Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17).
According to the orthodox church, Christians misinterpret the New Testament and / or use it to change or destroy the Law of Moses, which--according to them--remains in effect as the Matthew 5:17 passage clearly shows. What's more is that according to Christian orthodoxy, we must keep the Ten Commandments in order to be saved. We must observe the rites, rituals and solemn feasts in the Jewish tradition as well. Followers of Jesus of Nazareth do well to be on alert when we hear such statements. They're enough to cause suspicion and doubt. But why? Because the same Bible in which Matthew 5:17 is found also says there have been CHANGES in the Law. Why does the orthodox church omit that truth?
The Law Has CHANGED (Hebrews 7:12)
We read: "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a CHANGE also of the law" (Hebrews 7:12). If we're familiar with the Old Testament, we know God chose only Levite men for the priesthood (Exodo 28:1, Hebrews 7:5). Jesus, on the other hand, is from the tribe of Judah (Hebrews 7:14, Revelation 5:5). Levites were mortal men, so they had to die. Jesus is the High Priest forever, because He was God incarnate on Earth. Jesus the man indeed did die on the cross, but Jesus the Lord had power to raise Himself from the dead, which He did. That is how believers have a High Priest who does not die (Hebrews, chapter 7). Conclusion: The Mosaic Law is NO longer in effect. It has been replaced by the Law of Christ. There's nothing difficult to understand about that.
Throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we see the great difference between the Old and New Testaments (the old and new pacts). For example:
The passage of 2 Corinthians 3:6-9 speaks of true Christians being the ministers of a NEW covenant. We read: "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." This is why they couldn't stone the woman caught in adultery (St. John 8:3-11).
Under the Old Testament, they would have had to execute her. Under the New Testament, she received mercy. So, do we escape punishment for our sins under the New Testament? Absolutely not, which is why Jesus told the adulterous woman to sin NO more (verse 11). That's a detail people tend to "conveniently" leave out when they only want to see the gentle side of God.
We read, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29).
And what about the old and new bottles? We read, "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9:17). Let's stop trying to mix the old with the new.
We understand that the interpretation of Matthew 5:17 that the Orthodox church puts forth can be confusing to some people. And we also understand that orthodox Christians can deceive through this erroneous interpretation. But, if we sincerely seek the truth, we can rest assured that God will give us true peace when we hear the truth of His Word as a whole. If we want to be followers of Christ, let us cease to be followers of Moses. Moses was a great servant of God. There's no doubt about that. But the Law of Moses has been replaced by a superior one...the Law of Christ, who is God.