Kingdom Influence Part 19
At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Influence,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.
Over the last several weeks in our Kingdom Influence series, Jesus has been forming something in us. We have walked through the Beatitudes. We have heard Him say: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. He has been showing us what it looks like to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. And then, right here, He pauses.
Matthew 5:17–18 (NIV)
17 “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. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
There is a quiet but powerful shift that happens in this moment. Jesus has been describing a way of life that feels different. Blessing the poor in spirit. Calling the meek strong. Telling ordinary people, “You are the salt, You are the light.” It is beautiful, but it is also unsettling. It raises a question in the hearts of those listening: What does this mean for everything we have known?
And Jesus meets that question directly. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets… but to fulfill them.” In other words, He is not tearing down the story. He is bringing it to completion. Everything that came before was never random. The Law was not just a list of rules. The sacrificial system was not just ritual. The commandments were not simply moral expectations. Together, they formed a picture. A pattern. A longing. They revealed both the holiness of God and the deep need within humanity for restoration.
And the Prophets carried that forward. They reminded the people when they wandered. They called them back to covenant faithfulness. But they also pointed ahead, again and again, to a coming day when God Himself would act. When hearts would be changed, not just behavior. When righteousness would move from external obedience to internal transformation.
To “fulfill” does not mean to cancel. It means to fill full. To bring it to its intended purpose. To embody what the Law was always reaching toward but could never fully produce on its own. Where the Law revealed righteousness, Jesus embodies it. Where the Law exposed sin, Jesus carries it. Where the Law required sacrifice, Jesus becomes it. Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will disappear until everything is accomplished. That means God’s Word is not fragile. It is faithful. It is moving somewhere. And in Jesus, it arrives.
This is deeply important for us. Because it means following Jesus is not about leaving Scripture behind. It is about seeing it clearly for the first time. It is about reading the whole story through Him. And it also means our lives are not shaped by rule-keeping alone, but by a relationship with the One who fulfills what the rules could only point toward.
This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.
