Everything the Lord Jesus Said and Did During His Earthly Ministry Was Under the Law

Why This Biblical Truth Matters Today

 

One of the most deeply ingrained assumptions in modern Christianity is this:

 

“The moment you open Matthew chapter 1, you are reading Christianity.”

 

That assumption is not biblical—and misunderstanding it is one of the main reasons confusion exists today about law, grace, Israel, the Church, and the gospel itself.

 

The Bible does not move from Malachi to Matthew by abandoning the Law.
It moves forward by fulfilling it—and that distinction matters.

 

The Biblical Foundation: Christ Came Under the Law

 

Paul makes this unmistakably clear:

 

“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.”
(Romans 15:8)

 

This verse alone settles the issue.

 

Jesus Christ did not come as the minister of the Church.
He did not come proclaiming the mystery.
He did not come preaching justification by faith apart from the Law.

 

He came as “a minister of the circumcision”—that is, to Israel—and He came to confirm the promises made to the fathers.

 

Those promises were:

 

• Abrahamic 
• Mosaic 
• Davidic 
• Kingdom-centered 
• Law-based 

 

Matthew 5:17 — Fulfillment, Not Cancellation

 

The Lord Himself addressed this directly:

 

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
(Matthew 5:17)

 

Fulfill does not mean abolish.
Fulfill does not mean set aside.
Fulfill means bring to their intended completion.

 

At no point during His earthly ministry did Jesus:

 

• tell Israel to stop keeping the Law 
• tell Jews to abandon temple worship 
• tell His followers they were no longer under Moses 

 

In fact, the opposite is true.

 

Matthew 15:24 — The Scope of His Earthly Mission

 

Jesus was explicit about who He was sent to during His earthly ministry:

 

“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
(Matthew 15:24)

 

This was not incidental.
This was not cultural.
This was covenantal.

 

The Creator of the universe—God the Son—commanded His twelve apostles:

 

“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles… but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
(Matthew 10:5–6)

 

Not suggested.
Not optional.
Commanded.

 

There is:

 

• no gospel to Gentiles in the Gospels 
• no commission to Gentiles 
• no message of Jew–Gentile equality 
• no body of Christ 
• no justification apart from the Law 

All of that comes later.

 

Matthew 19:16–22 — The Rich Young Ruler and the Law

 

This encounter alone dismantles the idea that Jesus preached grace apart from law during His earthly ministry.

 

A man asks Jesus:

 

“What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
(Matthew 19:16)

 

Jesus does not say:

 

• “Believe in My death and resurrection” 
• “You are not under the Law” 
• “Salvation is by grace alone” 

Instead, He answers:

 

“If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
(Matthew 19:17)

 

Why?

 

Because that was the program in effect at that time.

 

Jesus was dealing with Israel under the Law, offering the promised Kingdom, in fulfillment of covenant promises.

 

Luke Chapter 1 — The Forgotten Context

 

Luke chapter 1 is devastating to the idea that Christianity begins in the Gospels.

 

When the angel appears to Mary, what message does he bring?

 

“You will conceive… and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”

 

That is not Church language.
That is Kingdom language.

 

“He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
(Luke 1:32–33)

 

This is not the gospel of grace.
This is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises to Israel.

 

Zacharias the Priest — Law Still in Full Operation

 

Luke records that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was:

 

• an active priest 
• ministering in the temple 
• offering sacrifices 
• functioning entirely within the Mosaic system 

 

When he is filled with the Holy Spirit, what does he prophesy?

 

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people.”
(Luke 1:68)

 

Not Gentiles.
Not the Church.
Israel.

 

The temple is still operating.
The sacrifices are still offered.
The Law is still binding.
And Jesus does not rebuke any of it.

 

Nor should we retroactively.

 

Progressive Revelation — Why This Changes Everything

 

God does not reveal everything at once.

 

The Bible is progressive revelation.

 

• The prophets did not know the mystery. 
• The twelve apostles did not preach the mystery. 
• Israel did not know the Church was coming. 
• Jew–Gentile equality was hidden in God. 

 

It is not until 10–11 years later, through the apostle Paul, that God reveals something entirely new:

 

“You are not under law but under grace.”
(Romans 6:14)

 

That statement would have been false in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
It would have contradicted everything Jesus Himself taught under the Law.

But in Paul’s epistles, it becomes foundational truth.

 

Why This Matters Today

 

This distinction matters because when we blur it:

 

• we mix law and grace 
• we confuse Israel and the Church 
• we misapply Jesus’ earthly instructions 
• we burden believers with commands never given to them 

 

Jesus was faithful to Israel.
Paul was faithful to the Body of Christ.

 

Different messages.
Different audiences.
Different administrations.
One unified plan of God.

 

Final Clarity

 

Everything Jesus said and did during His earthly ministry was:

 

• to Israel 
• under the Law 
• in fulfillment of covenant promises 

 

Grace did not begin at Bethlehem.
Grace, as we know it, was revealed later—through Paul.

 

And when we honor that distinction, the Bible does not fracture.

 

It finally makes sense.