Peter, addressing Jews exiled outside of Israel, wrote,
1 Peter 1:8-9 Believing in Yeshua the Messiah, though you cannot see him, you have a joy unspeakable and glorious, receiving the end of your faith, which is the salvation of your souls.
When you receive salvation, your faith does not end. Salvation is not the termination of faith, but its goal. Your faith will not only continue, but it will grow with time.
Romans 10:3-4 The [Jews], being ignorant of God’s righteousness and attempting to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For the Messiah is the end of the law of righteousness for everyone who believes.
He went on to quote the Torah, calling it “the law for [or 'of'] righteousness” and “the righteousness of faith.” He wrote that obedience to the law that Moses wrote down allows a man to live.
If Peter did not mean that salvation is the termination of faith, how then can we say that Paul meant that the Messiah is the termination of the law? Obedience to God’s laws of righteousness does not bring death, but rather obedience to man’s laws of righteousness does. God’s laws bring life. Both Peter and Paul warned against the man-made traditions and oral Torah of the Jews in favor of the written Torah of Moses.
Peter continued his letter in much the same vein:
Don’t attempt to establish your own righteousness according to your own desires in your ignorance [that is, the oral Torah], but according to the Holy One who has called you, you also become holy in all conduct, because it is written [in the written Torah], “Be holy, for I am holy.”
If you understand that the Messiah is our salvation, and you see that Paul referred to the written Torah as “the righteousness of faith,” then there is no confusion. Salvation brought by the Messiah is the goal of the righteousness of faith, and our faith will increase as we continue in obedience to that righteousness.
(All scripture is paraphrased from the Modern King James Version.)
Update, September 28, 2007: I’ve heard some say that the Greek word Paul used for “end” in Romans 10:4 could not be used to mean “aim” or “goal.” They’ll have to take that up with Paul, who also wrote, “The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned…”
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