The End of the Law
Today’s Verse:
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. ~Romans 10:4
Prior to Christ dying on the cross for our sins, every Jew had their sins atoned for according to the law that God gave through Moses. Once a year, the Jewish high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies with the blood of an unblemished lamb and would sprinkle it on the mercy seat. The sprinkling of the blood provided remission for the sins of the entire nation. The law came to an end when the perfect Sacrifice, our Lord Jesus Christ, shed His sinless blood and died for every sinner.
We see the incriminating complaint.
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). The law declares all men sinners and guilty before God. Once a man commits sin, he is guilty of breaking the whole law. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Keeping the law does not remove the complaint of sin against us. We are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. The law makes it very clear that there is none that is righteous: no, not one.
We see the inevitable curse.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10). The curse of the law is God’s wrath against sin. Romans 4:15 tells us that the law worketh wrath. The wrath of God is the penalty of sin. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). At death, there is physical separation from our loved ones. However, there is not only physical separation, but there is eternal separation. This separation from God is being sent to hell as spiritual punishment for dying without our sins forgiven. Every sinner has this curse upon him. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this is the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
We see the incredible cancellation.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” When Jesus died for our sins, the wrath of God for sin was paid in full. No longer was the blood of an animal, bulls, or goats necessary to atone for sin. No longer was a high priest required to enter into the Holy Place for sin. Jesus, our Great High Priest, entered into the holiest of heaven, and through His sinless, shed blood became the propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. The requirement is that every sinner must believe that Jesus is God’s Son, Who died for his sin and rose again from the dead. This is the righteousness which is by faith that saves us. Faith in Christ’s death and resurrection is the only merit that saves us from the curse of the law.
When a sinner accepts Christ as Saviour, he is redeemed from the law and receives adoption into God’s family. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). We are no longer the servants of sin and under bondage, but sons and heirs of God with spiritual liberty. We can stand fast in this liberty, where Christ has made us free. Rejoice this morning that you are no longer under the power of the law, but live in freedom through the power of Christ.
Have an enriched God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 1 Chronicles 22-24