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“Christ is the end of the law.”

Romans 10:4

Is Christ really the end of the law? Surely God the Holy Spirit does not intend for us to read that statement literally. Surely, he intends for it to be read with some qualification. Surely, we must have some clarification. Otherwise, God’s people will be given a license to sin. Those who reason thus, reason as blaspheming fools! God said exactly what he means for us to understand. — “Christ is the end of the law!”

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.”

Sinners cannot obtain righteousness of any kind, of any merit before God by the works of the law (Galatians 2:21). God requires perfect righteousness (Matthew 5:20; Hebrews 12:14). We have no righteousness of our own, and we have no ability to produce righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). Christ has established righteousness for his people that meets the law’s demands (Philippians 3:8-10). His name is “The Lord Our Righteousness!” The righteousness of the law is found only in Christ.

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

The one issue of vital importance is just this: -- “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” If you believe, Christ is the end of the law to you. If you do not believe, you are yet under the curse of God’s holy law. If you would be saved, you must submit to the righteousness of God. You must trust Christ alone for righteousness. Your sin cannot be put away except by his blood atonement. You cannot be made holy before God except by Christ. If you refuse to submit to the righteousness of God in Christ, you must forever perish under the infinite curse of God’s holy law.

Let us never attempt to serve God by a legal principle (Colossians 2:16-23). We must never allow anyone to bring us back into bondage, no not for a moment (Galatians 5:1-4). We must never trust our own righteousness (Galatians 5:2). Self-righteousness sticks to human flesh like leaches. Shake it off. Flee from it. Cling to Christ alone for all your hope before God. He is “The Lord our Righteousness.”

A Question

I am often asked, “Are Christians free from the moral law as a rule of conduct?” — To that question, as well as all other questions about doctrine, I say, let the Word of God itself give us the answer. Read the Book of God and you will see the answer (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Romans 6:14-15; 7:1-4, 6-7; 8:1-4; 10:4; Galatians 3:10, 19; 4:4-5; 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 10:1-9). Christ abrogated the law by fulfilling it (Matthew 5:17-18). That means we are “dead to the law by the body of Christ.” If Christ fulfilled the law for us, if he abrogated the law, if we are dead to the law, all of which are clearly stated in Holy Scripture, it must be concluded that we are “free from the law,” as the Scriptures also clearly declare us to be.

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s