This speech of the holy Apostle Peter made a deep impression on the assembly. They ceased to argue and listened in deep silence to the story of Paul and Barnabas about the miracles that God had performed during their preaching among the Gentiles. The holy Apostle James stood up and resolved the dispute with these simple words: "I do not think to make it difficult for those who turn to God from among the Gentiles, but to write to them, that they should abstain from things defiled by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled, and from blood, and that they should not do to others what they would not do unto themselves" (Acts 15:19-20).

The whole council accepted this wise decision and sent Paul and Barnabas, and Silas with them, to return to Antioch to announce this decision to the Christians there and to calm their doubts about the obligation of circumcision, the obligation to fulfill the law of Moses.

This was a great event, but those who diligently read and know the Gospel can recall the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as if contradicting this decree of the Apostolic Council: "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the law, until all things are fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17-18).

It is as if the Lord fully and wholly affirms the commandments of the Old Testament. He says that he did not come to break the law, but to fulfill it. You should know that in the Slavic language the word "fulfill" has two meanings: the first is what is in the Russian language, and the second is "to complete". Of course, the words of Christ are true, that He came to fulfill the whole law; are certainly true, for He has fully fulfilled this law.

He was accused by the scribes and Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath law, and you know how forcefully He denied this accusation. He called Himself Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8, Mk. 2:28, Lk. 6:5) and explained what they did not understand: the deep spiritual meaning of the commandment about the Sabbath; He explained that the law forbids on the Sabbath day to engage in worldly affairs, all kinds of work, but does not and cannot forbid doing works of mercy.

He pointed out that the scribes themselves were lawbreakers when they pulled out a sheep that had fallen into a pit or well on the Sabbath; that their priests transgressed the law when they circumcised an eight-day-old child on the Sabbath. He made clear to them what they did not understand, and He Himself followed the law of Moses completely, for He said of Himself, "Which of you shall convict Me of unrighteousness?" (John 8:46.)

He was sinless, as the apostles also testify. He was the only one of the Jews who fully fulfilled all the commandments of Moses, for those who themselves defended this law did not fulfill it at all; they only considered the law inviolable, and they themselves violated it. Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all the law and committed no sin. For the law of Moses was given so that, according to the word of God, men should be holy, even as their Father in heaven is holy (Lev. 11:44-45, 1 Pet. 1:15-16).

The purpose of all the commandments is precisely to make people holy and sinless. But Christ not only fulfilled the law. He supplemented it, He brought a new law, immeasurably higher than the ancient Mosaic Law.

He added to it His own law, immeasurably higher than the ancient one. The ancient law said: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18). And He said that not only the one who truly commits adultery commits adultery, but also the one who lustfully looks at a woman (Matt. 5:28).

The ancient law says: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17). And He said that if we are angry with our brother, it is tantamount to murder (Matt. 5:22). The Lord gave new commandments – the 9 Beatitudes, which, like heaven from earth, are higher than the ancient commandments of the law of Moses; for the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Sinai forbid only manifest or gross sins, while the commandments of Christ, the Beatitudes, raise to the summit of spiritual perfection. They demand immeasurably more than the commandments of the law of Moses, while at the same time keeping these ancient commandments unbroken.

You may ask: how does Christ say that "not one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the law, until all things are fulfilled" (Matt. 5:18)?

You may ask, do they still sacrifice animals like the ancient Jews? No, they do not. A long time ago, they stopped making these bloody sacrifices.

The law of Moses was very severe, it prescribed the execution — stoning — of every blasphemer of the law, blasphemer of the name of God; every impudent son who insulted his mother or father; he ordered to stone or burn all adulterers and adulterers. He commanded that the daughter of a priest who had committed adultery should be burned alive. The law prescribed severe punishment for those who beat or mutilated their brothers. Those who inflicted injury were ordered to inflict the same injury as he inflicted on his neighbor, "Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Lev. 24:20).

Do the Jews now stone adulterers and adulterers? Do they knock out teeth for a knocked out tooth? For a long time the Jews themselves have not done this, for a long time they have not observed a number of provisions of the law of Moses. Does this mean that they are breaking the law? No, it does not, because although they do not fulfill the ceremonial decrees, the spirit of the law remains in full and inviolable force to this day.