Did Yeshua (Jesus) “Establish” or “Abolish” the Law?

Modern Catholicism and Christianity’s position is that Yeshua (Jesus), through His death, does not require God-Fearers (those from the nations) to obey all of the commandments He gave Israel on Mt. Sinai. There are some who teach that none of God’s commandments apply to God-Fearers. We discussed this issue in detail in previous articles where we stated that our position is: one God, one Messiah, one Law, and one Family, consisting of both natural born and those grafted-in, called God-Fearers.

In this article, we want to look at how Yeshua demonstrated this “oneness” using His own words and actions as seen in the Apostolic Writings (New Covenant). Many have taken His words out of context to support their doctrines and did the very thing that Yeshua said He did NOT come to do - abolish or destroy God’s Law.

We can no longer accept modern biblical teachings based upon a teacher’s resume. God has given each of us His Holy Spirit and the tools, discernment and resources, we need to arrive at His truth. If anyone’s interpretation of Yeshua’s words and actions are not based on the whole word of God; we throw it out.

MATTHEW 5 - 7

Let’s look at the most common teaching of Yeshua that has been used to support the view that part of God’s Law is not for God-Fearers. In Matthew, Chapters 5 - 7, it states that Yeshua, upon seeing the multitudes, went up on the side of a hill, sat down, and began teaching. As in any teaching situation, we need to understand who is in the audience. This section tells us that His “talmidim” (Hebrew for taught ones/disciples) were present (5:1). It also tells us there were crowds, most likely consisting of both Jewish people and God-Fearers, who had been taught God’s Law by the Scribes, in attendance. Matt 7:28-29 states:

• “And so it was, when Yeshua had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Therefore, we know these people were not ignorant of God’s commandments since they had been taught by the teachers of the Law - the scribes. Their society was built around God’s Covenant and Law.

Yeshua begins His teaching by speaking about the blessings His taught ones and the people would receive by living within the covenant God made with Abraham, and by obeying the commandments given to them through Moses. He tells them “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Also, He tells them that by keeping the commandments, they will be a “light” that will cause others to “praise your Father in heaven.”

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Righteousness, as defined by God, has always been part of His plan for mankind since the beginning. The first time the word righteousness appears in the Hebrew Bible is in Gen 15:16. God said this about Abraham:

• “He believed in God, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Righteousness is defined in Deuteronomy 6:25:

• “And if we are careful to obey all this Law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

In Luke 1:6, Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist (Immersor) were described as righteous, and why:

• “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. “

In 1 John 3:7, John, the Apostle, re-emphasizes our need for righteousness:

• “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”

LIGHT

Light is another word that Yeshua’s audience would have been familiar with since they had been taught the Law, Prophets, and Psalms by the scribes. God inspired the psalmist to write in Psalms 119:105:

• “Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Another teaching on the importance of light is in Matthew 25, where Yeshua gives a parable that describes ten virgins who went out to meet their bridegroom with their lamps trimmed. Only five had enough oil to produce light from their lamps. Yeshua is saying to the people, your blessings will come when you walk in obedience to God’s Law, which reflects His light.

We believe these “beatitudes” of Yeshua in Matthew 5 are teaching us the correct attitude we should have as we obey God’s Law. He emphasizes that we should be: dependent on Him; mournful about sin; meek; merciful; pure; and peaceful. These are characteristics of a true Holy Spirit-filled life. He tells us not to think it strange if we are persecuted for keeping His Law because the Prophets were also persecuted for doing the same.

YESHUA UPHELD THE LAW

After His teaching on the beatitudes, and before Yeshua proceeds to discuss issues that go beyond the “letter of the Law” to the “spirit of the Law,” He warns them, in a very strong way, that He is not negating any part of the Law that He gave Moses at Mt. Sinai. Yeshua states in Matthew 5:17-20:

• "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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. 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.”

Yeshua said that He came to “fulfill,” not to “destroy” or do away with the Law or Prophets. According to Hebrew linguist and language professor, David Biven, in rabbinic argumentation, when someone misinterpreted God’s Law, they were said to be “destroying the Law.” We believe this was the case when Yeshua used the phrase “I did not come to destroy.” Of course, He upheld the Law and was reassuring them that He would correctly interpret it in His teaching.

The same Greek word for “fulfill” used in Matt 5:17 is also used in Matthew 3:14-15:

• “And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Yeshua answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.”

It is clear, in this context, that Yeshua was not abolishing or destroying righteousness by having a water immersion. He was simply being obedient to God’s Law. We know He was without sin. Therefore, His water immersion was not one of “repentance,” but one of righteousness. Here we have His example of “fulfilling” an aspect of God’s Law and we still “fulfill” this immersion requirement today.

John the Baptist (Immersor), in Matt 3:14, told the people to “turn back” to God’s Law, i.e., repent from breaking it. At the same time, Yeshua was telling them, and showing them, how to correctly “obey” God’s Law. He not only spoke with authority, but He corrected the wrong understanding they had been taught. In doing so, He was both confirming and establishing the Law.

ESTABLISH - CONFIRM

We believe a better English translation for the word “fulfill” would be “confirm” or “establish.” This is based on Deuteronomy 27:26 where God states:

• “Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this Law. 'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'”

The Hebrew word translated “confirm” in De 27:26 is the Hebrew word “koom.” Another word that could have been used by translators was “establish.” Other words included in the meaning of this Hebrew word are: “(cause to) rise”; “(cause to) stand”; “(to be) valid”; “(to be) proven.” [Strong’s Concordance #6965]

Paul uses the word “confirm” in Romans 15:7-9:

• “Therefore receive one another, just as Messiah also received us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Yeshua Messiah has become a servant to the circumcision (Jewish people) for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.”

Paul also uses the word “establish” in one of his letters to emphasize that God-Fearers, who were part of the congregation in Rome, were also responsible for establishing God’s Law. He states in Romans 3:31:

• “Do we then make void the Law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law!”

FULFILLED – A MEASURE OF TIME

In most of our modern translations, the word “fulfilled” has been used in Matt 5:18:

“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.”

The Greek word translated as “fulfilled” is “Ginomai,” and its meanings include: to come into existence; begin to be; to come to pass, happen; to arise; appear in history [Strong’s Concordance #1096]

We can see, as used in this context, He is drawing a parallel between God’s Word and eternity. His Word endures forever!

Yeshua follows this statement, with “whoever does and teaches them [God’s Laws], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven...” This shows a continuance of God’s Law into His kingdom where rewards will be given for faithful obedience of His commandments.

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON MATT 5:17

Pastor John Piper, founder and teacher of Desiring God.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, represents the majority view of Christians in his commentary on Matt 5:17. This excerpt is from his discussion on eating pork entitled, “Should we obey Old Testament Law?”

• “In other words, the bad impulse fails to see in Jesus the kind of fulfillment and the kind of accomplishment of the Law and the Prophets that God always intended in the Old Testament as the consummation and the end of the ceremonial laws. So, the effort to hold on to the prohibition of eating pork is, in effect, a refusal to submit to God’s plan for the fulfillment of the Law in Jesus.”

He uses the Matt 5:17 verse as a basis for his perspective on Mark 7:16-19, to teach against God’s Law:

• “4. The food laws that set Israel apart from the nations have been fulfilled and ended in Christ. Mark 7:18–19, “[Jesus] said to them, . . . ‘Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?’ . . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.)””

We know the context of Yeshua’s discussion in Mark 7 was eating “without properly washed hands” according to the “tradition of the elders.” It is not giving a license to disobey God’s commandments regarding food. Most modern translators have added the phrase, “Thus he declared all foods clean,” which is not in the oldest manuscripts. This has resulted in myriads of people breaking God’s commandments. God defined “food” in Lev 11 & De 14. By the way, Yeshua was not speaking to the “Gentiles” in these verses. Yeshua was speaking to a sect of Pharisees, who would have upheld the food laws.

When we use Yeshua’s words to abolish God’s Law, then we risk falling into the group Yeshua mentions in Matt 7:15-23 at the end of His teaching session in Matthew, Chapters 5 - 7:

• "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS

The Greek word translated as “lawlessness” in Matt 7:23 is “Anomia.” It means: the condition of without law; because ignorant of it; because of violating it; contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness.

The King James Version of the Bible translates “practice lawlessness” as “workers of Iniquity.” This includes those who work against God’s Law by replacement or annulment.

Neither John, or Yeshua’s other taught ones, or Paul, separated God’s Law into sections (ceremonial and moral) like the majority of Christian teachers are doing today. John states in 1 John 3:4:

• “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

John also tells us in 1 John 2:4-5:

• “He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

FINALLY

It is clear that Yeshua never intended for His words to be used to “destroy” God’s Law (Torah). He embodied the “perfect law of liberty.” This is why He is called the “Living Torah.” He showed us that we “can” obey “all” of God’s commandments with the right attitude and with help from His Holy Spirit.

1 John 5:1-3 tells us:

• “Whoever believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”