...the Old Covenant is over. New Covenant values and imperatives stand in sharp contrast to the values and imperatives of the Old Covenant. It was the New Covenant values and imperatives that influenced Western Civilization. Jesus ended the Old Covenant once and for all.
''Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law'' according to Jesus.
(according to Jesus) is the remainder of the verse that you referred to. Jesus came to fulfill the law, and He did fulfill the law. To me, when Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law, He was saying God’s conditional, temporary covenant with Israel was coming to an end...the intended-from-the-beginning end. It was completed, it was concluded, it was over.
“It is finished.” Jesus’ famous last words from the cross. Jesus wasn’t finished...as His disheartened followers would soon discover. But the Law was. In His final moments, He was announcing that the covenant He came to fulfill was at last fulfilled. A New Covenant, a better covenant, a broader covenant was being established...through the shedding of His blood...between God and all who would choose to participate.
Hastings, you and I disagree on this fine theological point. And that’s OK. People disagree on politics, people disagree on the economy, people disagree on just about everything. But those disagreements in no wise diminish the subject being discussed.
