The Righteousness of the Law

Q: What does the Bible say about the righteousness of faith?

The Bible teaches that the righteousness of faith is distinct from the righteousness of the law and is revealed in the gospel. Romans 10 clearly presents a contrast between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith. Paul emphasizes that while the law demands perfect obedience, and those who do not adhere to its commands fall under condemnation, the righteousness of faith allows individuals to be justified through belief in the risen Christ. It is not based on our works, but on faith in Jesus, who fulfilled the law on our behalf, thus indicating that righteousness is a gift from God, not an achievement of human effort. This righteousness of faith speaks a different language. Instead of saying 'you must do', it confidently proclaims the finished work of Christ—namely, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). This emphasizes accessibility and relationship through faith, contrasting sharply with the law's demands that lead to condemnation. The author of Hebrews echoes this by stating that the old covenant has been made obsolete, and a new covenant has been established, one where the laws are written on the hearts of believers (Hebrews 8:13). This signifies a profound shift in understanding righteousness through Christ, not through the works of the Mosaic law.

Q: How do we know Christ is the end of the law for righteousness?

Scripture confirms that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness by fulfilling its requirements and offering salvation through faith. The declaration that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness is rooted in scriptural truth as expressed in Romans 10:4, which states, 'For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.' This signifies that Christ not only fulfills the law's demands but also brings about a completion and transition to a new way of relating to God through faith rather than through law-keeping. The law highlighted sin and established the standards for righteousness, but it also demonstrated humanity's inability to fulfill those standards, thus pointing to the need for a savior. The end of the law does not mean that the law is unimportant or was obsolete; rather, it finds its purpose fulfilled in Christ's perfect obedience and sacrificial atonement. Through His death and resurrection, Christ has dealt with the condemnation of sin that the law highlighted. For believers, this means that righteousness is obtained not by our adherence to the law but through faith in Jesus. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, made available to all who believe, demonstrating God's grace and mercy in a way that the law never could. Thus, to affirm that Christ is the end of the law is to recognize the transformative power of the gospel, which grants us a righteousness that is not legally mandated but graciously bestowed.

Q: Why is understanding the difference between law and gospel important for Christians?

Understanding the difference between law and gospel is critical for grasping the nature of salvation and our relationship with God. The distinction between law and gospel is essential for Christians because it shapes how we understand our standing before God and the means by which we achieve salvation. The law reveals God's holy standards and our inability to meet them, while the gospel provides the good news of salvation achieved through Christ's work. When one confuses the two, they risk falling into legalism, where salvation is seen as a reward for law-keeping rather than a free gift received through faith. Furthermore, acknowledging this difference clarifies the nature of our relationship with God. Under the law, individuals could only experience condemnation due to their sin; however, through the gospel, believers are freed from that condemnation, as Christ has paid the penalty for their sins. This freedom allows Christians to live in gratitude and obedience, not to attain righteousness, but out of love and thankfulness for what Christ has done. Thus, understanding the contrast ensures that believers remain focused on the sufficiency of Christ's work rather than their own efforts, fostering a transformative relationship with God characterized by faith, grace, and gratitude.

If you turn again please to Romans
and the 10th chapter we read from verse 1 where Paul says,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described
of the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which
doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above. or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring
up Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is, the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Paul says, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For
Moses described of the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doeth those things shall live by them. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. To many this is a startling fact. One that they cannot comprehend.
Because to many the law of God given in Exodus and Deuteronomy
5 which we have just read is the very definition of righteousness. To them righteousness is described
by the law of God given by Moses, given through Moses to the people
of Israel. The Ten Commandments to them
is a summary of this righteousness contained in this law. And to
them righteousness is defined by this. There is no other righteousness. So how can Christ be the end
of the law for righteousness? How can there be an end of such
a righteousness? If that is righteousness? To
them, righteousness and the law of God are synonymous. They are
the same thing. The law of God describes righteousness. If you are righteous, it is according
to the law of God. It is wrought by the law of God.
It has come from the law of God. That is righteousness. They can
see in the Scriptures no other rule or definition or kind of
righteousness. To them, righteousness is law. And law is righteousness. All
they see is law. Whether they're reading from
the Old Testament or the New. Whether they're reading from
what we would call the Law or whether they're reading from
what we call the Gospel. To them, all righteousness is
a legal righteousness. All they see is law. Yet this
passage in Romans 10 and many other passages in the New Testament
clearly set before us not only that we are delivered from the
law of God and its condemnation and its rule, not only that there
is an end of the law of God and the believer's relationship to
it in being under it, but that there is a righteousness made
known and revealed in the gospel which is in contrast to that
righteousness of the law. There is another righteousness
made known. Moses described if the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which do if those things
shall live by them. But says Paul by the spirit of
God, but the righteousness which is of faith, speak if on this
wise. He contrasts the righteousness
of the law with the righteousness which is of faith. He says at
the beginning of Romans that he's not ashamed of the gospel
of God for it is the power of God under salvation. Why? Because
therein in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. He speaks and describes in many
places the two great covenants. He contrasts the old covenant,
that which was given at Sinai, with the new covenant. If you
turn to the book of Hebrews, the author of the book of Hebrews
speaks of these two covenants, and he speaks of two laws, and
he speaks of the one law passing away, and a change of the law
being necessary, and a new law being brought in. there's a contrast
a contrast between the covenants and the respective laws there
is an old covenant at sinai and a new covenant the gospel a new
covenant but in fact a covenant which predates what we call the
old covenant for the new is eternal it was promised of god from before
the creation of this earth It was a covenant made between Father
and Son and Holy Ghost, that they should come, that Christ
should come into this world, that God should be made man,
that God should enter this world of darkness, that the light should
shine in the darkness, that God in the person of Christ should
come as the Saviour of sinners, that He should come for those
who are fallen and lost in sin, corrupt and dead as the children
of Adam. whose forefather rebelled against
God and plunged his posterity into sin and rebellion and death. God should come for such a people,
such a people lost in sin. And he should come in the person
of Christ, God made man. And that man, that man without
sin, should come to die. for those who were sinners, that
he should take their sin and their sins upon himself, that
he should take the wrath and the judgment of God against them,
and take it away and blot it out, and through his death should
make them the righteousness of God in him. Through his death
he saved them, through his death he delivered them from their
captivity, from the condemnation of God against their sins. From
the judgment of the law of God, the law of Moses against their
sins, from all that condemned them he would set them free,
he would save them. He would save them with an eternal
salvation and he would set upon them an eternal everlasting righteousness,
the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. This is what is made
known in the gospel. This is what is made to be theirs
in the gospel. And this is what the new covenant
both promised and fulfilled in Christ when he died. And when
he cried out, it is finished, it was finished. Every one of
that elect company that God the Father gave to his son, as those
for whom he would die were saved. Every one of their sins was blotted
out, every one of them was brought to peace with God and all that
would remain to be done after that point in time was for the
Spirit of God to send forth the message of what Christ had done,
of what he had wrought upon the cross, and to make it known unto
them as he brings the gospel in power into their ears as he
quickens them unto life to hear it as he gives them understanding
and puts faith in their heart to believe it. And so it has
been since the day in which Christ died, the day in which he rose
again, the day in which he sent the apostles forth to preach
this gospel. So it has been throughout the
ages to our day and will be until that day in which Christ rolls
up the heavens and burns the earth with fire and comes in
judgment to deliver his sheep from the goats and to bring his
people for whom he died and bought with his own blood into eternal
glory. That is what was promised in
the New Covenant. But there was another covenant,
what we call the Old Covenant, which was made with Israel of
old, made at Sinai with that nation, that physical nation
of Israel, made at Sinai with them. A covenant was made between
God and men. Whereas the New Covenant is made
between the persons in the Godhead, the Old Covenant was made between
God and man. and it set before man a rule
of righteousness a rule of righteousness by which he must live a rule
which if he broke he would bring condemnation upon his head and
a penalty of death but a rule which if he were to keep he would
continue to live in this world and know the blessing of God
upon him a rule of righteousness That is what the law is, a rule
of righteousness. It describes actions which if
kept would yield a righteousness according to its terms. It has
commands and prohibitions, precepts, and the man that does those things
lives by them. and knows the blessing of God
by his own deeds. And the man that fails to live
by those things knows the condemnation and wrath of God as a consequence
of his own failure to live up to them. It was given to man,
given to Israel for one simple reason, to show them what they
were. Because that nation was delivered
from the Egyptians. That nation knew the hand of
God upon them. They knew the blessing of God.
They knew that God had chosen them. They felt, they could have
felt like they were different, like they were better. But God
needed to show them that they were no better than anyone else,
that they were sinners like all men. They were just as sinful
as the Egyptians, just as sinful as all the nations round about.
They were children of Adam as all others, children of Roth,
and they needed to learn it. And that covenant made with them
was one which God knew as soon as He gave it, they would break
instantaneously. It was given to condemn them
and to shut them up and to give them no excuse that they might
have no excuse before God. As is made clear in the early
chapters in Romans, where Paul proves all men to be sinners.
And says of the law of God, Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who were under the law, as the
Jews were, that every mouth may be stopped, and that all the
world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. That law was given to Israel
to show them their sin. There was no one ever able to
attain to its commands or its righteousness. It required perfect
obedience for every day and every moment of your life whilst under
it. and none ever rendered that obedience. There was only one
man that walked upon this earth who was ever righteous and pure
enough that he could live and not be found guilty by that law
and that man was the Lord Jesus Christ. As God, that law found
no fault in him. For everyone else, it slew. There were two covenants. The
new covenant, made from all eternity, and the old covenant made with
Israel and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews makes
it clear that that old covenant has gone but now he says in chapter
8 He have obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also Christ
is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better
promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. for finding fault with them he saith behold the days
come saith the lord when i will make a new covenant with the
house of israel and with the house of judah not according
to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day when
i took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of egypt
because they continued not in my covenant and i regarded them
not saith the lord For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I
will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts
and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me from
the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousnesses and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. in that he saith a new covenant
he hath made the first old now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away so it's very clear from passages
like this and other passages in the New Testament that that
old covenant has been taken away and that new covenant that new
covenant which God made in the Godhead he has brought and he
has written it in the hearts of his people This is a covenant
where he is the one who fulfills all its terms. So it says that
he makes it with them in the sense that he brings it unto
them and says of them that I will bless you. It's no longer dependent
on their doing as the law was. But this is a covenant which
God has fulfilled all the terms of in order that he might be
able to bless his people freely by grace. And as a consequence
he puts his laws, his teaching, his thoughts, his gospel into
their mind and he writes these truths in their hearts and he
is to this people a God and they are to him a people and no longer
do they have to go around commanding others to know God and commanding
others to do this and to do that and to try to reach God and attain
to God but now all these who have come to hear God's voice
in the gospel know God For they shall all know me, he says, from
the least to the greatest. They have not had to seek me
and had to work to find me, but I have come to them. I have come
to them in my gospel. I have come to them in the preaching
of that gospel and made known unto them what my son Christ
has done upon that cross in taking away their sins. This is that
gospel which the Spirit brings to our ears. when we're lost
in sin, when we're dead in trespasses and sins, when we're blind, under
condemnation, and the Spirit comes and speaks life into our
hearts. And no longer does anyone need
to tell us what to do to see God, for through that Gospel
we know Him. We know Him from the least to
the greatest. Yes, there are two covenants.
The two covenants are said to have two laws. The one covenant
from Sinai has that law, which God gave to the people of Israel
through Moses. And the new covenant is described
as being a law. The law of faith, the law of
Christ, the law of liberty, the law of love, the law of the gospel. And there are two righteousnesses
described by these covenants. The one is the righteousness
of the law, and the other is the righteousness of faith. The one makes known the righteousness
of man according to the law which God gave him, and the other makes
known the righteousness of God, which God brings and gives unto
his people through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one is
a righteousness of man in this world which he is commanded to
attain to in order that he should continue to live in this world. And the other is a righteousness
which God has which he brings to his people through the death
of his son and his blood shed on their behalf in order that
they should not simply have life in this world. but in order that
they should have eternal heavenly life, that they should be able
to go to dwell where God is in eternal heavenly glory. They
completely contrasted righteousnesses and laws for completely different
realms. The one is for the earth and
only for the earth. It was given to Israel in this
earth, it respected their conduct in this earth, it respected earthly
relationships, relationships with their neighbors, relationships
with their husbands and wives, relationships with their masters
and their servants. or the command of the law if
you read them regard our relationships in this world But the righteousness
of God, the righteousness of faith made known in the Gospel,
transcends that, for it speaks to a people who know God, who
are the children of God. A people who, when they enter
eternal glory, will not be as those who are married, will not
be husbands and wives, will not be servants and masters, but
they will all be equal before a holy God. And their unity will
be in Christ. there's a different law and a
different righteousness for a different realm and to mix them up and
to imply that the righteousness which is found in the gospel
or the righteousness of faith or the righteousness of God is
the same righteousness by the same law as that given to Moses
is complete blind nonsense The scriptures make it very clear
that these are different things, different covenants, different
righteousnesses for different realms. It is such a low view
to bring righteousness down to simply the one righteousness
of the law and to make the righteousness made known in the gospel to be
the same righteousness. And yet that is the prevalent
view taken by so many religious people today. They can't see
righteousness beyond law. Even though the scriptures consistently
speak of two covenants, different laws, different righteousnesses,
different priesthoods. Priesthood of Leviticus and Christ
who came after the order of Melchizedek. There's a constant contrast.
And yet to many the gospel is simply the means by which the
righteousness of the law which we could not keep is kept for
us by another and then made to be ours by imputation. so they
say well the righteousness of the law commanded us what to
do we could not do it we came under its condemnation Christ
came the perfect man he lived under that law he kept it and
his righteousness according to that law is then imputed to us
made to be ours and that is our righteousness before God that
is the righteousness which we receive by faith therefore it
is the righteousness of faith that is what God means by the
righteousness of God in the gospel. And they confuse and weld together
these two righteousnesses as though they are one and the same
yet they are not Paul in Romans 10 would not contrast the righteousness
of the law with the righteousness of faith if he was speaking of
the same righteousness wrought in two different manners. He
would contrast our keeping of the law with Christ's keeping
of that law. He would say that we fail to
produce the righteousness of the law, but the gospel makes
it known unto us. But he never uses language like
that. He contrasts them. He says that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
that in the gospel the righteousness of God is made known, is revealed. He says that Moses described
the righteousness which is of the law. That's one righteousness. But the righteousness which is
of faith in the gospel is like this. It's another righteousness. There's a contrast. He does this
repetitively and consistently wherever he speaks of these things.
In Romans 3 where he's speaking of justification. He says, therefore,
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But, he
says, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference. Now if Paul
wanted to be clear, in showing this contrast and if he wanted
to use words to make sure that there's no confusion he would
use words like these that now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested. He's trying to be explicit about
this. He's trying to say that this
is a righteousness wrought according to a different manner. This is
not the righteousness of the law, which is manifested in the
gospel wrought by Christ, but it's the righteousness of God
without the law, separate from it. in the gospel it's witnessed
by the law and the prophets the law pointed to its coming and
it's not against the righteousness of the law in the sense that
the righteousness which is described in the law was given by God it
is good it is holy just and good the righteousness which is made
ours in the gospel fulfills all that the law would command of
us whilst we live in this world. But the righteousness of God
by faith of Jesus Christ which is made known in the gospel was
wrought without the use of the law and it is brought apart from
that law. It's made known apart from that
law and it transcends all that that law ever commanded or imagined. The law, as it were, makes known
something of God's character. According to several facets,
if we think of the Ten Commandments, it is, as it were, ten little
windows in a wall through which the light of God shines. But
the righteousness of God made known in that gospel destroys
that whole wall, it takes it down and there's no longer ten
facets of righteousness made known, but the full revelation
of God's righteousness as He is. And that is what is ours
in Christ in the gospel. It's tremendously different.
And yet man has always sought to confound the two things. This
was so throughout the ages. The Catholic Church, which came
to grow up in the Middle Ages, consistently mixed works with
grace and brought salvation down to the level of law-keeping.
And that man called Luther was in darkness under such a system
until this phrase in Romans 1 was brought to his ears by the Spirit
of God and kept sounding in them. that therein in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed. The righteousness of God, it
kept coming to him and he kept wondering and asking what is
the righteousness of God? Well if it was the righteousness
of the law he only needed to turn to Deuteronomy 5 or Exodus
20 to read of it. But he kept hearing not the righteousness
of the Lord, but he kept hearing of this other righteousness,
the righteousness of God. And he kept wondering what it
is. And it's when God opened his eyes and opened his understanding
of what this righteousness in the gospel is, how different
it is, how great it is, how powerful it is, that he knew the salvation
of God through Jesus Christ. All the walls came falling down,
all the light shone in. And he understood the power of
the gospel. And if you read his writings,
if you read his commentary to the Galatians, you'll see how
consistently he speaks of the righteousness of God and the
righteousness of the law and how he can contrast the two things.
He had an understanding. but it's an understanding which
many have lacked. Even around his time there were
others of the reformers who did not see this distinctly. And
yet it's tremendously pertinent that it's those three words which
were used by God to save Luther, the righteousness of God, because
it brought a clarity on this fundamental aspect of the gospel,
that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed and therein
is its power to save. This is not the righteousness
of the law. That was known under the old
covenant. It was never seen fulfilled under the old covenant, no. And
in the gospel Christ in perfection was the only one who ever came
and kept it. But his keeping of it was because
he was God, because he was righteous and because he revealed the righteousness
of God. He not only kept that law but
he brought in a righteousness which was far greater, far higher,
far more revealing of the true character of God. He brought
in the righteousness of faith. Yes Luther saw this. But so soon
after he had made this known so many others brought back the
confusion. John Owen in his work on justification,
written some years afterwards, was aware that there were those
at the Reformation who saw that the righteousness of the gospel
came exclusively through the cross of Christ and his death
and was something different from that righteousness of the law. He was aware that there were
those like Luther who did not see that Christ's keeping of
the law was that righteousness which is made his people's. But that righteousness imputed
to his people is greater than that. Yes, Christ kept that law. Yes, he had to keep it. Of course,
he didn't simply keep it for himself. All that he did in coming
into this world was done for his people, to save his people.
But the righteousness imputed to them is through his blood
in the cross. And it's not simply a righteousness
according to the terms of law. But to Owen, He knew that there
were those who saw righteousness as being wrought at the cross
and made ours through the death of Christ alone. And he knew
that there were those who looked upon righteousness as being wrought
by Christ according to the law and imputed to us. And Owen favoured
the latter view and Owen brought this out very eloquently in his
commentary in his work on justification and his thoughts on this theme
have been that which has shaped the thinking of so many since
because it seems so reasonable in a simplistic manner that we
failed to keep the law of God Christ came he did keep it therefore
what he did is made ours there is our righteousness. It seems
so simple but it's not what the New Testament teaches. It's not
what it says. It doesn't say that the righteousness
which is ours in the gospel by which we are justified is the
righteousness of the law whether wrought by us or wrought by another.
It doesn't say that. It contrasts the righteousness
of God. with the righteousness of the
law. It contrasts the righteousness of faith with the righteousness
of the law. It speaks of another righteousness,
it speaks of the righteousness of God manifested without the
law. Romans 3 21. It's by faith and
yet to those that can only see law they cannot comprehend of
another righteousness, of a greater righteousness. To them the law
is a revelation of God's character, a transcript of the divine nature,
the express image of God. They take those descriptions
which are used of Christ in the New Testament and take them and
place them upon Moses and his law. Hebrews in the opening chapter
speaks of Christ the Son of God being the express image of God,
yet they'll take that and speak of the law. For to them everything
is one and the same. and to them Christ is simply
one who comes to fulfill law on our behalf. So effectively
they have made Christ and law synonymous. Christ, Hebrews tells
us, is the express image of God. They tell us the law is the express
image of God, a transcript of the divine nature. Therefore
Christ and the law to them are effectively one and the same.
Oh, what a low view! A blasphemous view of Christ
this is. The Law is never spoken of being
a full revelation of God's holy character, of His righteousness. It never is. It is said to be
holy, just and good. It reveals God's character, yes,
but not the whole of it. The express image, the whole
of God's righteousness is made known unto us in Christ and His
Gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed. revealed
because before the gospel it was hidden. If it was revealed
in the law it would not have to have the coming of the gospel
in which to reveal it. But the scriptures make it known
that this righteousness of God is made known and revealed in
the gospel. Yet that to these they can see
nothing but law. Wherever they look and whenever
they look, law must be there. To them the law is as eternal
as Christ is. To them the law must, by definition,
have existed before the earth was made, before the giving of
the law at Sinai, after the coming of Christ, after this world is
brought to an end. It always was to them and always
will be. Because they've taken the law
out of the description which the scriptures provide of it
for us, and they've transcended it to the level of being in Christ.
They've made it synonymous with Him, and therefore as He is eternal,
the law is eternal. As He is righteous, the law,
in describing righteous, is as eternal and synonymous with Christ. as anything can be. All they
see is law, despite constant descriptions in the scriptures
where it says that there were times when there was no law,
there were times when there was no covenant, that this law has
been ended and that this law is contrasted with that revelation
of righteousness which is made known in the gospel. For example,
in Deuteronomy 5, which we read earlier, Moses tells the people,
the Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made
not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us who are
all of us here alive this day. And yet to those that can see
nothing but law, they think the covenant existed before the giving
of this covenant in Horeb. Yet Moses says otherwise. And
he who these legalists seek to revere, Moses and his law, they
take exception with. They differ. They say, no, Moses
was wrong. Actually, this law, this covenant,
was in existence before then. Yet Moses says, the Lord made
not this covenant of our fathers. It was not made until Sinai.
But they say, yes, but in essence it was there. It wasn't formally
given as in Sinai, but the righteousness described by that law was always
there. It was given to Adam in the garden, they say. That command
given to Adam, that was the law in essence. This is nonsense. One command was given to Adam
in the garden, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. That tree, if you ate of it, told you the knowledge
of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil
is something which is made known by that law, which was given
by Moses at Sinai. Then if Adam was commanded not
to eat of that tree, he was commanded not to seek the knowledge of
good and evil. Not to eat the law. Not to eat the knowledge of the
law, or the righteousness of the law. And yet in disobedience
with God, that's what he went for. He went for the knowledge
of good and evil. Not only are these legalists
wrong in making these two things to be the same, but they take
things which are absolute opposites and make them the same. Adam
was told not to go to law, and yet they insist that we must
go back to this law, we must always be under this law, this
law is righteousness for all eternity, this law is the law
which Adam was given, this law predated Adam. They're blind. And they lead
many astray. with their philosophical reasoning
in the scriptures. God never said that the command
given to Adam was this law. In Romans 5, Paul makes it clear
that there was a time between Adam and Moses with no law. There was no law from the beginning
of the earth until Moses gave it at Sinai. He says, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.
For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed
when there is no law. There was no law, he says. He
makes it clear. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come. There was no law. until Moses gave it and yet there
was sin and in contrast with sin there was righteousness because
God is righteous but God has the righteousness of God which
he made known in his son of whom Adam was a figure and which he
brought to his people through the death of his son of which
Romans 5 speaks when it says that we are now justified by
his blood which is the whole context of Romans 5 that whereas
Adam did one sin in rebelling against the command of God and
going to that law that then slew him and condemned him forevermore
Christ came and died as a consequence and delivered his people from
that law and brought in for them the righteousness of God Paul
speaks in verse 20 of Romans 5 as though the law and the entrance
of the law and the tenor of the law is but a momentary thing
in the history of time. Moreover, into this scene of
darkness and sin brought in by Adam, the law entered, it came
in alongside. It entered, and it entered for
this reason, that the offence might abound. that man's sin
might multiply and that he might be shown his sin and that that
law should condemn him, as demonstrating clearly to him that he has no
ability to live righteously, no ability to attain unto God. He's a sinner, and under that
law his sin abounds. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The law was not always there.
And when Christ came and died and cried out, it is finished,
he had taken it away. He took its judgment upon himself. He had lived under its rule and
it had found no fault in him, therefore he went to the cross
without blemish, perfect, a perfect spotless Lamb of God. able to
die in the place of sinners, able to be a substitute on their
behalf, able to die in their spirit. Yet it found no fault
in him. But when he went to the cross,
he took their sins that that law condemned and that the righteousness
of God condemned. And he took them upon himself
and he took the judgment and he swallowed it up. And when
he had swallowed it up, he delivered his people from the rule of that
law. That law had no more to say to
them. Therefore Paul says of Christ
that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. He is the end in two respects.
He is its termination and finish. They have nothing more to do
with it. They were once under its condemnation. But in Christ
they are delivered from that condemnation and rule. They're
no longer under its rule and command. They're delivered from
it. He's terminated it for them.
They're in him under his gospel. but he is also the end in that
the law pointed to him. He is its purpose and its goal.
It came to condemn us, came to show us our need of righteousness,
and came to point us to one who would come and bring righteousness,
but not simply righteousness according to its terms, not simply
the righteousness of the law, but the righteousness of faith. Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness of faith
speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, or who shall ascend into the deep. But what
sayeth it? The word is nigh the evening
in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart the God of raising from
the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. There is a righteousness which
faith brought in, which Christ by faith brought in for his people,
and which they by faith believe upon and receive, a righteousness
which transcends all that the law ever commanded. And in receiving
it they're delivered from all that law's condemnation. For
that law said of them that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. And they couldn't live by those
things for one moment. They were under it for a second
and it slew them. It said thou shalt not covet
and they coveted. It said thou shalt keep the Sabbath
day and they did not keep the Sabbath day. It said thou shalt
have no other gods before me and their gods multiplied. They
were guilty from the beginning. They found it to be a letter
which slew them, which killed them. They found it, as 2 Corinthians
3 tells us, that it was a ministration of condemnation of death unto
them. They found it, as Paul describes
in Romans 7, that until the commandment came, they had not known sin.
But when that commandment came, sin revived, it fired up in their
hearts, and that commandment slew them. It slew them, it found
them guilty. Is that your righteousness? According to the law, in your
strength you have none. But being found guilty, and being
brought to know your guilty by the Spirit of God under the gospel,
when he brings you to feel that experience that Paul felt in
Romans 7, where Paul could cry out in desperation, That which
I do I allow not, for what I would, that I do not, but what I hate,
that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the Lord that it is good. But now there
is, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good
that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that
I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Christ. Christ would. And Christ did. I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Then with the mind I serve the
law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. But in Christ
being delivered from that law of God, I find that there is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent in his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Christ slew that sin in his flesh, and he brought in that righteousness
of God in the gospel, which fulfilled the righteousness of the law,
but went beyond it. And Paul knew this, and he knew
the difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness
of faith. And there's one great difference
which we see in these things, which is made known in their
names, because the righteousness of the law is about commanding
men to do. It has nothing to do with walking
in union with God. We're commanded to do this and
to do that. We're commanded to worship Him.
We're commanded to do this and not to do that. But it's all
in our strength. But the great contrast with the
righteousness of faith and how Christ lived in His life was
His union with his God and Father. He lived by faith, he walked
by faith, he walked with God, he knew God. And knowing God,
he was one with God. You'll never know God under the
law. It commands you, but you never
attain. But the Gospel So it's not in
thine heart who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ down.
Or who shall we send into the deep to bring Christ up. But Christ is there. He's made
known. We know him as the writer of
the Hebrews testifies, as we saw. We shall not have to teach
every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know
the Lord. Do this, climb up, climb down,
go find him. We don't have to do these things.
but the least of the greatest shall know Me. They shall know
Me when I put faith in your heart by My Gospel, when I reveal the
righteousness of God to you. What you have is a faith which
holds on to Me, by which you know Me, by which you live, by
which you are one with God. through which the righteousness
of God by faith of Jesus Christ is made yours. Is that your righteousness
or are you stumbling about on Sinai trying to work a righteousness
of your own making by which you might clothe yourself as it were
with fig leaves? Or have you found in your experience
that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth. The end of the law. For Moses
described the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which
doeth these things shall live then, but the righteousness which
is of faith says this, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Praise God, Amen.

The Righteousness of the Law

What does the Bible say about the righteousness of faith?

How do we know Christ is the end of the law for righteousness?

Why is understanding the difference between law and gospel important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

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The Righteousness of the Law

What does the Bible say about the righteousness of faith?

How do we know Christ is the end of the law for righteousness?

Why is understanding the difference between law and gospel important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Ian Potts

Comments

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