Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The verse isn't just saying Christ fulfills the law, but that He is its ultimate goal or purpose for believers. The law's real aim wasn't just rules, but to lead us to Christ for righteousness, showing us its limits and pointing us to His sufficiency.
Paul is explaining why the Jewish people, who had the Law, are still falling short of God's righteousness. He's showing that their reliance on meticulously following the Law, instead of trusting in Christ, is the very thing keeping them from the salvation they seek. This verse argues that Christ himself is the ultimate goal and fulfillment of the Law's purpose regarding righteousness.
Ever feel like you're trying to follow a set of rules perfectly, only to fall short? The Law has a purpose, but it might not be what you think.
The Jewish people were trying to earn righteousness through strict adherence to the Law. But Paul clarifies that the Law's ultimate purpose (its 'end') wasn't to be a system of earning God's favor. Instead, it was designed to show us our need for God's saving grace.
The Law's Aim
What does it mean for Christ to be the 'end' of the Law? Is it a conclusion, or a completion?
The word translated 'end' in this verse carries a dual meaning: it signifies both the goal or purpose and the termination or completion. Christ is both.
Two Sides of the 'End'
Understand the original words
Christos · Greek Noun
The second person of the Trinity, the Messiah, whose coming fulfilled the prophetic and typological requirements of the Old Testament law.
telos · Greek Noun
In this context, it refers to the goal, completion, or termination of the law's function as a means of justification, as Christ fulfilled the law's demands perfectly.
nomos · Greek Noun
The divine statutes and instructions given through Moses, which set the standard of God's holiness and reveal human inability to meet that standard through personal effort.
pisteuō · Greek Verb
Trusting in, relying upon, and committing oneself entirely to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, which is the sole condition for receiving the righteousness of God.
This passage describes the Law as a 'disciplinarian' that leads us to Christ, highlighting the same concept of the Law's purpose being fulfilled in Him.
Matthew 5:17Jesus states He did not come to abolish the Law but to 'fulfill' it, offering a parallel perspective on Christ's relationship with the Law and its ultimate purpose.
Jeremiah 23:6This Old Testament prophecy, which the New Testament draws from, speaks of God's provision for righteousness through a future King, directly linking to Christ as 'The Lord our righteousness'.
Hebrews 10:4This passage declares the impossibility of animal sacrifices taking away sins, contrasting it with the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, and thus underscoring why Christ is the 'end' of the sacrificial system for righteousness.
vincentRomans 10:4: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
The 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 legislativ…
bensonRomans 10:4: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
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…
The verse isn't just saying Christ fulfills the law, but that He is its ultimate goal or purpose for believers. The law's real aim wasn't just rules, but to lead us to Christ for righteousness, showing us its limits and pointing us to His sufficiency.
Paul is explaining why the Jewish people, who had the Law, are still falling short of God's righteousness. He's showing that their reliance on meticulously following the Law, instead of trusting in Christ, is the very thing keeping them from the salvation they seek. This verse argues that Christ himself is the ultimate goal and fulfillment of the Law's purpose regarding righteousness.
Paul is explaining why the Jewish people, who had the Law, are still falling short of God's righteousness. He's showing that their reliance on meticulously following the Law, instead of trusting in Christ, is the very thing keeping them from the salvation they seek. This verse argues that Christ himself is the ultimate goal and fulfillment of the Law's purpose regarding righteousness.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Romans 10:4 is available in the Sola app.
The Law demands perfect action, but salvation comes through something else entirely. What's the difference?
Paul contrasts the path of the Jews (trying to achieve righteousness through the Law) with the path of the believer. The critical distinction lies in how righteousness is obtained.
The Contrast
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." — The verse isn't just saying Christ fulfills the law, but that He is its ultimate goal or purpose for believers. The law's real aim wasn't just rules, but to lead us to Christ for righteousness,…
