The death of Christ justified the claims of the law.

Christ consented to die in the sinner's stead, that man, by a life of
obedience, might escape the penalty of the Law of God. His death did
not make the Law of God of none effect; it did not slay the law, lessen
its claims, or detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ
proclaimed the justice of his Father's law in punishing the
transgressor, in that he consented to suffer the penalty of the law
transgressed himself, in order to save fallen man from its curse. The
death of God's beloved Son on the cross shows the immutability of the
Law of God. His death magnifies the Law and makes it honorable, and
gives evidence to man of its changeless character. From his own divine
lips are heard the words, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law
or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The death of
Christ justified the claims of the law.

But the doctrine is now largely taught that the Gospel of Christ has
made the Law of God of no effect; that by "believing" we are released
from the necessity of being doers of the word. But this is the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned. To the
church of Ephesus he says: "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy
patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast
tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them
liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast
labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against
thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I
will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."

Those who are teaching this doctrine today have much to say in regard to
faith and the righteousness of Christ; but they pervert the truth, and
make it serve the cause of error. They declare that we have only to
believe on Jesus Christ, and that faith is all-sufficient; that the
righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner's credentials; that this
imputed righteousness fulfils the law for us, and that we are under no
obligation to obey the law of God. This class claim that Christ came to
save sinners, and that he has saved them. "I am saved," they will
repeat over and over again. But are they saved while transgressing the
law of Jehovah? -- No; for the garments of Christ's righteousness are
not a cloak for iniquity. Such teaching is a gross deception, and
Christ becomes to these persons a stumbling-block as he did to the Jews,
-- to the Jews because they would not receive him as their personal
Saviour; to these professed believers in Christ, because they separate
Christ and the Law, and regard faith as a substitute for obedience.
They separate the Father and the Son, the Saviour of the world.
Virtually they teach, both by precept and example, that Christ, by his
death, saves men in their transgressions.

-- Signs of the Times, February 25, 1897