Sixth in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 5:18 – For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.

When will “all things” be accomplished — and what are “all things?”

The context of this passage tells us that Jesus is speaking of all things pertaining to the law, which is meant to show us God’s perfect standards, our inability to meet them, and the necessity of throwing ourselves at the mercy of the God who is able to forgive our sins and restore us to a right relationship with Him. Sin requires the penalty of death, which Jesus bore in our place. As the apostle Paul writes, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13).

The Apologetics Study Bible puts it well:  “Jesus fulfilled the law both by His obedience to it and by His sacrificial death, through which He satisfied the law’s demands for those who trust Him.”