24.007 | Christ is the end of the law | Romans 10:1-4 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

Text: Romans 10:1-4 (ESV)

 

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

 

CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW

 

Paul turns his attention to the Christians in Rome to whom he is writing this letter. He tells them that his heart's desire and prayer is that the Jewish people may be saved. Some Jews have come to faith in Christ Paul’s preaching, and from the other apostles. Yet the nation as a whole has rejected the Messiah, including the Jewish religious leadership. Sadly, this is still the case in the current times. They even tried to silence, even kill, Paul for preaching Christ.

 

They were sincere. In fact, they were very zealous but for the wrong reasons. Paul was like them before he knew Christ. [Phil 3:4-7] He was even a persecutor to Christians. Paul calls them ignorant of the righteousness of God. What did he mean?

 

Firstly, he may mean that they do not understand that God requires absolutely perfect righteousness in order for anyone to be received by Him on their own merits. No human being is able to achieve that level of righteousness (Rom 3:23). Or, they lack understanding that God offers His righteousness for free to all who come to Him through faith in Christ. In either case, they were missing the key to being accepted by God and saved from His wrath.

 

This ignorance caused them to try to set up their own standard of what it means to be righteous in God's eyes. Paul describes this as a prideful attempt to decide for what God should be satisfied with. Instead, they should submit to His declaration or revelation of what it means to be righteous before Him.

 

This revelation is Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. By His sacrifice at the cross, He kept it perfectly and fulfilled its righteous requirements once and for all. This righteousness is available to everyone who believes in Him. [2 Cor 5:21] Christ’s perfect sacrifice means to end man's dependence on rituals and animal sacrifices as explained in Hebrews 8.

 

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