Grafted-In Ministries

Messianic Jews and the Law, Part 5
By Michael Schiffman

Righteousness and the law … how do they relate?

Coupled with justification is the concept of righteousness. Romans 3:21-31 explains the relationship between righteousness and the law.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Messiah Yeshua to all who believe. (emphasis author’s)

Righteousness is testified to by the law, but is only obtained through faith. Justification and righteousness come through Yeshua, the atoning sacrifice for our sins. The law does not have a function in the attainment of justification and righteousness. Paul said in Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” In verse 31, Paul asks, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” Thomas McComiskey wrote,

The phrase apart from the law seems to teach that the law has been nullified as a principle of obedience because the righteousness of God is now obtainable by faith. This view…is rendered difficult by the statement of verse 31…The solution…can be [grasped] when the law is understood to be honored by the righteousness of faith, to be fulfilled by that faith, and thus silenced in its condemning function because of the righteousness obtained through faith. The principle of law cannot give such righteousness; it is the standard of righteousness. When the standard is broken, it condemns because it is law. But the law does not change human hearts. If hearts are to be conformed to the law, the change will be accomplished not by law, but by the revolutionary act of faith in [Messiah] which imparts new motivation and radical observance.(1)

Paul is saying that what he has taught about faith is not inconsistent with law. Law does not nullify or diminish grace or faith. The teaching of the Old Covenant is consistent with the New. God’s law is consistent with God’s grace. Paul goes so far as to say that this faith establishes the law. Everett Harrison expressed it this way:

The Gospel establishes the law in that the latter is vindicated. The law has fulfilled a vital role by bringing an awareness of sin…Since the death of Messiah was in terms of God’s righteousness, this means that the demands of the law have not been set aside in God’s plan of salvation.(2)

For Harrison, the law is established by the New Covenant faith. Law and faith complement one another. The law is not without purpose, but that purpose is not justification and the obtaining of righteousness. In Romans 10:3-4, Paul said,

Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Messiah is the end [telos] of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

There is a difference of opinion pertaining to the interpretation of telos (end) in verse 4. One understanding is that the Messiah is the termination of the law, while the other is that Messiah is the goal of the law. Daniel P. Fuller has observed,

Understanding the telos in Romans 10:4 as goal or completion makes it easier for this verse to argue for the one preceding than it telos were construed as meaning termination or cessation… [Messiah] is the completion of the law in that, as Himself a revelation from God, he embodied in all his teaching and work a pure expression of the righteous standard of God found in the law.(3)

This interpretation makes sense in light of Romans 3:31. It would be a terrible inconsistency for our faith to establish the law on one hand and terminate it on the other. The explanation of Yeshua as the goal of the law is supported by Galatians 3:24, “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Messiah that we might be justified by faith.” It is also supported by the words of Yeshua in John 5:39,

You diligently study the Scripture because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that speak of me.

Thomas McComiskey wrote,

If telos is understood to mean goal, then Paul’s view is compatible with Matthew 5, where [Yeshua] demonstrated His goal of fulfilling the law by explicating it, defining it, and enjoining it on His followers. If Paul believed the Old Testament was absolutely terminated, several statements of his are difficult to comprehend, such as his injunction to keep the law in Ephesians 6:2 and his assertion in Romans 7:25 that he was a slave to God’s law. (4)