October 10, 2004

THE END OF THE LAW

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4, NKJV).

This self-revealing title of the self-existing One is the grand objective of all creation. Christ is "the end of the law" (Romans 10:4, NKJV). What does Paul mean by this title? In what respect is Christ the end of the law?

The Greek word translated, "end," is telos. Its original meaning is "the fulfillment of," "the ultimate goal or aim of," "to bring to perfection." Christ is the "end" of the law in the sense that He is the ultimate fulfillment of it. He is the supreme goal or aim of the law. God's law as a whole cannot be divorced from Jesus Christ because He is the perfection of the law. The entire law-principle finds its fulfillment in the life and character of Jesus Christ (see Galatians 3:24). The message of the gospel is that Christ is the end of the law as a way of salvation to all who believe. All law points to Christ as the ultimate perfection. He is the one and only source of salvation. Since the fall of man, God has revealed only one way of salvation--faith in Jesus Christ (see Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 11:4; Romans 4).

The whole system of laws as written by Moses has one ultimate goal--Jesus Christ. He is the goal of all goals; apart from Him law has no object (see Romans 10:17). Jesus Christ is the supreme objective, the ultimate purpose, of the law. He is not the termination of the law but its grand perfection. Jesus Himself settled it when He said, "I did not come to destroy [the law] but to fulfill [perfect]" it (Matthew 5:17, NKJV). The grand purpose of the law is the revelation of the Christ of the law.

As the "end" of the law, Christ has fulfilled the messianic prophecy that He would "magnify the law and make it honorable" (Isaiah 42:21, NKJV). Those who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, will, like their Redeemer, experience true completeness since "love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10, NKJV). The following quotation is relevant: "Christ is the end of [the] law for righteousness to everyone who believeth. In ourselves we are sinners; but in Christ we are righteous. Having made us righteous through the imputed righteousness of Christ, God pronounces us just, and treats us as just. He looks upon us as His dear children."--Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 394.

My Prayer Today: Lord, as the giver and perfection of the law, make me perfect in Your righteousness. Amen.