been taught throughout Christendom for centuries…

In the verses at the top of this page the apostle Paul claimed that “our love” fulfills the Law. So according to Paul, there is still more ‘Law-fulfilling’ to do by us mere mortals. Did Paul believe Jesus didn’t do a good enough job at Law-fulfilling and thinks we need to help Jesus out? Did Jesus not truly fulfill the Law for us ‘so that we don’t have to‘? Was the Law fulfilled by Jesus, or wasn’t it? We’ll address these questions shortly.

Second ‘doctrine’: According to mainstream teachings, “our love” fulfills all of the requirements, commands, statutes and decrees of the Law of Moses. Yet, at the same time they preach that the ‘Law of Moses’ is done away with, annulled and abolished. Does our ‘love’ fulfill an abolished Law? Really??? Which is it? Is it still in effect and needing to be fulfilled by our love, or is it abolished? It cannot be both effectively fulfilled by our love and abolished at the same time.

The following verse is where all the confusion stems from ~

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to _G4137fulfill them.

This verse is (mis)interpreted in two different ways:

1. Fulfill means ‘put an end to‘, ‘abolish’, ‘annul’, or ‘rescind’.
2. Fulfill means ‘all the Laws are concluded so no one else has to do them’.

If #1 is correct then Matthew 5:17 reads, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to ‘abolish’ them.”

Case closed on (mis)interpretation #1. Not only is it utterly illogical, but it is grammatically incorrect to think the word ‘fulfill’ means ‘abolish’, ‘annul’, ‘put an end to’ or ‘rescind’. We will explore the established Greek definition of the word “fulfill” in just a moment.

As far as #2 is concerned, once again, all I have to say is that there isn’t one manuscript, document or translation anywhere by the ‘Breath of God’ that have the words ‘so no one else has to do them’ . Those words do not exist except in the minds of wishful thinkers who don’t want to uphold the Law of God, or by those that don’t know what the Greek truly means. 

What does the text say?

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to _G4137fulfill them.

First off, let’s take a look at what Jesus said he did not come to do to the Law. He said he did NOT come to abolish the Law, and the English word ‘abolish‘ in the Greek is G2647, καταλῦσαι/katalysai. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states this to mean: to deprive of force, annul, abrogate, discard.

The Son of God states that He did NOT come to deprive of force, annul, abrogate or discard the Law of Moses.

So now we know it is a “fact”, the Law of Moses was NOT abolished! The Son of God just said so… shall we believe him or some denominational preacher from the Christian System?

So, what did He come to do with it?

Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law of Moses, and the word ‘fulfill’ is the Greek word πληρῶσαι/plērōsai, Strong’s G4137. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states this to mean: to carry into effect, to perform, to accomplish; to fulfil, i.e. “to cause God’s will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God’s promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment“: Matthew 5:17.

That is the actual definition of ‘plērōsai/fulfill’ as it pertains ‘specifically’ to Matthew 5:17 according to ‘Thayer’s Greek Lexicon’, which everyone has access to online.

In that definition do you see the words ‘annulled’ or ‘abolished’ or ‘revoked’ or ‘rescinded’ or ‘repealed’ or ‘completed-so-you-don’t-have-to’?

All of the ‘other’ definitions of the word plērōsai in ‘Thayer’s Lexicon’ as it pertains to verses other than Matthew 5:17 are as follows:

1. properly, to fill up to the top: so that nothing shall be lacking to full measure, fill to the brim.
2. to perfect, consummate; to make complete in every particular; to render perfect; to carry through to the end, to accomplish, carry out.
3. to carry into effect, bring to realization, realize; of matters of duty, to perform, to execute.

Again, no mention that even remotely comes close to the mainstream Christian interpretation of this word.

Let’s take a look at the use of this word, G4137/plērōsai, in other New Testament verses ~

Matthew 3:15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to _G4137fulfill all righteousness.”

• Did Jesus and John just ‘put an end‘ to “all righteousness”? Is righteousness now ‘finished for all time‘? Did “all righteousness” cease to exist after that event? Is that what the word ‘fulfill’ means???

Next, we have Paul himself using this same word in ‘Romans’ ~

Romans 15:19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have _G4137fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

• Did Paul ‘do away with‘ or ‘put an end to‘ the gospel of Christ? Did he fulfill the ministry of the gospel ‘so now we don’t have to‘? That is completely illogical and un-Scriptural.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon specifically defines ‘fulfilled’ with regards to Romans 15:19 as: to cause to be everywhere known, acknowledged, embraced (I have fully preached), Romans 15:19.

Here are a few more verses that use the same Greek word G4137/plērōsai. Let’s see if the standard of today’s mainstream teaching of this word holds true ~

John 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now _G4137complete.

• Was the joy of Jesus ‘done away with’ or ‘abolished’? It’s the exact same word in the Greek as in Matthew 5:17!

John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy _G4137may-be-full.

• Did the disciples’ joy ‘stop’ or ‘become rescinded’ or ‘revoked’ after Jesus spoke these things?

Act 5:28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have _G4137filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

• Did Peter and the apostles ‘do away with’ Jerusalem?

Act 13:52 And the disciples were _G4137filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

• Oh no, the disciples ‘abolished’ their joy AND the Holy Spirit!?! No more Holy Spirit for us I guess…

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope _G4137fill you with all joy and peace in believing

• Did God ‘rescind’ all joy and peace?

2 Corinthians 10:6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is _G4137complete.

• Hooray! Our obedience is ‘done away with’…

Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is _G4137fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

• Just like in Matthew 5:17, the Law is ‘abolished’, ‘annulled’ and ‘revoked’; a second time???

Ephesians 1:23 which is his body, the _G4137fullness of him who fills all in all.

• So, the body of Jesus is ‘done away with’???

Philippians 4:19 And my God _G4137will-supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

• I can’t even think of how to describe this one sarcastically because it is so blatantly obvious that this word means to “fill up”, to “accomplish” and to “bring to realization”.

Colossians 1:25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God _G4137fully-known,

• Is Paul really saying that the Word of God is ‘rescinded’ and ‘no longer applicable’ to me because he had made it “fully-known” to the Colossians??? This is the same Greek word that’s interpreted as ‘fulfilled’ in Matthew 5:17!

As you can see, we have been, and still are being taught a wrong interpretation of Matthew 5:17 with regard to the word “fulfill”.

Think logically, not emotionally.

All you really have to do, is just keep reading in ‘Matthew’ to understand the context. In reality, Jesus is proclaiming the exact opposite of we’ve been taught by the mainstream Christian system ~

Matthew 5:18-19 ₁₈For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth “pass away”, not an iota, not a dot, will “pass” from the Law until all is accomplished. ₁₉Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is explaining to everyone, everywhere, that he did NOT come to abolish or rescind or put an end to the Law of Moses. He is telling us that he came to fully preach and obey it the way it should be; He is the ‘Master-teacher’ and our ‘Example’.

Therefore, unless Jesus doesn’t know what he’s talking about, not one letter of the Law of God given through Moses will “pass” until heaven and earth “pass away”.

Take a look outside to verify…

By the way, guess what the Greek word for “pass away” and “pass” is? It’s G3928 παρέλθῃ/ parelthē both times in verse 18 with regards to ‘not one dot of the Law’ and to ‘heaven and earth’. This is the real word for “to render void”, “to pass away”, “to disregard”, “to perish” and “to neglect” according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.

‘Not one word of the Law will be disregarded, or neglected or perish or rendered void until heaven and earth are disregarded, neglected, perish, and rendered void.’

The parallel verse in Luke 16 echoes the same ~

Luke 16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

The Greek word for “fail” is G4098, πεσεῖν/ pesein. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states this to mean: to lose authority, no longer have force, of sayings, precepts, etc., Luke 16:17.

According to the Word-of-God-in-the-flesh, the Law that was in effect when He spoke these words in ‘Matthew’ and ‘Luke’, will not be rendered void or lose authority until heaven and earth pass away. This heaven and earth, that Jesus is speaking about, the one that you see outside your window right now, do not pass away until Revelation chapter 21, and “all is accomplished” does not happen until after that.

As God, Jesus does know what he’s talking about. The fact that heaven and earth haven’t passed away yet means that the Law still stands; the Law of “His” day, the Law of God given through Moses, is still in force and in authority; at least according to the Son of God.

The apostle Paul, the bond-servant of Jesus, stated the exact same thing ~

Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

The Greek word for “uphold” is G2476 ἱστάνομεν/histanomen, which Strong’s Concordance states to mean: (a) I make to stand, place, set up, establish, appoint; I place myself, stand, (b) I set in balance, weigh; (c) I stand, stand by, stand still; met; I stand ready, stand firm, am steadfast. Please click this link and read “Paul Commands Us to Uphold the Law“.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states ‘histanomen’ as: shall be made to stand, i.e. shall be kept from falling, to establish a thing, cause it to stand, i.e. to uphold or sustain the authority or force of anything; precisely what Luke 16:17 above stated.

All of this is stated in the Present Tense in the Greek. Paul is telling us in ‘his’ Present Tense that “The Law” is to stand, it is to be established, it is to be kept from falling, and “its authority and force is sustained“. How many decades after the cross did Paul write this???

We are being taught erroneous doctrine regarding the Law of God given through Moses and the true interpretation of these verses! We are being lied to! Whether it is deliberate or in ignorance is irrelevant, it’s still deception.

The Law of God given through Moses still stands, at least according to the ‘Son of God’ and the ‘apostle Paul’… and I believe them, not some man-made denominational creed that states the opposite. The mainstream denominational dogma that “a new religion” has taken the place of the old system, or that “the Law has been completed and a new dispensation of grace is upon us to take its place” is pure blasphemy! ‘Nothing’ has been done away with and Jesus the Anointed did not come to start anything new, He came to defeat death so that what we do actually matters!! Without his conquering of death nothing anyone has done or will do matters; we all would be dead in our trespasses and sins. Now, with the deliverance from the bondage-of-sin made possible for all who believe that Jesus rose from the dead, we can walk according to the God-Ordained statutes and commands, without the condemnation of our past sins. We can now be worthy of the inheritance of eternal life that He promised. The only thing Jesus did away with is ‘death’ for those that have faith in His resurrection and keep the commandments of God!!!

 

Final Thought: “Fulfill” means to carry into effect, to perform, to accomplish; and in Matthew 5:17 it means “to cause God’s will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God’s promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfillment“. That is exactly what Jesus did; he obeyed the Law as it should be, and he carried into effect specific promises of God in order to accomplish his mission as Messiah, according to the Law and the Prophets.

Lastly, if we let ‘the Scriptures test the Scriptures’, all we need to do is read Luke 24 for Jesus to define Matthew 5:17 ~

Luke 24:44-47 ₄₄“Then he (Jesus) said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be _G4137fulfilled (Matt. 5:17).” ₄₅Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ₄₆and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ₄₇and that “repentance” for the remission of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

• For further study of Paul’s teachings, as well as the original Greek, see the ‘Links’ at the top of this page or blog posts at the bottom. Be like the Bereans, and test Paul’s doctrines to the “Scriptures”; look up for yourself more than 60 of the “forever verses” listed directly below. Please ‘share’ this study. Thank you for your time.