Not abolishing, but fulfilling

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
Many Christians today don’t bother reading the Old Testament, especially books like Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which, they say, are full of laws that applied to Israel but not to us. They say Jesus has done away with the Old Testament law. But Jesus says completely the opposite – He did not come to abolish the Old Testament (‘the Law and the Prophets’), but to fulfil it. “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen [jot or tittle – the smallest parts of the Hebrew letters], will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18).
So the Old Testament still stands today. It is the standard that God requires of us. But here’s the thing: Jesus kept it perfectly, and He imputes that standard to us, if we believe on Him. What that means is that when God looks at us, He sees us as if we had kept the Law perfectly, just as Jesus did.
If Jesus had abolished the Law, He would have said, “You know, all that stuff about adultery and that, they don’t apply any more. I’ve come to show you a new way.” But He didn’t. Instead, He took those laws and amplified them: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28). It’s relatively easy to refrain from committing adultery; it’s very difficult to stop a lustful thought from forming.
Jesus also fulfilled everything that the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to (He is our sin offering, 2 Cor. 5:21). He also fulfilled everything that the Old Testament feasts pointed to (being the Passover lamb, 1 Cor. 5:7, the firstfruits of the resurrection, 1 Cor. 15:10, the atoning sacrifice for our sin, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10).
So the Old Testament law still stands, but now we live by a higher law: the law of love, the law of the Spirit.