The priesthood of Melchizedek
Matthew 5 says not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled and until the heavens and earth pass away. Adventists claim, then, that the sabbath law is still in effect.
Matt 5:18 (KJV) – For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
That needs to be interpreted in light of what the Bible says about the law changing and when Jesus came to earth.
Hebrews 7:12 says that the law has changed.
Heb 7:12 (KJV) – For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
2 Corinthians 3:3-11 says that the 10 commandments have been replaced with a greater law, the ministration of the spirit. So, according to Matt 5 and Heb 7 taken together, a) all has been fulfilled, and b) the heavens and earth have passed away, and c) the law has changed.
Heavens and earth have passed away?
Levitical priesthood
We need to understand this in terms of Jewish idiomatic expressions of the time. It didn’t mean an astronomical event. It meant something big, like the end of an age.
Hebrews 9:26 says Jesus came at the end of an age.
Hebrews 8:6-9 says the old covenant was replaced by the new covenant.
That satisfies that condition.
All has been fulfilled?
On the cross, Jesus said “It is finished.” Adventists add onto that “for now” – they believe it continued later, starting in 1844 and leading up to the end of the world. But in Heb 10:12, Jesus sat down, indicating completion.
This means that the two criteria for jots and tittles passing from the law have been fulfilled, biblically.
The law changed. We are under a different law. The covenant changed. We are under a different, better, covenant, and since the 10 commandments were the words of the Old Covenant, we can expect a better law under a better covenant, and 2 Cor 3:3-11 indicates that.
