There are passages in the Bible that are difficult for sincere seekers of Truth to accept or understand.
One such passage is found in Matthew (5:17-20).
There Jesus says:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the laws of the old covenant.
I did not come to abolish them but to fulfil them!
I assure you that as long as heaven and earth exist, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the Law until all things are done, fulfilled.”
At first glance, reading this verse, we would all understand that no commandment from the Law should ever be removed or changed…
But, notice that Jesus completed the above sentence with the words:
“Until all is fulfilled, done”
And I believe that all that was to be fulfilled, was done:
They were fulfilled when Christ cried out with his last breath on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19: 30)
At that moment everything that was prophesied to happen for our salvation was fulfilled:
Jesus Christ became the expected High Priest between God and us, and offered himself as a sacrifice to God the Father freeing those who follow and obey him from the curse of the law.
(Galatians 3:13)
With the coming of the Messiah Jesus, the Levitical Priesthood that prevailed until then was abolished.
And when the Priesthood changes (the Bible tells us), the law necessarily changes as well.
(Hebrews 7: 11-12)
Since then, we submit to the laws that Christ gave us, and no longer to the “poor” laws of the Old Testament! ( )
And Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, explains to us:
“We know that a man cannot be declared righteous by trying to keep the laws of the old covenant zealously, because it is not possible to keep them all as God requires.
And those who do not thoroughly observe all the laws are damned…
(Galatians 3:10)
According to the gospel of Christ, we are declared “Righteous” in God’s eyes only because we believe and try to carry out with sincerity and zeal the teachings of Jesus Christ and not the commandments of the old covenant law which we must now regard as obsolete and imperfect.
Is there a fear now that, as we no longer obey the laws of the old covenant, we become transgressors and sinners in the sight of God?
Of course not! Instead…
We would be transgressors of the Truth if we tried to bring back again the poor elements of the old covenant law, to which we must consider ourselves dead (Galatians 2:17-19)
We now live in the age of grace, not of law! (. )
And we do not despise the “grace of God” that we received in Christ Jesus, who gave his life to justify us and to free us from the curse of the law that condemned us all! (Galatians 3:16)
The Bible tells us that the law of the old covenant was given to us as a teacher until the expected seed of Abraham came, that is, Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 3:19, 24)
Now that Christ has come, the era of the “New Testament” has begun. The Old is passing away…. (.
The new teachings and commands that Christ gave us are not mixed with the commands that were given in the time of Moses!
It is the same with wine: The new wine must not be put into sacks that contain or have contained old wine because these have been stretched by the boiling, and will burst as the new wine boils…
You mustn’t mix the old with the new! (Luke 5: 36 – 39)
It is not possible to keep the laws of the old covenant and at the same time be guided by the Spirit of Freedom that we received when we believed in Jesus Christ! (Galatians 5: 18, 13)
So let’s not go back to the poor and outdated commandments of the Old Testament, such as strictly observing the Sabbath or the feasts of the Old Testament. (Galatians 4: 9-19 / Romans 14: 5 / Colossians 2: 16…), or not to eat pork or other formerly forbidden foods (Colossians 2: 20-23), which God cleansed, as God revealed to Peter…(Acts 10: 9 – 16)
So let us not be concerned about such affairs (Colossians 3:2) which are shadows of future affairs that will take place in future ages (Colossians 2: 17), knowing that:
“If you are led by the Spirit of God you are no longer under the Old Testament Law!” (Galatians 5:18)