Paul writes:

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and plea to God for them is for salvation.
For I testify to them that they have zeal for God,
but not in right cognition.

For, not knowing the righteousness of God
and seek to establish their own justice,
they were not subordinated to the justice of God.

For the completion of the law is Christ,
to justice for everyone who believes.”
Romans 10:1-4

Paul pleads to God “for them,” namely, “for Israel” (cf. Rom 9:3-5). In chapter 9, he spoke about Israel from the perspective of God’s promises:

“But it is not as if the word of God has lapsed; for not all who are of Israel are Israel.”
Rom 9:6

The rest of chapter nine then talks about God’s promises. Paul quotes many passages from the Tenach (the Old Testament), from which God’s sovereign dealings with Israel were already visible in the past – and with a view to the future.

Now in the tenth chapter he is not talking about God’s actions, but about Israel itself. He testifies to the people that they have zeal for God, but – he says – not in right knowledge. Although there were many “of” the people who recognized Jesus as the Messiah for Israel, most of the people did not think so. They lacked, according to the apostle, the right knowledge. This is not a blanket condemnation, for example, but the apostle gives reasons for his statement:

“For, not knowing the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they were not made subject to the righteousness of God. For the consummation of the law is Christ, for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Rom 10:3-4

The righteousness of God – this was the fundamental theme of the Letter to the Romans. It is not surprising that Paul now also refers to this here. In Romans 3 he wrote, “But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been manifested (witnessed by the law and the prophets), but a righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, which is for all and comes to all who believe (Rom 3:21-22).” More on this section in the article “The Righteousness of God as Good News”.

It was not faith “in” Jesus Christ that revealed God’s righteousness, but literally faith “of” Jesus Christ that led to the cross. When we speak of the righteousness of God, we never speak of our faith, but of the faith of Jesus Christ and what God has wrought through His Son.

Instead of having a confidence in God’s righteousness, Paul says, they tried to establish their own righteousness. What Paul apparently encountered again and again was this contrast. In the Epistle to the Romans we read several times that many of the Jews at that time saw their salvation in following the rules of the Torah. It was a reliance on one’s own performance rather than God’s performance.

Whoever travels in this way in life is, of course, not subject to the justice of God. He who wants to work himself and expects his salvation from it cannot expect salvation from God at the same time. These two things, Paul says, contradict each other.

The completion of the law

Then follows this well-known verse “For the consummation of the law is Christ”. This verse is often taken out of context to imply that the law is “over”. But that is not the statement. To understand this, it is helpful to review Romans 3. Paul has already spoken about faith and law before:

“For we reckon that a man shall be justified by faith without works of the law.”
Rom 3:28

Now faith here is always the simple trust in God’s work, in His promises, in His solution, without contributing anything oneself. This statement, however, also applies to those under the law! The difference is not law or faith, but the statement is: without faith, even the law is of no use. It is, so to speak, the core of biblical faith that accepts at all times what God provides. Faith is needed not only today, but trusting God has always been the only way:

“For if God is the One who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised by faith. Do we now abolish the law by faith? May that not be inferred! But we uphold the law.”
Rom 3:30-31

Both Jews and nations can live only by faith. The law is not abolished, but it is upheld – because this faith is also witnessed in the law. So we cannot say that the law is superseded by faith. Both for those who were given the law (the Jews) and for those who never received a law (the nations), faith applies equally. The same trust in God, the same faith, the same attitude, apply to both, Jew and nations, in their own context.

Back to the text in Romans 10:4:

“For the consummation of the law is Christ, for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Rom 10:4

Completion of the law is not the same as abrogation of the law. Rather, it is about the fulfillment of the law. The Greek word telos used here is the end, in the sense of the last piece (2Cor 1,13, 2Cor 11,15). Indeed, whoever thinks the statements of the Torah to the end, following God’s words, will recognize in Christ the completion, namely the fulfillment of all that the Law has pictured (Ex 25:40, Col 2:16-17, Heb 9:23, Heb 10:1). The one who does this will also realize that Christ is for righteousness for everyone. Believing this is the realization of God’s righteousness, which is greater than anything a person can achieve by his own strength.

If we put it all together – all the different statements of Paul, and the biblical story itself – it’s all about trusting God, trusting what He does. There man fails, there he will experience salvation. This is also what Paul meant when he wrote:

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and plea to God for them is for salvation.”
Rom 10:1