Title: Jesus Is the End of the Law
Romans 77
Jesus the end of the law
Romans 10:1-4
Introduction: The apostle Paul considered himself an apostle to the Gentiles. He said, “As I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I honor my ministry” (Romans 11:13). Nevertheless, he was very interested in the salvation of the people of Israel and continued to pray to God for Israel. Israel was Paul's blood and brother. They were all people with God's covenant, and had Abraham as an ancestor, and Jesus was one of them. Still, Paul could not be at ease with the fact that Israel was rejected by God and that the Gentiles, on the other hand, were rather saved. He was hoping that Israel would wake up from their place of unbelief as soon as possible and return to God, but Paul, who knew the mystery of God through revelation, could not help but feel very sad. In today's verse, Paul clarifies the reason why Israel had to be abandoned by God and explains the new relationship between the law and Christ, revealing the truth of God's salvation.
1. Why Israel Fallen from Salvation
Paul gives clear reasons for Israel's fall from salvation. It was nothing else, but they said, “Because they did not know the righteousness of God, and tried to establish their own, they did not submit to the righteousness of God.”
(1) It was said that Israel had a zeal for God. The Jews were too zealous for God. In fact, it was out of zeal for God that he crucified the Son of God. It can be seen from the words of the high priest who questioned the Lord when Jesus testified that he was the Christ in his final interrogation. When Paul was imprisoned by the Jews in Jerusalem, the commander of the heavens gave his excuses, saying, “I am a Jew, under the gates of Cilicia, under the strict teaching of the law of our ancestors, and today, like all of you, I am zealous for God.” He said (Acts 22:3). In the case of Paul, only because he had already been called as an apostle to the Gentiles by God's providence, his prayer for salvation and God's mercy toward Israel had to be more earnest.
(2) But they said that this zeal was not according to knowledge. God is the God of knowledge. Of course, the knowledge of God is completely different from human knowledge. The knowledge of God is the knowledge of the Creator, the spiritual knowledge, the knowledge of love, and the knowledge of salvation. But the knowledge of men is the knowledge of the flesh, the knowledge of the earth, the lusts and covetousness and the knowledge of the sight. God has ordained a certain knowledge of man's service to God. When a person serves God according to the knowledge that God has appointed, his service becomes proper service.
(3) Israel mistakenly believed that the law God gave was the way to serve God and served God. This is very wrong knowledge, and this knowledge was not God's knowledge. Their zeal was a zeal that was derived from the law, and they served God with zeal to obtain righteousness through this law. However, the law is to prove that humans are sinners before God, to show that there are no righteous people in this world, to make it clear that human beings are subject to curses, far from obtaining righteousness through the law, and to teach us how to obtain the righteousness of God other than the law. There was a purpose. It is God's right knowledge that “all those who are of the works of the law are under a curse” and “no one will be saved by the works of the law” (Galatians 3:10, Romans 3:20). However, they forsook this knowledge of God, changed the law into human knowledge, and followed the law to earnestly serve God to gain righteousness.
(4) In this way, Israel did not know the righteousness of God and tried to establish their own, and did not submit to the righteousness of God. Their great weakness was in the fact that they did not know the righteousness of God. There is, of course, the righteousness of God in the law. The law is God's standard of righteousness. However, there is a problem with the fact that this law was not given to human beings to give God's righteousness. God's righteousness in the law is so high that our strength is beyond our reach. By that law, no one attained the righteousness of God. Nevertheless, Israel struggled to obtain righteousness from the law. This is not God's will. And not even the knowledge of God. God only made his own Son fulfill this righteousness, and God's righteousness will be given to those who believe in him (Galatians 2:16).
2. Jesus the end of the law
In verse 4, the Apostle Paul said, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” These words of Paul are an argument that clearly clarifies the relationship between the law and the gospel. In these short words, Paul gives a clear answer to the question of how the righteousness of Christ can give us the righteousness of the law.
(1) The end of the law does not mean that the law was abolished. This means that Jesus is the end of the law. The law always exists. Because God's judgment is based on this law. The law imprisoned everyone in sin. And the law will judge those people. But because Jesus is the end of the law, those who are in Christ are not subject to the law. Jesus not only fulfilled the law, but also suffered all the curses and judgments required by that law on the cross. Therefore, the law no longer required of Jesus. In other words, it was the end of the law.
(2) He said that these things are for the fulfillment of righteousness for all who believe. God made the righteousness of God that cannot be achieved in the law to be accomplished in Christ. This is God's grace. God made this righteousness small from the beginning, and provided for the salvation of sinners through this righteousness. This plan of God was not established after the law, nor was it newly conceived in the New Testament era, and was established before the ages (Ephesians 1:3-5).
The curse that Christ received through the law was not for his own sins, but for us as a sin offering for us (Galatians 3:13). God's gift is this. As God fulfilled the law through His Son and also the atonement for our sins, He is fully equipped to possess the righteousness of God. Regarding this, he said, “I prepared the supper, slaughtered my cattle and fattened animals, and had everything ready” (Matthew 22:1-4). Our job is to believe in Jesus, who has accomplished this. God promised to give this gift by grace through faith in his Son. Again, this is what I am saying. “Because we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified not by works of the law but by faith in Christ.” (Galatians 2:16).
Conclusion: Without the right knowledge of God, man cannot attain salvation in any way. And in order to receive God's grace and blessings through a right life of faith, we must follow God's knowledge. A believer who draws near to the Word of God and strives to have the knowledge of God becomes the overcomer.