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For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
  • BSB For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
  • NKJV For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
  • NASB For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
  • NLT For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. He is the goal to which the law pointed and the source of righteousness for all who trust him.

Overview

Paul states a key truth: Christ is the end, or culmination, of the law for righteousness to all who believe. The Greek word can mean both goal and termination; faithful interpreters see Christ as the law's intended aim and the one who brings its righteousness-by-works era to its appointed close. Either way, righteousness now comes through faith in him, not through law-keeping, making Christ the heart of the gospel Paul preaches.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Gal 3:24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
  • Rom 8:3–4For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
  • Matt 5:17–18Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
  • Acts 13:38–39Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
  • John 1:17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
  • Heb 10:14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
  • Isa 53:11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
  • Col 2:17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
  • Col 2:10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
  • Rom 7:1–4Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
  • 1 Cor 1:30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
  • Rom 3:25–31Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
  • Rom 3:22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
  • Heb 10:8–12Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
  • Matt 3:15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
  • Heb 9:7–14But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 10:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 10:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.