Christ – the End of the Law for the Christian

Tonight, I would like to say a few words as to the meaning, the importance, and the place of the law according to God's word. Romans 10:4 shows us that in our present dispensationA dispensation is a specific time of human history that has its own rules and in which God reveals Himself in a particular way. Seven different dispensations can be distinguished... More, the law has no place whatsoever. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the law came to an end. The Lord Jesus was the only Man who never committed any sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More in His life (1 Peter 2:22), and in that way had tested the law to the utmost. Although He was the Giver of the law, He was born and lived under the law (Galatians 4:4). At the same time, He was the only One who never committed a single transgression of the law, and that Person was, in the application of the law, crucified. What a contradiction: The law (in its application by the Jew) judged the only perfect and holy One, making Him a curse (Deuteronomy 21:23, Galatians 3:13). This must be the end of the law.
If the law judged the only holy and perfect One, how could it achieve anything? How could it bring anything to perfection? The law had brought nothing to perfection (Hebrews 10:1).

To Whom Then Was the Law Given?

"But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine," (1 Timothy 1:8-10).
But then the question arises, 'Why then did God give the law?' One reason was that it contained God's minimum standard for man. The law emanated from God and, therefore, must be in accordance with God and His will, but the first thing that I would stress is that the law was not given to believers. This is a very important thing. The law was given to the people of Israel at Sinai, and the majority of the people of Israel were probably not believers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were believers in the faithfulness of God, but their descendants were just natural men, and God had not chosen them as believers but as an elect nationNation (not nations) refers to any kind of people on the whole earth. This term is used to describe both Jews (John 11:51; Acts 10:22) and all other tribes. The... More on earth. The law was not given to believers but rather to unbelievers to restrict their sins. This explains the validity of the law. God never intended it as a guideline for the believer, but it was for those who were unregenerate and unrighteous.

Why, Then, Was the Law Given?

"Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. " (Romans 5:20)
The law came in so that the offense might abound. Sin has always been in this world since the fall of man, but it never comes out so clearly in display in fallen man as when there is a commandment, "thou shalt not," for immediately there is a transgression of this commandment.
This is what Paul says here. Men were sinners since Adam and Eve, but one reason for which the law was given was to make this come to light more clearly. The law that God was according to His character and nature, light and love, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. " It is perfect as everything that comes from God is perfect, but because unregenerate man cannot respond to the will of God, the result was only to show that man is a sinner.
"What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. " (Galatians 3:19)
God gave the law for the sake of the transgressors to make their fallen state come out more clearly. If they had the desire to please God, they had to conclude they could never answer to these commandments because of their sinful nature. The law was given to reveal sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More in man. When the Lord died, the law was shown to be absolutely futile in bringing man to God. Instead, it revealed only that man was far away from God. It is necessary always to keep these two things in mind to understand the Galatian Epistle: the aim of the law in God's mind was to reveal sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More in man and that, in the death of ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More, the law was put aside.
The Galatian Epistle shows it is absolutely wrong and contrary to the will of God to vivify this law which has come to an end and to introduce it into the life of the Christian who lives in the One who has died to that law and who has been raised from the dead. It is a contradiction to the will of God and a mixing up of two fundamentally different ideas. The law could never bring anybody to God, nor is it meant to be the guide for believers.

How, Then, Could Men Under the Law Be Saved?

"For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. " (PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 51:16)
How is it possible that people like Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and David, who were under the law, were believers in God?
Take David, for example. He realized by experience that he could not fulfill the law. Every time he sinned, he was, according to the law, compelled to bring an offering, but then he was an upright man, and he said, 'But when I bring this offering, what is the result?' He says in PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 51:16, "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. "
He realized in himself that the literal fulfillment of the law could not make him acceptable in the eyes of God. What an experience that must have been for a man who wished to please God, who had received the law and realized while thinking with heart and conscience exercised, 'This cannot be the way. It cannot be that by physically bringing an offering and perhaps my heart far away in Spirit that, I can have peace with God." In this way, David and all the rest of the believers under the law were led by the impossibility of fulfilling the law to that contrition when they said, 'But what can I do?' and then they came in their experience to the point in PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 51 where it says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. " (PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 51:17)
That was, in a way, their conversion. We do not read of conversion in this sense in the Old Testament; neither do we read of new birthThe new birth is a unique experience at conversion. God gives new (eternal) life to people who were dead in their sins. This makes them children of God (John 1:12,... More because it was not revealed, although it was the only possible way to be accepted by God. The way that was revealed was the law, to show man how absolutely unfit he is for the presence of God and let him, by experience, arrive at this point that the law cannot save him. What can save him is only faith in the graceTo the one who earns something through performance, the reward is not according to grace but according to debt (Rom. 4:4). Grace is a favor that is not given by... More and forgivenessIn Scripture, forgiveness is presented to us from two points of view. • The side of God: God’s thoughts towards the sinner whom he forgives. On the basis of Christ’s... More of God.

What Then is Now the Guideline For Our Lives?

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. " (Romans 10:4)
Clearly, it is not the law; it is not a number of rules. Rather, it is the Person of the Lord, the One who has died for us, who has made an end of the law, the One who has been raised for us and with Whom we have been raised, the heavenly man, He who created the new manThe new man (not to be confused with the new nature) is the counterpart to the old man. It is mentioned three times in the New Testament (Eph 2:15; Eph... More for us and in us, even He is the pattern of our lives.
It is not any commandments but the perfection of love and light in the life of our Lord Jesus. Thus, we will never be able to say like the rich young ruler of Luke 18, "All these things I have kept from my youth. "
We will always be disciples of Him whose life only was the perfect pattern, and we will always fall short of this. But by His Spirit, He has given us the energy and the power to fulfill what we see in Him as our perfect example. If we want to know what our pathway has to be like, it is the life of our beloved Lord. That is the rule of life for the Christian. This shows the contradiction to the will of God in reintroducing the law, such as was the case in the churches of Galatia, where the living ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More should have been seen. That is why it was such a disappointment for the apostleApostle (Greek) means "sent one." Today, we are "messengers" for Christ when we pass on the gospel (2 Cor. 5:20). But the highest-ranking messenger is Jesus Christ himself (Heb 3:1;... More Paul to see Christians who had initially run well in the Spirit ending up in the fleshThe term "flesh" is used in different meanings in the Bible: a) as an expression of physicality or humanity, which is inextricably linked to our life on earth. Examples: “the... More.
The idea of our performing worksAnother word for deeds or actions. God's works are perfect (Gen 1:31), men's can be good works (Matt 5:16) or dead (Heb 6:1). On the basis of his works, unbelieving... More, of doing something to obtain righteousness, is inherent in our fleshThe term "flesh" is used in different meanings in the Bible: a) as an expression of physicality or humanity, which is inextricably linked to our life on earth. Examples: “the... More. We like to be able to present something we have done, and that is what the law tends to create in man. God did not give it for that end, but man availed himself of the law and said, 'Look, I have done all this. ' We can detect the same attitude in our hearts, but we have to judge it and say, 'We would rather follow the Lord Jesus. '

May He give us this strength, and may He grant us that in our studies in this precious but also very serious Galatian Epistle, our hearts are directed more and more to Him. There are many passages in this epistle presenting the Person of the Lord to us as in no other epistle of the New Testament. He is being "painted before our eyes" (Gal. 3:1). What a precious thought.