Is Christ the End of the Law?

A Closer Look at Romans 10:4

by Doug Ward, PhD

Sometimes a passage of Scripture is used so often as a proof text that it becomes a sort of slogan and takes on a life of its own, independent of its original context and meaning. One example is the famous phrase from Rom. 10:4, "Christ is the end of the law." This phrase is often used by Christians, especially those from the Lutheran and Dispensationalist traditions, to support the idea that since Christ has come, the laws of the Old Testament (OT) no longer have any relevance for us.

However, the meaning of Romans 10:4 is not as obvious as one might think, because telos, the Greek word for "end" in this verse, can be translated into English in several ways. One translation of telos is "termination point'' (see for example Strong's Concordance). If telos means "termination point'' in Rom. 10:4, then Paul may indeed be proclaiming that Christ's coming has brought some law to an end.

In contrast, telos can also be rendered "goal'' or "purpose''. If telos has this meaning in Rom. 10:4, then the verse may not be making a negative statement about "the law'' at all.

It turns out that each of these interpretations of telos in Romans 10:4 is currently upheld by large numbers of Christians. Those who believe that telos means "goal'' or "purpose'' in this verse can point to scriptures like I Tim. 1:5, Rom. 6:21-22, or James 5:11, in which telos clearly has that meaning. On the other hand, those who read telos as "termination point'' in Rom. 10:4 can cite Mark 3:26, Luke 1:33, and Heb. 7:3, where this same Greek word refers to something coming to an end.

A further issue that must be tackled in understanding Rom. 10:4 is the scope of the Greek word nomos, which is translated "law'' in English. Does nomos refer here to the laws given at Mt. Sinai, to the Pentateuch, or more broadly to the revelation of God's will given in the entire Old Testament? Since it is the Greek analogue of the Hebrew word Torah, nomos can have any of these meanings, depending upon the context.

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Is Christ the "End of The Law"? -- A new look at Romans 10:4 .