What the Bible says about Fulfilling the Law, Christ's
(From Forerunner Commentary)

John 2:1-11 The first miracle Jesus Christ performs during His ministry is changing water into wine at a marriage feast in Cana (John 2:1-11). When we compare what Christ and Moses each did with water, Jesus' miracle shows the contrast between law and grace. Moses changes water to blood, and Christ changes it into wine. Earlier, in John 1:17, the apostle John writes, "For the law was given through Moses, [and] grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Moses' turning of water into blood suggests judgment (Exodus 7:14-17), while Jesus' turning of water into wine implies generosity and joy. In John 3:17, John comments, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world [what the law does to sinners], but that the world through Him might be saved [what grace does for those who repent]." This miracle demonstrates at the earliest possible time that Christ's ministry would be one of grace and truth, as an extension and complement of the Law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17-19). Jesus had come to fulfill God's law, that is, to teach it and live it as an example of how to apply it to everyday life (Luke 24:44-45). Martin G. Collins The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Water Into Wine (Part One) Related Topics: Fulfilling the Law, Christ's | Jesus Christ's Miracles | Judgment | Judgment and Mercy | Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Mercy | Miracles | Miracles of Jesus Christ | Miracles of Jesus Christ: Water into Wine

Romans 13:8-10 Love is the essence of the spirit of God's law. The commandments are prescribed as rules of life. When we love, we have found the true principle of obedience, the true spirit of the holy law. Paul sums it all up in love. And we, having received the love of Christ, living in His love, see the law not as a stern, condemning taskmaster but as an appealing, bright vision of understanding and blessing. We see the law embodied in Christ, and our imitation of Christ involves obedience to the law, but we fulfill the law, not simply as a standard outside, but as a living principle within. Acting according to the dictates of the way of love, our lives conform to the image of Christ, as we conform to the law. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. Martin G. Collins The Law's Purpose and Intent Related Topics: Conformed to God's Image | Conforming to Christ's Image | Conforming to God's Will | Fulfilling the Law, Christ's | Fullness of the Stature of Christ | Imitating Christ | Law is Spiritual | Law Keeping | Law Keeping as Love for God | Law, Intent of | Love | Love as Essence of God's Law | Love as Keeping Commandments | Obedience | Obedience to the Law | Spirit of the Law

Galatians 1:4 Much of the controversy involved in this letter has to do with Gnostic Judaism, which was not the system that God gave to Moses. Judaism was the national religion of the Jews during Christ's and Paul's time, but it had only a very loose basis on the law of the Old Covenant. Paul refers to the sacrifice of Christ here as a reminder that He fulfilled the sacrificial law—in living a sinless life and then willingly laying it down, He fulfilled the requirements of every sacrificial ordinance, such that the "blood of bulls and goats" was no longer required in a physical sense. Fulfillment does not equal absolution, however; James 2:8 shows that when we "fulfill" the royal law according to Scripture, we are doing what is right, and there is no way to stretch this into saying that we each individually do away with the law. In Matthew 5:17, Christ shows that fulfilling is the opposite of destroying. Christ's fulfilling of the Law and the Prophets is to be an example for us to follow (Galatians 6:2; Colossians 1:25; II Thessalonians 1:11; James 2:8). The "world" being referred to here is the Greek aion and means "age"—a time period. The "present evil world" or "present evil age" which we need to be delivered from by God could be a reference to the strong influence the Jews had on the Galatians, as well as the Jews' wish to bind them (the Galatians) to the traditions and ordinances they had added to God's instruction, which He calls "burdens" elsewhere (Matthew 23:4; Acts 15:10). David C. Grabbe Related Topics: Aion | Christ's Example | Christ's Magnification of the Law | Fulfilling the Law, Christ's | Gnostic Judaism | Gnosticism | Law "Done Away" | Magnification of Law | Magnification of the Law | Traditions of Men | World's Dangers | World's Evil Characteristics | World's Systems | Worldliness

 

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