“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4).

The necessity of adherence to the Mosaic Law is no longer in effect. It was “glorious” for its time and purpose (II Corinthians 3:11), but that which replaced it (i.e., the grace of Christ) is far better and will last for eternity. The law was simply unable to bring about justification of a sinner, as can belief in Christ’s finished work. “And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39).

However, many of the commandments given in the Mosaic Law are repeated in the New Testament. Even the Ten Commandments are restated (Romans 13:9; I Timothy 1:9,10; and elsewhere). Jesus taught, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . and . . . thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37,40). Clearly, the law remains in some aspects. We are not free to live a licentious, sinful lifestyle. How then does Scripture teach that “Christ is the end of the law”?

The solution lies in the recognition of the fact that the Mosaic “code,” the scheme by which God related to Israel has passed. There have been several other Biblical “codes” which have also passed (see Genesis 1:28–30; 9:2–6), and while specific aspects and/or commandments are different in each, many provisions are common in all. God’s desire for holiness does not change, and those deeds of men which violate His holy, unchanging nature are forbidden in each of the “codes” He has given.

We are now blessed to be under “the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2), elsewhere called “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (which) hath made (us) free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). JDM