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The Law, The Cross and the Right Conclusion

As time passes, looking in the mirror becomes increasingly confronting. Eyes sag, waists thicken, and wrinkles appear where none existed before. This is the shared human experience—the steady march of time that spares no one, except through calamity. Scripture reminds us that most are given three score and ten, seventy years, to work it all out.

The sobering question is this: how many actually reach the right conclusion?

Solomon did. After wealth, pleasure, wisdom, labour, and legacy had all been tested and found wanting, he wrote:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
— Ecclesiastes 12:13–14

This is not the conclusion of a naïve man, but of one who had everything the world could offer and found it still not enough. His words press us toward an unavoidable reality: life moves towards judgment, and meaning is found only in our relationship with God.

That brings us to a necessary question—one that cannot be avoided if we are to understand our standing before Him: how do we reconcile the law with the sacrifice of Christ, and what does that mean for us today?

To answer that, we must first understand the law itself and the role it plays in the life of mankind.

The Law: God’s Standard Revealed

The law was given to the Jews through Moses at Sinai, not as a means of salvation but as a revelation of God’s holiness. It established Israel as a covenant people and revealed what righteousness looks like in the sight of a holy God.

Scripture is clear about the law’s primary function:

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
— Romans 3:20

The law functioned as a mirror. Sin existed before the law, but the law named, defined, and exposed it. Through commandments and statutes, God showed Israel His standard—and in doing so revealed how far mankind had fallen short of it.

A Tutor, Not a Saviour

Paul describes the law as a schoolmaster:

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
— Galatians 3:24

For the Jewish people, the law restrained evil, ordered society, and governed worship, morality, and daily life. Yet it could not transform the heart. It diagnosed the disease but offered no cure.

This limitation was made unmistakably clear through the sacrificial system.

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
— Hebrews 10:4

The repetition of sacrifices was not a sign of success but of insufficiency. Sin was covered temporarily, never removed permanently.

Separation and Identity

The law also served to separate Israel from the surrounding nations:

“Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments… and I have separated you from other people.”
— Leviticus 20:22–24

Dietary laws, Sabbaths, festivals, and ceremonial practices set Israel apart. These were daily reminders that they belonged to God and were called to reflect His holiness before the nations.

Yet history records repeated failure—not because the law was flawed, but because the human heart was.

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
— Romans 7:12

The problem was never the law. The problem was sin.

From Law to Fulfilment

If the law revealed God’s standard and exposed mankind’s inability to meet it, it also pointed beyond itself. It was never meant to be the final word—it was a signpost.

The law demanded righteousness but could not produce it. It restrained behaviour but could not redeem the heart. In this way, it prepared the ground for something greater—someone greater.

Jesus Himself made this clear:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
— Matthew 5:17

The law revealed the need, and Christ fulfilled it.

Christ: The Fulfilment of the Law

What the law demanded, Christ fulfilled. Every requirement, every commandment, and every standard of righteousness was met perfectly in Him.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
— Romans 10:4

He obeyed where Israel failed. He lived without sin under the very law that condemned all others. In doing so, He became the spotless sacrifice the law required.

Under the old covenant, blood was continually shed. Under the new covenant, blood was shed only once.

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
— Hebrews 10:12

The cross was not God overlooking sin—it was God satisfying justice. Sin still demanded death, and Christ bore it in our place.

From External Obedience to Internal Transformation

The law worked from the outside in. Christ works from the inside out.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”
— Ezekiel 36:26

Salvation is no longer pursued through effort but received by faith:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
— Ephesians 2:8–9

This is not freedom to sin but freedom from sin’s dominion. The law could command holiness; Christ produces it.

The Law Written on the Heart

The promise spoken through Jeremiah is fulfilled in Christ.

“I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.”
— Hebrews 8:10

Obedience is the fruit of transformation, not the price of acceptance. The believer keeps God’s commandments not to be saved, but because they are saved.

The Right Conclusion

Time strips away illusions. Strength fades, certainty weakens, and the mirror reminds us that life is moving towards judgement. The law was given to reveal that reality. Christ was given to redeem it.

Solomon’s conclusion still stands:

“Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

For the believer, this is no longer lived out under condemnation but in reverent gratitude. The law has done its work. The sacrifice has been made. The invitation remains.

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”

The correct conclusion is not found in striving harder or doing better. It is found in surrender—trusting fully in the finished work of Christ and allowing the law of God to be written not on stone but on the heart.

Ultimately, the question is not whether God will judge. Scripture makes that certain. The question is whether we will stand in our own righteousness—or in His.

All Hail King Jesus, now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone