Jesus, the End of the Law

Romans 10:5-13
Here’s the big idea: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4).

Paul has been arguing that many Jews rejected Jesus because they didn’t understand God’s absolute righteousness. They thought they could be righteous enough by their own attempt to obey the law, so they saw no need for the gift of righteousness God offered in Jesus. In this passage, Paul supports his thesis from the Old Testament.

Verse 5:

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

Only commandment doers will live by the commandments. Believing in, valuing, attempting, memorizing, studying, pretending and aspiring to do the commandments are not enough. It’s not the thought that counts when it comes to God’s law. A good judge will not let you off the hook if you’ve broken the law, even if you meant well and tried not to break it. God’s commands are not suggestions or pretty-please requests. They are the law.

You might be thinking at this point that you’ve done pretty well at doing the commandments. Let’s take a quick test to make sure. We’ll use the famous 10 Commandments that summarize the hundreds of commandments in the Old Testament. Can you list them from memory? Do you even know what they are? Many people who feel secure in their own righteousness can’t even remember the commands they’re supposed to be doing.

So let’s just take the first one: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). Have you done this command? Or have you, like every other person who has ever walked the earth except for One, worshipped other things or people above the one true God with your time, resources, passions, energy, etc.?

As you can see, we haven’t even succeeded in the very first command. What Paul wrote in Romans 3:10-18 is true: None is righteous, no, not one…”

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes because only he did God’s commands and therefore he is the only hope for those of us who have failed to do God’s commands. In this way, the law points us to our need for Jesus. The law is the diagnosis that motivates us to lay down on the operating table. (See Galatians 3:10-14 for more on this.)

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But here’s the good news:

Verses 6-8:

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)…

Confession: I was going to preach this passage last week, but couldn’t get it ready in time because I couldn’t understand these three verses. Paul is referring to Deuteronomy 30:11-14 in which Moses says plainly in the ESV, “…this commandment that I command you today (referring to the law we’ve been talking about), is not too hard for you…”

Here’s Paul in Romans saying, The law is too hard for you! And here’s Moses in Deuteronomy saying, The law is not too hard for you! And Paul quotes Moses to prove his point. What in the world is going on here?

The key is in the word translated hard. It doesn’t mean arduous, difficult or requiring skill and technique like one might think. Rather, it means wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary and lofty. It’s not the word you would use for passing the bar exam. It’s the word you would use for touching the moon. In other words, Moses isn’t saying the law is easy; he’s saying the law is accessible. And herein lies the comparison Paul is making.

Moses didn’t have to build a rocket and fly into the farthest reaches of outer space to find the law. He didn’t have to travel overseas to find it.
God stooped down and gave it to him, just like he gave us Jesus. We don’t have to ascend into heaven or the abyss to find Jesus. God stooped down and gave him to us. He is near us right now.

This is a profound truth. This means that salvation, forgiveness, cleansing of sins, purification, acceptance, adoption, newness, justification, rest, abundant life – all these things you crave are near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This means there is great hope for you and for the people you care about.

Some seem so far away from God that we can’t imagine that they’ll ever be able to close the gap. The good news is, God has already closed the gap, having made salvation near to us in Jesus Christ. So there is hope for your wayward child, your rebellious friend, your wicked enemy, your hardened parents – for everyone on earth – because Jesus is near.

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Only two things are necessary to access this hope: confession and belief.

Verses 8-10:

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

1. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. This isn’t God wrestling us to the ground until we say ‘uncle’. This is public, open, verbal acknowledgment that Jesus is Lord. To confess is to say with. It is saying along with God and reality itself that Jesus is Lord. Not that he is merely your Lord. He is Lord, period, no matter who acknowledges it or doesn’t. He has absolute ownership rights over every human who has ever lived.

Do you confess that Jesus is Lord? Would your coworkers say that you do? Would your children say that you do? Would your friends say that you do?

2. Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. This isn’t Santa Clause belief. This is belief like you believe in the chair in which you’re sitting. When you sat down in that chair, you entrusted your full weight into it. Christian belief is entrusting your full weight into Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord and Savior. It’s belief in your deepest core that changes your very identity (this is what it means to believe in your heart).

Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead? Would your coworkers say that you do? Would your children say that you do? Would your friends say that you do?

Verses 11-13:

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. Do-it-yourself righteousness leads to shame, hiding, embarrassment and duplicity. It leaves us scrambling for fig leaves to cover ourselves so people won’t learn the truth about who we are, what we really think or what we really feel.