Romans 10:4

Christ is the end of the law. In the Greek the word for “end,” telos, is in the position of emphasis. This passage has been variously interpreted to mean that Christ is the termination of the law as such, Christ is the goal, or aim, of the law (cf. Gal. 3:24), Christ is the fulfillment of the law (cf. Matt. 5:17), or Christ is the termination of the law as a means of salvation (cf. Rom. 6:14). The first interpretation is that of the antinomians and is a perversion of Scripture (see on ch. 3:31). The last three interpretations all set forth propositions that are true, but the third of these seems best to fit the context of this verse. Paul is contrasting God’s way of righteousness by faith with man’s attempt at righteousness by law. The message of the gospel is that Christ is the end of law as a way of righteousness to everyone who has faith. It is perhaps significant that the definite article “the” is omitted with “law” (see on ch. 2:12), indicating that Paul is referring to the principle of law in general rather than to any law in particular. Moreover, the drift of the whole argument shows that Paul is speaking of law in a general sense.

This verse does not imply that righteousness actually could be obtained by law in OT times and that with the coming of Christ faith has been substituted for law as the way of righteousness. Since the fall of Adam, God has revealed only one way by which men may be saved — by faith in the coming Messiah (Gen. 3:15; 4:3-5; Heb. 11:4; cf. Rom. 4). Nor may the passage be taken to mean that Christ is the termination of law as such and that hence men are no longer under obligation to obey God’s law. It is law as a method of obtaining righteousness that has been brought to an end by Christ. God’s purpose in proclaiming His laws to Israel was to reveal to them their sinfulness (Rom. 3:20) and their need of a Saviour (Gal. 3:24). But the Jews had perverted God’s purpose and had used the laws, both moral and ceremonial, as the means of establishing their own righteousness by their own attempts at legalistic obedience. Christ came to bring this mistaken abuse of law to an end and to point the way back to faith. Such faith does not abolish law but rather establishes it (see on Rom. 3:31) and makes it possible for men to fulfill its requirements (see on ch. 8:4).