Jesus didn’t Come to Abolish the Law, but He Came to Abolish the Law?

How Christians read Matthew 5:17:

"Don’t think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to abolish, but to abolish." 

This is literally the argument that way too many Christians make. Applying that logic to other things exposes how nonsensical the argument really is. Fulfilling your wedding vows does not mean you throw out your marriage, just like keeping a covenant never abolishes the covenant itself.

The word used for "fulfill" in Matthew 5:17 is the Greek word pleroo, which means to fill to the full, to bring to complete execution, or to fill up to its intended measure. It does not mean to terminate or bring to an end where it is no longer required. The goal of the Law was always full obedience, and Jesus came to demonstrate that complete measure in action.

Jesus set the standard by keeping every single commandment perfectly. By demonstrating complete obedience in action, he served as the ultimate example of what God's instructions look like in practice. Fulfilling the Law was never about erasing it, but revealing its full purpose and how we are meant to follow it.