Did Jesus Abolish the Law of Moses?

Passage: Matthew 5:17–20
Question: If we are saved by grace, do God’s commands still matter?

If Jesus said He did not come to abolish the Law, why don’t Christians offer animal sacrifices? Why aren’t they required to be circumcised? And why does Jesus say that looking at someone with lust is already a matter of the heart?

These are fair questions. The answer begins with understanding what the Law was for—and what Jesus meant when He said He came to fulfill it.

1. What was the Law of Moses?

The Law of Moses was the instruction God gave to the people of Israel. It taught them how to worship Him, how to live together, and how to treat one another. It included commands about things like honesty and justice, as well as sacrifices, food, and life in Israel as a nation.

God gave these instructions after He rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. He did not tell them to earn their rescue by obeying first. He brought them to Himself, then taught them how to live as His people. God called Israel to be a holy nation—a people set apart for Him. (Exodus 19:4–6)

The word covenant helps here. A covenant is a committed relationship with promises and responsibilities. God made a covenant with Israel, and the Law was part of their life with Him.

2. Why wasn’t the Law enough to save people?

Was something wrong with the Law? No. Paul calls it good. The problem was that knowing what God commanded did not give people the power to obey Him perfectly or remove their sin. A command can tell us what is wrong; it cannot, by itself, make our hearts new. (Romans 7:7–12; Romans 8:1–4)

Imagine a sign that says, “Do not enter.” The sign clearly tells you where the boundary is. But it cannot stop you if you decide to cross it. In a similar way, God’s commands showed Israel what was right and exposed sin. They were never meant to be a way for sinful people to save themselves.

The Law also helped prepare the way for Christ. Its sacrifices showed how serious sin was and why people needed forgiveness. Its commands showed God’s holiness. But the repeated sacrifices could not do what Jesus would do through His own sacrifice. (Galatians 3:19–25; Hebrews 10:1–18)

3. Were there different kinds of laws?

You may hear Christians describe the Law using three groups. These are helpful study labels. The Bible does not place every command into three separate, ready-made lists, and some commands touch more than one part of life.

These labels help us ask better questions, but they do not answer everything on their own. To understand what a command means for a Christian today, we also need to read what Jesus and His apostles say about it.

4. What did Jesus mean by “fulfill”?

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. “The Law and the Prophets” is a way of speaking about the Scriptures Israel had received. Jesus is telling His listeners that He did not come to throw away what God had said.

He came to bring God’s promises and purposes to their intended goal. The Scriptures pointed forward to Him. He obeyed the Father, gave His life for sin, and began the new covenant God had promised. New covenant means the new relationship God establishes with His people through Jesus. It brings forgiveness and the work of God’s Spirit in their lives. (Matthew 5:17–20; Jeremiah 31:31–34; Ezekiel 36:26–27)

But “fulfill” does not mean, “None of this matters anymore.” Jesus immediately warns against setting aside God’s commands. Then He gives examples of what faithful obedience looks like.

5. Jesus looks beyond outward actions

It can sound as though Jesus simply made the rules harder. There is a reason people feel that way: He will not let us say, “I didn’t do the outward act, so my heart must be fine.”

Still, concern for the heart was already present in the Old Testament. Israel was told to love God with all their heart, and even the Ten Commandments forbade coveting—wrongly desiring what belongs to someone else. Jesus brings this concern into sharp focus. (Deuteronomy 6:4–6; Exodus 20:17)

Here are all six examples Jesus develops in Matthew 5:21–48:

(Matthew 5:21–48)

A few details matter here. Jesus speaks about looking with lust, not simply noticing that someone is attractive. The Law’s instruction about divorce regulated a situation; it did not command people to divorce. And although Jesus mentions the saying “hate your enemy,” that was not a command God gave in the Law. The Law even told Israelites to help an enemy whose animal had wandered away. (Matthew 19:3–9; Exodus 23:4–5)

So Jesus is doing more than handing people a harder checklist. He is showing what love, faithfulness, and truthfulness look like when they reach our words, choices, and desires.

6. Does that mean Christians must follow every command given to Israel?

No. And this is where a second comparison matters. The New Testament does not treat every instruction given to Israel in the same way.

This is why “Jesus made every law harder” cannot be the full answer. He teaches the depth of commands about love and faithfulness. The New Testament also explains how practices tied to Israel’s earlier covenant relate to His finished work.

7. So did grace abolish the Law?

Grace is God’s undeserved kindness to us in Christ. We are saved through faith in Him, not because we have kept enough rules. Yet God’s grace does not tell us that our actions no longer matter. Paul puts both truths close together: salvation is God’s gift, and those who belong to Christ are called to do good. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

There is a change of covenant. Hebrews calls it a new covenant, and Paul says Christ brought Jews and non-Jews together rather than requiring the old boundary between them. That change does not make God’s earlier words worthless. It means we must read them through what Jesus has done and what His apostles teach. (Hebrews 8:6–13; Ephesians 2:11–16)

So the answer is not a quick “yes, the Law is gone” or “yes, Christians must keep every law exactly as Israel did.” Jesus did not discard the Law and the Prophets. He fulfilled them. We cannot earn salvation by obeying, and we cannot use grace as an excuse to ignore God. We come to Christ for forgiveness, and His Spirit teaches us to live in a way that honors Him. (Romans 8:1–4)

A question to carry into your next Bible reading: When you find a command in the Old Testament, ask, “Who first received this instruction? What was it meant to teach them? And what do Jesus and the apostles say that helps me understand it now?”