by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:18 has two “tills.”<\/p>\n
“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished<\/em>” (Matthew 5:18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The meaning of Matthew 5:18 in giving us two “tills” is this: “Until heaven and earth pass<\/em>” is not speaking of the length of binding nature but of its certainty of being upheld. In other words, heaven and earth could more readily pass away than any part of the Law and the Prophets until <\/b>all be fulfilled. The second “till” qualifies the first “till.” “Until all is fulfilled<\/em>” qualifies the first “till.”<\/p>\n
What happens to the Law and the Prophets once they are fulfilled? They pass into a different role. They don’t pass out of existence, but they do pass into a different role, that of testifying of Jesus the Christ and telling men of their need for Jesus. They pass from the role of binding law to a role of testimony and faith building. One that testifies does not carry binding authority but does carry the force of a truthful and dependable witness<\/strong>. This is how the New Testament uses the Old Testament. It verifies the truth about Jesus and the truth about moral righteousness.<\/p>\n
Jesus did not fulfill and then destroy the testimony of the Old Testament. It still testifies of Jesus, of sin, and of righteousness. But, in fulfilling it, Jesus brought its binding regulations to a close, taking over the rule of the Law and annulling the previous program for a better program in Himself. Not until He fulfilled it would anything change. So, He was not here to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. Filling up what it demanded, He could then move it aside into a testimonial role and replace it with a better covenant. After fulfilling it (Luke 24:44), He could then<\/p>\n
\n
- “wipe out the handwriting of requirements<\/em>” (Colossians 2:14),<\/li>\n
- “abolish in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:15), and<\/li>\n
- “annul the former commandment<\/em>” (Hebrews 7:18)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
and become “a surety of a better covenant<\/em>” (Hebrews 7:22), and “change the law<\/em>” (Hebrews 7:14) from a fleshly Levitical system (Hebrews 7:16) to an eternal and spiritual system (Hebrews 7:24; 9:10-15) with better atoning sacrifice, better priesthood, better provisions in Christ.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton Matthew 5:18 has two “tills.” “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). The meaning of Matthew 5:18 in giving us two “tills” is this: “Until heaven and earth pass”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[115],"class_list":["post-65454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-old-law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-a-jot-and-a-tittle\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":0},"title":"What are a jot and a tittle?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 5: 17-18, it says, \"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hebrew word for God (example of a jot or yod)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/HebrewGod.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fulfill-doesnt-imply-ended\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":1},"title":"“Fulfill” doesn’t imply ended","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"Jesus said, \"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69942,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-you-realize-that-the-torah-is-the-way-the-truth-and-the-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":2},"title":"Don’t you realize that the Torah is the way, the truth, and the life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I noticed your article on polygyny using I Corinthians 7:2. Do you understand that the Torah is the way, the truth, and life? Just like Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Word of God. The Word made flesh. It's written to add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/back-to-basics-christ-and-the-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":3},"title":"Back to Basics: Christ and the Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frank Jamerson When brethren are confused about whether Christ came to fulfill the law and prophets or to perpetuate them, it is time to get back to basics! One brother said, \"Continuity of law is evident in Matthew 5:17, in that there is nothing about following Jesus that would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-god-give-a-law-that-had-to-be-taken-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":4},"title":"Why would God give a law that had to be taken away?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You shared this verse: \"Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41526,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wouldnt-the-jewish-bible-the-torah-be-the-most-accurate-since-jesus-was-jewish\/","url_meta":{"origin":65454,"position":5},"title":"Wouldn’t the Jewish Bible, the Torah, be the most accurate since Jesus was Jewish?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a question\" I googled \"Which Bible is the most accurate?\" and I stumbled upon your page. But my question is wouldn't the Jewish Bible, the Torah, be the most accurate since Jesus was Jewish? Answer: \"Torah\" refers to the first five books of the Old Testament,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}