{3} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but {g} to fulfil.

(3) Christ did not come to bring any new way of righteousness and salvation into the world, but indeed to fulfil that which was shadowed by the figures of the Law, by delivering men through grace from the curse of the Law: and moreover to teach the true use of obedience which the Law appointed, and to engrave in our hearts the power for obedience.

(g) That the prophecies may be accomplished.

People's New Testament

5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. The preceding verses were so opposed to the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees that some might assert that he was a destroyer of the law. He replies that he has not come to destroy it, but to fulfill. He does not say that he has come to perpetuate it.

To fulfill. To complete its purpose. He was the end of the law. It was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but after faith is come we are no longer under the schoolmaster (Ga 3:24,25).

Wesley's Notes

5:17 Think not - Do not imagine, fear, hope, that I am come - Like your teachers, to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy - The moral law, but to fulfil - To establish, illustrate, and explain its highest meaning, both by my life and doctrine.

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] I Amos not come to destroy

Christ's relation to the law of Moses may be thus summarized:

(1) He was made under the law Gal 4:4.

(2) He lived in perfect obedience to the law Jn 8:46 Mt 17:5 1Pet 2:21-23.

(3) he was a minister of the law to the Jews, clearing it from rabbinical sophistries, enforcing it in all its pitiless severity upon those who professed to obey it (e.g.) Lk 10:25-37 but confirming the promises made to the fathers under the Mosaic Covenant Rom 15:8.

(4) He fulfilled the types of the law by His holy life and sacrificial death Heb 9:11-26.

(5) He bore, vicariously, the curse of the law that the Abrahamic Covenant might avail all who believe Gal 3:13,14.

(6) He brought out by His redemption all who believe from the place of servants under the law into the place of sons Gal 4:1-7.

(7) He mediated by His blood the New Covenant of assurance and grace in which all believers stand Rom 5:2 Heb 8:6-13 Song establishing the "law of Christ" Gal 6:2 with its precepts of higher exaltation made possible by the indwelling Spirit.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mt 5:17-48. Identity of These Principles with Those of the Ancient Economy; in Contrast with the Reigning Traditional Teaching.

Exposition of Principles (Mt 5:17-20).

17. Think not that I am come-that I came.

to destroy the law, or the prophets-that is, "the authority and principles of the Old Testament." (On the phrase, see Mt 7:12; 22:40; Lu 16:16; Ac 13:15). This general way of taking the phrase is much better than understanding "the law" and "the prophets" separately, and inquiring, as many good critics do, in what sense our Lord could be supposed to meditate the subversion of each. To the various classes of His hearers, who might view such supposed abrogation of the law and the prophets with very different feelings, our Lord's announcement would, in effect, be such as this-"Ye who tremble at the word of the Lord, fear not that I am going to sweep the foundation from under your feet: Ye restless and revolutionary spirits, hope not that I am going to head any revolutionary movement: And ye who hypocritically affect great reverence for the law and the prophets, pretend not to find anything in My teaching derogatory to God's living oracles."

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil-Not to subvert, abrogate, or annul, but to establish the law and the prophets-to unfold them, to embody them in living form, and to enshrine them in the reverence, affection, and character of men, am I come.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:17-20 Let none suppose that Christ allows his people to trifle with any commands of God's holy law. No sinner partakes of Christ's justifying righteousness, till he repents of his evil deeds. The mercy revealed in the gospel leads the believer to still deeper self-abhorrence. The law is the Christian's rule of duty, and he delights therein. If a man, pretending to be Christ's disciple, encourages himself in any allowed disobedience to the holy law of God, or teaches others to do the same, whatever his station or reputation among men may be, he can be no true disciple. Christ's righteousness, imputed to us by faith alone, is needed by every one that enters the kingdom of grace or of glory; but the new creation of the heart to holiness, produces a thorough change in a man's temper and conduct.