When God says Christ is the end of the Law, (Ro 10:4) He doesn’t mean the Law is obsolete. (Ro 3:31) The Greek is telos, meaning purpose, or the point aimed at as a limit. He means the goal of the Law, its objective, is Christ; Torah is our gateway to freedom (Ps 119:133) and divine fellowship. (Jn 14:21)
In other words, the goal of Torah is love out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and genuine faith. (1Ti 1:5) Keeping God’s law to achieve any other end, for any other purpose, is pointless (1Ti 1:6-7); it’s only good for us if we use it as God intended. (1Ti 1:8)
- So, keeping Torah is NOT about:
- Salvation: I’m justified fully and only by the blood of Christ; nothing else. (1Pe 1:18-19)
- Earning acceptance: I know I can’t be accepted by God any more than I already am. (Ep 1:6)
- Being self-righteous: Studying Torah exposes my sinful nature (Ro 8:7) and reinforces my utter dependence on God for graceto obey Him. (Ro 7:18)
- Keeping Torah IS about:
- The New Covenant: When God saved me He began writing Torah into my mind and heart. (He 8:10) As He does this, I can’t help but delight in His Law (Ro 7:22), and obey as much of it as I can. (Ps 119:32)
- Love and fellowship: As I come to love Torah more and meditate on it, I begin to obey it more and to love God more (Jn 14:21), to love others more (2Jn 1:6), and to walk in the light in deeper, sweeter fellowship with God. (1Jn 1:6-7)
- Freedom: As I obey Torah I discover why God calls it “the law of freedom” (Ja 1:25): the Spirit uses Torah to identify sin (1Jn 3:4) and deliver me from its bondage. (Ps 119:45)
So, while keeping God’s law doesn’t justify me, it does provide evidence that I’m justified, and that I love him.