"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes". Romans 10v4.
This is one of the most important statements in the bible concerning salvation. CHRIST, the Messiah, the anointed of God: the Jews in the main rejected Him, crucified Him, yet He is the only Saviour of mankind. He is stated here to be "the end of the law." The word used is telos and means extreme end, the termination, the limit, the goal to which the law was pointing. Used 40+ times in the New Testament, it is important to grasp its meaning. If we take the illustration of archery, where an arrow is fired at a target, the goal is to hit the bulls eye; and there its purpose is fulfilled. The law, introduced by God to the nation of Israel some thirteen hundred years before, had a purpose, had a goal, and that goal was to prove that the world needed Christ, for no man could keep the law of God, no-one could aspire to the demands of the Almighty. The law was brought in as a measure by which to prove that man was incapable (Romans 5v21) and to bring the world to the point where it needed a saviour, and that saviour is Christ. The same word "end" is used in John 13v1 where it says "when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." In each reference to this word in the New Testament it is referring to the ultimate end. Consider an announcement made on a moving train ...... "the next station is ....... and the train terminates here." This is the idea which is here. The law had a purpose, and it fulfilled its purpose, and it is now terminated. It has come to an end; it has reached the limit of its usefulness.
The amplified version of the bible is very helpful here "For Christ is the end of the law... the limit at which it ceases to be, for the law leads up to Him who is the fulfillment of all its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled..... that is, the purpose of the law is fulfilled in Him.....as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in Him and adheres to Him and who relies on Him."
Nothing could be clearer than this. Paul said a similar thing in Galatians 3v24-25 r.v. "wherefore the law became our pedagogue (schoolmaster, tutor) to bring us to Christ; that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under a pedagogue."
The law was given to Israel for a very specific purpose: it served that purpose. (a) It proved humankind to be incapable of meeting God's standard. (b) It pinpointed the need of Christ as Saviour. The Jews misunderstood the function of the law. Do we? The Mosaic law ended with the death of Christ (Ephesians 3v15; Colossians 2v14; etc.etc.). At the death of Christ the garments of the high priest were rent signaling the end of the priesthood. Again the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom by divine action, signaling the end of the temple sacrifices. The law has done its work and is now terminated in all its facets as a means of approach to God. Many today, including some in the area of reformed theology have confused this issue. Some make the Mosaic law a rule of life for Christians , if not a means of righteousness. The law is neither a means of righteousness, nor is it a rule of life. That is the whole point of the Galatian epistle and a large part of the Roman epistle. Christ, and Christ alone is both the means of righteousness and the rule of life and this applies to everyone who believes without exception.
Thus the law is no longer, it has been replaced by Christ. He is the way of salvation, He is the rule of life and it is the same for all of us. Nothing could be plainer, nothing could be simpler. God's righteousness (His way of making us right with Himself) is in Christ and in Him alone. The law could not save me, as to my eternal destiny; neither can it enable me to live the Christian life here in this world.
CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES.
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