Question:
You say in your article that "Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-20 that he fulfilled all the requirements of the Law, so that we are free of the need for that Law".  So….. you are telling me that  I can commit adultery, murder, steal, covet, lie, have many other Gods, worship images take the name of God in vain, and have no need to keep seventh day sabbath as a memorial of Gods creation, for you say Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law. Is that correct?

Answer:

I have absolutely no idea where you get the idea from what I said that a Christian can commit adultery, murder steal, lie and so forth.  All you need to do is read Matthew 5-7 and you will see for yourself that Jesus had a much higher standard of righteousness for his followers that did those who followed the Law of Moses.  He said that it is not only sinful to commit adultery, it is sinful to even hold lust in our mind (Matthew 5:27-30).  He said that it is not only sinful to take the life of another person, it is sinful to hate or even to demean another person (Matthew 5:21-22).  Jesus expects the righteousness of his followers to be much greater than that of the Pharisees, who were sticklers for righteousness!!! (Matthew 5:20). 

So, when Jesus said that he fulfilled the Law of Moses, it meant that we no longer are required to follow all the rules in Leviticus, such as Sabbath-keeping, ceremonial washings, sacrifice of animals and so forth.  We are not under the Law of Moses because Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law.  However, we are under Christ and he had fantastically high standards of conduct–higher than that imposed under the Law of Moses.  There are plenty of passages in the New Testament and from the mouth of Jesus which tells us that we must not commit adultery, murder, steal, covet, lie or worship other gods.  The difference for us is that we are not under Law but under grace.  Forgiveness comes, not from law-keeping but from the power of the blood of Jesus.  I suggest you read the books of Galatians and Colossians so that you can get a feeling for the place of the Law of Moses for Christians.  We are not saved by law-keeping.

John Oakes

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