Christ Is The End of the Law?

0:00Looking at our world from a theological perspective, this is the Theology Central Podcast, making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone, it is Wednesday, September 16, 2026. It is currently 12.55 pm Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. There's a lot going on. I know there's a lot of things we need to work on, so let me kind of tell you what we're going to be doing today. Today I had a medical appointment I had to go to, back to have a bandage on the back of my head. It hurts a little bit. It's a little irritating, but for the most part I'm doing okay. We still have the medical issues going on with my voice, and we're still trying to find out what's going on with that. But one thing at a time, all right? So I knew when I got up this morning, I was like, man, I don't even know if I'm going to be able to broadcast today.

1:01What should I do? I know I know one thing I can do. I opened up the Bible app, and I'm like, okay, what is my Bible reading for today, and one of my Bible reading plans. I found myself in Romans chapter 10, and I'm like, oh, yeah, Romans chapter 10, I mean, come on. Let's go there. That's an awesome part of scripture. So I'm like, okay, let's do that. Now, I didn't know if I was going to get an opportunity, but I feel like right now it's an opportunity to do this. So we're going to be talking about Romans chapter 10, and it'll be kind of like live harmonutics working through it together in real time, pointing out some very important issues, trying to put things in proper context. But before I can do any of that, I received an email at 540 AM Central Time. The title of the email is simply Revelation 2219. Revelation 2219. Now, as soon as I saw the subject, the title of the email, I was kind of like, wait, I haven't

2:08been talking about the book of Revelation. Okay. So if someone get ready, me ask a question about eschatology, and then I'm like, wait, Revelation 22. Hmm. I think I know where this is going. So I Revelation chapter 22 verse 19 reads like this, for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book. All right. Don't add. Don't take away. Got it. All right. Now, we could go all day in all of the different interpretations, how this is utilized. We have a verse in the Old Testament that says, do not add and take away. We have it at the end of Revelation. So what many people argue is that the, that these rules, these prohibitions, they add, they

3:09include the Old Testament. You're not to add or take away. And they include the entirety of the New Testament. You're not to add or take away. Others will be like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Those verses are found in very specific books. And in Revelation chapter 22 verse 19, it says, if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy that this is, this is restricted to just the book of Revelation and in the Old Testament is only referring to that particular book. And some people will make that argument. And you can go round and round and round. I have never done much teaching and arguing about it. I tend to kind of approach it this way. Okay, you want to say, do not add, you want to say, do not take away. Got you. Okay. Well, then let's start first with what pastors do from the pulpit because time and time again, when pastors are preaching something in the Bible, especially when they're dealing with historical narratives, they start adding to the story.

4:09And you're like, well, no, David didn't actually say that. No, you don't know what David was thinking. Now, you don't know what she was thinking. Well, that's not what it says. And so many times they start making the story more dramatic or making it like, you know, David was thinking and you're like, no, you're adding to it. So I'm like, if you're going to say, do not add or take away from the Bible, if that, if you're going to interpret this prohibition as being for the whole Bible, well, then don't do it. And you're preaching. And then whenever we start talking about the doctrine of inspiration, remember we talk about the original documents, the original autographs, God inspired those words, all the parts and all the words of the original were inspired by God, but the originals went by, by, by. So we have copies and copies of copies of copies. We have textual variants. We have some readings that are longer, some readings are shorter. So that means some words either were added or some were taking away, which reading is the right reading.

5:09And then even if you have a KJV Bible and you go through your KJV Bible, you'll notice time and time again in the KJV, you'll see words italicize. Those words are added by the translators and they're not in the manuscripts. So that's adding, okay? So I sometimes will point all of this out. I am not arguing, whoa, Revelation 22, 19, doesn't, I don't know how people can misunderstand what I'm saying. But here's the email I received. This says, your use of Revelation 22, 19 is taken out of context. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, notice it says, this prophecy, not the whole Bible, I know you can do better than that. And I was like, so I did email the person back. I'm like, when did I teach on Revelation 22, 19? And I made an argument, well, one way or the other. I'm very familiar with all the different arguments.

6:10I know some people state and they will go through all of their argumentation that this includes all of the New Testament and the Old Testament where this same concept is applied, is used. It applies to the whole Old Testament. My argument is, okay, let's say no words are to be added or taken away from the whole Bible. Let's just say that. Okay, then don't add or take away in preaching. We then have to deal with all of the additions and takeaways and variance and all the things that happens in the manuscripts. That's my point. So I don't know where I said this. I don't know. I am going to do something really quick. I am going to do something just because I am genuinely interested here. So I'm going to go, I'm going to look up theology central. I want to get to what we need to be talking about, which is Romans chapter 10. But I'm just, I'm very interested here. I'm going to go to the, oh wait, how come it's not working? Oh, there it is. Okay, I'm going to the theology central dot ask sermons dot com theology central dot ask sermons dot com.

7:18This is the theology central AI chatbot. All right. So how should I oppose the question? What has theology central said about revelation 22 19 maybe they, and now the person has an email me back. So I'm giving them the opportunity to tell me where I said it. And just so this is just for all people who email me. If you're going to email me saying I said this or I said that or I didn't say this. Could you please give me the episode in which I said it and a timestamp. I have almost 5,000 episodes online. Oh, yeah, well, about 5,000 if you put everything together. I know this may come as a shock. I don't remember everything I've said in 5,000 episodes.

8:20That represents ladies and gentlemen, 5,000 about 5,000 hours of talking. Okay. That's a lot of words. Okay. So I'm going to ask here. All right, here we go. I'm looking. Okay. So this is what it says. Revelation 22 19 states, and if any man she'll take away, I'm sorry, I started pausing there because I was trying to look at everything. I should have just started reading it. I'm sorry for that long pause. Sometimes when you're looking things up in real time, you forget you got a microphone in front of you. You know, you got to talk. Revelation 22 19 states, and if any man she'll take away from the words of the book of the prophecy.

9:21God, she'll take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from things which are written in this book. Okay. This passage in Revelation 22 should first and foremost be interpreted as referring specifically to the book of Revelation. That's literally what they. So the chatbot found, I literally said that. I literally said, what do you mean, do better? It's literally right there. Okay. So, oh my goodness. Oh. Okay. So, I have state, I have factual evidence. It gives me a link to the sermon. It gives me a link to the sermon. And oh man, that's just, that's so frustrating. That's so frustrating. So, if though, if they're in out, the AI chatbot could be missing something.

10:24If there is an episode where I literally say Revelation 22 19 that applies to the whole Bible, if I've literally said that, then give me the timestamp and I got no problem correcting it. I would like to know the context in which I have said that. Because almost inevitably, I always put things within its proper context. I'm not saying I always do it perfectly, but I usually do that. But I just want to make it very clear as a rhetorical, just so that people know what I tend to do. If so, if I know there's an argument out there, Christians say A. And I'll do this with anyone I debate with. Okay, your claim is A. And I will say, okay, I will accept your claim. Now let's take it to its logical conclusion. So, many cases you'll hear me say something like, well, I thought we're not supposed to add or take away from God's word. Well that's because Christians typically say we're not to add or take away from God's word. And they expand Revelation 22 19. I think it's endutoronomy. And they expand it to the whole Bible.

11:25And I'll be like, fine, let's say we're not supposed to add or take away. Well ladies and gentlemen, stop adding and taking away in your preaching. Stop and then acknowledge the adding and taking away that happens in manuscripts. And understand that even in your KJV, there are words in italicized which shows they were added. So therefore then I take it to its logical conclusion to go, we have a problem. So I think sometimes people miss the kind of rhetorical approach or maybe my argument or the my debate technique that I'm utilizing. I don't are the way I'm utilizing a logical approach. So if I have said that, I was wrong. If I've ever said Revelation 22 19 applies to the whole Bible and I just say it without any explanation because rarely do I say anything without a long explanation. That's what people typically make fun of me about. You can't just give a simple answer because there are no simple answers in Bible and theology. They require hours of explanation because you can say one thing one way and be possibly

12:30wrong. So I don't know where I don't know where that came from. So but the AI chatbot says that I have specifically stated that it must it should be first interpreted as applying to the book of Revelation itself. All right. Now with all of that said, are you ready to do this? All right. Revelation chapter and Revelation. The book of Romans. Yeah. Now I'm going to get I'm going to mess up at some point. Romans chapter 10. So I'm doing my Bible reading today and I'm just reading along and I read these words and Romans chapter 10. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Now I don't know about you, but if I'm doing my Bible reading and I read for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, ladies and gentlemen, I stand up for my chair.

13:31Woo. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Hey. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Okay. All right. Okay. I basically will run around and just start like celebrating. Open the front door. Run down the street screaming to everyone. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Isn't that awesome? I mean, it really shut up. It's two o'clock in the morning. We're trying to sleep. Go back upstairs and yell until your little microphone. Okay. All right. Maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole, but not much because that is an amazing verse. You don't get excited? That is amazing. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Oh, man. Now, maybe you don't have, maybe it's not a big deal to you. I would just say if it's not a big deal to you, here's what I would suggest. Spin the day with the law. Just go hang out with the law.

14:31Y'all can go get a cup of coffee. You can go in a long walk on the beach. Just hang out with the law for a long time. And after a while, you're going to look at the law and it's going to look at you and you're going to realize you're not very compatible and you just guys need to break up because it's not going too well for you because the more you hang out with the law, the more you're going to realize. You are a piece of trash. You are a sinner. You are a liar. You are a hypocrite. You are a failure. You don't love. You only love yourself when it does come to love. You are arrogant, narcissistic. You hate God. You hate every. You are a vile sinner. And you're going to be like, this relationship is really bringing me down. So if you hear that Christ is the end of law for righteousness, you could be like, whoa, all of a sudden Christ is going to start looking a whole lot better to you. You're going to be like, hmm, I think I'll choose Christ. I mean, I look, I'm sorry.

15:31I mean, hey, hey, law, it's been a nice, great relationship. We've had some wonderful times together. But you got to go because I think I found something much, much better. Now that's an oversimplification, but are you ready to dig into this a little bit? Right? For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. You should have that verse written down. It should be everywhere on your refrigerator mirror. I don't know in your car tattooed to your forehead. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme. It should be everywhere, all right? And I think the force of Romans chapter 10 verse 4 is even stronger when we simply don't treat it as an isolated theological slogan. In other words, if we go look at the rest of the context, then the verse itself becomes even more powerful. If we just rip it out of its context, it loses its power.

16:33It's still a powerful verse, but it loses it until you look at the rest of the argument. Okay? We have to do. We have to follow Paul's argument. And I think Paul's argument go well, where to begin. Let's go back to Romans chapter 1. Okay, we'll go to Romans chapter 9 verse 30. Let's go to Romans chapter 9 verse 30, all right? Romans chapter 9 verse 30 and we read this Romans 9 30. Oh man, I want to go further back. Okay, we got I got to force myself to do this. All right? Let's begin a new series in the book of Romans. Okay, I'm not going to do that. Romans chapter 9 verse 30. What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained two righteousness, even the righteousness of faith? Whoa, wait, Gentiles did not pursue righteousness, but they somehow attained righteousness.

17:34How does that work? Okay? Okay, I'm going. But Israel pursuing the law of righteousness have not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law for they stumbled at the stumbling stone as it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Now there's a lot going on there. A lot. Let me just try to break it down. The Gentiles, you know, the dirty dogs, the Gentiles, those vile unbelievers, they were not pursuing righteousness, but they attained righteousness. And this is a righteousness that is by faith. Notice it's a righteousness that does not come by doing. It's not a righteousness that comes by obeying. It's a righteousness that is by faith. Now you take Israel, they're the good guys, right?

18:36So Gentiles, boo, hiss, yerk, trash, you stink. Okay? The Israel, okay, these are supposedly the good guys, right? Okay? Israel, they pursued the law of righteousness. They pursued it. They tried. They put forth effort. They put forth action, but they did not attain it. That's Romans chapter 9 verse 31. The ones who didn't pursue it, get it and the ones who pursue it didn't get it. Now what kind of craziness is this? Look at verse 32. And I love how verse 32 begins. Why? Why? Why did they not, what is going on? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. So why did they not get it? Because they were, because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, they tried to seek righteousness by the things they did, by the things they

19:39did not do. They tried to get righteousness by their action, by their obedience, and they did not get it. I mean, that is, that is absolutely amazing concept, okay? And they stumbled over Christ, the stumbling stone in Romans chapter 9 32 through 33. Now, are you starting to get the context? All right? I think you're, I think it's starting to make some sense to you, all right? Then Romans chapter 10 continues the same thought. Look at Romans chapter 10 verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. All right? Paul desires Israel salvation. He wants his fellow Israelites to be saved. But what is their problem? What is their problem, okay? In fact, if you look at, if you look at number, well, if you look at Romans chapter 10 verse

20:432, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. So it's not a lack of religious seriousness. They've got zeal. They've got desire. But they have this zeal and desire, not according to knowledge. What knowledge is missing from them, all right? Then you look at verse 3, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness. They are, they, they know an idea of righteousness. They just don't understand God's righteousness. They don't understand how God's righteousness is obtained. And look what they did. And seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. They're doing things, but ultimately they're trying to establish their own righteousness. And then comes the most powerful verse ever. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

21:46Wow. Now think of it this way. There are two and man. If you, if you do, if you are a parent and you raise kids, man, church will mess them up. Okay. The church will, they may not even realize it. That's why you need, if your kids go to church or a part of youth group or a one or anything, you need to be asking questions. And inevitably they will perceive Christianity is about doing obeying, being a good little boy, a good little girl, not doing this. And once they become teenagers, they will see Christianity is not about having sex, not looking at poor, not listening to rock and roll, not dancing, not drinking, not doing drugs. They will perceive it this way. And what they're doing is they're ultimately trying to establish a righteousness by their own action. And you know what they're going to discover? They're going to fail. So think of it this way. There are two fundamentally different approaches to righteousness.

22:48There are two approaches to righteousness. And most people sitting in the church you go to probably is approaching this the wrong way. All right. One approach is you establish your own righteousness through a relationship with the law. Think about you and the law walking along, you know, along walk on the beach, you're holding hands. Oh, look at that. What a cute couple. No, your garbage couple, okay? Break up. All right. But you think somehow you're going to establish a righteousness by keeping the law. You're going to be a good little boy and girl. You're going to be a good little adult. You're going to be a good wife. You're going to be a good husband. All right. And you can try that. My all means go for it. The other way of approaching righteousness is you submit to God's righteousness. All right. And Paul has already explained how you submit to that righteousness.

23:51And that is you receive that righteousness. Are you ready for this? Are you ready? Here's how you receive it. Okay. Keep this on the download. You receive it by faith. Oh, cheap grace, cheap grace. You're all going to burn in hell. You losers. Okay. No, Paul's the one who says that you receive it by faith apart from the works. When we talk to Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes in a sense verse four explains verse three. All right. Now because they're being ignorant of God's righteousness, they're trying to establish their own righteousness. But guess what?

24:51Why are you trying to establish your own righteousness? Your Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Now we'll break first four down into even greater detail. I think you're catching on. At this point, you should be having a Baptist costume fit or some kind of costume fit. You should be jumping up and down, standing on a chair going, yeah, this is good. Right. This is all you should be contacting friends going, this is, have you seen Romans chapter 10 verse four? It's the most amazing thing ever. Now, I might get you kicked out of church. Okay. I know people are going to say, now that's an exaggeration. Well, just, you'll see how this all plays out. Okay. Because there's a whole line of reasoning within most churches that I think is opposed to all of this. And I'm going to be pretty dramatic when I, or pretty blunt when I start talking about it. But let's break this down. All right. Now, what does Paul mean by end here? The, I think it's tell us, I think in the Greek, I think it's tell us. I don't have a, I can open up the into linear. And I just really want to push for you can look it up.

25:52But I do know this, the Greek word can it carries the idea of termination, um, conclusion, goal, outcome, culmination, purpose. Now this is where we have a long standing interpretive debate. I know you're shocked, right? We open up the Bible. We look at one verse and ladies and gentlemen, we have an interpretive debate. Because no one agrees on one verse, okay? Right. So look at Romans chapter 10 verse four for Christ is the end of the law. Well, what does it mean? He's the end of the law. What does that mean? What does that mean? Are you ready for the two possible meanings? We have two, two, two, I tell you option number one. It just terminates the law or, um, it's a conclusion of the law as means of attaining

26:53righteousness that, hey, you know, in other words, Christ ends the law as being a means for trying to obtain righteousness. You're like, I'm going to obey. I'm going to follow scripture. I'm going to do good. That doesn't make you righteous. In fact, the law will never make you righteous. It will only reveal your unrighteousness. This is what blows my mind about Christians. It will be, they'll read scripture and it'll be like, do this, do this, do this, do this. And this is the way they think by doing it equals me being righteous. Are you out of your ever living mind? Do you smoke crack? Do you huff paint? I don't know what you're doing. Because if you think that the law is going to make you righteous, you're out of your ever living mind. You've been hidden ahead. You have a concussion. You have neurological disorder. You're drunk. I don't know what words to use. If you hang out with the law, all you're going to find out is that you're a piece of trash.

27:54So if we understand it this way, Christ terminates the law as a means of attaining righteousness. Okay. Okay. There's no point. You can't attain. So how do I attain righteousness? Not through the law, but through Christ. That's why I'm using that illustration. You're in the long walk on the beach with the law and you're like, oh, we've been so good together. I mean, I always feel like a piece of trash when I go out, who's that? That's Christ. He ends the law as being the means for righteousness. You're never going to feel whole. You're never going to feel complete. You're always going to feel like a piece of trash. But if you go join Christ, if you'll go walk with him, he's the end of the law for righteousness. And now you can obtain a perfect righteousness that comes through Christ by faith alone apart from works. No longer is the law going to be the means of righteousness. Christ will give you perfect righteousness and not by doing something by simply by faith.

28:55So that's interpretation number one. Christ terminates ends the law as the means for obtaining righteousness. Man, I like that interpretation. Because I know the I'm never going to obtain any righteousness from law keeping because no matter how well I do, remember, what does the law demand? Perfection internally externally and all that you do, all that you say, all that you think and all that you feel. That's why historically, how do you begin a worship service by your public confession? All right. I can read to you the Lutheran, the way we do it in a Lutheran church, right? Lord, we are a sinner and thought, word, indeed, by what we do. And by what we leave undone, we deserve your punishment. We confess that every Sunday because it's true every Sunday. It's true every Monday, every Tuesday, every Wednesday, every Thursday because the law is perfection. And when I look at the law, I see my imperfection. Christ terminates the law as the means of attaining righteousness.

29:56However, there's a second interpretation. Christ is the goal or the combination towards which the law was pointing. The law was always pointing towards Christ. That's a second way of interpreting this. Now, I'm going to argue that there is no compelling reason why I am forced to make an absolute choice between interpretation A or interpretation B. Interpretation A. Christ terminates the law as the means of obtaining it. Interpretation two, Christ is the goal towards which the law was pointing. In other words, the law has always been there, but it's pointing towards something perfect. It's pointing towards something absolutely without sin. Well, the only, the law can only point you to Christ because the law is only going to condemn you. So I think the law does both things. I think the interpretation here is both.

30:57Christ is the end of the law for obtaining righteousness. And Christ is the very fulfillment of everything the law was pointing to because the law was pointing to that which is perfect. And nobody has ever been able to go, I can do it. Christ stepped up and said, I can do it perfectly because I am the eternal son of God, born of a virgin, and therefore not having a sinful nature and being God in the flesh. So I think Christ is the culmination of the law because Christ can't be because Christ, I'll say it this way, Christ is the culmination of the law because Christ has come. And he is perfect and fulfills all the law perfectly. The law therefore can no longer function as the means by which someone establishes righteousness before God because Christ has come and he has fulfilled the law every jot and title for you.

32:03Now, I think we do have to see a qualifier here. Look carefully at the verse. For Christ is the end of the law. He's either the end of it by bringing it to an end for righteousness or he is the culmination of it because it's what the law was pointing to. It's a little bit of both, but notice he is the end of the law for righteousness. He is the end slash culmination of the law for righteousness. Now, we got to make sure we're very careful here. Paul isn't simply making an unrestricted statement like Christ ended the law. No, he ended the law for righteousness. Let's make sure we're making to do that. And I think Romans has kind of prepared us for this understanding. Romans 320 by the works of the law. No human being will be justified in his sight. No work of the law will bring justification for you before God because the law will only condemn you.

33:04Romans 321, but now the righteousness of God has been manifest apart from the law. How has righteousness of God been manifested apart from the law? In Christ Jesus. Romans 322, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Romans 328, for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. This is all right here in the book of Romans. Romans 4, if you go to Romans 4, Paul isn't, he's not now introducing some kind of like an unrelated idea. He's now, he's now kind of compressing much of Romans 1 through 9 into just a very short, or, well, let me say this, when you get to Romans, let me say it this way, when you get to Romans 10 for, all right, we can look at Romans chapter 4 specifically. Because if you look at Romans 4, he talks about Abraham, how he believed, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, say, talks about David, okay.

34:04These were sinful men, but they were declared to be righteous, not because of what they did, but because of belief, all right. But by the time you get to Romans 10 for, I should say it this way, when you get to Romans 10 for, Paul is all of a sudden introducing some unrelated idea. He is then compressing pretty much everything from Romans chapter 1 to Romans chapter 9 into basically one sentence. Romans 10 for is everything in Romans 1 through 9 compressed into one sentence almost. Okay, maybe that's an oversimplification, but I think it's a basic idea, all right. And notice the last part of Romans 10 for, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Now that's very, very, very, very, very important, all right. He does not say Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone who successfully lives according to Christ commands. He does not say that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

35:05He doesn't replace one righteousness, um, or think of it this way. He doesn't replace, oh, he doesn't replace one righteous producing law with a harder Christian version of it. Right? He says it's for righteousness to everyone who believes. If you believe, then the law has been ended for righteousness. Christ is the culmination law for everyone who believes. So there has to be belief, all right. But guess what? It's not like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Christ is the end of the law. But, but, but, but, but you've got to do this and this and this. No, there's not you replace that law with a different law. Roman Catholicism, like to kind of make that argument. No, the end of the law period for righteousness, all right. So think of it this way. The contrast is law establishes righteousness. No, Christ brings righteousness that is received through faith alone, all right. And if you look at Romans 10, 5, for Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law,

36:06the man who does those things, she'll live by them, all right. So now he's going to bring in a contrast. Hey, remember Moses? He wrote about the righteousness that is based on law. Moses did. You've got to keep the law. And if you don't, if you don't, you die. If you do, you live. And then you have Deuteronomy 28 through 30. If you obey everything, great. If you don't, bad things are going to happen. And what happened to those people living under that particular covenant? They failed because that's what everyone will. And then Romans 10, 5. Or so that's Romans 10, 5. And then look at verse 6. But, but, okay. The right thing is that, but, okay. The righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, 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 and your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach.

37:11It's a righteousness based on faith. You have either a righteousness based upon law, or you have a righteousness based upon faith. And then we have, if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for with the heart, one believes, and is justified. Romans 10 4 is not, it's not floating around independently. Romans 9 for 30 all the way through 10 13 is a one, how can we say it? One sustained argument about where righteousness is found. Where is righteousness found everyone? And Christ, where is righteousness not found? In the law. And when I say it's not found there, in other words, you're not going to be able to obtain it from there. You're not going to be able to find righteousness and you're trying to keep the law. Okay?

38:17Oh, there's so much more I want to say here. There's so much more I want to say here. I think I do want to contrast it here. If you go to Romans 8, oh, there's so much more I want to say here. I could teach you about, I could teach on this for about 12 years. Romans 8 verse 3 for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh. God did by sending his own son and his likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. All right? So what the law could not do? God did by sending his son. Now that to me is a devastating attempt to turn Christianity back into a project of establishing righteousness based on performance and much of Christianity is a performance based religion. It's behavioral modification and its performance based

39:20and it's trash. It's utter garbage. And I want to make this very clear. The problem wasn't that the law was defective. I am not saying that. Romans 7 explicitly rejects that idea. All right? The problem is us. The law of God is holy. It's righteous. It's good. So the problem is you and I because we have a sinful nature. So the answer is it, hey, try harder. Try to become righteous according to the law. The answer is God has accomplished something in Christ Jesus. That's the answer. And if you look at Romans 10 4, it gives us, I hate to sound like a Lutheran, but it's classic law gospel structure. Look, I'm sorry the rest of you go to churches where you don't know the difference between law and gospel but for crying out loud could you guys figure it out

40:20and catch up with the rest of us? Okay. The law identifies and gives a demand for perfect righteousness. However, it cannot give the righteousness, it demands. The law demands a righteousness and which it cannot give and it cannot provide. Christ is the end of the law as the sinner's way to righteousness. Righteousness is found in Christ through faith apart from the law. So if we kind of ask this question, where is the righteousness by which I stand before God? Where is that righteousness found that I can stand before God?

41:20Paul does not send you inward to measure your performance like pastors do and churches do and Christians do. He sends you directly to Christ. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone believe. Why are you looking to the law? Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. You're the righteousness that you need to stand before God is found in Christ. All right? And I want to make it very clear. Romans 10, 4. This is not some marginal idea. It's found in Romans 3. It's found in Romans 4. Romans 5. Romans 8. Romans 9. Romans 10. They're all different angle. Put it this way. Paul keeps saying the same thing like 500 different ways. If Paul got done with this podcast, hey, I'm the Apostle Paul and I'm going to start a new podcast on the book of Romans. By the time he got to the end of it, people are like, are you keep repeating yourself? You're too repetitive. You keep saying the same thing over and over.

42:20Get to the point. Well, you've got to be repetitive because we are so law based and our attitude and our mind that when we hear something different, we're like, it's cheap grace. It's easy believe in some. It's called the gospel. All right. Okay, man. Think of it this way. Paul's answer to the righteousness problem is very objective. Christ. Not the believer. It's not the, think of it this way. So Paul's answer to the righteousness problem. What's the righteousness problem? You need perfect righteousness to stand before God. What is the answer? It's objective. Christ is the answer. It is not the believers achieved righteousness or their works or their effort. All right. So, um, and it's for those who believe it's as simple.

43:22So if someone says justification is entirely by faith in Christ, your works contribute absolutely nothing to your righteous standing before God. However, if you want to know whether that faith is real, you must examine the quality and trajectory of your obedience. I'm sorry. That is garbage. Complete. Gar, it ticks me off. If I am justified entirely by faith and by faith in Christ, His perfect righteousness is computed to my account. How dare you tell me I have to go look to my life and my actions to prove something. I can't prove it because it was a righteousness given to me by faith apart from works. If I can prove it, then it's a righteousness obtained by works. Therefore, you've destroyed the gospel. And I hate to say it to some of you. The church is you go to. Teach a false gospel. And I don't care how much you love your church.

44:35You listen to churches and they're like, Hey, here's a Christian and they don't know what they're saved and they're worried and they're scared. Where should they find assurance? Where should they look to? The answer is almost say, Well, look at your obedience. Look at your repentance. Was your repentance real? I mean, did you really stop sinning? Well, look at your spiritual fruit. Well, look at your affections. Do you love God more than you love the world? How much are you reading the Bible? Are you praying enough? Oh, you've seen these tests? The 10 tests to prove that you're saved. Wretched radio has done that. MacArthur did it. Jonathan Edwards did it. It has infected Christianity. I don't look to my obedience to know that I'm saved. I look to the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. I don't look to... Oh, my goodness gracious. It just drives me crazy. So, here's what I'm going to do.

45:39I just really want to... I want to show you how Christians have ultimately destroyed Romans 10, 4, and they do it inadvertently, okay? I know I can get mad, but man, it ticks me off, because I hear it in sermons all the time, even on sermon audio, all right? If the question is, what is the evidence? What is the grounds that God can declare me righteous? Nothing. Let me make it very clear. Absolutely nothing. Occurring in my life morally can function as that evidence, because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Anything I do is law-based. I can't look to anything going on inside of me or outside of me. The righteousness and justification is Christ's righteousness. It is not my righteousness. I stand before God, not with my righteousness. If I can say, well, here's how I know I'm saved. I did this, this, this, and this.

46:39Christ is going to be like, what is that? I gave you perfect righteousness, and you're trying to cling to this garbage. And have you ever looked at your righteousness? It's trash. But you're going to be a self-righteous Pharisee thinking that some, oh, I don't do this. And I'll just stop it. Even your best righteousness is nothing but dirt and filthy rags. If we believe in imputed righteousness looking inside yourself for that righteousness is a categorical mistake. To impute righteousness means to reckon, to count righteousness to someone. It does not describe an observable moral quality produced within that person. Imputed righteousness does not produce righteousness in you.

47:42Imputed righteousness declares you are count you righteousness. Even though the whole world knows you're not. I think Romans four, I mean Romans four is, I mentioned Romans four earlier and then I kind of stopped. Romans four, five, but him, but to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Please note, to him who does not work, but believes he justifies whom the ungodly. And guess what? When he justifies the ungodly, you're still ungodly in practice. Guess what? You're no longer ungodly in your position. And that's almost shocking language. God justifies the ungodly. Justifies the justified person's moral condition is not the righteousness that is being described.

48:50It's the righteousness of Christ. Then in Romans four, seven through eight, he up a paw, a pill, a pill, a David will come in. Do we need to go through all the sins of David? And what does he say? Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. So if someone's like, hey, can you observe? Now, Christians will never say this, but when they say, look to your actions, look to this, look to that, look to that, to know your say, you should be like, wait, can I observe my imputed righteousness? Can I observe imputed righteousness? And I don't, if some, if a pastor, anybody says, well, you imputed righteousness will produce something. If they say imputed righteousness will produce something, run for your stinking life. It's a Roman Catholic church in disguise. They're describing infused righteousness.

49:51They've abandoned the entire reformation. You cannot see, you cannot measure, you cannot test imputed righteousness. Then if you think you can, I'm done. Then the whole, I don't even get it anymore. Let's just all go back to the Roman Catholic church and shut up, all right? Imputed righteousness is not a substance that's injected into you that you can then subsequently be, it can be measured or test it because of your behavior. That is an infused righteousness, which we supposedly reject. What, if I'm, if I was saying, what righteousness justifies you? What righteousness justifies you?

50:51Go ask your kids. What righteousness justifies you before God? If they say, well, I try to do good and I go to church and I love mommy and daddy and I try to do it. You, kid, get out of my house, you're a heretic. Okay, no, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. You just say, I think mommy and daddy's been taking you to a bad church and we're pretty stupid. We should listen to that guy in the theology central podcast. What righteousness justifies me? Their only answer can be the righteousness of Christ Jesus, His righteousness. Where is that righteousness? It is in, I'm going to start writing a catechism for kids and it's going to be a catechism to save kids from Christ. To save kids from their Christian parents and their stupid churches. Do you think that'll sell a catechism for kids to save them from their, I don't know, ridiculous parents and their stupid churches? Do you think it'll work? I can put, I can sell it like in a brown bag and go, hey kid, come here. Here's a catechism. Don't let your parents see it because they're all idiots.

51:51Okay, no, all right. I'm not going to do it that way. But here, what righteousness justifies me? Christ righteousness. Where is that righteousness? It's in Christ. It's credited to me. How did you obtain said righteousness? Oh, by going to church and reading my Bible? Well, we can tell you're raised in a Christian home. Okay, maybe we can find some atheist kids. What righteousness justifies you? It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Where is that righteousness? It is in Christ. It's accredited to me. How did you obtain said righteousness? By faith, apart from works. How do you know that righteousness has been credited to you? Because I believe in the promise of the gospel. I believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Now, if they go to church and they're like,

52:53hum hum hum hum. Some of you in here claim to be believers. Some of you in here claim to believe in Jesus. Well, we need to examine that righteousness. And we need to see what's showing up in your life. And we'll get to determine who the believers are. The possessors are. Versus the professors. We're going to find out who's true and who's false. Get out of the stinkin' church. At that point, you're no longer examining imputed righteousness. You're examining and infused or an inherent righteousness. And you're trying to use it as an evidence that there is that imputed righteousness exists. Let me say it this way. You cannot use sanctification or the process of sanctification to approve the reality of justification. Because justification is based on an imputed righteousness. Sanctification can only show what you're doing and striving to do and working.

53:54It doesn't prove that you're justified. It just proves that you're trying. That's why I'm Matthew 7. Lord, Lord, didn't we do this and this and this and this and this and this and this? And it says, apart from me, for I never knew you. Because your works don't prove anything. They just prove what you're trying to do. Because you can't prove imputed righteousness. Because it's accredited your account. You cannot see it. You cannot test it. You cannot measure it. And if you give me a test to say, we'll prove that you're safe. I'm gonna take that test to Jesus and go, hey, Jesus. You know, Christians on earth, they're all idiots. Well, they gave me this test and they'll say, let me hear it. Here, here, give me the test and he's gonna be like, I don't know how many times I have to do this. A plus he is perfectly righteous and it will be signed in his blood.

54:55And I can take that back and shove it in the face of the Christian. Well, well, well, well, it's easy to say you believe. We need to see it. How about you shut up and get out of my face? I don't have to prove anything to you. What I need to do is hope that Christ has righteousness has been imputed to my account. Because when I stand before God, guess what? You're not gonna be there. God's gonna be there and he will either see the perfect righteousness of his son or he's gonna see all the stupid righteousness that I tried to perform. And he's gonna say, sorry, you didn't make it. Now, what people say, well, works, don't save you. Works prove that you're saved. Again, how can works prove that I'm saved? Because works can't prove imputed righteousness. Oh my goodness, it drives me crazy. All right?

56:05So, what else do I want to say? What else do I want to say? I'm gonna just do this. I got a million other things I could say. You can see, I'm very passionate about this because I feel like a lot of people's lives have been a living hell because they've listened to Christians, okay? Now, I'm gonna read this in two translations. You'll see how that can be interpreted or it's understood two ways. Romans 10, 4, for Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe him are made right with God. Hey, the law was pointing to him and he showed up and he fulfilled it. And so therefore, the purpose of the law is to drive us to Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of it. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

57:08Christ fulfills it. Christ is the culmination of it and Christ ends it as far as it being the law for, hang on, let me read it directly. For the law for righteousness. All right? I'm gonna go, I'm gonna read it in another translation. I'm pretty sure this one's almost identical. I just want you to see, yeah, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know how else to say this. I know I get mad, I know I yell, and I know you probably don't understand why I get so frustrated. But this goes to the very heart of the gospel, all right? And remember, if we get the gospel wrong, what does Paul say? You're anathema. You're a gospel. You are anathema. You are damned. You are cursed. And both ideas can't be right. You can't tell me, oh, we're saved by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. Oh, praise God.

58:08Now, wait a minute, though. If you're really saved, you'll do A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, L, L, L, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, N, Z, and we'll throw in every other letter from every other alphabet. You've got to do all of these things. Well, that means I've got to do those things to be saved. No, you just have to do them to prove that I'm saved. And if I don't do it, then I'm not saying, well, yeah, so then I have to do them in a mortar to be saved. But let's just say they supposedly serve as proof. Okay, sir. How can doing those things prove imputed righteousness? Please explain that to me. Oh, you can't because you're still logically out of your ever living mind. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. I don't do things to get righteous or prove righteous. I look to Christ. Who is my righteousness? Christ is my justification. He is my righteousness. He is even my sanctification. And any test you give me, you can go to first John and destroy it, not make it a polemic against narcissism, but okay, make it a test book.

59:11Make, do all the tests you want for every single test. I will give it to Christ. And He has passed the test for me. And His righteousness is my, is imputed or accredited to me by faith apart from works. And if it's accredited to me apart from works, then works can't prove it because it's given to me apart from, what do you not understand apart from works? Now, you can argue, well, you should try harder and you should be a better Christian. And we should do this and do, we should do all kinds. We should be perfect, but we're not going to be. The reality is, no matter how many things you tell me to do, I'm not going to do them perfectly. That's why I have to run to Christ. And that's why in the Lutheran Church, every time we come to church, we stand, and we all united. Look, we may not agree on anything in that church, but we all agree this. We are sinners, and we cannot do anything, but rely on the mercy and grace that comes from God,

1:00:13apart from works. Then I am nothing but a beggar, and I will die nothing as a beggar. I have nothing to give to God. There's nothing I can bring to God but my sin. And He allows the righteousness of His Son to be accredited on my account. So then when I stand before God, it's not, well, you read your Bible, you did this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's everything Christ did is accredited to me. So God sees everything that Christ did, and you know what words I'll get to hear? Thy good and faithful servant. Why? Because I'm in Christ. And who is the true good and faithful servant? Jesus Christ. Romans 10, 4, you should have a... I don't, you should be running around the house, jumping on the table, jumping up and down, grabbing your kids, going Romans 10! Christ is the end of the law for righteousness! Now, kids, listen to me. Next time your mom and dad gets mad at you and they start saying, you didn't do this, you didn't do this!

1:01:16You can say, remember mom, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness back off, or I'm going to call the guy from theology central. I don't know if you can quite get away with that, but if you can, you can thank me. And then when you get older and you get a job, you can then send me a little money for helping you out when you were a kid. There you go. Wasn't that fine! But hey, I am joking around a little bit and I'm having a little bit of fun, but I do want to end on something extremely serious. I am going to end with this. A Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you, then that we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

1:02:22As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, then what you have received, let him be accursed. I'm sorry. A lot of what we hear in church today is not the gospel. It is basically Roman Catholicism dressed up, or as Roman Catholicism, without one pope, you just get to be your own pope. But you get to still be very Roman Catholic in your soteriology. Now, I'm going to do this. We'll see how many people I lose today from listening. All right, hang on. All right, my daughter is sending me news articles, of course, always. Surprise she hasn't called yet. All right. Okay, Michigan, thank you for showing up. I greatly appreciate it. Indiana, thank you for being there. Kentucky, thank you. North Carolina, three, three in North Carolina.

1:03:25South Carolina, one, Texas, who knows the numbers were always messed up. Ontario showed up. Hey, Ontario, hate to say it. Nova Scotia beat you. You got here late, Ontario. So Nova Scotia, you're winning. All right. And I don't know where our Scotland people are. Our Scottish Northern Ireland, all of the other parts that we don't know. I don't know where they are. Who knows what they're doing. All right, but everyone who tuned in, thank you so very much. Just a quick reminder that theology central podcast is supported by you. The listener, you know, supported it doesn't exist. And you can always support it by going to theology central dot net hitting the donate tab. If you use the cash app, just look for theology central. Or if you're on any of the sermonadio apps, sermonadio app, go to our sermonadio app. Go to the all look for theology central hit the give tab. If you're on church one, which is built by sermonadio, obviously choose theology central hit the give tab. Or if you're on the sermonadio website, look up ser theology central hit the give tab. All the money keeps this podcast going because it takes money to operate.

1:04:30All right. Thank you so very much. Everyone have a great day. Hey, really celebrate Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe. Are you trusting in Christ and his finished work? Then ladies and gentlemen, don't look to the law for righteousness. Christ is your perfect total complete righteousness. And nothing you can do can add to it. And nothing you can do can subtract from it. Praise God. Thanks for listening. God bless.