Hence it follows that the law of God was not annulled or abrogated by him. He
adds, that instead of coming to destroy, he came to fulfill. If this was the object of
the Saviour's mission, did he not by this act do away the law, set
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is aside, and relieve us from obligation to keep its precepts? Let us see. As
Campbell renders the text, it reads, "I am not come to subvert, but to ratify." That
is, I am not come to abolish the law, but to confirm, and render still more sacred,
its just demands. If that was the object of our Lord's mission, it follows that he did
not lessen our obligation to obey the law of his Father.
But let us return to the word "fulfill." Christ came to fulfill the law, hence he did
fulfill it. What is it to fulfill a law? Let the apostle James answer: "If ye fulfill the
royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye
do well; but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of
the law as transgressors." James2:8,9. It is evident that James here places the
transgression of the law in contrast with, or in opposition to, the fulfillment of the
law; therefore it follows that the fulfillment of the law is the reverse of its violation.
In other words, it is its observance. To fulfill the law in the manner that James
enjoins, is to render complete obedience to its divine requirements.
But it may be contended that to fulfill the law in the sense of our Lord's
declaration, accomplishes its purpose, and takes it out of the way. To show the
absurdity of this view, let us take another of Christ's sayings which is of the same
character, precisely. When John refused to baptize the Saviour, Jesus
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said, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."
Matt.3:15. Did the Saviour, by fulfilling all righteousness, weaken, take out of the
way, or destroy all righteousness? Certainly not. No one will claim that he
lessened our obligation to fulfill all righteousness also.
But how did Christ fulfill the law of his Father? There is but one way in which
this could be accomplished, and that is to answer its just demands. What were
those demands? We answer: first, the law of God demands perfect obedience.
The justice of this, none will deny. But when the law has been violated, it
demands the death of the transgressor. Sin is the transgression of the law."
1John3:4. "The wages of sin is death." Rom.6:23. "The soul that sinneth it shall
die. Eze.18:4. When Christ came to fulfill the law, he came to do this, not for
himself, but in behalf of our race. He came to fulfill the law as the Messiah: an
office or character which no other being ever possessed. He came to undertake
for fallen men, and in a certain sense placed himself in their situation. What then
was the relation which our race sustained to the law of God? We answer: all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. The law of God stopped every
mouth, and showed all men sinners in the sight of God. Rom.3.
Then, when the Saviour took upon himself our nature, and came to fulfill the
law of his Father, that
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law not only demanded perfect obedience; but it also justly demanded the death
of our race; for all were its transgressors. The work of the Saviour, therefore, in
fulfilling the law of his Father, was of a twofold character. He must first render
perfect obedience to all its precepts, and then offer up his own life as a ransom
for guilty man. To fulfill the law as the Messiah, Christ must perform all this. Did
he thus do? He kept his Father's commandments. John15:10. In him there was
no transgression of the law. 1John3:4,5. He was the Lamb of God without spot,
[1Pet.1:19.] in whom the Father was well pleased. Matt.3:17. And this was not all;
he took upon himself the sin of the world. Isa.3:6; John1:29. He bore our sin in
his own body upon the tree. 1Pet.2:24. He died the just for the unjust, giving his
own life a ransom for many. 1Pet.3:18; Matt.20:28. God can now be just, and yet