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Maybe you have watched this argument happen. Maybe you have been in it.
One person says, “We’re not under the law anymore. Jesus did away with all that.” Another person says, “Jesus said not one jot or tittle would pass from the law.” Both of them are quoting the Bible. Both of them sound very sure.
And you are sitting there with a quieter question you don’t say out loud: So which one is it? And am I doing this right?
Did Jesus abolish the law? It is a fair question, and you don’t have to guess at the answer. Jesus answered it himself, in plain words, on a hillside in Galilee. Then he did something with the law that neither side of that argument expects.
Did Jesus Abolish the Law? What He Actually Said
The answer comes near the start of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew says Jesus “went up into a mountain,” sat down, and began to teach (Matthew 5:1-2). A few minutes in, he says this:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matthew 5:17, KJV
Look at the first two words. Think not.
You only say “don’t think this” when somebody might be thinking it. It would have been easy to assume a new teacher had come to throw the old rules out. Jesus stops that thought before it can settle.
Then he goes further:
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18, KJV
A jot is the smallest letter. A tittle is a tiny stroke on a letter. Jesus is saying not even a pen mark goes missing.
So if the question is “Did Jesus say he came to get rid of the law?” the plain answer is no. He said the opposite, out loud, on purpose.
But that is not the end of the story. It is barely the start. Because the word he chose instead is the one everything turns on.
This whole article lives inside one book. If you have never read Matthew the way its first listeners heard it, straight through, you can get the complete Book of Matthew free as an immersive PDF and a 28-chapter audiobook. Sermon on the Mount included.
The Word Jesus Refused Was Later Used Against Him
Before we get to “fulfil,” look at the word Jesus turned down: “destroy.”
In Matthew’s Greek, that word is kataluo. It means to take something apart, to tear it down. It shows up in just three other places in Matthew’s Gospel. All three are about the temple. And look who is speaking.
- Jesus, about the temple buildings: “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).
- The two false witnesses at his trial: “This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days” (Matthew 26:61).
- The people walking past the cross: “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself” (Matthew 27:40).
Sit with that for a moment.
On the mountain, Jesus says, “I am not come to destroy.” By the end of the book, that same word is the insult people throw at him while he hangs on a cross.
He was accused of being the man who tears holy things down. Matthew had already written down, more than twenty chapters earlier, that he said the very opposite.
What “Fulfil” Means in Matthew’s Gospel
Now the word he chose. “Fulfil” is the Greek word pleroo. At its simplest, it means to fill something up until it is full.
You can see that plain meaning in a story Jesus tells about fishermen and a net: “Which, when it was full, they drew to shore” (Matthew 13:48). That word “full” is the same verb. A full net isn’t thrown away. It is finally doing the thing it was made for.
Matthew loves this word. In the standard Greek text of his Gospel it appears sixteen times. Again and again he writes some form of “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet” (Matthew 13:35, and see 1:22, 2:15, 8:17 and 21:4).
And here is the detail most people read straight past. The very first words Jesus speaks in Matthew’s Gospel use it. John the Baptist doesn’t want to baptize him, and Jesus answers:
“Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Matthew 3:15, KJV
(We looked at why that moment matters in why Jesus got baptized at all.)
So by the time Jesus says on the mountain, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil,” Matthew’s readers have already heard that word from him. He didn’t come to empty anything out. He came to fill it all the way up.
Then Jesus Made the Law Harder, Not Easier
If you were hoping “fulfil” means “relax,” the very next verses will surprise you.
“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20, KJV
The scribes and Pharisees were the most careful rule-keepers of their day. Jesus says your righteousness has to go past theirs.
Then, six times in a row, he quotes something the people had heard, and follows it with, “But I say unto you.” Watch what happens to the law each time.
“Thou shalt not kill” gets filled up to include anger and contempt:
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5:22, KJV
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” gets filled up to include the look:
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28, KJV
Nothing is crossed out here. The command against murder is still standing. It has just been filled up, all the way down to the heart that murder grows from. And the section ends with a sentence nobody on earth can tick off a list:
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48, KJV
This is the part both sides of the argument tend to miss.
If you thought Jesus deleted the law, he didn’t. It is bigger now. If you thought the answer was to keep the rules more carefully, he just raised the bar past the most careful people alive. Nobody walks away from Matthew 5 holding a scorecard they can win.
The Two Commandments the Whole Law Hangs On
Much later in Matthew, a lawyer tries to test Jesus with a question (Matthew 22:35). Here is how it goes:
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40, KJV
Hang. Picture a hook on a wall with everything hanging from it. Take the hook away and it all falls to the floor. Jesus isn’t saying the rest of the law disappears. He is saying every bit of it hangs from love.
Now notice the phrase he uses: “the law and the prophets.” That is the same pair from the mountain, “the law, or the prophets,” in Matthew 5:17. And Jesus says it once more near the end of the same sermon:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12, KJV
Follow that phrase through Matthew and it keeps landing in the same place. What Jesus came to fill up was always pointing at love. Love for God. Love for the person right in front of you.
Paul saw it the same way. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). In Galatians he writes that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). And when Paul raised the obvious question himself, his answer was blunt: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).
An Honest Word About “Abolished”
To be fair to the other side of the argument: the word “abolished” really is in the King James Bible. Paul writes that Jesus, “having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15).
Two things are worth knowing. It is a different Greek word from the one Jesus refused in Matthew 5 (katargeo, not kataluo). And in that passage Paul is writing about the hostility that divided Jewish and non-Jewish believers, with the stated goal of making “one new man” out of the two.
Christians have honestly disagreed for a very long time about how particular parts of the Old Testament law apply today: the Sabbath, food laws, feast days, giving. We looked closely at one of those in what Jesus actually said about tithing. This article won’t settle every one of those questions, and it shouldn’t pretend to. What it can say plainly is what Matthew 5:17 says. Jesus did not come to tear the law down.
Why This Is Good News If You Keep Score
Here is where it gets personal.
A lot of us carry the law around like a scorecard. Not because we are proud. Because we are scared. Did I do enough this week? Did I miss something? Am I okay with God?
If that is you, look at how the Sermon on the Mount begins. Before any “ye have heard.” Before any raised bar. Before a single command. Jesus opens his mouth with this:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3, KJV
Poor in spirit. Spiritually broke. Nothing in the account. And that is exactly where Jesus starts. The blessing comes before the teaching, not after you pass it.
So when he fills the law up until nobody can keep it by counting (not the Pharisees, and not you), he isn’t setting a trap. He is taking the scorecard out of your hands. You were never going to win it that way. Nobody was.
What he leaves in its place isn’t “no rules.” It is the two commandments the rules were always hanging on. And love can’t be scored. You can’t finish loving your neighbour and tick the box. You can only receive God’s love and pass it on. Again. Today.
That is why grace isn’t the opposite of the law. Grace is the only way anyone has ever actually lived it. The question stops being “Have I done enough?” and becomes “Who can I love today?”
One of those questions keeps you awake at night. The other one gets you out of bed.
Jesus did not come to empty the law. He came to fill it with love.
If you want to keep digging into what Jesus actually taught, you can explore any passage with our free What Jesus Teaches AI assistant (it opens in ChatGPT).
What to Do With This Today
Actions to Take
- Read Matthew 5:17-20, then Matthew 22:36-40, back to back. It takes about two minutes. Listen for the phrase “the law and the prophets” in both, and notice how the first passage raises the bar while the second shows you what the bar was hanging on.
- Write down the one “rule” you use most to grade yourself with God. Then write next to it which commandment it hangs from: love for God, or love for your neighbour. See whether it still feels like a test once it is tied back to love.
- Think of one person you are quietly keeping score against. Someone who owes you an apology, or someone you think is “doing faith wrong.” Send them one kind message today, and don’t mention the score.
Journaling Prompts
- When you picture God looking at your life, do you picture someone holding a scorecard, or someone holding out a blessing? Where did that picture come from?
- Jesus filled “thou shalt not kill” up to include contempt. Who have you quietly written off as a fool, and what would it take to stop?
- If love is the fulfilling of the law, what part of your ordinary week is already fulfilling it without you noticing?
A Prayer
God, I have been carrying a scorecard for so long that I forgot you never handed it to me. I keep asking whether I have done enough, and the honest answer is no, and I am tired of pretending it isn’t. Thank you that Jesus started with a blessing for people with nothing in the account. Fill me with your love until it spills over onto the people around me today. Amen.
A Question Worth Discussing
Why do you think people on both sides of the “law or grace” argument can quote the very same Jesus and still end up so far apart? Share your thoughts in the comments. We read every one.
Share This
- “Jesus did not come to empty the law. He came to fill it with love.”
- “‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law.’ Jesus answered the question before anyone could ask it.”
- “The Sermon on the Mount opens with a blessing for the spiritually broke. The blessing comes before the teaching, not after you pass it.”
Questions People Ask About Jesus and the Law
Did Jesus abolish the Old Testament law?
No, not according to his own words. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (KJV), and in the next verse he says not “one jot or one tittle” will pass from the law “till all be fulfilled.” He then goes on in Matthew 5:21-48 to deepen several commandments rather than remove them, extending “thou shalt not kill” to anger and contempt and “thou shalt not commit adultery” to lust in the heart.
What does “fulfil the law” mean in Matthew 5:17?
The Greek verb translated “fulfil” in Matthew 5:17 is pleroo, whose basic meaning is to fill something up until it is full. Matthew uses the same verb for a fishing net that “was full” in Matthew 13:48, and for prophecies coming true throughout his Gospel. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus sets it against “destroy” (Greek kataluo, to tear down), so fulfilling the law means bringing it to its full intended meaning rather than cancelling it. Jesus demonstrates this immediately by filling commandments out to include the heart’s motives.
What are the two commandments the whole law hangs on?
In Matthew 22:36-40 a lawyer asks Jesus which is the great commandment in the law. Jesus answers with love for God (“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”) and love for neighbour (“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”), then says, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (KJV). The apostle Paul makes the same point in Romans 13:10: “love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Does Ephesians 2:15 say Jesus abolished the law?
The King James Version of Ephesians 2:15 does use the word “abolished,” saying Jesus abolished “the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” The Greek word there is katargeo, which is different from kataluo, the word Jesus rejects in Matthew 5:17. The surrounding passage is about the hostility between Jewish and non-Jewish believers being ended so the two could become one people. Christians differ on exactly how this verse relates to Matthew 5:17, but the two passages use different words and address different questions.
If Jesus did not abolish the law, do Christians have to keep every Old Testament rule?
Christians have long disagreed about how specific Old Testament laws, such as Sabbath, food and festival laws, apply after Jesus. Some traditions distinguish moral commands from ceremonial and civil ones, while others read the whole law as fulfilled in Jesus and summed up in love. What the texts themselves make clear is that Jesus said he came to fulfil the law rather than destroy it (Matthew 5:17), taught that all of it hangs on loving God and neighbour (Matthew 22:40), and that Paul wrote that faith does not make the law void but establishes it (Romans 3:31).
