Think not that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5: 17,18)
According to this Scripture, there are only two ways in which any point of the law can pass away: the heavens and the earth must pass away, or the law be fulfilled. It is obvious that heaven and earth yet exist. It is also obvious that neither you nor I are able to fulfill the law. What then? It seems as though there is no hope. We cannot cause the law to pass away, and so long as it is in force, all are condemned under it curse. Here is where the gospel comes in, for Christ said that His work was not to destroy the Law and the prophets, (this would have been unjust and contrary to His own nature) but, to fulfill the law. The Law is a just and binding contract between God and men. It cannot be simply set aside. So Christ came and fulfilled all this contract's demands in behalf of a chosen people. For them, the law has "passed." "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8:1) for the righteousness of the law (that is, the righteous demands of the law) are fulfilled in them by the work of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:3,4) The law demands righteousness in order to gain God's blessing and eternal death to pay for sin. Christ lived righteously for His people and died their just death in their place. To tell a true believer that he is yet under the law is to declare the life and death of Christ are insufficient to meet the Law's demands. But – glorious truth – the demands of the law have been met in Christ, and all who are in Him are free from its condemnation and jurisdiction!