When the ax head falls into the water he cries to Elisha and says, "Alas, master! for it was borrowed." It is not even his own; it belongs to another, and yet he depends on it completely for his deliverance. Then he loses it. Now, his case is utterly hopeless.
The ax head and the ax handle are incompatible. They have two different natures; one is wood and the other iron. So when he uses the ax, the head comes off. It is like the law. The law is all right. There is nothing wrong with the law-the ax head, but it is incompatible with the flesh-the handle.
The law and the flesh do not work together. There is nothing wrong with the law, but it is weak through the flesh. The law is spiritual and the flesh is carnal. Rom. 7 tells us that the law is holy, just and good. But what is man? Why, man is just flesh. There isn't one spark of life. The sentence of death is on the flesh, so there is no deliverance there.
Being holy, just and good, the law is not set aside. In fact, the life of Christ on earth confirms the law and His death does not set it aside. But it no longer becomes the rule of life for the believer nor the means of his salvation.
Salvation is through Christ, and righteousness is what God gives-His own righteousness in Christ Jesus. It is not a righteousness of Christ; it is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Why in Christ Jesus? Because God is giving us His own righteousness in association with His Son. When we get that righteousness, it includes our position on high, which you see in Christ. Supposing He gave us that righteousness outside of Christ. We wouldn't be sons before Him in love. We would still be righteous because He gave it to us, but He gives it to us in Christ, in the body of His flesh, and all our blessings are in association with Christ. Whatever position Christ has as a man belongs to the believer. Oh how precious that is.