What did Jesus Mean by "Fulfill" and "Till" in Matthew 5:17-18?

Seventh-day Adventists are familiar with something Jesus said in the sermon on the mount.

“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.” Matthew 5:17-18 NKJV

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We understand that Jesus was endorsing the law. Some though have tried to say that once Jesus fulfilled everything that He then did away with the law. They claim Jesus said “till” all is fulfilled. So did Jesus mean the law would only last till He fulfilled everything on the cross? Well let’s look at how the world “till” is used in Scripture. Paul tells Timothy,

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:13 NKJV

Did Paul mean for Timothy to stop reading and exhorting with doctrine once he got there? After all he said, “Till I come.” Of course not. Just like today, if you child is struggling with her homework and you tell her, “I will be home to help you in a few minutes. Hang in there till I get there,” you don’t mean for her to give up once you get there. Just as by saying “till I get there” you did not mean for her to stop once you got there, so Jesus did not mean for us to stop keeping the law once He “fulfilled” it. By fulfilling the law Jesus showed us how to keep the law fully. To fill means to make full, and Jesus showed us how to keep the fullness of the law by fulfilling the law .Some have the idea that Jesus emptied the law by filling it. Yet logic shows us to fulfill is to make full and not to make empty.

We see this truth as it is in Jesus in Matthew 3:15 Jesus tells John to baptize him to fulfill all righteousness. Once Jesus fulfilled the rite of baptism did he then abolish it? No. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus told his disciples to go baptize. By fulfilling baptism Jesus gave us all an example to continue following instead of discarding. Likewise by fulfilling the law Jesus gave us an example to continue in the law instead of discarding the law. We see that truth as it is in Jesus, that while no one was ever saved or will ever be saved by the law in either the Old or New Testament, the law is still our guide. Jesus shows us how to fulfill the law by being our example. He tells us, If you love me, Keep my commandments.” John 14;15.

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I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. Ps 119: 96

But what it the precepts of God law since his commandment is exceeding broad? Reading Matt 5:18-19. tells me my focus should not only be on those who are teaching others the sabbath is Sunday and not Saturday. The sabbath is not the only commandment. The commandment has 10 distinct areas. Four is delegated to God and the other six to humans like us. If we put aside the fourth (Sabbath) for a short moment and place ourselves side by side with the other nine, how do we as SDA stands before a Holy Father? Remember what Jesus said in Matt 5:18-19, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, which is the entire ten commandments. Jesus focus was not on one of the commandment but on all ten.

I came to realized, and I agree with Paul writing to the Romans when he said, humans cannot keep the commandants of and by themselves. Humans are carnal and the commandments spiritual. How can one who has a carnal nature/mind keep/live that which is spiritual/holy? Never happened, and will/can never happen.
Satan dwells in a carnal mind, Christ dwells in the spiritual mind.

Phil writing sometime ago about the two spectrum of day and night. Carnal/humans and spiritual/God law falls into that same spectrum. How is it that we hate sin, yet we practice it and we love it? Do we see the conflict? Which christian do not know if we cont to live in active sin we will die eternally? Yet we cont to do purposely that which is sinful?

Rom 7:20-25 O wretched man that I am! The only solution to our carnal mind is to die daily to sin. Rom 12:1-2 Christ body had become a dead sacrifice, so as to allow our bodies to become a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God. Our minds have to be transformed by the Holy Ghost. He has to literally live in us. Then we no more think our own stuff(carnal way), but he thinks for us, and allow us to be directed by him.

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Comments

What did Jesus Mean by “Fulfill” and “Till” in Matthew 5:17-18? — 8 Comments

R. G. White on May 15, 2020 at 8:49 pm said:

Thank you, William, for sharing these ideas. Personally, I think the solution to the "problem" is much simpler than that. The Old Testament contains prophecies, such as the Second Advent, that have yet to be fulfilled. The New Testament adds the thousand years, followed by the lake of fire. Obviously, not all has yet been fulfilled. I believe that Jesus meant to direct the minds of His hearers to the farthest horizon, while asserting that God's moral law of Ten Commandments would remain in effect for at least that long. If someone thinks that law will be abolished once sin is no more, God's promises for the restoration of all things have been fulfilled, and Eden is restored, we'll have plenty of time then to ask Him about that. I believe that the transcript of God's character is as eternal as He is.

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James Imaga Emetu on May 16, 2020 at 5:43 am said:

Thank you Pastor Williams for really making this clear. A lot of pentecostal churches use that Jesus' statement about the law to support its annullement and no longer valid. Your step by step explanation has settled it once and for all: The law is still valid till heaven and earth will pass away- it will still be valid after that

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Kevin James on May 16, 2020 at 5:59 am said:

Appreciate this very much, William. Thank you. Very clear. The law has always been there, but it is the transcript of God's character on the heart. Spelling it out on stone was only a temporary measure (represented first in their being broken, and then their being lost). God's desire is His law in the heart transcribed there by the Spirit, and Jesus was an Example of both.

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Phil van der Klift on May 16, 2020 at 6:11 pm said:

Well unpacked William.

The Greek word used in Matthew 5:17 is plerosai. It is used in that derivative form only 4 times in the New Testament. Romans 15:13 is another of those 4 times where Paul uses it to convey the idea of bringing something to its most optimised state via elimination of any lack so that it can now do what it was intended to do to the greatest possible degree (“abound” in Romans 15:13). Thus the Greek conveys plerosai as a process of beginning and/or continuing to an even greater degree (with both of these being expressed in superabundance) - as opposed to a process of coming to an end.

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John Herscher on May 17, 2020 at 4:59 am said:

My thoughts are simular as suggested by RG and Jim. I believe till heaven and earth pass away, is eternity, because heaven and earth will never pass away. Heaven was, is, and always is. Earth will not pass away it will be dormant for a thousand years and then be made new right before our eyes. I do believe that the last five will not be needed as we will not have parents, wifes, or children. The two great commandments will most likely be used instead of the five.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5. Mark 12:30.

...but you shall love your neighbor as yourself...
Leviticus 19:18. Matthew 22:39.

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- William Earnhardt on May 17, 2020 at 8:27 am said:
  
  True but remember God talks about creating a new heaven and a new earth. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Revelation 21:1
  
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Richard Johnson on May 18, 2020 at 9:17 am said:

Thank you Pastor Earnhardt, so well said and explained, on a topic that is so important and is the reason we are seeing a downward trend in our nation. Of which we see so many blaming the government, saying we have kick God out of our schools and nation. When really it’s the fault of the churches who have stood for tradition, rejecting Gods Law and other light given in 1844, and saying it was nailed to the cross. So if you follow this statement out, that the law was fulfilled or done away with. What becomes right or wrong? And who is the Creator? And so it’s these seeds, that we are seeing baring it’s fruit today and no amont of prayer in school, of which is a step in violating separation of church and state, is going to correct it. Because the home is where the church first begins, this is where the religious training belongs and it’s in the family circle that the child is trained to know and love God and Gods law is written on the heart. This is why the family unit has been under attack by Satan. But since the church, of which is made up by families, of which is fallen Protestantism, has rejected Gods law, it has become weak and we now seeing it reach out to the state for help. Maybe this is why Jesus said we need to build our house upon the rock, of which is what He wrote His law on, and not the shifting sands of popular belief and tradition because the end time storms are coming.

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Lyn Lew on May 19, 2020 at 5:51 am said:

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. Ps 119: 96

But what it the precepts of God law since his commandment is exceeding broad? Reading Matt 5:18-19. tells me my focus should not only be on those who are teaching others the sabbath is Sunday and not Saturday. The sabbath is not the only commandment. The commandment has 10 distinct areas. Four is delegated to God and the other six to humans like us. If we put aside the fourth (Sabbath) for a short moment and place ourselves side by side with the other nine, how do we as SDA stands before a Holy Father? Remember what Jesus said in Matt 5:18-19, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, which is the entire ten commandments. Jesus focus was not on one of the commandment but on all ten.

I came to realized, and I agree with Paul writing to the Romans when he said, humans cannot keep the commandants of and by themselves. Humans are carnal and the commandments spiritual. How can one who has a carnal nature/mind keep/live that which is spiritual/holy? Never happened, and will/can never happen.
Satan dwells in a carnal mind, Christ dwells in the spiritual mind.

Phil writing sometime ago about the two spectrum of day and night. Carnal/humans and spiritual/God law falls into that same spectrum. How is it that we hate sin, yet we practice it and we love it? Do we see the conflict? Which christian do not know if we cont to live in active sin we will die eternally? Yet we cont to do purposely that which is sinful?

Rom 7:20-25 O wretched man that I am! The only solution to our carnal mind is to die daily to sin. Rom 12:1-2 Christ body had become a dead sacrifice, so as to allow our bodies to become a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God. Our minds have to be transformed by the Holy Ghost. He has to literally live in us. Then we no more think our own stuff(carnal way), but he thinks for us, and allow us to be directed by him.

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Reply ↓

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What did Jesus Mean by “Fulfill” and “Till” in Matthew 5:17-18?

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What did Jesus Mean by “Fulfill” and “Till” in Matthew 5:17-18? — 8 Comments

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