Jeffrey R. Holland
"'Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled. . . . Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all fulfilled. Old things are done away, and all things have become new.' (3 Nephi 12:19, 46-47)
"Following this 'sermon at the temple,' the Savior gave even more commentary on this crucial transition from old covenant to new. Perceiving that some in the congregation 'marveled, and wondered' about Christ's relationship to the law of Moses, 'for they understood not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new' (3 Nephi 15:2), he said, making a distinction between 'the law' and 'the covenant':
'Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses.
Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an end.
Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled.
And because I said unto you that old things have passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come.
For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me.
Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.
Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments. And this is the law and the prophets, for they truly testified of me.' (3 Nephi 15:4-10)
"Clearly the Nephite congregation understood this more readily than did the Jewish world, partly because the Nephite prophets had been so careful to teach the transitional nature of the law. Abinadi had said, 'It is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses' (Mosiah 13:27). In that same spirit Nephi emphasized, 'We speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away' (2 Nephi 25:27)" (Christ And The New Covenant, p. 156 – 157)