In this message we will cover three more aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in Romans 10.
In Romans 10:4-13, Christ is presented as Christ, the Word, and the Lord.
Verse 4 says, “For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes.” This verse indicates that Christ came to be the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes in Him.
Christ is the end of the law. As such, He fulfilled the law, completed the law, and replaced the law, thereby ending the law (Matt. 5:17). When He died on the cross, Christ completed and terminated the law. The law ended in Him. Since the law was terminated on the cross of Christ, we should no longer be under it.
The Jews treasured the law and tried to keep it that they might establish their own righteousness before God. They did not see that the law had been fully completed and terminated by Christ. If they had seen this, they would have stopped their attempts to keep the law. They would never again have tried to establish their own righteousness before God.
The principle is the same with many Christians today. After being saved, they make up their minds to do good to please God. As a result, they spontaneously make regulations for themselves, regulations which may be considered self-made laws, and they endeavor to fulfill them in an attempt to be pleasing to God. Like the Jews, they do not see that Christ is the end, the termination, of all regulations and that they should take Him as their life that they may live righteously before God.
If we desire to experience Christ, we must realize that most of us are under certain laws, including our self-made laws. We need to see that when Christ visits us, He comes to us as the end of our self-made laws. When He grants us a gracious visitation, we will be stopped from trying to keep our self-made laws. His visitation will stop all our activities as well as all our desires, intentions, and even schedules made by ourselves.
Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness. The termination of the law is unto, or results in, righteousness to everyone who believes in Him. This means that the result of Christ terminating the law is that God’s righteousness is given to everyone who believes in Christ. He replaced the law that we may believe in Him to have Him as our righteousness. We need to see that the only genuine righteousness before God is Christ, the One who has terminated the law that He might be the living righteousness to everyone who believes in Him. Everyone who believes in Him receives God’s righteousness, which is Christ Himself. He is the end of the law so that we may gain and enjoy Him as our real and living righteousness before God.
Romans 10:5-8 reveals Christ as the word: “For Moses writes concerning the righteousness which is out of the law: ‘The man who does them shall live by them.’ But the righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, ‘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 the faith which we proclaim.” In these verses, the word is used interchangeably with Christ, indicating that this word is Christ. Christ was incarnated by coming down from heaven and was resurrected by coming up from Hades. Thus, He has become the living Word, the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), to be in our mouth and in our heart, just like the air, the breath, that can be taken into our being. He is near and He is available.