Christians and the Old Testament laws
Do not suppose that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or slightest stroke of the pen will pass away from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore, whoever sets aside one of the smallest of these commandments and teaches others to disregard them will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness goes far beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17–20
God gave his ancient people the “Law and the Prophets” (another name for the Old Testament) to help them identify the Messiah and prepare for his coming. In the fullness of time, the Messiah came to accomplish what the Scriptures predicted. This did not abolish the authority of the Scriptures, but the role of the first testament changed when the One it pointed to arrived. Since Jesus’s coming, every Old Testament commandment must be filtered through what we might call a “fulfillment-in-Christ” grid. We do that by identifying the eternal principle behind the commandment and applying it to our circumstances.