For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who is believing.
Truth to Learn
Christ completely fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law. We achieve His righteousness by faith in His blood.
Behind the Words
The word translated “end” is the Greek word telos, which means, “the point aimed at as a limit, that is, (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state.” This word telos can also mean “the design or object of something.”
“Everyone” is the translation of the word panti, which means “all, the whole, or everyone.”
Meaning Explained
Paul has just told us that in spite of their zeal for God, the Israelites were ignorant of God’s righteousness and, as a result, tried to establish their own righteousness. The Law and the Prophets prescribed what was required for anyone to satisfy God’s righteousness. In fact, it is much more than just the Ten Commandments. Anyone who has read through the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy quickly becomes aware of all the ceremonial practices that the Jews were required to perform. Included in these was the annual sacrifice of the Pascal Lamb whose blood covered over the sins of the people.
If you compare these practices to what Jesus Christ went through, you will see that He perfectly fulfilled what the Law required of the Pascal Lamb. In fact, the practices prescribed in the Old Testament were an image, a foreshadowing, of what the real Sacrificial Lamb would do for the people. Jesus completely fulfilled the requirements of the Law. Not only did He live without sin but He offered His blood as the payment for all of our sins. Recorded in the book of Matthew we find what Christ Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount;
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)
In the current verse Paul says that Christ is the end of the law, that is, the conclusion or fulfillment. Christ said of Himself that He came to fulfill the Law. Paul now tells us that He did just that. He completed it.
As we pointed out in Behind the Words, telos also means “the design or object of something.” Christ also fulfilled this meaning of the word because He is what the Law had in view as the object when it was first given. So we see that not only was the death of Christ foreseen and foreshadowed by the Law, but His death was the full satisfaction of it in every way.
Application
Paul tells us that the righteousness of God is a reality only for those who believe in the sacrificial death of Jesus as the Lamb of God. He says that this righteousness is applied to everyone who believes God’s promises. No one who believes in Christ will be left out. However, for those who don’t believe in Christ, righteousness cannot be achieved no matter how hard they try and no matter how zealous and sincere they are. They can’t achieve it by works and they are still responsible for their own sins. They will stand before God condemned instead of forgiven!
How will you stand before God?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved
