Almost from the beginning of his public ministry, people were asking Jesus – in so many words – "What's your relationship to the law of God?" That question continues today, and is often wrongly answered. Jesus did not come to abolish or abrogate the law and the prophets (meaning all of God's Word given in the Old Testament Scriptures), but to establish and confirm it.

We can never be made right with God through our efforts to keep all of his commandments. Only Christ's work on our behalf and the benefits we receive through faith in him saves us from our sin. But Christ did not teach a lessening or depreciating of God's Word in the Old Testament. Rather, by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can delight in God's commandments and walk in Christ's footsteps, being holy as our heavenly Father is holy.