58. Friday after Epiphany.
God, teach us to know our nakedness;
and do thou clothe us with
the garment of righteousness. Amen.
Romans 10, 4-10. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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We note two things in this text: 1) “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth;” 2) Christ is in the mouth and the heart of the believers by means of the word. Today we will consider only the first of these points: “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” This means: The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, has him as its goal; and, then again, Christ has fulfilled the law. Whosoever believes in Christ is justified from the curse of the law, and the love of the law is perfected in him. Paul is exceedingly zealous for the justice of God. There can be no abatement of the law’s demands; there can be no haggling with the holy and just God. Do all that the law demands, all in its full sense inwardly and outwardly; have love in its true intensity, and let it govern your every thought and word and deed; then shall the law justify you; but if you fall short of this, the law condemns you. Whosoever will recognize this, and earnestly strive to do it, shall feel the severe might of the law; he becomes a sinner, and is chastened to Christ. For Christ alone has fulfilled the law. — But he that in this way comes to Christ and believes on him, is regarded of God as being one with Christ; what Christ has done I have done, what Christ has suffered I have suffered; I have kept the law, because Christ has kept it for me; I have atoned for my transgressions, because Christ has suffered death for me. I have really come to the end of the law, and am rid of it and dead from it by the body of Christ; I no more belong to the law, but to him that died for me, and lives for me. The law is not destroyed, but fulfilled. Now it is being fulfilled in me, also; for now I love God and my neighbor with all my heart; and Christ in me shall perfect this love in my heart, until finally, at death, all my evil flesh and blood, which still is under the scourge of the law, shall be utterly destroyed.
The second lesson that is emphasized by our text, and that is equally as precious as is the first, we will by the grace of God consider tomorrow. Let your thoughts dwell on Christ today; and understand, that he is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
O God, give us the open eyes of the Spirit to see the just demands of the law; and give us hearts which feel our sin with sorrow and believe in Jesus Christ, that we may in truth have part in his righteousness. Amen.*
Christ, the life of all the living,
Christ, the death of death our foe,
Who, thyself for us once giving
To the darkest depths of woe,
Patiently didst yield thy breath
But to save my soul from death:
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Blessed Jesus, unto thee.
[TLH 151, LSB 420, ELH 333; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.