Jesus was the end of the law

JESUS WAS THE END OF THE LAW
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“ForChrist is the end of the law for righteousnessto
every one that believes.”Romans 10:4.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The End Of The Law
Romans 10:4
S.R. Aldridge The desire for righteousness has embodied itself in diverse and some of them
grotesque forms. Gather together the Pharisee with his phylacteries and ablutions; the Chinaman
burning his bits of paper for ancestral worship; the Hindoo bathing in the sacred river, or
prostrating himself under the idol-car; the Roman Catholic telling his beads and performing his
penance; and the moral youth, who never omits his daily portion of Scripture, or his morning and
evening prayers, and would scorn to tell an untruth; and one would scarce imagine that the same
motive actuates all these. Yet they all bear witness to man's anxiety to be righteous in the sight of
the Supreme Being, and those are abnormally Constituted who are never conscious of this
yearning. It was not this strong desire for righteousness which the apostle tried to alter in the
Jews, but the antiquated imperfect method to which they still clung after the one sure way of
justification through faith in Christ had been proclaimed.
I. CHRIST THE TERMINATION OF THE LEGAL ECONOMY. The rending of the veil at the
Crucifixion indicated the passing away of the old dispensation, with all its gorgeous rites and
external splendour. There arose another order of priesthood, from which the exclusiveness of the
former caste was absent. Jesus the High Priest came not of the tribe of Levi. It is no longer
necessary to become a Jew in order to reap the privileges of access to God. Christ has released
men from the yoke of the Law, with its fasts and feasts, its observance of days and seasons. He
has changed our state from pupilage to manhood; from slavery to a "reasonable service."
Wherever a Christian is found, there is a spiritual priest and a living temple; wherever Christians
meet, there is a holy convocation. The tabernacle disappeared when the temple was erected, and
the earthly temple is no longer needed when the glorious building rises, reared without hands.
The Jews who would not receive this teaching had to be convinced, by the capture of Jerusalem

and the burning of their "beautiful house," that "the old order changed, giving place to new." The
forerunner of Christ was the last of the Old Testament prophets.
II. CHRIST THE DESIGN AND SCOPE OF THE LEVITICAL DISPENSATION. We cannot
understand the Law unless we regard it as pointing unmistakably to the coming Messiah,
preparing his way; a preliminary education of mankind and of one nation in particular; like a
stock on which a new rose is to be grafted. The sacrifices, the moral and ceremonial precepts,
were predictive, were prophecy acted in symbol and type. The chrysalis displays tokens of the
winged perfect insect. "The Law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ." So that when men
inquire, "To what purpose was all this cost of legislation and ritual?" the reply is that it paved the
way for something better; it was the "shadow of good things to come."
III. CHRIST THE REALIZATION OF THE MOSAIC IDEAL. The holiness which the Law
ever kept in view, endeavouring to raise men to its standard of righteousness, has been
exemplified in Jesus Christ. Wherein the Law was weak, Christ was strong. His condemnation of
sin was thorough and effective, and the perfection of his sacrifice renders any subsequent
atonement needless. To enter into the spirit of his offering is to "purge the conscience from dead
works" and to give rest and peace to the troubled - the region in which the Law was inoperative.
The message of Divine love sounding from the cross has a constraining influence over the
affections and life of the Christian, which the Law aimed at and failed to achieve. New
Testament saints have frequently attained to an enlightenment of mind and conformity to the
Divine will which was sighed after in vain by patriarch, psalmist, and prophet. Christ bring his
followers into communion with God, and by faith in him are they sanctified. Love is proved a
stronger principle than terror, knowledge than ignorance, example than precept. In abrogating,
Christ fulfils the Law.
CONCLUSION. See, then, what faith does. It looks at Christ instead of a Law of ordinances. It is
no longer tied by enactments and fearful of non-compliance, for it beholds the face of Jesus, "the
Lamb as it had been slain." We may trust Christ as our Redeemer and Guide, without
understanding or acknowledging all these points of superiority over the former covenant; as a
woman knows she will be benefited by a certain medicine, though she could not name its
ingredients, nor state the method of its working; or as a man may journey on the railway who
comprehends little of the application of steam to locomotives, etc. And faith is content to submit
to God's righteousness, instead of seeking to establish its own. It relies not upon personal desert,
but upon the provisions of mercy furnished in Christ. It is humble, and tries not to patch together
a human garment to hide deformities and deficiencies. Accepting the gracious offer of God, faith
discovers new elements of strength and joy in the very position assumed. - S.R.A.
Biblical Illustrator

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4
Christ the end of the law
J. Lyth, D.D.I. IN WHAT SENSE?
1. As its great antitype.
2. Its only sacrifice.
3. The source of its moral power.
II. FOR WHAT END? To secure —
1. Pardon of sin.
2. Holiness of life.
III. UNTO WHOM?
1. Every one.
2. That believeth.
(J. Lyth, D.D.)
Christ the end of the law for righteousness
J. S. Exell, M.A.I. THE END OF ALL LAW IS RIGHTEOUSNESS — the production of the
most perfect results.
1. In the natural world the use of the law is to perpetuate results essential to its well-being, e.g.,
the circulation of the atmosphere, ebb and flow of tide, alteration of seasons, motions and
influence of planets, etc.
2. The great aim of law in the moral world is to regulate conduct so as to produce a righteous
character. The aim of the law of Moses was to lead to a higher life (Romans 7:10).(1) The ethical
element in the Mosaic law discovered to man the havoc made by sin (Romans 7:7, 11, 13).(2)
The ceremonial element shadowed forth the remedy. The sacrifices and festivals were intended
to show the necessity for the expiation of sin, by the atonement of Christ.
II. IN CHRIST WE HAVE THE GRAND END OF BOTH THE ETHICAL AND
CEREMONIAL LAW — righteousness and holiness. Law depends for its authority upon the
personal character of the lawgiver. The character of Christ was like His law — holy, just, and
good.
1. From Christ proceeds the moral law by which sin is discovered to us. His character is a
constant reproof to us. His words bring home the consciousness of violated law.
2. In Christ is the only remedy for sin. The arrangements of the ceremonial law terminated in
Him — the shadow retired when the substance appeared. In His life and death He fulfilled the
duties and endured the penalties of the law, thus vindicating the righteousness of God and
providing a complete righteousness for sinful man.
III. FAITH IN CHRIST IS ACCEPTED AS A PERFECT OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW. Law is
powerless punitively when the end for which it exists is attained. We disarm the law by obeying
it. All our unaided efforts to obey law — while in a state of lawless unnature — are futile. It is
like running alongside a parallel pathway into which we are vainly trying to turn ourselves.

Faith, and faith only, is the means of junction. This puts us into the position in which law would
place us. The end of all law being the production of the most perfect results, this very end is
answered when we believe in Jesus. For Christ, and all He has, becomes our own. "He is made
unto us, of God, wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption." "The law and
the gospel are evidenced in man's moral nature. The law the ideal of its life, the gospel the life of
its ideal." LESSONS:
1. It is hopeless to attempt to attain righteousness by law, because of our moral inability to obey
all its requirements.
2. Faith in Christ is the only and universal way of obedience.
(J. S. Exell, M.A.)
R. Shittler.I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THESE WORDS.
1. That the law of God has been universally broken (Romans 3:10-12).
2. That, therefore, every man is under the curse of that law (Galatians 3:13; Romans 2:8-11).
3. That, in order to be saved, this curse must be removed and sins remitted.
4. That no man of himself can remove this curse or obtain this remission of his sins.
5. That notwithstanding God cannot recede from His claims, nor abate one jot or tittle of what
His holy law demands, either in penalty or precept.
6. That every person who would obtain salvation must look out for such a righteousness as shall
be answerable to all the claims of the law, be perfectly satisfactory to God, and therefore
available for his justification and peace.
II. IN WHAT WAY IS "CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO
EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH"? Consider —
1. The general purport of Christ's coming (Psalm 40:6-10; Hebrews 10:1-14; Isaiah 42:6, 7, 21;
Daniel 9:24; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Jeremiah 33:15, 16; Isaiah 53:6, cf. 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians
5:21).
2. The special character of His mediation. We must consider it as substitutional. We must behold
Him rendering unto God, for those whom He represented, a perfect obedience to the law which
they have broken, and suffering to its full and utmost extent the curse which they have incurred.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness — not by abrogating its authority, or lowering its
requisitions, to meet the exigencies of our lapsed condition — but rather by asserting its full
obligation and satisfying all its equitable claims. This is the great glory of the gospel — that God
can be just — in exacting every claim of the law and in punishing every sin of those whom He
saves to its full desert — and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.
III. TO WHOM IS THIS PROVISION AVAILABLE, OR WHO ARE BENEFITED
THEREBY. "Every one that believeth," and no more. But we must ascertain —
1. The testimony given in Scripture to this truth. We are again and again told that faith alone is
the means appointed by God for granting the efficacy of this provision to the souls of men.
2. Why we can be benefited in this way of faith, and in no other? It is enough to say that God
hath declared it. But we need not let the subject rest here. Man is utterly lost, helpless, and

undone. Nothing that we can do can avail for our salvation. Our help and hope are based upon
One, who only is mighty to save. It is therefore evident that the only way in which we can be
benefited by what another has done for our salvation, must be by believing in Him for the
execution of such an interposition, and for the advantage of the blessing procured thereby.
3. What is the nature of that faith by which we become interested in this righteousness. It is the
act of a soul made willing in the day of God's power, under a clear discovery of its lost condition,
and a clear perception of the mediation of Jesus, by which it is brought to rely on that mediation,
and to plead that righteousness with God for its pardon and peace (chap. Romans 10:10;
Hebrews 11:1).
4. To what extent is this truth to be carried in the justification of the sinner before God? To the
full extent for which it is designed for that purpose. It takes in the sinner's whole case — sins,
guilt, condemnation, and deserved wrath. It brings him a full and complete deliverance and
justification from all. Nay, more, it invests him with the perfect righteousness of Christ, as a
perfect fulfilment of the law by which he stands accepted with God.
IV. WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGES ARISING THEREFROM.
Hereby —
1. The law is established in all its authority, obligations, and claims.
2. God is honoured and exalted in the possession and exercise of all His perfections.
3. A sure and certain way of life and salvation, of pardon and peace, is opened for guilty men.
4. A sure provision is made for a loving, devoted, and delightful obedience to the will of God.
5. There is afforded to the soul a sure rock for its present safety and a firm foundation for its
future security, even for ever.
6. The Church of God is provided with an unerring test by which to try every doctrine proposed
for her acceptance, and an indomitable weapon by which to conquer every antichristian foe.
(R. Shittler.)
Elnathan Parr, B.D.I. THE PROPOSITION. "Christ is the end of the law." The end of a thing is
either mathematical or moral. The mathematical end is the utmost part of a thing, in which the
length or continuance is determined; as a point is the end of a line, death the end of life, the day
of judgment the end of this world. The moral end of a thing is the scope and perfection of it.
Now Christ is the end of the law both ways.
1. The mathematical end of the ceremonial and moral. Of the ceremonial by a direct
signification, of the moral by an accidental direction. The ceremonies signified Christ and ended
at Him. Properly, the moral law leads sinners to the curse, but by account to Christ, as the disease
leads to the medicine or physician.
2. He is also the moral end of both. For He is the body of those ceremonies and shadows, and He
perfectly fulfilled the Decalogue for us, and that three ways.
(1)In His pure conception.
(2)In His godly life.

(3)In His holy and obedient sufferings, and all for us.For whatsoever the law required that we
should be, do, or suffer, He hath performed in our behalf. Therefore one wittily saith that Christ
is Telos, the end, or tribute, and we, by His payment, Ateleis, tribute-free, we are discharged by
Him before God. Christ is both these ends, but principally the last is here understood.
II. THE AMPLIFICATION "for righteousness." When thou art come to Christ thou must not cast
away the law, but use it still to make thee more to cling unto Christ and as a rule of righteous
living. Christ is the end of the law, not the killing, but fulfilling end; not to end, but to urge thy
obedience. When the merchant is come aboard his ship by boat, he drowns not his boat, but
hoists it up into his ship; he may have use of it another time. Or as a nobleman neglects not his
schoolmaster when he is come to his lands, but prefers him. So certainly, if the law (though
sharp) hath brought thee to Christ, thou canst not but love it for this office; if thou doest not, thou
hast not Christ. Yea, it will be the delight of a man to be then doing, when Christ is with him, as
Peter then willingly and with success cast out his net. Without Christ the law is an uncomfortable
study; but with Him, nothing more delightful.
(Elnathan Parr, B.D.)
C. H. Spurgeon.Consider —
I. CHRIST IN CONNECTION WITH THE LAW. The law is that which we have cause to dread;
for the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. "Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." Yet, like the
fascination which attracts the gnat to the candle, men by nature fly to the law for salvation. Now,
what has our Lord to do with the law?
1. He is its purpose and object. The law is our schoolmaster, or rather our attendant to conduct us
to the school of Jesus; the great net in which the fish are enclosed that they may be drawn out of
the element of sin; the stormy wind which drives souls into the harbour of refuge; the sheriff's
officer to shut men up in prison for their sin, concluding them all under condemnation in order
that they may look to the free grace of God alone for deliverance. It empties that grace may fill,
wounds that mercy may heal. Had man never fallen, the law would have been most helpful to
show him the way in which he should walk: and by keeping it he would have lived (ver. 5). But
since man has fallen, a way of salvation by works has become impossible. The law is meant to
lead the sinner to faith in Christ, by showing the impossibility of any other way. It is the dog to
fetch the sheep to the shepherd, the burning heat which drives the traveller to the shadow of the
great rock in a weary land. The law is adapted to this; for —(1) It shows man his sin. Who can
lay his own character side by side with it without seeing how far he has fallen short of the
standard? When the law comes home to the soul it is like light in a dark room revealing the dust
and the dirt which else had been unperceived. It is the test which detects the presence of the
poison of sin in the soul. A true balance discovers short weight, and such is the first effect of the
law upon the conscience of man.(2) It shows the result and mischief of sin. The types were
intended to lead men to Christ by making them. see their unclean condition and their need of
such cleansing as only He can give. Men put apart because of disease or uncleanness were made
to see how sin separated them from God; and when they were brought back and purified with
mystic rites, they were made to see how they can only be restored by Christ, the great High
Priest. "Without shedding of blood is no remission."(3) It teaches men their utter helplessness.
Such holiness as the law demands no man can reach of himself. "Thy commandment is

exceeding broad." "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one." "How can he be
clean that is born of a woman?" In grace there is hope, but as a matter of debt there is none, for
we do not merit anything but wrath. The law tells us this, and the sooner we know it to be so the
better, for the sooner we shall fly to Christ.(4) It shows us our great need. The law is the
surgeon's knife which cuts out the proud flesh that the wound may heal. The law by itself only
sweeps and raises the dust, but the gospel sprinkles clean water upon the dust. The law kills, the
gospel makes alive; the law strips, and then Jesus Christ robes the soul in beauty.
2. Christ is the law's fulfilment.(1) God by immutable necessity demands righteousness of His
creatures, and the law is not compelled to lower its terms, as though it had originally asked too
much; but Christ gives the law all it requires. The law claims complete obedience, and Christ has
brought in such a righteousness as that, and gives it to His people. Only as righteous ones can we
be saved, but Christ makes us righteous, and therefore we are saved.(2) Jesus has thus fulfilled
the original demands of the law, but since we have broken it there are other demands. God "will
by no means clear the guilty," but every transgression shall have its just punishment. Here, then,
Christ is the end of the law as to penalty. The claims of the law both as broken and unbroken
Christ has met: both the positive and the penal demands are satisfied in Him.(3) Not only has the
penalty been paid, but Christ has put great honour upon the law in so doing. If the whole race
had kept the law it would not stand in so splendid a position as it does now that the Son of God
has paid obeisance to it. Who shall say a word against the law to which the Lawgiver Himself
submits?(4) The law's stability also has been secured by Christ. That alone can remain which is
proved to be just, and Jesus has proved the law to be so, magnifying it and making it honourable.
He says, "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." As to the settlement of the eternal principles of
right and wrong, Christ's life and death have achieved this for ever. "We establish the law, we do
not make void the law through faith."
3. Christ is the end of the law in that He is the termination of it in two senses.(1) His people are
not under it as a covenant of life. "We are not under the law, but under grace."(2) We are no
longer under its curse. Jesus has given us all the righteousness it demands, and the law is bound
to bless. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."
II. OURSELVES IN CONNECTION WITH CHRIST — for "to every one that believeth." To
believe is not merely to accept a set of doctrines but to trust, to confide, to rest in. Dost thou
believe that Christ stood in the sinner's stead and suffered the just for the unjust, and that He is
able to save to the uttermost? And dost thou therefore lay the whole weight of thy soul's
salvation upon Him alone? Then Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to thee, and thou
art righteous. It is of no use to bring forward anything else if you are not believing, for nothing
will avail — sacraments, prayers, etc. Observe —
1. There is no question raised about the previous character, for it is written, "Christ is the end of
the law. for righteousness to every one that believeth." But, Lord, this man before he believed
was a persecutor and injurious. Yes, and that is the very man who wrote these words. So if I
address one who is defiled with every sin, yet I say if thou believest thine iniquities are blotted
out, for the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
2. There is nothing said by way of qualification as to the strength of the faith. He is the end of the
law for righteousness to every one that believeth, whether he is Little Faith or Greatheart. The
link may be very like a film, a spider's line of trembling faith, but, if it runs all the way from the
heart to Christ, Divine grace can and will flow along the most slender thread. It is marvellous
how fine the wire may be that will carry the electric flash. If thy faith be of the mustard-seed

kind, if it be only such as tremblingly touches the garments hem, if it be but the faith of sinking
Peter, or weeping Mary, yet Christ will be the end of the law for righteousness to thee as well as
to the chief of the apostles.
3. If this be so then all of us who believe are righteous. We are not completely sanctified, but
still, in the sight of God, we are righteous, and being justified by faith we have peace with Him.
4. The connection of our text assures us that being righteous we are saved (ver. 9).Conclusion:
1. If any one thinks he can save himself, and that his own righteousness will suffice before God,
I would ask, if your righteousness sufficeth, why did Christ come here to work one out?
2. For any to reject the righteousness of Christ must be to perish everlastingly, because it cannot
be that God will accept you or your pretended righteousness when you have refused the real and
Divine righteousness which He sets before you in His Son.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the end of the law for righteousnessI. WHAT THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS, SPOKEN
OF IN THE TEXT. Evidently that which is necessary in order to eternal life, and which infallibly
leads to it (Romans 5:17, 21). It is termed "The righteousness of God" (ver. 3; chap. Romans
1:17), and said to be by faith (Romans 3:21, 22; Philippians 3:9). It implies —
1. Justification (Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7); without which, as guilty condemned sinners, we can
have no title to eternal life.
2. Regeneration or sanctification (see Philippians 3:9); spoken of Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 3:5,
6; John 3:5, 6; without which we are not in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), and have
no fitness for heaven.
3. Practical obedience (Ephesians 2:10); the grand evidence that we are righteous (Luke 1:6; 1
John 3:7). As to the necessity of this, see Romans 2:6, 7; Revelation 22:14; and especially
Matthew 7:20, 21.
II. WHERE AND HOW THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS TO BE FOUND.
1. Not in, or by, the law.(1) The moral law (Romans 8:3) which requires perfect obedience. This
we have not paid, do not, and cannot in future, pay. Hence it finds us guilty, and has no pardon to
give us; it finds us depraved, and has no new nature for us; it finds us helpless, and has no
supernatural aid to impart.(2) The ceremonial law. Its sacrifices could not remove sin (Hebrews
9:23; Hebrews 10:4). Its purifications could only impart a ceremonial cleanness, or remove "the
filth of the flesh" (Hebrews 9:13; 1 Peter 3:21). Its institutions respecting meats, days, etc. As
they did not make the tree good, of course the fruit could not be good (Matthew 12:16-19).
2. But wherefore, then, serveth the law? In Christ was the end for which the law was instituted;
the moral law being chiefly to convince men of sin (Romans 3:19, 20; Romans 7:7, 8), and thus
to be a "schoolmaster to bring them to Christ" (Galatians 3:19-24), and the ceremonial law to
shadow forth His sacrifice and grace. The end may mean —(1) The scope; the law continually
points to Christ; the moral law directs the sinner to Him who fulfilled and removed the curse of
it, for that justification which itself cannot give; and the ceremonial law directs him to look from
its sacrifices and purifications to the atonement and Spirit of Christ.(2) The perfection, or
completion (1 Timothy 1:5). Christ fulfilled the moral law in fully explaining its meaning, and
freeing it from the glosses of the Scribes; in obeying it, in suffering its penalty, and in providing
that it may be written in our hearts; He also answered in His person all the types and shadows of

the ceremonial law.(3) The period or termination (Romans 6:21). Thus the whole Mosaic
dispensation gives way to the gospel (2 Corinthians 3:11), and its ceremonies are taken out of the
way by Christ (Colossians 2:14).
3. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness."(1) For justification, or righteousness imputed,
is only to be found in His obedience unto death (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians
5:21).(2) Regeneration, a new creation, and entire sanctification are only to be found in Christ,
by His Spirit and grace, who is made of God to us sanctification (John 1:14, 16; 2 Corinthians
5:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30).(3) Practical righteousness is likewise to be had in Him, His laws direct
us how to walk; His promises and threatenings enforce His laws; His example allures us; and His
grace enables us to walk in His ways (2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 4:14-16).
III. BY WHOM THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS TO BE FOUND. By "every one that believeth"
(vers. 5-10).
1. Its object is that God hath raised Christ from the dead. This —(1) Demonstrated Him to be the
Son of God (Romans 1:3, 4), and, therefore, the only Saviour able and willing to save to the
uttermost. Of this faith is persuaded, and, therefore, trusts in Him for salvation.(2) Was the broad
seal of heaven set to His doctrine, of which faith is so thoroughly persuaded as to lay it to heart
and walk according to it.(3) Was to show that His atonement was sufficient and accepted; of this
faith is also persuaded and, therefore, relies solely on the propitiation in His blood for
justification (Romans 3:23, etc.; Galatians 2:16-20).(4) Was that He might ascend, and intercede,
and receive for us " the promise of the Father," for which faith thirsts and comes to Him (John
7:37, 38).(5) He rose and ascended as our Forerunner. This faith believes, and, consequently,
anticipates immortality and glory. He rose to give evidence that He will judge all mankind (Acts
17:31). Faith is persuaded of this, and prepares to meet Him.
2. Our faith, in these respects, must be such as will enable us to "make confession with our
mouth," therefore it must be "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (ver. 10). As to
the faith that does not part with sin, and give up everything that stands in competition with
Christ, it is dead (James 2:20-26).
3. As to the origin of this faith (see vers 11-17). It arises from the Word and Spirit of God (Acts
16:14; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Colossians 2:12). Therefore, hearing, reading, and prayer, are the
important means. And in the exercise of that measure of faith we have received, however small,
it will be increased.
(Joseph Benson.)
C. Hodge, D.D.I. THE IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW IS A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH. This
rests on its nature and the immutability of God. The evidence is found in nature and conscience.
1. This the Jews believed, and it lay at the foundation of their error, which was twofold.
(1)That the law was to be fulfilled by their own righteousness.
(2)That the form in which the law was immutable was Mosaism.
2. This error led —
(1)To the effort to establish their own righteousness.
(2)To their making righteousness consist in ceremonial obedience.

3. Paul taught —
(1)That the law is immutable.
(2)That it cannot be satisfied by our righteousness, but only by the righteousness of God.
(3)That Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
(4)Consequently the immutability of the law is consistent with its abrogation, because its
abrogation is effected by its fulfilment.The law is immutable so far as it demands righteousness
as an indispensable condition of justification. But it is abrogated so far as it says, "Do this and
live," i.e., so far as it requires our own righteousness.
II. IN WHAT SENSE IS CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW.
1. Not in the sense of its completion. Telos never occurs in the sense of pleroma.
2. But in the sense of having made an end of it, abolished it. This He has done —
(1)In so satisfying its demands that it ceases to require our own personal righteousness as a
condition of justification.
(2)In putting an end to the Mosaic institutions, so that obedience to that law is no longer
necessary to salvation.
3. In the sense of being its aim or object. This means either —
(1)That the end of the law is righteousness. Christ is the end of the law because He is our
righteousness; its design is secured in Him. So that it is by faith, not works, that the end of the
law is to be attained.
(2)Or, Christ is the object aimed at in the law. It was designed to bring us to Christ.
III. CONSEQUENCES.
1. Out of Christ we are exposed —
(1)To the inexorable demands of the law.
(2)To its awful curse.
(3)To its slavish spirit.
2. In Him we are righteous.
(1)We meet all the demands of the law by pleading what He has done.
(2)We are free from its curse as He was made a curse for us.
(3)We are delivered from the spirit of bondage again to fear and are filled with the Spirit of
adoption.Conclusion: As a result of faith in Christ our righteousness we have —
1. Peace with God, and peace of conscience.
2. Assurance of eternal life, as no one can condemn those whom God justifies.
3. A principle of obedience, for until we are reconciled there can be no holiness.
4. All the benefits of Christ's triumph. Having obeyed and suffered for us as our representative,
we share in all the blessings promised as His reward.
(C. Hodge, D.D.)

C. H. Spurgeon.Christ was revealed to abrogate, to annihilate, utterly to abolish sin. Now, we all
know what it is to have a thing abrogated. Certain laws have held good up to the first of January
of this year with regard to the hiring of public carriages, but now are under a new law. Suppose a
driver complies with the new law, gets his license, puts up his flag, gives the passenger his card
of prices, and afterwards the passenger summons him before the magistrate for asking a fare not
authorised by the old law; the magistrate would say, "You are out of court, there is no such law.
You cannot bring the man here, he has not broken the old law, for he is not under it. He has
complied with the requisition of the new law, by which he declares himself no longer under the
old rules, and I have no power over him." So he that believeth in Christ Jesus may be summoned
by conscience when misinformed before the bar of God, but the answer of peace to his
conscience is, "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." "Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The relation of the law to the gospel
T. Chalmers, D.D.(text and 1 Timothy 1:5): — The law of God may be viewed in a twofold
aspect, to distinguish between which is to prove a safeguard against both the errors of legality
and the errors of antinomianism. We must regard the law —
I. IN RELATION TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH CONSTITUTES THE TITLE TO ITS
REWARDS.
1. When we strive to make this out by our own obedience, the aim is to possess ourselves of a
legal right to heaven. We proceed on the imagination of a contract between God and man —
whereof the counterpart terms are a fulfilment of the law's requisitions upon the one side, and a
bestowment of the law's rewards upon the other. The one is the purchase-money — the other is
the payment. They stand related to each other, as work does to wages. Now this spirit of legality,
as it is called, is nearly the universal spirit of humanity. They are not the Israelites only who go
about to establish a righteousness of their own. There is, in fact, a legal disposition in the heart,
and, long after the utter shortness of human virtue has been demonstrated, yet will man, as if by
the bias of a constitutional necessity, recur to the old legal imagination, of this virtue being a
thing of desert, and of heaven being the reward which is due to it.
2. Now, for man to establish a right by his righteousness, is in the face of all jurisprudence. Both
the law and the gospel alike disown man's legal right to the rewards of eternity; and if he be too
proud to disown it himself, he remains both a victim of condemnation by the one, and a helpless,
hopeless outcast from the mercy of the other. If man will persist in seeking to make out a title-
deed to heaven by his own obedience, then that obedience must be perfect. Even if he have but
committed one sin — there is the barrier of a moral necessity in his way, which it is impossible
to force. The God who cannot lie, cannot recall His curse upon every one who continueth not in
all the words of the book of His law to do them. And one of two things must happen. Either, with
a just conception of the standard of the law, he will sink into despair; or, with a low conception
of that standard, he, though but grovelling among the mere decencies of civil life or the barren
formalities of religious service, will aspire no farther and yet count himself safe.
3. Now herein lies the grand peculiarity of the gospel. It pronounces on the utter insignificance of
all that man can do for the establishment of his right to the kingdom of heaven; and yet, he must
be somehow or other provided with such a right, ere that he can find admittance there. It is not
by an act of mercy alone that the gate of heaven is opened to the sinner. He must be furnished

with a plea which he can state at the bar of justice — not the plea of his own deservings, which
the gospel holds no terms with; and therefore with a plea founded exclusively on the deservings
of another. Now what we reckon to be the very essence of the gospel is the report which it brings
to a sinful world of a solid and satisfying plea; and that every sinner is welcome to the use of it.
In defect of his own righteousness, which he is required to disown, he is told of an everlasting
righteousness which another has brought in; and which he is invited, nay commanded, to make
mention of. It is thus that Christ becomes the end of the law for righteousness.
II. AS HOLDING OUT A METHOD BY WHICH WE MIGHT ACQUIRE A RIGHTNESS OF
CHARACTER IN THE CULTIVATION AND THE EXERCISE OF ITS BIDDEN VIRTUES.
The legal right which obedience confers is one thing. The personal rightness which obedience
confers is another. Obedience for a legal right is everywhere denounced in the New Testament,
but obedience for a personal rightness is everywhere urged. For the one end, the law has
altogether lost its efficacy; and we, in our own utter inability to substantiate its claims, must seek
to be justified only by the righteousness of Christ. For the other end, the law retains its office as a
perfect guide and exemplar of all virtue; and; we, empowered by strength from on high to follow
its dictates, must seek to be sanctified by the transference of its bidden uprightness upon our own
characters. It is no longer the purchase-money by which to buy your right of entry to the
marriage supper of the Lamb; but it is the wedding garment, without which you will never be
seated among the beatitudes of that festival. To be meet in law, and without violence done to the
jurisprudence of heaven, we must be invested by faith with the righteousness of Christ. To be
meet in character, and without offence or violence to the spirit or the taste of heaven's society,
we must be invested with the graces of our own personal righteousness.
(T. Chalmers, D.D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) The end of the law.—“End,” in the proper sense of
termination or conclusion. Christ is that which brings the functions of the Law to an end by
superseding it. “The Law pursues a man until he takes refuge in Christ; then it says, Thou hast
found thine asylum; I shall trouble thee no more, now thou art wise; now thou art safe.”
(Bengel.)
For righteousness to every one that believeth.—So that every one who believes may obtain
righteousness.
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/romans/10-4.htm"Romans 10:4. For — That they have not
submitted themselves to God’s way of becoming righteous is evident in this, that they reject
Christ, by whom alone righteousness can be obtained; Christ is the end of the law — The scope
and aim of it; for righteousness — Observe, 1st, The righteousness here spoken of is evidently
that which is necessary in order to eternal life, and leads to it, (see Romans 5:21,) termed the
righteousness of God by faith, Php 3:9; implying not only justification, Romans 3:24, Titus 3:7,
without which we, guilty, condemned sinners, can have no title to eternal life, it being the only

means of cancelling our guilt, and freeing us from condemnation; but also sanctification, spoken
of Ephesians 4:17-24, Titus 2:5-6, without which we are not in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and
have no fitness for heaven; and practical obedience consequent thereon, Ephesians 2:10, the
grand evidence that we are righteous, Luke 1:6, 1 John 3:7. 2d, This righteousness, in these three
branches of it, is not attainable by the law, moral or ceremonial; not by the former, because it
finds us guilty of violating its spiritual and holy precepts, and has no pardon to give us; it finds
us depraved, weak, and helpless, and has neither a new nature nor supernatural aid to impart. But
may we not have the help we want from the ceremonial law? Cannot the sacrifices of it remove
our guilt? No. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats, &c., to take away sin, Hebrews
10:4, &c. Cannot the various washings or purifications of it renew and cleanse our souls? No:
they can only remove the filth of the flesh, Hebrews 9:13; 1 Peter 3:21. Cannot the various
institutions respecting meats and drinks, and the observance of days, &c., assist us to attain
practical righteousness or obedience? No: as they do not make the tree good, of course the fruit
cannot be good; as they do not purify the fountain, the streams issuing thence cannot be pure,
Matthew 7:16-19. But, 3d. This righteousness may be found by us in Christ; the end, or the final
cause, for which the law was instituted; the moral law being chiefly intended to convince men of
sin, namely, of their guilt, depravity, and weakness, and thus to be a schoolmaster to bring them
to Christ; Galatians 3:19-24; and the ceremonial, to shadow forth and exhibit his sacrifice and
grace. Accordingly the law points to Christ, and directs the sinner to have recourse to him for all
the different branches of righteousness above mentioned, which cannot be obtained by it, but
may be had in and by Christ; namely, justification, through his obedience unto death, whereby he
hath removed the curse of the moral law, being made a curse for us; and regeneration, or a new
creation, with the practical righteousness proceeding therefrom, through his grace and Spirit; the
information and direction, in the way of duty, afforded by his doctrine and example, and the
motives to obedience furnished by his precepts, promises, and threatenings, co-operating as
means to produce the same blessed effects. But, 4th, To whom is Christ thus the end of the law
for righteousness? To every one — Whether Jew or Gentile; (see Romans 10:11-15;) that
believeth — Namely, with the faith described Romans 10:5, &c. So that the very end and design
of the law was to bring men to believe in Christ, whom it exhibited and pointed out, for
justification, renovation, and universal holiness.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary10:1-4 The Jews built on a false foundation, and refused
to come to Christ for free salvation by faith, and numbers in every age do the same in various
ways. The strictness of the law showed men their need of salvation by grace, through faith. And
the ceremonies shadowed forth Christ as fulfilling the righteousness, and bearing the curse of the
law. So that even under the law, all who were justified before God, obtained that blessing by
faith, whereby they were made partakers of the perfect righteousness of the promised Redeemer.
The law is not destroyed, nor the intention of the Lawgiver disappointed; but full satisfaction
being made by the death of Christ for our breach of the law, the end is gained. That is, Christ has
fulfilled the whole law, therefore whoever believeth in him, is counted just before God, as much
as though he had fulfilled the whole law himself. Sinners never could go on in vain fancies of
their own righteousness, if they knew the justice of God as a Governor, or his righteousness as a
Saviour.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleFor Christ - This expression implies faith in Christ. This is the design
of the discussion, to show that justification cannot be obtained by our own righteousness, but by
faith in Christ. As no direct benefit results to people from Christ unless they believe on him, faith
in him is implied where the word occurs in this connection.

Is the end of the law - The word translated "end" means what completes a thing, or renders it
perfect; also the boundary, issue, or termination of anything, as the end of life, the result of a
prophecy, etc.; John 13:1; Luke 22:37. It also means the design or object which is had in view;
the principal purpose for which it was undertaken; 1 Timothy 1:5," The end of the
commandment is charity;" the main design or purpose of the command is to produce love; 1
Peter 1:9, "The end of your faith, the salvation of your souls;" the main design or purpose of faith
is to secure salvation; Romans 14:9, "To this end Christ both died," etc. For this design or
purpose. This is doubtless its meaning here. "The main design or object which the perfect
obedience of the Law would accomplish, is accomplished by faith in Christ." That is, perfect
obedience to the Law would accomplish justification before God, secure his favor and eternal
life. The same end is now accomplished by faith in Christ. The great design of both is the same;
and the same great end is finally gained. This was the subject of discussion between the apostle
and the Jews; and this is all that is necessary to understand in the case. Some have supposed that
the word "end" refers to the ceremonial law; that Christ fulfilled it, and brought it to an end.
Others, that he perfectly fulfilled the moral law. And others, that the Law in the end leads us to
Christ, or that its design is to point us to him. All this is true, but not the truth taught in this
passage. That is simple and plain, that by faith in Christ the same end is accomplished in regard
to our justification, that would be by perfect obedience to the moral law.
For righteousness - Unto justification with God.
To every ... - See the note at Romans 1:17.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary4. For Christ is the end—the object or aim.
of the law for—justifying
righteousness to every one that believeth—that is, contains within Himself all that the law
demands for the justification of such as embrace Him, whether Jew or Gentile (Ga 3:24).
Matthew Poole's Commentary He proves that the Jews were ignorant of the righteousness of
God, because they were ignorant of Christ, the true
end of the law. Christ is the end of the law: q. d. The law was given for this end, that sinners
being thereby brought to the knowledge of their sins, and their lost and damned estate, by reason
thereof, should fly to Christ and his righteousness for refuge; see Galatians 3:19,24. Or else:
Christ is the end of the law; i.e. the perfection and consummation thereof. The word is taken in
this sense, 1 Timothy 1:5. He perfected the ceremonial law, as being the substance whereof all
the ceremonies of the law were shadows; they all referred to him as their scope and end. He
perfected also the moral law, partly by his active obedience, fulfilling all the righteousness
thereof, partly by his passive obedience, bearing the curse and punishment of the law, which was
due to us. Whatever the law required that we should do or suffer, he hath perfected it on our
behalf: see Romans 8:4.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleFor Christ is the end of the law,.... The apostle here observes
that to them which had they known, would have regulated their zeal, removed their ignorance
and set them right, in that which they stumbled at, and fell. By the "law" here, is not meant the
ceremonial law, of which, indeed, they were all very zealous, and of which Christ also was the
end in many respects; he was the final cause of it, or that for the sake of which it was; it had not
been given had it not been for him; all its institutions, ordinances, and sacrifices, were on his
account: they were all shadows of him, and he the body and substance of them; he was the end or

mark and scope at which they all aimed; every type looked to him, and every offering directed
the worshipper to him; he was the terminus of it, to whom it was to reach, and beyond whom it
was not to go; it was a schoolmaster for instruction and direction until Christ came, and no
longer. He was the fulfilling end of it, every thing in it had its accomplishment in him; and then
lastly, he put an end to it, he disannulled it because of its after weakness and unprofitableness; he
blotted out this hand writing of ordinances, and entirely abolished this law of commandments;
but then Christ was not the end of this law for righteousness; Christ's obedience to it is no part of
justifying righteousness, especially not to everyone that believes, not to the Gentiles who never
were under any obligation to observe it: the moral law is here designed, and when Christ is said
to be the end of it, the meaning is not that he was the end of its being given; for that was to be a
rule of righteousness and life to men, and a ministration of death in case of disobedience: or that
he was the scope of this law, though the Syriac version renders it "the scope" of the law is the
Messiah, the mark at which it aimed, or which it directs persons to; for the law does not direct to
Christ at all, in any way; it requires and insists upon a perfect righteousness, but gives not the
least hint of the righteousness of Christ, nor does it in any form direct unto it; by it is the
knowledge of sin, but no knowledge of a Saviour from sin; not the law, but the Gospel directs
and encourages sensible sinners to believe in Christ and be saved; on the contrary, the law is a
killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation and death; but Christ is either the consuming
or consummating, the destroying or fulfilling end of the law. He is the destroying end of the law,
not as to the nature, being, matter and substance of it, which is invariable and eternal, and is not,
and cannot be made void by the doctrine of faith; nor as to the true use of it; but as a covenant of
works, as to the ministry of it by Moses, and as to its curse and condemnation. Though I rather
think the latter is here meant, namely, that Christ is the fulfilling end of the law, since it is added,
for righteousness: for the bringing in an everlasting righteousness; a righteousness justifying in
the sight of God; a righteousness sinners wanted, and could not obtain of themselves, and could
never be obtained but by a perfect fulfilling of the law: this Christ has done partly by the
conformity of his nature, being exactly like that, and what it requires holy, just, and good; and
partly by perfect obedience of his life to all its precepts; and also by suffering the penalty of it,
death, in the room and stead of all his people; and so the whole righteousness of the law is
fulfilled by him, and he becomes the end of it, for a justifying righteousness before God,
to everyone that believes: not to him that works for life, and in order to obtain a righteousness of
his own; nor to the Jew only, but also to the Gentile, even to everyone, be who he will, that has
faith in Christ; not that faith is either the matter, cause, or condition of righteousness, but this
righteousness is only revealed unto, and received by the believer, and can only be pleaded by
him, as his justifying righteousness. Moreover, this phrase is descriptive of the persons to whom
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, and suggests that for whomsoever he has fulfilled
the law, in order to bring in for them a justifying righteousness, faith in consequence is given to
them, to receive and embrace it, and enjoy all the comfort and privileges of it.
Geneva Study Bible{3} For Christ is the {c} end of the law for righteousness to {d} every one
that believeth.
(3) The proof: the law itself points to Christ, that those who believe in him should be saved.
Therefore the calling to salvation by the works of the law, is vain and foolish: but Christ is
offered for salvation to every believer.

(c) The end of the law is to justify those that keep the law: but seeing that we do not observe the
law through the fault of our flesh, we do not attain this end: but Christ heals this disease, for he
fulfils the law for us.
(d) Not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/romans/10-4.htm"Romans 10:4. For the validity of the
law has come to an end in Christ, in order that every believer may be a partaker of righteousness.
Herewith Paul, for the further confirmation of what was said in Romans 10:3, lays down the
great principle of salvation, from the non-knowledge of which among the Jews that blinded and
perverted striving after righteousness flowed.
Τέλος νόμου, which is placed first with great emphasis, is applied to Christ, in so far as, by virtue
of His redemptive death (Galatians 3:13; Galatians 4:5), the divine dispensation of salvation has
been introduced, in which the basis of the procuring of salvation is no longer, as in the old
theocracy, the Mosaic νόμος, but faith, whereby the law has therefore ceased to be the regulative
principle for the attainment of righteousness. Only this view of τέλος, end, conclusion (adopted
after Augustine by most of the modern expositors), is conformable to what follows, where the
essentially different principles of the old and new δικαιοσύνη are stated. For its agreement with
the doctrinal system of the apostle, see Romans 7:1 ff. Contrary to the meaning of the word τέλος
(even in 1 Timothy 1:5), and contrary to the inherent relation of what follows, Origen, Erasmus,
Vatablus, Elsner, Homberg, Estius, Wolf, Ch. Schmidt, Jatho, and several others, take it as:
fulfilment of the law (“quicquid exigebat lex moralis praestitit perfectissime,” Calovius), which
many dogmatic expositors understood of the satisfactio activa, or of the activa and passiva
together (Calovius). Linguistically faultless, but at the same time not corresponding to the
connection, is the interpretation of Chrysostom, Theophylact, Melancthon, Beza, Michaelis, and
others, that the object and aim of the law was the making men righteous, and that this was
accomplished through Christ; or (Theodoret, Toletus, Vorstius, Grotius, Wetstein, Loesner,
Heumann, Klee, Glöckler, Krummacher), that Christ was called the object and aim of the law,
because everything in the law, as the παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν (Galatians 3:24), led up to Him;
“quicquid praecipiat, quicquid promittat, semper Christum habet pro scopo,” Calvin. Observe
further, that Χριστός must be the definite historical person that appeared in Jesus, and not the
promised Saviour generally, without regard to whether and in whose person He appeared
(Hofmann), an abstraction which would have been impossible to Paul, particularly here, where
all righteousness is traced back only to definite faith in contrast to works—as impossible as is the
reference combined with it, of νόμος to any law whatever, no law has validity any longer, if the
promised Saviour be at hand. See, in opposition to this, immediately below, Romans 10:5 ff.
εἰς δικαιος. παντὶ τῷ πιστ.] aim, for which Christ is the end of the law: in order that every one
who believes may obtain righteousness. The principal stress lies on πιστ., as the opposite of that
which the law required in order to righteousness; see Romans 10:5-6; Romans 3:21 ff.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges4. For Christ, &c.] The connexion is that the conduct
of the Jews was a total mistake of their own Revelation; for He whom they rejected was no
accidental or alien intruder, but “the End of the Law.”—The ver. may be closely, and better,
rendered; For the end of the Law is—Christ, unto righteousness, to everyone that believeth; the
whole idea conveyed by the words from “Christ” to “believeth” being the “end of the Law.”

the end of the law] Cp. for the phrase 1 Peter 1:9, “the end of your faith;” i.e. what your faith
leads up to. So here Christ our Justification was what the Law (the preceptive Revelation by
Moses) led up to, both prophetically by its types and predictions, and preparatively by its sin-
discovering and inexorable demands. (See for the latter respect, ch. 7.) The words are capable of
the sense “the close of the Law,” i.e. “He who brings it to an end.” But this is not the aspect of
the matter in this context, nor in the Epistle as a whole.
for righteousness] unto righteousness; in order to be “The Lord our righteousness” (Jeremiah
23:6). See on Romans 1:17; &c.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/romans/10-4.htm"Romans 10:4. Τέλος, the end) bestowing
righteousness and life, which the law points out, but cannot give. Τέλος, the end, and πλήρωαα,
the fulfilment, are synonymous; comp. 1 Timothy 1:5, with Romans 13:10, therefore comp. with
this passage Matthew 5:17. The law presses upon a man, till he flies to Christ; then even the law
itself says, thou hast found a refuge. I cease to persecute thee, thou art wise, thou art safe.—
Χριστὸς, Christ) the subject is, the end of the law. [Not as Engl. Vers. “Christ is the end of the
law”]. The predicate is, Christ (viz. ὤν, who is) in [every one that believeth; not as Engl. Vers.,
“the end of the law to every one”] etc. [Romans 10:6-7; Romans 10:9.]—παντι τῷ πιστεύοντι, in
every one that believeth) The words, in the believer, are treated at Romans 10:5, etc.: and the
words, every one, at Romans 10:11, etc. παντὶ, in every one, namely, of the Jews and Gentiles.
The 9 chap. must not be shut within narrower limits than Paul permits in this x. chap., which is
more cheerful and more expanded; and in it the word all occupies a very prominent place,
Romans 10:11, etc.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - For Christ is the end of Law unto righteousness to every one that
believeth. The word "end" (τέλος) might in itself mean
(1) termination,
(2) fulfilment,
(3) aim or purpose,
which is the evident meaning of the word in 1 Timothy 1:5 and 1 Peter 1:9. This last seems best
to suit the line of thought in this place. The Jews evinced ignorance, i.e. of the real meaning and
purpose of Law, in resting on it for justification. This is St. Paul's constant position in speaking
of the office of Law - that it could not and was never meant to justify, but rather to convince of
sin; to establish the need of, and excite a craving for, redemption; and so prepare men to
appreciate and accept the righteousness of God in Christ which was its τέλος (see especially ch.
7; and cf. Galatians 3:24, Ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγονεν εἰς Ξριστὸν Ἵνα ἐκ πίστως
δικαιωθῶμεν). Νόμος being here anarthrous, we translate it according to the rule observed in this
Commentary. The apostle has, indeed, in view the Mosaic Law; but it is the principle of law, as
such, that he is speaking cf. He next proceeds, as elsewhere throughout the Epistle, to quote from
the Old Testament in illustration of the contrast between the two principles of justification, and
this with the intention of showing that even in the Pentateuch that of justification by faith was
intimated, and thus that it was all along the real τέλος of the Law. "Nam si prophetas suae
sententiae testes citasset, haerebat tamen hic scrupulus, cum Lex aliam justitiae formam

praescriberet. Hunc ergo optime discutit, quum ex ipsa Legis doctrina stabitit fidei justitiam"
(Calvin).
Vincent's Word StudiesThe end of the law (τέλος νόμου)
First in the sentence as the emphatic point of thought. Expositors differ as to the sense. 1. The
aim. Either that the intent of the law was to make men righteous, which was accomplished in
Christ, or that the law led to Him as a pedagogue (Galatians 3:24). 2. The fulfillment, as
Matthew 5:17. 3. The termination. To believers in Christ the law has no longer legislative
authority to say, "Do this and live; do this or die" (Morison). The last is preferable. Paul is
discussing two materially exclusive systems, the one based on doing, the other on believing. The
system of faith, represented by Christ, brings to an end and excludes the system of law; and the
Jews, in holding by the system of law, fail of the righteousness which is by faith. Compare
Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:2-14.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Romans 10:3 For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their
own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (NASB: Lockman)
Greek: agnoounteHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=50"s
(PAPMPN) gar ten tou thHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=2316"eou dikaiosunen, kai ten idian
[dikaiosunen] zetountes (PAPMPN) stesai, (AAN) te dikaiosune tou theou
ouHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=3756"ch
huHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5293"petagesanHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5293"; (3SAPI)
Amplified: For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes [which makes one
acceptable to Him in word, thought, and deed] and seeking to establish a righteousness (a
means of salvation) of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's
righteousness. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
ESV: For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to
establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (ESV)
ICB: They did not know the way that God makes people right with him. And they tried to
make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God's way of making
people right. (ICB: Nelson)
NIV: Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to
establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (NIV - IBS)

NKJV: For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
NLT: For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Instead,
they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
They won't go along with God's way. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: They do not know God's righteousness, and all the time they are going about
trying to prove their own righteousness they have the wrong attitude to receive his.
(Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to set up their own
private righteousness, to the righteousness of God they have not subjected themselves.
Young's Literal: for not knowing the righteousness of God, and their own righteousness
seeking to establish, to the righteousness of God they did not submit.
FOR NOT KNOWING ABOUT GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS: agnoountes (PAPMPN) gar
ten tou theou dikaiosunen:
• Ro 1:17, 3:22, 26, 5:19, 9:30-See notes Ro 1:17; 3:22; 3:26; Ro 5:19; Ro 9:30
• Ps 71:15,16,19; Isaiah 51:6,8; 56:1; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Daniel 9:24; John 16:9,10; 2 Cor
5:21; 2Peter 1:1
• Romans 10 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
TWO TYPES OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS
For (gar) (term of explanation) - Paul explains the "root cause" for the failure of the Gospel
among the Jews - It was their ignorance of the righteousness of God and their substitution of
man's righteousness.
James Denney - All men need and crave righteousness, and the Jews, in their ignorance of
God's, sought to establish a righteousness of their own. Their own is the key to the situation.
Their idea was that they could be good men without becoming God's debtors, or owing anything
at all to Him. Such an idea, of course, shows a complete ignorance of the essential relations of
God and man, and when acted on fatally perverts life. It did so with the Jews. When the Gospel
came, revealing the righteousness of God -- that for which man must be absolutely indebted to
God's grace, and which he can never boast of as "his own" --- it cut right across all the habits and
prejudices of the Jews, and they did not submit themselves to it. Paul interprets the position of
his nation through recollection of his own experience as a Pharisee -- no doubt rightly on the
whole. (Romans 10 - The Expositor's Greek Testament).
Not knowing (50) (agnoeo from a = not + noéo = perceive, understand) means to not know, to
be unaware of and to be ignorant of, this latter nuance being most applicable to Israel who should
have known better since she had the Law and the Covenants, etc. But she refused to think about
or pay attention to what had been so clearly stated in the Old Testament. (Note the present tense
= continually not knowing)
Robertson comments that this is...
A blunt thing to say, but true as Paul has shown in Romans 2:1HYPERLINK
"/romans_21-2#2:1"+ through Romans 3:20HYPERLINK "/romans_320#3:20"+. They

did not understand the God-kind of righteousness by faith (Ro 1:17HYPERLINK
"/romans_116-19#1:17"+). They misconceived it (Ro 2:4HYPERLINK
"/romans_2#2:4"+).
Not knowing of God's method of justification whereby one is declared righteous (to be in right
standing before the wholly, Holy Righteous One), that this justification was not possible by
works (works of the Law, works of the flesh, self effort, being good enough, etc) but only by
grace through faith in the Righteous One.
Hodge sums up this passage emphasizing that "The Jews’ great mistake was over the method of
justification. Ignorance on this point implied ignorance of the character of God, of the
requirements of the law, and of themselves. It was, therefore, and is and must always continue to
be a crucial point. Those who err here, err fatally; and those who are right here cannot be wrong
about other essential truths. (Romans 10 Commentary Online)
Righteousness (1343) (dikaiosune from dikaios = just, righteous = root idea of conforming to a
standard or norm) is derived from a root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that
conforms to an authoritative standard or norm and so is in keeping with what God is in His holy
character. Righteousness is a moral concept. God’s character is the definition and source of all
righteousness. God is totally righteous because He is totally as He should be. The righteousness
of human beings is defined in terms of God’s. Righteousness in Biblical terms describes the
righteousness acceptable to God and thus which is in keeping with what God is in His holy
character. Rightness means to be as something or someone should be.
In short, the righteousness of God is all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands,
all that He approves and all that He provides (through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
perfectly Righteous One.).
RelatedResources:
• What does the Bible say about self-righteousness?
• What is righteousness?
• Why does Christ's righteousness need to be imputed to us?
• Why are all of our righteous acts considered filthy rags?
• What does it mean to pursue righteousness?
Wayne Barber explains that...
The word righteousness is used 35 times in 30 verses in the book of Romans (See all
uses) and is the word is dikaiosune. It refers to the standard of conduct that God requires
of all mankind. This conduct can only be produced by the Holy Spirit of God. It is not
something a man can do in his own strength. The righteousness only comes by faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now why is that? Because Jesus is the only Man Who ever lived righteously on this
earth. His righteousness was demonstrated when He came and lived a sinless life and
particularly when He died on the Cross for our sin. He satisfied the demands of the law.
Remember, Galatians 5:14HYPERLINK "/galatians-5-commentary#5:14"+ says that the
Law is fulfilled in one word. It goes on to say, "And man shall love his neighbor as
himself." Not a single person born of woman on this earth can do that. Why? Because we

have a depraved nature as a result of Adam. Anything that we call love is conditional and
is selfish and manipulative.
But what God does is inherently pure. Therefore, His love, His righteousness was
demonstrated when He came and lived that sinless life and when He died for others on
the cross. He didn’t die for Himself. He took sin upon Himself. He died for those who did
not deserve it. When we put our faith into Who He is, Jesus Christ, the God-Man, and we
put our faith into what He did for us, and then righteousness, His righteousness, was now
written to our account. You cannot be righteous in yourself. To think that you can earn
your way into heaven is to put yourself on equality with God, and you cannot do it. The
only man who ever did it was the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must put our faith
into Him and then His righteousness and His life come to live in us. Now He can produce
through us what we could have never done ourselves.
There are two kinds of righteousness that Paul discusses in the last part of chapter 9 and
in chapter 10. We just looked at true righteousness, but there is also a kind of
righteousness that man foolishly thinks he can produce in the energy of his own flesh.
Somehow if he is good enough, then he can gain the approval of God. It is this false
righteousness that Israel pursued. They did not pursue by faith the true righteousness that
only God can provide. They pursued it by the works of the law. And because they did not
seek righteousness by faith, because they thought they could somehow gain the approval
of God by their own efforts, they did not attain it. (Romans 10:1-10: Righteousness
Precious Possession-Pt2)
The psalmist knew about God's righteousness proclaiming...
My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness, and of Thy salvation all day long; for I do not
know the sum of them (he knew about God's righteousness but not about the breadth and
length and height and depth of it)
16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Thy
righteousness, Thine alone (Whose? not the writer's own but God's righteousness!)...
19 For Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, Thou who hast done great
things; O God, who is like Thee? (Psalm 71:15,16,19)
Spurgeon comments that...
My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness - We are to bear testimony as experience
enables us, and not withhold from others that which we have tasted and handled. The
faithfulness of God in saving us, in delivering us out of the hand of our enemies, and in
fulfilling His promises, is to be everywhere proclaimed by those who have proved it in
their own history. How gloriously conspicuous is righteousness in the divine plan of
redemption! It should be the theme of constant discourse. The devil rages against the
substitutionary sacrifice, and errorists of every form make this the main point of their
attack; be it ours, therefore, to love the doctrine, and to spread its glad tidings on every
side, and at all times. Mouths are never so usefully employed as in recounting the
righteousness of God revealed in the salvation of believers in Jesus. The preacher who
should be confined to this one theme would never need seek another: it is the medulla
(the inner or deep part) theologae, the very pith (core, essential part) and marrow of
revealed truth. Has our reader been silent upon this choice subject? Let us, then, press

him to tell abroad what he enjoys within: he does not well who keeps such glad tidings to
himself.
The determination avowed.
a. To recount the instances of the divine faithfulness in his deliverances.
b. To recount them publicly: My mouth, etc.
c. Constantly: All the day.
d. The reason assigned: For I know not, etc.
"Eternity's too short to utter all thy praise."
Therefore I begin it now, and will continue it.
Psalm 71:16 I will make mention of Thy righteousness, evenof Thine only. Man's
righteousness is not fit to be mentioned -- filthy rags are best hidden; neither is there any
righteousness under heaven, or in heaven, comparable to the divine. As God Himself fills
all space, and is, therefore, the only God, leaving no room for another, so God's
righteousness, in Christ Jesus, fills the believer's soul, and he counts all other things but
dross and dung "that he may win Christ, and be found in him, not having his own
righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith." (see
note Philippians 3:9)
What would be the use of speaking upon any other righteousness to a dying man? and all
are dying men. Let those who will cry up man's natural innocence, the dignity of the race,
the purity of philosophers, the loveliness of untutored savages, the power of sacraments,
and the infallibility of pontiffs; this is the true believer's immovable resolve: "I will make
mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." For ever dedicated to thee, my Lord,
be this poor, unworthy tongue, whose glory it shall be to glorify Thee.
The resolution: I will go.
The reservation: Thy strength only -- Thy righteousness only.
Psalm 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high. Very sublime, unsearchable,
exalted, and glorious is the holy character of God, and his way of making men righteous.
His plan of righteousness uplifts men from the gates of hell to the mansions of heaven. It
is a high doctrine gospel, gives a high experience, leads to high practice, and ends in high
felicity.
Who hast done great things. The exploits of others are mere child's play compared with
Thine, and are not worthy to be mentioned in the same age. Creation, providence,
redemption, are all unique, and nothing can compare with them.
O God, who is like unto Thee. As Thy works are so transcendent, so art Thou. Thou art
without compeer, or even second, and such are Thy works, and such, especially, Thy plan
of justifying sinners by the righteousness which thou hast provided. Adoration is a fit
frame of mind for the believer. When he draws near to God, he enters into a region where
everything is surpassingly sublime; miracles of love abound on every hand, and marvels
of mingled justice and grace. A traveller among the high Alps often feels overwhelmed
with awe, amid their amazing sublimities; much more is this the case when we survey the
heights and depths of the mercy and holiness of the Lord.

Jeremiah prophesied of the Righteous One writing "Behold, the days are coming," declares the
LORD, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as King (in His
Messianic Kingdom, the Kingdom of God on earth) and act wisely and do justice and
righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved (this speaks of course about His
second coming to set up His Millennial kingdom), and Israel will dwell securely (this promise
shall be fulfilled to Israel [those who of Israel who believe in Messiah] in the Millennium); and
this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:5,6)
Israel was ignorant of God's way of making people right with Himself, not because they had
never been told, but because they refused to learn, as Paul had alluded to earlier in a chapter
addressed especially to the Jew...
Or do you think lightly of (kataphroneo - look down upon) the riches of His kindness and
forbearance (anoche) and patience (makrothumia - "long burn"), not knowing that the
kindness (chrestotes - idea that He furnishes what is needed = not an apathetic response
to sin, but a deliberate act to bring the sinner back to God) of God leads you to
repentance (metanoia)? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are
storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God, (see notes Romans 2:4; 2:5).
There is an ignorance that comes from lack of opportunity, but Israel had had many opportunities
to be saved. In their case, it was an ignorance that stemmed from willful, stubborn resistance to
the truth. They would not submit to God. They were proud of their own good works and
religious self-righteousness, and would not admit their sins and trust the Saviour. Paul had made
the same mistake before he met the Lord (see notes beginning at Philippians 3:1).
• Righteousness - Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old Testament
• Nave Topical Bible Righteous Righteousness
• Torrey Topical Textbook Righteousness of God, the Righteousness Imputed
Righteousness
• American Tract Society Righteousness
• Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Righteousness
• Baker Evangelical Dictionary Righteousness
• Charles Buck Dictionary Righteousness
• Easton's Bible Dictionary Righteousness
• Holman Bible Dictionary Righteousness
• Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Righteousness
• Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Righteousness Righteous, Righteousness
• Vines' Expository Dictionary Righteous, Righteously Righteousness
• Watson's Theological Dictionary Imputed Righteousness Righteousness
• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Righteousness
• McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Righteousness
• The Jewish Encyclopedia Right and Righteousness

FRUITS OF Righteousness:
Deuteronomy 6:25; Joshua 22:31; Psalm 1:3; 15:1-5; 24:3-5; 101:3,4; 106:3; 112:4-8;
Proverbs 2:5-20; 10:2,16; 11:5,6,18,19,30; 12:28; 13:6; 14:34; 21:3; 29:7; Isaiah 28:17;
32:16-18; 33:15-17; 55:12,13; 58:6-14; 62:1; Ezekiel 18:5-9; 33:15; Daniel 12:3; Hosea
10:12; Malachi 3:3; 4:2; Matthew 5:20; 12:35,50; Mark 3:33-35; Luke 3:10-14; 8:15;
John 3:21,33; 8:47,49; 13:35; 14:21-24; 15:4,5,8,12; Acts 9:36; 11:29,30; 19:19; Romans
5:1-5; 6:19-22; 7:4-6; 8:4-6; 14:17-19; 15:1-7; 1 Corinthians 4:19,20; 12:3; 13:1-13; 2
Corinthians 2:17; 7:10,11; 9:10; 10:5; 13:5; Galatians 4:6; 5:22,23; 6:7,8; Ephesians
1:13,14; 5:9; Philippians 1:11,27-29; 2:13; 3:12-14; 4:11-13; Colossians 1:12,13; 3:3,5,9-
17; 1 Thessalonians 1:3,9,10; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5; 1 Timothy 2:9,10; 5:9,10; 2
Timothy 2:22; 4:6-8; Titus 2:2,11,12; 3:14; Philippians 1:5,6; James 1:27; 2:14-26; 3:11-
18; 1 Peter 3:1-11,14; 4:2; 2 Peter 1:5-9; 1 John 2:3-6,10,11,24,29; 3:3,6,7,9-11,14,17-24;
4:4-21; 5:1-5,10,13,18; 2 John 1:9; 3 John 1:11; Revelation 2:2,3,19
StevenCole - Religious people often miss salvation because they do not know about God’s
perfect righteousness and so they seek to establish their own righteousness (10:3).
Romans 10:3: “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own,
they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” Paul does not mean that the Jews
did not know that God is righteous. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament would know that.
He means that the Jews did not understand God’s saving righteousness, namely, that He imputes
righteousness to the one who believes in His appointed substitute. The ESV and NIV both
capture the sense of the genitive. Rather than being possessive (NASB), it is a genitive of source:
“being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God” (ESV). Paul explains this with regard
to his own conversion (Phil. 3:9), “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of
faith.”
This perfect imputed righteousness was revealed to the Jews in Genesis 15:6, “Then he [Abram]
believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Paul cited that text in Romans
4:3 and expounded on it in that chapter. So the ignorance of the Jews was not due to lacking
information. It was willful ignorance stemming from their pride in keeping the Law. The
Pharisees proudly thought that they were keeping the Law because they didn’t murder (unless
they had “good” cause, as when they murdered Jesus!) and they didn’t commit adultery. But
Jesus convicted them by showing that God looks on the heart (Matt. 5:21-30). To be sinfully
angry with your brother is to murder him. To lust after a woman in your heart is to commit
adultery with her.
And so the problem with the religiously proud Jews was, “they did not subject themselves to the
righteousness of God.” To do so, they would have had to admit that they were sinners and that
their good works could never justify them. They would have had to admit that all their good
deeds were as filthy rags in God’s sight (Isa. 64:6). James Boice (Romans: God and History
[Baker], 3:1161) uses the analogy of a woman who is dying of a disease and refuses to go to a
doctor because she insists that she looks fine when she puts on her makeup. Yes, her face may
look fine with her makeup on, but she needs to deal with the internal disease. Yes, religious
people may look good with all their good deeds. But if they do not submit to their need for God’s
perfect righteousness credited to their account, their good deeds are just makeup.

Thus religious people often miss salvation in spite of the prayers and concern of godly people for
their salvation. They miss salvation because their zeal for God is not in line with knowledge.
They miss salvation because they do not know about God’s righteousness and so they seek to
establish their own. (Why Religious People Miss Salvation Romans 10:1-4)
AND SEEKING TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN: kai ten idian zetountes (PAPMPN) stesai
(AAN):
• Romans 9:31,32; Isaiah 57:12; 64:6; Luke 10:29; 16:15; 18:9, 10, 11, 12; Galatians 5:3,4;
Philippians 3:9; Revelation 3:17,18
SEEKING SELF
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Seeking (2212)(zeteoHYPERLINK "/romans_27-8#s") implies giving attention and priority to
and deliberately pursuing after. The most common sense of this word is to "seek". Webster says
that to seek means to go in search or quest of, to look for, to try to discover, to search for by
going from place to place. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any
means.
Establish their own - Or set up their own. The picture is of a righteousness which is in
"competition" if you will with God's! Truly the height of arrogance!
Wayne Barber explains that...
The word seeking is zeteo (2212)(4 uses in Romans), which is very similar to the word
we looked at for zeal. It means to strive with everything in your body. When you are
running a race, you are striving. You are pulling with everything you have got. They were
striving. They still are.
What were they striving to do? He said they were striving to establish their own
righteousness. Now the word establish has the idea to confirm something in its place.
They came up with the Mishnah (see note) and the Talmud (see note) with 613 laws.
Now, you think Ten Commandments is difficult. No man can live to them, but they added
613 (613 - Mitzvot) more and came up with their own standard. They sought to establish
their own standard. This is why Paul said in Philippians 3 that according to the law he
was found blameless (see note Philippians 3:6). What law? You see, they were
establishing their own law by which they would justify themselves and obligate God to
approve of what they did. That is what works does. That is what religion does. And so
therefore, they were seeking to establish their own.
As a matter of fact, they had these boxes (Tefillin or phylacteries - one for the upper arm,
one for the forehead) they wore on their head. To show you how they were establishing
that law, the more you obeyed those laws, the bigger the box. The bigger the box, the
heavier it got and the more your head was pulled over. They would have to hire people to
walk around and hold their head up. Oh, these spiritual folks! Seeking, striving to
establish their own righteousness.
Now folks, I want to tell you something. If you think that joining a church is going to get
you into heaven, you are establishing your own rules. You have come up with your own
standard. It won’t work. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ, the immovable Rock Who will

eternally stand before men. You have to deal with Him and decided whether you are
going to put your faith in Him and His righteousness or seek after it in your own power.
That’s what Israel did. In doing so they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of
God. The word "subject" is hupotasso. They were not willing to place themselves up
under what God required. Instead, they came up with their own system that they sought
to establish and that is the bedrock of their religion even today. It came right out of Israel.
That is what people are doing today. You cannot earn your way into heaven. It is by faith
in Christ Jesus. (Romans 9:30-10:5:Righteousness Precious Possession)
Vincent comments that their establishment of their own righteousness indicates "their pride in
their endeavor. They would erect a righteousness of their own as a monument to their own glory
and not to God’s."
Their own - Their own righteousness. There is a righteousness which is according to God and a
righteousness that is according to man. Paul refers here to the latter type of righteousness ("their
own"). It is a works based, legal ("manmade") righteousness, which is best known as self-
righteousness. As such, it represents man's futile efforts to work out accomplish under the law a
character in one's persona which hopefully will be pleasing to God. The Pharisees are the
prototype of self-righteousness.
Matthew Henry writes their own righteousness refers to "a righteousness of their own
devising, and of their own working out, by the merit of their works, and by their observance of
the ceremonial law. They thought they needed not to be beholden to the merit of Christ, and
therefore depended upon their own performances as sufficient to make up a righteousness
wherein to appear before God.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
THE SUBTLE TRAP OF LEGALISM
Tragically, believers can also fall into this same trap in the practice of their daily sanctification
(listen to Pastor Ray Stedman's excellent message on Legalism - Mp3) [or read the Transcript -
but you will miss the inflection and passion of his verbal delivery]). They would fully agree they
could have done nothing to enter the Kingdom of God other than come in by grace through faith.
But once they are in the Kingdom, they often fall into the subtle trap of beginning to try to keep
rules and regulations, in an attempt to make themselves (they think) more acceptable to God.
Even "good things" like quiet time, Bible memorization, Bible study, witnessing, etc. can be
twisted and turned into a fleshly attempt to "grow in grace" (the ultimate paradox...growing in
grace by self effort!). We as believers can then become like the Jews, seeking to establish our
own righteousness, rather than working out our salvation in loving, Spirit-enabled obedience to
God's will and word (Our part = we work out = Phil 2:12HYPERLINK
"https://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_212-18#2:12"+, God's Provision = gives us the
desire and power = Php 2:13NLTHYPERLINK
"https://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_213#2:13"+) (See "Paradoxical Principle of 100%
Dependent and 100% Responsible" 100/100). We must continually remember that we entered by
grace, we stand by grace, we run by grace, we grow by grace, and we shall finish by grace. There
is no other way than by amazing grace, God's unmerited favor. And guess what? Grace does not
stop with our glorification! Paul makes the most amazing, even somewhat incomprehensible
statement that "in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2:7+) Play I Can Only Imagine (LOOK AT THE

VIDEO PICTURES -- YOU WILL SOON FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY ARE SHOWING --
AND I PROMISE YOUR EYES WILL NOT BE DRY!!!) and take a moment to just imagine
surpassing riches of His grace THROUGHOUT ETERNITY!!!
John in describing the bride of Christ wrote...
And it was given (it to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine
linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:8HYPERLINK
"http://www.spiritandtruth.org/id/revc.htm?19:8"+)
So John teaches that clearly saints do righteous acts, but they are not self-righteous acts but are
"Spirit wrought" righteous acts, acts done in saints who are abiding in the Vine, walking in the
Spirit, etc.
In contrast Paul teaches that...
by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes
the knowledge of sin (one purpose of the Law is to awaken our sinful hearts to the reality
of sin and thus point to our need for a Savior!). (see notes Romans 3:20)
Paul goes on to explain the right way to righteousness writing...
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested (not a precept,
but a Person), being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets (i.e., the Old Testament
pointed to the Righteous One, Christ Jesus) (see notes Romans 3:21)
In Isaiah God gave a clear estimate of the value of one's own righteous acts...
I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. (Isaiah
57:12)
In a verse familiar to most Christians Isaiah wrote (in the context of asking "shall we be
saved")...
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like
a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us
away. (Isaiah 64:6)
In the NT the ignorance of Israel continued, as indicated by the interchange between Jesus and a
certain lawyer who was
wishing to justify (declare righteous) himself (Luke 10:29HYPERLINK "/luke-10-
commentary#10:29"+)
Jesus saw through all attempts of the Jews seeking to establish their own righteousness as shown
by His interchange with...
the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, (who) were listening to all these things (Jesus
had just warned "You cannot serve God and mammon"), and... were scoffing at Him. And
He said to them, "You are those who justify (declare righteous) yourselves in the sight of
men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is
detestable in the sight of God. (Luke 16:14-15HYPERLINK "/luke-16-
commentary#16:14"+)
And who can forget the classic contrast between he Pharisee and the Publican

And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to
pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. 11 "The Pharisee stood and was
praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers,
unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. 12 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all
that I get.' 13 "But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to
lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful (be
propitious - see note Hebrews 2:17; related to the word for the "mercy seat" sitting on the
Ark of the Covenant, where the High Priest sprinkled blood on the great Day of
Atonement that God might be "satisfied" or propitiated, this ritual pointing to Christ, our
perfect propitiation - see 1 John 2:2HYPERLINK
"https://www.preceptaustin.org/1john_21-6_commentary#2:2"+) to me, the sinner!' 14 "I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified (declared righteous) rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself
shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-12HYPERLINK "/luke-18-commentary#18:9"+)
When the Spirit opened Paul's eyes to see the way to God's righteousness he wrote
But whatever things were gain to me (included man made righteousness), those things I
have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but
rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the
Law, but that (righteousness) which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:7-9HYPERLINK
"https://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_37-11#3:7"+)
THEY DID NOT SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD: te
dikaiosune tou theou ouch hupetagesan (3SAPI):
• Job 33:27; Lamentations 3:22; Luke 15:17, 18, 19, 20, 21
FAILURE TO SUBMIT
TO GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS
Paul explains that Israel does not have an "information" problem but a moral (heart) problem.
Not (ou) signifies absolute negation. They "absolutely did not subject themselves" is the idea.
Matthew Henry - The nature of their unbelief. They have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God, that is, they have not yielded to gospel-terms, nor accepted the tender of
justification by faith in Christ, which is made in the gospel. Unbelief is a non-submission to the
righteousness of God, standing it out against the gospel proclamation of indemnity. Have not
submitted. In true faith, there is need of a great deal of submission; therefore the first lesson
Christ teaches is to deny ourselves. It is a great piece of condescension for a proud heart to be
content to be beholden to free grace; we are loth to sue sub forma pauperis-as paupers.
S Lewis Johnson - The apostle now explains what the error of the Jew was, but he does it
negatively. He tells the Romans how not to be saved in his review of the failure of Israel. Their

mistake lay in seeking to establish their own righteousness by good works before God and in
failing to receive as a free gift the righteousness of God. They did not realize that they were
sinners and could not earn a righteous standing before God. In this they were ignorant of God's
righteousness. The Jews, like a wrecked auto by the sign of a steep curve in the road ahead, were
a warning to all that salvation is impossible to religious, zealous people who think that they do
not need a Redeemer, but can stand by their own good works. The Jews are the living illustration
that men may come to grief over Jesus Christ, if they fail to see why He had to come (cf. Gal.
2:21). Luthi has some good words here -- "It is as if, having received the gift of 'Moses and the
prophets,' they have refused to allow God to give them the Redeemer in Christ. At the point
where God intends the very best for them, they turn down His offer. They will not 'submit to
God's righteousness' (Ro 10:3). The Jews are afraid of the new wine, which is evidently too
strong for them: they prefer to stick to the old order of things. They have found pearls of God in
the Law and the prophets, but now that God wants to give them the one pearl of great value they
draw back their hands." (Johnson adds) "They loved their legal righteousness and set about
establishing their own righteousness out of pride and arrogance."
Subject (5293)(hupotasso [word study] from hupó = under + tasso = arrange in orderly
manner) means literally to place under in an orderly fashion. Hupotásso means to submit (to
yield to governance or authority), to place in subjection, to put oneself under orders, to obey.
This use is in the passive voice with a middle sense which signifies the voluntary subjection of
oneself to the will of another, in this case to the will of God regarding the Gospel way of
obtaining righteousness.
Hupotásso was a military term meaning to draw up in order of battle, to form, array, marshal,
both troops or ships. Hupotásso meant that troop divisions were to be arranged in a military
fashion under the command of the leader. In this state of subordination they were now subject to
the orders of their commander. Thus, it speaks of the subjection of one individual under or to
another. Hupotasso was also used to describe the arrangement of military implements on a
battlefield in order that one might carry out effective warfare!
In Leviticus God explains...
I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their
enemies—or (and here we see their failure to submit to God) if their uncircumcised
heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity (God is saying
they must undergo a spiritual circumcision, by grace through faith, the way of salvation
which was available even in the Old Testament), (Leviticus 26:41) (see related study on
Circumcision including circumcision of one's heart)
Nehemiah agrees that the problem with Israel was not God's fault writing...
However, Thou art just in all that has come upon us (70 years of Babylonian captivity;
destruction of Solomon's temple after departure of God's Shekinah glory); for Thou hast
dealt faithfully (Faithfulness = His attribute), but we have acted wickedly. (Nehemiah
9:33)
In Daniel's prayer, in the context of Judah's exile in Babylon, this great saint confesses...
Moreover, we have not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to
our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. 7 "Righteousness
belongs to Thee, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah,
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far

away in all the countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their unfaithful
deeds which they have committed against Thee. 8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord,
to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. 9 "To
the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against
Him; (Daniel 9:6-9)
People cannot come to Jesus without the right "information" about the gospel but "information"
alone is not enough to save anyone! There must be a radical submission to the righteousness of
God, manifest in the Righteous One Christ Jesus, this submission being accompanied by a
putting away of our own worthless righteousness. In short as Jesus Himself declared one must
"repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
The godly Presbyterian preacher, Robert Murray McCheyne, was passing out tracts one day
and handed one to a well-dressed lady. She gave him a haughty look and said,
“Sir, you must not know who I am!”
In his kind way, McCheyne replied,
“Madam, there is coming a day of judgment, and on that day it will not make any
difference who you are!”
Israel’s rejection by God was not due to arbitrary divine election, as though He had withheld His
grace from His chosen people. He blessed Israel with
adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the
temple service and the promises (see notes Romans 9:4)
Of all people on earth, Israel was "entrusted with the oracles of God." (see note Romans 3:2) In
short, Israel was responsible for her rejection by God, Who made every effort to bring her to
Himself. The tragedy in the history of Israel was squandering the immeasurable privilege of
having directly received the very Word of God, first His written Word and then tragically His
living Word, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
To sum up this verse, Paul describes the righteousness provided by God, which is a
righteousness that cannot be earned by man's attempts to keep the law or perform "good" works.
Only faith in Christ's righteousness is able to impute His perfect righteousness to a sinner's
account, and this was a truth to which most of Israel failed to submit. Remember that not all in
Israel failed to submit, for their was always a believing Jewish remnant (note).
Righteousness -
God's or Man's
Christianity is unique and is distinctly different from Judaism and every other world religion
("-ism") by virtue of the fact that Christianity alone recognizes that the righteousness God
demands cannot be earned, but must be received as a free gift by grace through faith. God's way
versus man's way - human pride stumbles over this humbling truth.
As Wayne Barber says "Righteousness is not an attainment, it is a provision. It is what God
gives to us as a result of placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian life is a
relationship, not a religion. In a religion, you work for God, hoping He will bless it. In a
relationship, you are walking moment by moment in this intimacy of knowledge with God

through His Son Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, depending on Him for everything. (Romans 9:30-
10:5: Righteousness Precious Possession)
THE ANCIENT LAW DEPARTS
by Sebastien Besnault
The ancient law departs,
And all its terrors cease;
For Jesus makes with faithful hearts
A covenant of peace.
The Light of Light divine,
True brightness undefiled,
He bears for us the shame of sin,
A holy, spotless Child.
His infant body now
Begins our pains to feel;
Those precious drops of blood that flow
For death the victim seal.
Today the Name is Thine,
At which we bend the knee;
They call Thee Jesus, Child divine!
Our Jesus deign to be.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
(NASB: Lockman)
Greek: teloHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5056"s gar
nomou ChristoHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5547"s
eiHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1519"s dikaiosunen
panti to pisteuonti. (PAPMSD)
Amplified: For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the
Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it
was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in
Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in
and adheres to and relies on Him. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
ESV: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (ESV)
ICB: Christ ended the law, so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
(ICB: Nelson)
NIV: Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes. (NIV - IBS)
NKJV: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
NLT: For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him
are made right with God. (NLT - Tyndale House)

Jesus was the end of the law

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Jesus was the end of the law