What Was Abolished by the Death of Christ?
By L. A. S.
The death of the Son of God on the cross did not abolish the law of God, but gave the strongest possible testimony to the fact that the law of God could not possibly be abolished or changed. It put an end, not to the law which condemns sin, but (through faith) to the sin which the law condemns. It did not change God’s standard of righteousness, but changed man’s standard so as to bring it into harmony with the divine standard. It did not reconcile God to human sinfulness, but reconciled sinful man to God, by slaying the enmity which sin had put between them. It abolished, not the law, but death which man had incurred as the penalty of the law’s transgression. It abolished, not God’s rule of right, but the law of sacrificial offerings by which men had shown their faith in the coming true Sacrifice for sin. It did not obviate the necessity of keeping the law, but provided a way whereby the law might be kept. It did not abolish that which condemned the carnal heart, but abolished the thing that was condemned, putting in its place a new heart which God approves. It did not abolish the law, but abolished the curse of the law, Christ “being made a curse for us.” It did not destroy the law which the devil has so long and persistently warred against, but made sure the destruction of the devil, who has opposed that law. It provided, not that the law should be abolished, but that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in those who walk by faith. Without the law, there could be no foundation for the gospel.