QT 2 Nov 17, Matt:5:17-19, Jesus fulfilled the law for us, we are not under the OT law

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
8	11/2	Matt 5:17-20	Matthew 5:17–19 (ESV) — 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For 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. 19 Therefore 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.	This verse is used by many who would argue that we are still under the law today. So it is important to understand what Jesus means. Because incorrectly interpreting this verse would seem to condemn Paul as one of the least in the kingdom of God. And while he does say that, it is certainly not because he felt he was teaching false doctrine. If Paul taught that we are not under the law, that the law was nailed to the cross, and that it has been abolished, then Jesus' statement "until all is accomplished" has been fulfilled. Jesus said, "I came to fulfill them (the law)." A look at one of the meanings in the Greek, suggests to carry through to the end. Jesus completely obeyed the entire OT law. He fulfilled it. And having fulfilled it he died for our sins. His life accomplished the law. He did not come to abolish the law, he lived the law. But his death did abolish the OT law.	Of course, it is not that we are no longer under any law. Paul's letters say that we are under the law of Christ. Many of the commandments of the law have been repeated by Jesus and the apostles and so they are the law of Christ for us. Nine of the ten commandments, most of the moral law are clearly repeated for the NT believer. The dietary and ceremonial laws are not repeated, and so we are not under those laws. A person is free to obey those law but to teach others to obey them would be teaching false doctrine.	Father, why is it we want to be under the OT law? Is it our pride, our sense of earning our salvation? Help me to communicate the love of Christ to those who wrap themselves in the hypocrisy of law-followers. Help them to see that far from showing the beauty of Christ, their lives depict ugliness, hardness, anger, and no joy. Open our eyes to truth.