Jesus PREDICTED the END of the law!

…Jesus said he didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, (Matthew 5:17) but this DOES NOT MEAN THE LAW IS STILL IN EFFECT. The RESULT of this fulfillment was the same as if he had come to "destroy" it, once fulfilled, the law was no longer in effect...

Now, we must recognize in the very next verse, Matthew 5:18, Jesus is LOOKING FORWARD to the time when the law WOULD BE SET ASIDE. "...Not even the smallest stroke of a pen will disappear from the Law UNTIL EVERYTHING IS COMPLETED."

This “UNTIL...” clause REINFORCES THE TEMPORARY NATURE OF THE LAW. It ONLY makes sense when we understand that the law was intended FROM THE BEGINNING to be SET ASIDE at its fulfillment. If it were not temporary, one would expect something like "no stroke of a pen can EVER disappear from the law." Clearly, that was NOT what he said.

Of course this fits perfectly with Paul’s later teaching concerning the law:

Ephesians 2:15 Through his body on the cross, Christ PUT AN END to the LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS AND RULES. He wanted to create one new group of people out of the two. He wanted to make peace between them.

Colossians 2:14, 16, & 21 (excerpts) He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross… No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.... What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Romans 3:20 So it can’t be said that anyone will be made right with God by obeying the law. Not at all! The law makes us more aware of our sin. 21 But now God has shown us how to become right with him. The Law and the Prophets give witness to this. It has nothing to do with obeying the law.

Galatians 5:4 Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. You have been separated from Christ. You have fallen away from God’s grace... The ONLY verse that talks about falling from grace, and they did it by trying to follow the law!

... The 10 commandments along with the rest of the law (described as "commands and rules" in Ephesians 2:15) were "set aside" when they were fulfilled or completed at Jesus' resurrection. We are no longer bound by that law.

BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN (AS SOME HAVE CLAIMED) THE LAW IS WORTHLESS OR MEANINGLESS!

Paul makes this clear in Romans 15:4 -- Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us strength to go on. They cheer us up and give us hope.

We see that Paul's teaching on the law is exactly in line with Jesus' own prophecy about it.

Early in Paul’s ministry, the other apostles and the elders in Jerusalem were asked about non-Jewish converts to Christianity and their relationship to the law. This letter was their UNANIMOUS RESPONSE to non-Jewish converts to Christ about the law:

"The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the non-Jewish believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. We all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul — men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:

YOU ARE TO ABSTAIN FROM FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS, FROM BLOOD, FROM THE MEAT OF STRANGLED ANIMALS AND FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY. YOU WILL DO WELL TO AVOID THESE THINGS.

Farewell." -- Acts 15:23-29

Notice that the entire body of rules contained in the Old Testament was reduced to one sentence. This is NOT a "moral license," rather, the command of Christ that we LOVE EVERYONE makes much of the old moral code unnecessary. Jesus' sacrifice makes the entire Levitical system of sacrifices OBSOLETE.