In our last article, two weeks ago, we showed how it is that: "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes." (Romans 10:4)
We wish to consider this matter a little further, for, as we then said, there is very much that might be said upon it. Indeed, the whole gospel is comprised in that one sentence; for the gospel is simply the good news of how men who have broken the law may be saved through Christ, and enabled to keep it.
In all our investigations let it be borne in mind that the righteousness of God is contained in His law, (Isaiah 51:4-7) and that Christ is the end of the law only for righteousness, which is equivalent to saying that He is the object of the law for obedience.
We now call the attention of the reader very briefly to the 7th chapter of Romans. We have space to notice only a portion of the chapter. In that the apostle brings to view, using himself as an illustration, the progress of a man from a state of worldly, carnal security, to that of acceptance with God. Let us follow him in his narrative.
The Law Reveals Sin
First we notice his statement in verse 7 that the law is not sin: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law." (Romans 7:7)
This he proves by showing that it is the law which points out and forbids sin. Then, of course, it must be perfect. We can detect base coin only by using genuine coin as a standard. The parallel to this verse is found in: "By the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:20)
He continues, "For without the law sin was dead." (Romans 7:8)
This is the statement of verse 7 in another form. Before the law was brought to his knowledge, he did not know sin; it did not trouble him any. Although he did not know the law, he was a sinner, yet his sin, so far as his knowledge was concerned, was dead. "For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7:9)
Without the law ("the commandment") he was in a state of ease and carnal security, perfectly satisfied with himself. But when the law was applied, it made his sin assume hideous proportions. He saw himself just as he was. "And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." (Romans 7:10)
How is this? The commandment (law) was ordained to life: that is, its object was to give life, which it will always do to those who obey it. "The man which does these things shall live by them." (Romans 10:5)
This was the object of the law, but now that the law has been violated, it cannot fulfill the end for which it was designed; it can only condemn to death. Mark this well; around this fact the whole argument centers.
The Law Regarded with Honor
And how did the apostle regard that law which, by showing him to be such a sinner, had condemned him to death? Said he: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Romans 7:12)
He acknowledged the perfectness of the law. And herein he showed his honesty of heart. He did not rail at the law, applying to it all manner of opprobrious epithets, and try to evade it or convince himself that it was abolished. No; he confessed himself a sinner, justly condemned by a perfect law.
He recognized the fact that the law had done nothing to him: it had not created anything in him, but had simply brought to light that which previously existed. The effect of introducing the law is to make sin appear exceeding sinful. It is as a rod thrust to the bottom of a vessel of water, which roils the water by stirring up the sediment that lay in the bottom, yet it creates no impurity whatever. The dirt would be there if the rod were not introduced.
A Convicted Sinner
Therefore Paul did not complain, for he knew that the fault was in himself, and not in the law. So he exclaims: "For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." (Romans 7:14)
In verse 9 Paul anticipates his argument, when he says, "and I died." (Romans 7:9)
This was the final result in his case. What does he mean by this? In the light of the preceding verse the answer is clear. When he was alive, it was when he was without the law--lawless; a servant of sin. Death is the direct opposite of life; therefore when the commandment came, and he died, it must mean that he yielded to the claims of the law, and ceased sinning. And this will be the result with every one who is as honest with himself as Paul was. This is conversion. But as before said, the apostle anticipates in order to place the effect side by side with the cause; he did not die without a struggle.
We have now the man before us as a convicted sinner, and here is his description: "For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." (Romans 7:15)
This verse is introduced by "for," showing that it is a consequence of something that goes before. The preceding clause is, "but I am carnal, sold under sin." (Romans 7:14)
A Slave to Sin
Now what is the condition of a man who is sold into slavery? He is unable to do anything for himself. He may be conscious of the degradation of his position, and long to be free, but he is placed where he cannot help himself; his hands or feet are bound with a chain.
Every sinner is in bondage. (See 2 Peter 2:19) Before the law of God is held up before him, he is unconscious of his slavery; when he sees its claims, he arouses to a sense of his condition. But his struggle to break the galling chain is fruitless, because his long-continued bondage has weakened him. This struggle of the convicted sinner against sin is mentioned in several verses of this chapter. "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now, then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7:16-17)
Here we have the case of a man convicted of sin by the law, conscientiously trying to keep it, and yet continually violating it, even against his will. He says, "It is not I that do it, I do not design to violate the law; but sin has bound me so long, and has such power over me, that I cannot get free."
It is no longer from desire that he sins, but from the force of habit which he cannot break. And so the fruitless struggle goes on, until the man in an agony of despair, exclaims: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)
We cannot imagine a more horrible condition than the one here brought to view. In ancient times a criminal was sometimes chained to the dead body of a man, and forced to drag the putrefying carcass wherever he went, until the effluvium caused him to die a miserable death. Think of the desperate attempts such a man would make to get free, and how frantic he would become as he realized the impotence of his arm as compared with the chain that bound him. How his whole soul would go out in that piteous cry, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?"
How many are there who have felt themselves in such a condition under the load of sin? It is in this condition the apostle (the representative of a class) finds himself. He feels that sin is about to sink him into perdition, and, convinced of the hopelessness of his struggle, he cries out for deliverance, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24)
Christ Delivers from Sin
Immediately the question is answered, and he again exclaims, this time with transports of joy, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 7:25)
As soon as he realizes his own inability to meet the demands of the law, Christ is presented to his view, and he at once accepts deliverance from the only one who can give it. Christ strikes off the chain, and sets the prisoner free. Not only does He forgive past transgressions, but He helps us to break the chains of habit, and overcome the love of sin. And then the apostle continues: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
The reason why there is no condemnation, is told in the following verses, in which it is said that he who is in Christ keeps the law of God; he "walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit;" (Romans 8:1) in other words, "he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Righteousness Attained by Faith, not Flesh
This argument is not complete without verse 3 and 4 of the 8th chapter: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending 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." (Romans 8:3-4)
What could not the law do? It could not justify any man, and give him life. Wherein lay its weakness? Not in itself, but in "the flesh." It is the fault of man that the law condemns him, and not the fault of the law. The law cannot give life, because it has been violated.
And in this extremity what did God do? He sent His own Son. What for? That the righteousness of the law (i.e., the law in its perfectness) might be accomplished by us. What we could not do while yet in bondage to sin, we may perform when we become free men in Christ.
Righteousness is required of us, and that means that there is something for us to do, for righteousness is simply right doing. But Christ says, "without me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Our own righteousness, that is, the good that we attempt to do by our own unaided efforts, amounts to nothing. It is not righteousness at all, but unrighteousness. When, however, we join the strength of Christ to our own weakness, we can truly say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)--Signs of the Times, August 7, 1884--Original title: Christ the End of the Law.