Gospel Minutes.orgFulfilled or Ended?There are many who teach that Christ did not destroy the Law, but rather he ended it and replaced it with his law or the Law of Christ. I believe that Christ did not destroy the Law or end it for both have the same result. I also believe that Law and the Law of Christ are one and the same for Jesus the Christ is the Word of God. Some teach that the word end is a valid meaning for the Greek pleroo because Strong's has it listed. According to Strong's words found after the punctuation :-- are found in the King James version showing that it had been used in at least one instance. The words after the punctuation therefore are what the translators chose and may be improper if used in just any verse. The only way to be truly accurate is to look at the base meaning of the Greek or Hebrew word found in the verse. Let us remove the word fulfil from several verses and replace it with the word end. In the verses below pleroo is the Greek word, fulfil was in the verse and we replaced it with end. Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to end. This is what many people teach. Let's keep going. Matthew 3:15 Pleroo means to make replete, to satisfy or execute. Strong's says that this satisfy or execute implies that one satisfied a duty (office). If we obey perfectly every law of the road while driving from one place to another we do not end those laws. However we have satisfied the laws of the road's requirements. Well that is what Christ did. He did everything that the Law and the Prophets prophesied that he would do. Luke 24:44 If one wanted to replace fulfil with end for any mention of law then this might be found. Galatians 6:2 The word end is another issue. Just like with the English word love one must check the Greek to understand what kind of love is being discussed so it goes with the word end. The word end in Matthew 24:3 has the typical meaning as we understand it. End in "end of the age" means what we expect. However end in Romans 10:4, "end of the law" has a different meaning. End in this case has the meaning "to set out for a definite point or goal". Could Romans 10:4 read more like, "For Christ is the goal of the law..."? There is a good word study I plan to pursue. The book of Hebrews clearly explains what was in fact added to the Law and then later nailed to the cross. The Levitical Priesthood and the blood sacrifices were what was nailed to the cross. These Christ did once and for all for us. Here are the verses in red above the way they could read. Matthew 5:17 or Matthew 5:17 As you are reading and find a verse that talks about the Law being fulfilled try replacing the word fulfil with satisfy and see how that makes a difference. Since heaven and earth have not passed away it is amazing to me what is believed. Matthew 5:18 Regular Version Feel free to send your helpful comments. Thank You Gospel Minutes |