NOTES for Heb 7:18-19
Speaking of the "abolition of the former commandment," which, however, according to the meaning of the corresponding Greek word would more accurately be called a "renunciation," the author of the letter says that this happens because of its "weakness," exactly as the Greek text says. Judging by the context, the issue here is not that the commandment is bad as such, or that it is insufficient for solving the task set by God, but that it is not a perfect instrument for achieving the appointed goal: the Torah that functioned in pre-Christian times, as is evident, could not solve the task of the complete sanctification and transformation of a person. That is precisely why something greater was needed, something that could enter the world only with Christ. But this greater thing did not mechanically supplement the former Torah, nor did it mean its growth, similar to what one can speak of, for example, in the case of adding another story to a house, when the addition does not require changing or rebuilding the original structure. For the greater thing was nothing other than the Kingdom brought into the world by the Savior. It certainly includes all the fullness of sanctification available to a human being, compared with which every earlier sanctification was only partial and relative. But this fullness does not consist of parts; bringing sanctification to fullness means the complete transformation of human nature, a new quality and a new state of the human being, not a continuation of former purifying and sanctifying rituals. And this new quality, surpassing everything that had been given to humanity before, makes the former things spiritually no longer current. For in the Kingdom only fullness is possible, life in abundance, and nothing less.