"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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."
We should make note that today's quote was directed to the Jews who, like Jesus Himself, were still bound to obey Old testament law until it was completely fulfilled by the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. It was not addressed to Christian people, nor was it addressed to the Gentiles.
We should also note that Jesus put a time limit on the law when He said, "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED. Jesus said, in essence, that until He had completed His soul saving sacrificial ordeal and thereby fulfilled the entirety of the law, the law would remain in full affect.
This is very important because there are many today who contend that the commandments of the law still remain in effect for Christian people today, which is simply not true. Jesus made it explicitly clear that in Christian law there are only two "great" commandments; "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 22:37-40)
Again, in essence, Jesus said, for those who would accept Him and later be called Christians, the two commandments were the ONLY commandments within the new law of Christian faith.~
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