The Abrogation of the Law of Condemnation

Let’s see if we can reverse engineer this clause and figure out what was on the mind of those who penned it.

Sometimes the language in the BASF is a little challenging to understand, and one such case is found in Clause 8:

Jesus is said to “abrogate the law of condemnation” with the clause using a word that we don’t tend to use very often, if at all. Let’s see if we can reverse engineer this clause and figure out what was on the mind of those who penned it.

First, the clause emphasizes the idea of condemnation. Jesus “was to be raised up in the condemned line of Abraham and David” and was “wearing their condemned nature, so he could “abrogate the law of condemnation.” Clearly, this has reference to the fact that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50), and we are all born into a situation where our fleshly nature leads to death. Jesus, in sharing that nature, was also condemned to death.

The phrase “abrogate the law of condemnation” therefore refers to how Jesus solved our shared problem. A quick perusal of the Scriptural passages associated with Clause 8 tells us this is what was intended by that phrase. For instance, here are some of the verses listed:

In each of these verses (along with others listed pertaining to the clause), the writer speaks of our predicament, followed by the solution in Christ. We were condemned, but have been released from that condemnation through his death and resurrection.

That’s pretty straightforward, but why did our pioneer brethren choose to use the unusual word “abrogate?” I asked ChatGPT what the word meant in the late 19th century:

In the late 19th century, the word “abrogate” carried essentially the same meaning it does today: To annul, repeal, or abolish by authoritative action (especially a law, custom, treaty, or regulation).

It comes from the Latin abrogare (“to repeal, annul”), and English usage of the term had already been stable for centuries by the 1800s.

For example, you’ll find it in 19th-century legal and political writings in contexts like:

• “to abrogate a treaty” (terminate or formally cancel it),
• “to abrogate a statute” (repeal a law), or
• “to abrogate a custom” (do away with an established practice).

Sometimes it was also used in a broader moral or rhetorical sense, meaning “to put aside, treat as non-existent, or ignore.”

That’s fine as far as English usage at the time the BASF was penned, but does it have any Scriptural justification?

Indeed, it does, and our first clue is in one of the first verses listed with the clause:

Jesus destroyed the devil, but the word does not mean to destroy in the sense of annihilation. The writer used the Greek word katargeo, which means “to render inoperative,” or “abolish,” which is the idea of abrogation. Let’s see how the word is used throughout the New Testament, which will help us appreciate a little more what Jesus accomplished.

The first occurrence of the word is in Luke 13, where Jesus tells his Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. The owner of the fig tree, upon learning that the tree was not bearing any fruit, told the vinedresser, “Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” (v. 7). The phrase “use up” is our word katargeo. If the fig tree represents Israel in this parable, then there was something about the nation that was abolishing the ground’s ability to support a fruitful tree. What caused that to happen?

Jesus destroyed the devil, but the word does not mean to destroy in the sense of annihilation. The writer used the Greek word katargeo, which means “to render inoperative,” or “abolish,” which is the idea of abrogation.

The word katargeo is a favorite one of Paul’s, and he uses it in a passage that helps us understand the parable. In Romans 4, as he often does in his writings, he contrasts law and faith. In verse 14, he writes, “For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void [katargeo].” While this is a counterfactual statement, the point is that the Jews “pursued a law that would lead to righteousness.” (Romans 9:31).

Jesus’ point in the parable is that a law-based religion abolishes one’s ability to be fruitful.

On the other hand, Paul first uses the katargeo in Romans 3:3 when he asks, “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify [katargeo] the faithfulness of God?” The fig tree could not bear fruit, but that does not abrogate God’s purpose, which stands firm despite Israel’s best efforts to frustrate it.

Later in the same chapter, Paul makes an important clarification: “Do we then overthrow [katargeo] the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (v. 31). It is not the Law itself that Christ’s death abrogated. It is the law of condemnation. To put it another way, it is the effect of a law-based religion (condemnation) that is done away with in Christ. Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17). In Christ we do not follow the letter of the law, but what we are meant to be following is its spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6). We fulfil the law by loving God and our neighbor (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14).

Paul consistently uses katargeo to illustrate what Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection. He dealt with the three main enemies in our lives: law, sin, and death.

Continuing in Romans, Paul tells us that “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing [katargeo], so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:6). In some sense, therefore, our body of sin has been rendered inoperative, or has had its power over us abolished.

But how can this be? After being baptized into Christ, we still sin, and there has been no physical change to our bodies. How can it be rendered powerless?

The answer lies in the context in which Paul, in the previous chapter, tells us that “the law came in to increase the trespass.” (Romans 5:20). There is something about being under law that incites us to sin, as Paul states plainly in chapter 7, “our sinful passions, aroused by the law.” (v. 5). The abrogation of the law of condemnation, therefore, does something to affect us spiritually. Paul writes in chapter 6, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (v. 14). Being under grace, rather than under law, dethrones sin so that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).

We are not under the Law of Moses in the sense of it being a manual that defines our religion and whereby, because of our inability to keep the Law, we are condemned.

Paul uses katargeo two more times in the context of explaining how the law of condemnation has been done away with in Christ. Using the analogy of marriage broken by the death of a spouse, Paul writes, “For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released [katargeo] from the law of marriage.” (Romans 7:2). Paul continues to relate this to the law by saying, “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (v. 6).

Outside of Romans, Paul uses the word katargeo several other times in similar contexts. In 2 Corinthians 3, speaking of the contrast between the Old and New Covenants, he used katargeo four times. Each time he says the Old Covenant has been “brought to an end.” (vv. 7, 11, 13) and “taken away” (v. 14). In Ephesians 2:15, Paul explains that Christ made peace “by abolishing [katargeo] the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.” It is important to note here that this is the law “expressed in ordinances,” the word for “ordinances” is “dogma.” In this passage, therefore, it is not the Law itself that God abrogated but how it was used by people, like the scribes and Pharisees, to make dogmatic assertions. In other words, it is the effect of the Law that is done away with in Christ. Putting Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians together, we can draw the following conclusions:

• The way someone under the Law was condemned has been abrogated in Christ.
• The Old Covenant, established by the Law, has been abrogated in Christ.
• The way the Law was used in dogmatic assertions, often to condemn others, has been abrogated in Christ.

We are not under the Law of Moses in the sense of it being a manual that defines our religion and whereby, because of our inability to keep the Law, we are condemned. Instead, in the New Covenant, the spirit of the Law (2 Corinthians 3:6) becomes internalized (Hebrews 8:10).

When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he did so to a group of brothers and sisters who were tempted to return to a law-based religion. In Chapter 3, he explains that the Law as part of the Old Covenant “does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void [katargeo].” (v. 17). That is to say, a law-based religion does not render the promises of God inoperative. God has always saved people by grace, and the Old Covenant itself illustrates the impossibility of being saved by keeping a law. In fact, having a law-based religion means “You are severed [katargeo] from Christ, you who are justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:4). Just like with our first reference from the parable, the meaning here is that a law-based religion abolishes one’s ability to bear the fruit of the spirit, something which Paul expands on in the rest of the chapter.

The wonderful news for us is that this abrogation of the law of condemnation has brought with it the solution to our greatest problem. Again, it is Paul who tells us that Christ “abolished [katargeo] death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10). He also writes, “The last enemy to be destroyed [katargeo] is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Richard Morgan,
Simi Hills Ecclesia, CA