◄ What Does Romans 10:4 Mean? ►

The Jews had a zeal for the Lord and a passion for the Law, for they desired to be righteous in their own eyes. However, their view of righteousness differed entirely from the perfect, godly righteousness that the Lord desires of His children.

The purpose of the Law was to reveal unrighteousness and to bring a sinner to repentance before a holy God, but the Word of God identifies two types of righteousness: one that stems from a works-based morality, which is achieved by rigorously keeping the Law, and one which is a faith-based righteousness, which comes from humbly trusting Jesus as Saviour and depending on Him at all times and for all things.

The Law is incapable of producing righteousness, but rather it exposes unrighteousness and convicts us of our sinfulness. The Law is a schoolmaster that points us to Christ Who is the only truly righteous Man that has ever walked this earth, and the only One Who can ever produce in us the righteousness required by God. His righteousness is to be manifested in our life. The new-life in Christ is to work through His children.

The Law can never impart righteousness to fallen man, for the wages of sin is death and the consequences of a broken Law is condemnation. It was the perfect life of Christ that qualified Him to be our Saviour and only His sacrificial death is sufficient to pay the legally required penalty for sin.

Christ took the statutory punishment we deserve and so to all who trust in His name, He has become the end of the Law for righteousness.

Fallen man is simply incapable of producing the righteousness required by the Lord. But in His grace, God stepped into history to become the end of the Law to all who believe in Him. Sadly, like the religious Jews who had a zeal for the Lord in time past, there are Christians today who desire to be righteous through their own merit. They expend much of their time and energy in producing a works-based righteousness, which relies on what they do for God, rather than for what He has done for us (through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross of Calvary).

Let us not blindly cling to our own self-initiated righteousness in the expectation that God will accept us for our good works. God no longer deals with His people on behalf of the unachievable righteous requirements of the Mosaic Law, but through the Cross of Christ Who became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God - in Him.

Heavenly Father, thank You, for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to be the end of the Law to all who trust in Him as Saviour. I confess that of myself, I can do no good thing, but praise Your holy name that I can do all things through Christ, Who has become my righteousness. In His name I pray, AMEN.