Christ Is The End of the Law For All His People

[KenH]

"For(saith the apostle Paul) Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4). To what purpose doth he bring this passage, that Christ is the end of the law; but that by these words he might confute their vanity, who think to establish their own righteousness in the fulfilling of the law? As if he should say, you think by your keeping the law, by your righteousness you perform, you can attain to the end of it, that so you may obtain the grace and goodness of the Lord; but it is in vain, it is not you that can reach the end of the law; neither doth God aim at it that you should reach it, but he hath constituted and ordained Christ to be the end of it. Therefore the righteousness of God must be the righteousness of Christ; the righteousness that God aims at is perfect, a righteousness that reaches to the very end of the law; your righteousness can never reach to the end of it; it is Christ's alone that doth it.

- excerpt from a sermon by Tobias Crisp, entitled, "Men's Own Righteousness Their Grand Idol"

 

[Van]

Don't you just love the phrase, "the end of the Law" because its meaning just jumps off the page.

How about at the end of the day, the Law's purpose is to lead the lost to Christ?

For Christ is the goal of the Law resulting in righteousness for everyone who believes.

 

[KenH]

Christ perfectly kept the law for all of His people.

"We must have a righteousness, not only in which you and I cannot find a flaw, but in which God cannot find a flaw. And if we ourselves see nothing but sin in our own, and find fault with the very best that we can do and say all our righteousnesses are but filthy rags, how heart-breaking must we feel to present such a one before infinite purity and perfection. We must have a righteousness in which Jehovah himself cannot find a flaw, a righteousness which Jehovah cannot mend, a righteousness which neither sin nor Satan can mar; and unless we have on a righteousness of this nature, we can never enter into the blessedness of the world to come.

Where, then, are we to find it? Eternal praises to the matchless mercy of a covenant God, we have it in the blessed Person, glorious work, and spotless obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ! And, therefore, as it was essential for him to fulfill all righteousness for his people, he loved the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his mind, and with all his strength. He began at the beginning, and went through holily, righteously, and steadily every step of the law of God; and all in justice and righteousness. He fulfilled every iota of it, and gave it immortal glory and honour. The law could only require the perfect obedience of a perfect man, but he gave it the perfect obedience of the God-man, and stamped for ever a holy dignity and majesty on it, in order to manifest that this glorious righteousness is suited to every sinner’s case, to all their needs, and to honour and glorify all the perfections of God; and thus he has “for ever perfected them that were sanctified,”—all those who were set apart for himself. They are perfected for ever in his own blessed obedience and spotless righteousness; and this righteousness which God gives shall endure for ever. As for you who have a righteousness of your own, you never can feel your need of Christ’s righteousness; and if any one should insult you by speaking of it, you are wrapped up so snugly in your own pretty works that it would be an insult to your dignity to have his. The same as it would be an insult to the queen for you to make a basket of bulrushes, and present it to her as something very valuable; she would not receive it at your hands. So it is with you, when we speak of this blessed righteousness. You do not know your need of it, and it is an insult to your pride to mention it. But for the poor creature who feels himself to be a loathsome, vile, and ruined sinner, and is brought experimentally to feel what he is before a heart-searching God, and that every iota of the law is against him—for God to give this righteousness to him, to put it upon him and communicate the power of it to his soul, why it will raise and exalt him to such a blessed enjoyment of God’s righteousness that his tongue will sing aloud and speak forth praise to the honour and glory of his blessed name; and he will say, “My soul shall be joyful in my God; I will glory in the God of my salvation; for he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness; he hath adorned me with the garments of salvation.” And thus his tongue shall speak of God’s righteousness and of his praise all the day long."

- excerpt from a sermon by William Gadsby, entitled, "The Tongue Speaking of Righteousness", preached at Zoar Chapel, Great Alie Street, London, on June 1, 1843

 

[Martin Marprelate]

We keep God's law not in order to be saved, but because we are saved and it is our delight to keep, as best we can, His righteous commandments (Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119 passim). God's moral law preceded the giving of the law on Sinai and is written on the hearts of all believers (2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10 etc.). It is not our righteousness - The Lord Jesus Christ is that - but it is our rule.

 

[atpollard]

You know … I try typing messages, but this site crashed and reboots and wipes out the message that I typed. So you will never know what I had to say because of the site instability. I can’t retype it all again.

It happens a lot.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

I have recently been preaching on Psalm 119, and a book I was reading by way of study on the subject contains a really excellent summary of the Christians attitude to the Commandments. Here it is:-

Evangelical Obedience to the Commandments – an excerpt from ‘Bible Delight’ by Christopher Ash.

‘……So when the singer [of Psalm 119] says that he rejoices in the word of God, he means two things which need to be held together. First and foremost, he rejoices in the Covenant promises of God, that is, in His grace and redemption. But, secondly, he rejoices in the sheer goodness of the response to which he is called in the Ten Commandments. Let us consider them in turn:

1. Although he lives in a world of many gods (as we do), he is learning to love the LORD his God who redeemed him, and to love no other gods. He is learning to live under the grace of the Redeemer.

2. Although he lives in a world of idols (as we do), he is learning to hate idolatry, the shaping and fashioning of his god into be the way he wants god to be.

3. In a world which holds God cheap, he is learning to love the name of God and to care for His honour, and not to cheapen that name by the way he speaks or behaves.

4. In a frenetic and anxious world he is learning to love the Sabbath principle. He has tasted to goodness and sufficiency of God, and will therefore gladly both rest and allow others to rest with him.

5. In a disordered world, he will honour his parents. He understands that this commandment is the tip of the iceberg of honouring those with human authority over us. He submits gladly to this because he submits to the authority of God.

6. In a world full of hate and anger, he is learning to shun any behaviour that harms or desires to harm another human being. He wants now to love his neighbour as himself

7. In an unfaithful world, he is learning to value sexual faithfulness in the covenant of marriage, and to flee from sexual intimacy in all other contexts. He knows that the universe rests on the Covenant faithfulness of God.

8. In an unjust world, he is learning to hate stealing and unjust business dealings. He is learning to love generosity, to work that he may have something to share and give (Eph. 4:28) because he knows the God who richly gives us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).

9. In a deceitful world, he hates false witness, lying for our gain and another’s harm. He is learning to love truth, because he knows the God whose promises are always ‘yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

10. In a self-obsessed world, he is learning to hate greed and covetousness because he is learning to trust the God who has said, ‘ I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Heb. 13:5).



But in all this, we must take care to put on and keep on the music of grace. The word in which the singer delights is the Covenant word of God’s grace. At no point is the singer self-righteous. Always he casts himself on the mercy and grace of the covenant God

 

[KenH]

I have recently been preaching on Psalm 119, and a book I was reading by way of study on the subject contains a really excellent summary of the Christians attitude to the Commandments. Here it is:-

Evangelical Obedience to the Commandments – an excerpt from ‘Bible Delight’ by Christopher Ash.

‘……So when the singer [of Psalm 119] says that he rejoices in the word of God, he means two things which need to be held together. First and foremost, he rejoices in the Covenant promises of God, that is, in His grace and redemption. But, secondly, he rejoices in the sheer goodness of the response to which he is called in the Ten Commandments. Let us consider them in turn:

1. Although he lives in a world of many gods (as we do), he is learning to love the LORD his God who redeemed him, and to love no other gods. He is learning to live under the grace of the Redeemer.

2. Although he lives in a world of idols (as we do), he is learning to hate idolatry, the shaping and fashioning of his god into be the way he wants god to be.

3. In a world which holds God cheap, he is learning to love the name of God and to care for His honour, and not to cheapen that name by the way he speaks or behaves.

4. In a frenetic and anxious world he is learning to love the Sabbath principle. He has tasted to goodness and sufficiency of God, and will therefore gladly both rest and allow others to rest with him.

5. In a disordered world, he will honour his parents. He understands that this commandment is the tip of the iceberg of honouring those with human authority over us. He submits gladly to this because he submits to the authority of God.

6. In a world full of hate and anger, he is learning to shun any behaviour that harms or desires to harm another human being. He wants now to love his neighbour as himself

7. In an unfaithful world, he is learning to value sexual faithfulness in the covenant of marriage, and to flee from sexual intimacy in all other contexts. He knows that the universe rests on the Covenant faithfulness of God.

8. In an unjust world, he is learning to hate stealing and unjust business dealings. He is learning to love generosity, to work that he may have something to share and give (Eph. 4:28) because he knows the God who richly gives us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).

9. In a deceitful world, he hates false witness, lying for our gain and another’s harm. He is learning to love truth, because he knows the God whose promises are always ‘yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

10. In a self-obsessed world, he is learning to hate greed and covetousness because he is learning to trust the God who has said, ‘ I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Heb. 13:5).



But in all this, we must take care to put on and keep on the music of grace. The word in which the singer delights is the Covenant word of God’s grace. At no point is the singer self-righteous. Always he casts himself on the mercy and grace of the covenant God

The key word in that post is "learning". In our fallen human nature, no mere human being can ever love God perfectly, nor love his neighbor perfectly. Thus, there is no salvation in law-keeping. Thus, God's elect rejoice in the "music of grace".

 

[Van]

"Christ perfectly kept the law for all of His people."

Folks, what verse says this?

Did Christ keep the "Law" perfectly? Yes.

Are all those placed into Christ spiritually washed of any penalty for trespassing the Law? Yes. Thus they all have been made perfect.

Had all His people been chosen by the time He died? Nope. People are being chosen and placed in Christ today. They have been chosen and placed in Christ since He died. And they will continue to be chosen and placed in Christ until the Second coming.

 

[KenH]

Had all His people been chosen by the time He died?

All of Christ's people were chosen by God before the world began.

Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him.

 

[Van]

All of Christ's people were chosen by God before the world began.

Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him.

More inversion of the truth. Does this verse say all the people were chosen? Nope. People were chosen corporately before creation when God chose His Redeemer, thus He chose us in Him.

 

[KenH]

Does this verse say all the people were chosen?

All of those whom Christ became the Surety for, whose sins were imputed to Christ and He paid the debt for, and Christ's perfect righteousness was imputed to, were chosen by God before the world began, as were those whom God reprobated.

 

[Van]

All of those whom Christ became the Surety for, whose sins were imputed to Christ and He paid the debt for, and Christ's perfect righteousness was imputed to, were chosen by God before the world began, as were those whom God reprobated.

Yet more false doctrine, obviously the opposite of the plain statements of scripture.

This screed denies Christ laid down His life as a ransom for all. It denies Christ bought those never to be saved. It claims as true what scripture precludes, thus the claim is false.

Note the claim God reprobated some of humanity before creation, so this claim denies Christ died as a ransom for all, or that God desires all people to be saved. On and on, folks on and on.

 

[KenH]

Christ died as a ransom for ALL of those He came to save, and He will save them ALL!

If Christ paid the sin debt for every person who ever lived or will live, then ever person will be saved. The penalty for sin cannot be demanded twice. When it is paid, then it is paid. Think about it - if you paid off a loan(debt) to a bank, the bank cannot require payment for the loan(debt) again.