“For Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4
Many people (I was guilty of it myself) use that verse to show that Christ is the end of the law, so the law (aka commandments) no longer applies to us. At first glance, it seems pretty obvious that this verse is precisely indicating that. Most people today point to that Scripture to indicate that the law has been done away with. But let’s examine a couple of these words.
The first word we need to look at is the word “end.”
In the Strong’s Greek Concordance, you can find the word used here is “telos” (G5056). This word can mean two things. It can mean “end, as in termination of an act or state;” and it can also be used to mean “a goal or outcome; to set out for a definite point or goal.” So, which definition is most appropriate? Is Messiah the END of the law for righteousness, or is He the GOAL of the law for righteousness? The answer to that question will give us two completely different interpretations of Scripture.
Mainstream Christianity wants you to believe that He is the end of the law—He fulfilled it perfectly so we don’t have to. He indeed came to fulfill it, but as He said Himself in Matthew 5:17...”Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I have come not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Yahusha (Jesus) made it clear that He did not come to abolish the law (His Father’s commandments). Another key word used in Romans 10:4 is “righteousness.” If Messiah is the end (termination) of the law for righteousness, then what they are actually saying is that we’ve abolished the standard for righteousness.
Hmm, let’s look at this a little deeper...
What is the biblical definition of “righteousness?”
“All thy commandments are righteousness.”
Psalm 119:172
“...my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”
Isaiah 51:6
All it takes is for one little word twist to give us a completely false interpretation of Scripture. It’s interesting because Peter gives us a warning about interpreting Paul’s letters. He tells us in 2 Peter 3:16 about Paul’s letters, that “some things are hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
In order to understand what Paul wrote, you must understand what Paul studied (remember, he was a Pharisee who came OUT of Rabbinic Judaism). Paul never advocated for disobedience to the commandments—and neither did our Messiah.
“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! We establish the law.” Romans 3:31
Based on this short study and a careful analysis of letting the Scripture define and interpret itself, Romans 10:4 would have been most appropriately rendered as “Messiah is the GOAL of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
If He is the “goal of the law for righteousness,” and if the Word tells us that His commandments are righteousness and He taught His disciples to keep His Father’s commandments.....how is it possible that He came to be the “end of the law” if the goal of our faith is to be like Him?
With love,
Stephanie