Romans 10:4

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

Part of the Torah Eternal study — examining every passage cited to argue the Law has been abolished.

The Common Reading

Christ terminated the law. The word “end” means cessation — the law had a lifespan, and Christ’s coming marked its expiration. Believers no longer need the law because Christ has ended it.

What the Passage Actually Says

Telos: Goal, Not Termination

G5056 telos — end, goal, aim, purpose, fulfillment, completion. This word has a wide semantic range, and the English “end” captures only one slice of it. In Greek, telos commonly means the goal toward which something moves — the purpose for which it exists. Consider its uses:

• 1 Tim 1:5 — “Now the end [telos] of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart.” The telos of the commandment is love — its goal, not its termination. The commandment is not abolished; it aims at love.
• Jas 5:11 — “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end [telos] of the Lord.” The Lord’s purpose/goal, not His cessation.
• 1 Pet 1:9 — “Receiving the end [telos] of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” The goal of faith is salvation — faith does not terminate.

A runner’s telos is the finish line. Crossing it does not erase the course. Christ is the telos of the law — the destination it was always running toward. Every promise, every type, every instruction points to Him. He fills the law full (G4137 plēroō — Mat 5:17).

The Immediate Context: Israel’s Misdirected Zeal

Paul is not making a general statement about the law’s abolition. He is diagnosing a specific problem:

“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” — Rom 10:2–3

Israel’s error was not Torah-keeping — it was seeking to establish their own righteousness through Torah performance while being ignorant of God’s righteousness (available through faith in Christ). They missed the goal. They ran the course but did not see the finish line.

Verse 4 answers this: Christ is the telos — the goal — of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Israel should have arrived at Him. The law pointed to Him all along. Those who believe receive the righteousness the law was always aiming at.

Paul Quotes Torah in the Next Verses

If Paul just declared Torah terminated, quoting it as authoritative immediately afterward is inexplicable:

“For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” — Rom 10:5 (quoting Lev 18:5)

“But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? … But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart.” — Rom 10:6–8 (quoting Deut 30:12–14)

Paul quotes Leviticus and Deuteronomy as living, authoritative Scripture — not as a terminated system. He uses Torah’s own words to explain how faith-righteousness works. If the law were abolished, citing it as the witness to faith-righteousness would be citing a dead authority. Paul treats it as fully alive.

Rom 3:31 — The Definitive Statement

Paul already settled this question seven chapters earlier:

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” — Rom 3:31

G2476 histēmi — to establish, set up, make stand. Faith does not make the law void — it establishes it. If telos in 10:4 meant “termination,” Paul contradicted his own thesis statement from chapter 3.

How Telos Was Read in Early Translations

The early church did not uniformly read this as “termination.” The Latin Vulgate renders telos as finis — which, like the Greek, carries the meaning of purpose/goal as well as ending. The context determined the reading, and early interpreters who read Paul affirming the law (Rom 3:31; 7:12) would naturally read 10:4 as “Christ is the goal.”

The modern English reading “Christ ended the law” depends entirely on importing the “cessation” meaning of “end” — one option among several — while ignoring every contextual signal that Paul means “goal.”

Harmony

1. G5056 telos means goal, aim, fulfillment — used this way in 1 Tim 1:5, Jas 5:11, 1 Pet 1:9. The finish line of a race does not erase the course.
2. The context is Israel’s failure to reach the goal (vv.2–3) — seeking their own righteousness rather than arriving at Christ through faith. Christ is what the law was aiming at.
3. Paul quotes Torah in the next verses (vv.5–8, from Lev 18:5 and Deut 30:12–14) as living authority — not a terminated system.
4. Rom 3:31 says faith establishes the law — Paul’s own definitive answer to whether faith voids Torah.
5. Mat 5:17 uses the same logic: Christ came to fulfil (plēroō) the law — fill it full, not abolish (katalyō) it.

Greek Reference