8.99 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes

The first verse that we will study is Romans 10:4. It declares that, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

First of all, this verse tells us that there are two paths that people take to attain to righteousness. The first is by keeping the law perfectly under the Old Covenant. The second is through faith in Christ in the New Covenant. Let us read the preceding verses to understand the context. Israel tried to establish righteousness under the law, and they rejected Christ their Messiah.

(Romans 10:2-4)
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

We know that no one attained to righteousness under the Old Covenant, because of the root of sin. The only way is to receive righteousness as a gift from Jesus, through His blood that washes us. So the verse tells us that when we believe in Christ, we are no longer under the system of law.

Secondly, we need to understand that the law referred to in the verse is the whole system of law under the Old Covenant. Sometimes people try to dissect the law by saying that the Moral & Ceremonial laws have ended. They then say that the Moral laws remain. We believe in morality but we have to be clear we are not under the system of the Moral law.

The Moral law says that if you break it, you will come under condemnation, curses and death. Christ delivered us from the judgment of the Moral law. Then He established true holiness and morality by coming to live in us.

Let us prove that when Paul talks about the law in Romans, He is in fact referring to the Moral law. When he gets into the detail of the law, he quotes the Ten Commandments (the Moral law)

(Romans 7:7-8)
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.

We have to read the Bible in its context. It is important because we have to get through this first hurdle before we can live fully by depending on Christ. We have to let go of the Tutor completely before we can hold Jesus’ hand, and to walk with Him by faith.