It is Finished

There was once a celebration of such a watershed event on God’s time line, only it focused on a spiritual bench mark, not a chronological milestone.

This wasn’t a mere once-in-a-lifetime event; it was a once-in-eternity event: “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:18). No more sin offerings! Jesus was the perfect offering for sin.

Man, there was dancing in the street when spiritually hungry, hurting people who had labored under the Law all of their lives realized what God had done through Jesus Christ on the day of His atonement! They had felt under condemnation for so long. Now God, through His Son, had made a new covenant with man. He revealed the reality that had been prophesied.

They came to understand that “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). Romans 10:4—now there’s the ultimate “10-4” that radio buffs quote to signal that their “work” is finished. Christ finished His work! It’s not half-finished or almost finished, it’s finished. “Righteousness to everyone who believes.” W. E. Vine defines righteousness in this instance as “the gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.”4 That means we’re OK with God.

God explains the process by which the watershed transition from Law to grace took place in Galatians 3. “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed” (verse 23). This describes the condition of the Old Testament believers and today’s sinner-man. “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith” (verse 24).

The Holy Spirit uses the valid guilt that the Law produces to make the unregenerate man’s heart sensitive to his need to be rescued. This produces an openness to the gospel. Law has “tutored” him to place his faith in Christ. “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (verse 25). Once this step of faith in Christ is taken, a person becomes born again and no longer needs the Law to “tutor” him to Christ. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (verse 26).

- Bill Gillham