Tuesday: Not Under the Law but Under Grace
Read Romans 6:14. How are we to understand this text? Does it mean that the Ten Commandments are no longer binding on us? If not, why not?
Romans 6:14 is one of the key statements in the book of Romans. And it’s one we often hear quoted in the context of someone telling us Adventists that the Seventh-day Sabbath has been abrogated.
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Yet, that’s obviously not what the text means. As we asked before, how could the moral law be done away with and sin still be a reality? Because the moral law is what defines sin! If you were to read all that came before in Romans, even in just chapter 6, it would be hard to see how, in the midst of all this discussion about the reality of sin, Paul would suddenly say, “The moral law-the Ten Commandments, which defines sin-has been abolished.” That makes no sense.
Paul is saying to the Romans that the person living “under the law”-that is, under the Jewish economy as it was practiced in his day with all its manmade rules and regulations-will be ruled by sin. In contrast, a person living under grace will have victory over sin, because the law is written in his or her heart and God’s spirit is allowed to guide his or her steps. Accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah, being justified by Him, being baptized into His death, having the “old man” destroyed, rising to walk in newness of life-these are the things that will dethrone sin from our lives. Remember, that is the whole context in which Romans 6:14 appears-the context of the promise of victory over sin.
We should not define “under the law” too restrictively. The person who supposedly lives “under grace” but disobeys God’s law will not find grace but condemnation. “Under grace” means that through the grace of God as revealed in Jesus, the condemnation that the law inevitably brings to sinners has been removed. Thus, now free from this condemnation of death brought by the law, we live in “newness of life,” a life characterized and made manifest through the fact that, being dead to self, we are no longer slaves to sin.
| How have you experienced the reality of a new life in Christ? What tangible evidence can you point to that reveals that which Christ has done in you? What areas are you refusing to let go, and why must you let them go? |
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I've already discussed how violating the law brings inevitable sad consequences, so why would anyone want to continue sinning, even if the law is not the standard which determines our entrance to heaven or not? The rational person can only see the law as being a guide to keep him or her out of trouble. Paul's statements earlier in chapter 6, particularly vss 1,2 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" and vs 12 "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts" are nonsensical if the law has been done away with. For the entire chapter to make sense and not just a single line from one verse taken out of context, the grace referred to in vs 14 must be power to keep the law, not destruction of the law. steve
Well said. I fully agree with you.
Some people are blessed with stretched thoughts . My blessing is in understanding things in a brief way. All this saved By Faith Alone and grace and Martin Luther should be studied in the context of what was happening then . The moment christian start using the phrase we are saved by faith alone we start to waffle because the Bible does not say we are saved by faith ALONE . The word alone was an emphasis in response , against the practice which was happening then . The Bible says we are saved by grace and does not nullify the beauty of the law otherwise it upholds it . Simple .
(NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT GRADE)
HOW LONG IS SALVATION. DOES IT HAVE AN EXPIRY DATE? OR CAN A BELIEVER LOSE SALVATION?
These are some of the questions that over the years religion has avoided them and has miss taught the body of Christ as concerning these issues. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION AND RELIGION IS NOT CHRISTIANITY.
Religion is a make belief but Christianity is real life in Christ.
Jn5:39 the scriptures carry eternal life and they testify of Jesus.
2nd tim3:15-16 the scriptures makes us wise unto salvation. Now we see that they testify of Him and is given to us for salvation. They are not given to us for steps to prosperity, how to get a spouse, how to make money.
In some churches, pastors spend time to teach on business seminars, how to make it quick. That is not the essence of the scripture. As a matter of fact apostle paul said i desire to know nothing among u except Christ crucified (1st cor 2:2) paul calls it another gospel (Gal 1:8
In (rom3:19-20) the mission of the law was to bring man to a point were he would see his errors and value grace. Now the righteousness of God beats or bypasses the law and the prophets. Which means you cant say u are righteous because you are keeping some laws. Righteousness came independent of the law and the prophets. In other words righteousness is a person not an activity that's why it could come and whosoever wants to be righteous, can be righteous without keeping rules and regulations or the laws.
The width of Gods love is unbiased it is available to all who believe in Jesus (jn3:16-18)
We are saved by grace and not of works(eph2:8-9) so this cancels teachings like 10 steps to salvation. There are no steps whatsoever to salvation. once you believe the message of Christ you are saved once and for all. Lk15:10 says there is joy in Gods presence over a sinner that repents. If salvation was something a believer could lose, why are the angels so fast to celebrate??? they should have waited till the end before celebrating to see if he will maintain it to the end.
For angels to celebrate immediately after one is born again means that, there is no going back. Jesus said in Jn 10:28 I give unto them eternal life no man can plug them out of me. That is to say sin does not have what it takes to undo salvation. (Rom 6:14) For sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law but under grace.
We are not not under the law because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness(ROM 10:4) to everyone that believes.
Meaning under the law no one can be righteous. No wonder Jesus said our righteousness is as a filthy rag before him.
Now these are the DEEP TRUTHS that religion cannot handle. When a religious man hears a message like this since he cannot defend it, he concludes by saying it Heresy
Ezekiel 18 gives the answer to your question as to whether one can lose salvation. The message is very clear that one can turn away from God and give up their salvation.
Amunike, I agree with some of what you are saying but there are 2 points that i think are not biblical. 1) "Whosoever wants to be righteous, can be righteous without keeping rules and regulations or the laws " This is false! What is righteousness ? isn't it right doing? and what is right doing in the context of christianity? isn't upholding the character of God as reflected in his numerous laws (not only the decalogue)? We have had very deeper discussions concerning this issue and the conclusion has been that a life of righteousness is a life of obedience and not a life of lawlessness that you are suggesting!
2) In a world like the one we live on, it is totally false to state that once you are saved you can not lose the salvation!You have properly put it that salvation is not earned, i totally agree therefore, there is a condition to salvation: keep focused unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. The problem is that you are going against your own words by treating salvation like an earned academic degree that one maintains till death even if he does totally nothing at all. The degree is maintained because i sweated for it. Salvation however, is not earned, it is a gift that comes with a condition attached: to keep focus upon the giver or else, i perish. The good news is that even when i lose focus, the gift remains open and the arms of the giver remain stretched to receive me when i make up my mind and come back to my saviour. However, If i fail to come back, there is nothing like once saved always saved. You should aim to remain attached on the vine for you are just a branch that can not survive apart from the mother vine.
There is so much light to reflect! So much knowledge to present. But I'd say that sometimes we find it difficult to illustrate right!
"under the law”—that is, under the Jewish economy as it was practiced in his day with all its man-made rules and regulations—will be ruled by sin.
I find this statement from today's lesson confusing. Please clarify.
This seems to contradict what we learned that week.
Once we accept Jesus as our Savior. Baptized and resurrected to the newness of life, we are no longer under the PENALTY of the law (the wages of sin is death...) Romans 6:23, but now under the POWER OF GRACE. Our wills are being transformed to obeying the Will of God. Our service becomes His service. Our work is His Work. We are dying daily to the sinful nature we were born with. We are "yoked" with Christ. Our lives now are being driven by the Holy Spirit. If we falter, (slip) Grace picks us up, dust us off and puts us back on the right track. Therefore sin MAY abound (but Grace much more abounds) but sin will NOT reign in our lives.
The law cannot save us, cannot foegive us and cannot help us in putting an end to sin or its dominion. Being under grace is a wonderful gift. From being under grace we receive release from condemnation (Romans 8:1). When we are under grace sin will have no dominion over us
Bible certainly does say that we are not under the law, but does that imply that we are free from the obligation to obey it? The text is found in Romans 6:14, 15. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” How easily we could prevent confusion if we accepted exactly what the Bible says. Paul gives his own explanation of his statement. After stating that we are not under the law but under grace, he asks, “What then?” This simply means, “How are we to understand this?” Then notice his answer.
In anticipation that some will construe his words to mean that you can break the law because you are under grace, he says, “Shall we sin (break the law) because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid.” In the strongest possible language Paul states that being under grace does not give a license to break the law. Yet this is exactly what millions believe today, and they totally ignore Paul’s specific warning. If being under grace does not exempt us from keeping the law, then what does Paul mean by saying that Christians are not under the law? He gives that answer in Romans 3:19. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Here Paul equates being under the law with “being guilty before God.” In other words, those who are under the law are guilty of breaking it and are under the condemnation of it. This is why Christians are not under it. They are not breaking it —not guilty and condemned by it. Therefore, they are not under it, but are under the power of grace instead.
Scripture explains “under/in law”. “Now we know that whatsoever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under/in Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the work may become accountable to God.” Rom 3:19
“But we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully, realizing that Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers,… and whatever is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the Blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” 1 Tim 1:8-11.
“Why Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels, by the hand of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promisee had been made.” Gal 3:19. “Law came in so that the transgression would superabound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom 5:20,21.
“Therefore did that which is good(Law) become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.” Rom 7:13
“Is the Law then contrary to the promisees of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then Righteousness would indeed have been based on Law.” Gal 3:21. “The sting of death is Sin, and the power of Sin is the Law.” 1 Cor 15:56
Believers are resurrected to New Life in Christ where Righteousness and Life reign. The Spirit is Life. Christ reigns in the Spirit. Under Law sin and death reign. Law cannot give Life.
I think some of us need to go back and read the July 17, 2017 lesson.
https://ssnet.org/blog/tuesday-the-basis-of-our-justification/
"Our hope is in Christ’s faithfulness, not our own."
Once we are saved (justified), we don't busy ourselves with looking at, focusing on and trying to keep "the law." Instead, we focus on loving God and loving His other children. Even that is accomplished only by Christ, through us (Galatians 2:20).
My dear brother and sisters in Christ. If it is Jesus (not works) Who saves us, then it is Jesus (not works) Who keeps us saved.
The idea that Jesus saves us (by grace through faith) and then our works keep us saved is just another version of "faith plus works" and this is a false Gospel.
We cannot save ourselves anymore than we can "stay saved" without Christ. Believe it. There is not other way to be saved and stay saved than through Him.
In certain circles the subject of God’s law is so pervasive in every conversation that after it is ended an impartial listener would probably only remember that word devoid of miningful context. Where that strong legal setting comes from?
A little research in history may teach that every nation needs some kind of legal system in order to survive. Israel was not an exception and since Sinai, it was clear that it would become a nation organized under divine-rooted laws. For some reason, Israel overdid it explaining almost everything in terms of a law and the legal jargon got deep under their skin. It is in this context that Paul is mostly writing and he probably would spare many pages of legalese if he had not been much concerned that the Jewish legal mind could jeopardize the universal and free nature of the gospel. Therefore, Paul’s effort is frequently directed to clarify what the law is and what it is not.
Amazingly, we have inherited much of that Jewish mind and if asked, our spontaneous answer probably would be SIN IS THE VIOLATION OF GOD’S LAW.
I wondered if there are other ways to explain sin and, voila! Scripture says that God spoke to man in many ways and the last and most perfect was through Jesus Christ.
In the book Genesis the idea of laws and commandments is almost absent and other approaches like friendship stands out. For example, Abraham and God were friends and if we go earlier, e are able to see that the problem of sin was not explained in terms of a broken law, but of a BROKEN TRUST (where are you? asked the Lord). For example, Adam did not need any law to feel that something in his relationship with God was broken, as we do not need any law to feel when we have hurt a dear friend. Neither God needed a law to destroy the world with water, because he knew all mankind was conscious of rejecting Noah’s message.
After that broken trust in Eden, the bible teaches that the only way of redemption could come from a loving God that graciously justified the whole mankind. But understanding the gift of justification does not come naturally to a sinner, and God provided us the opportunity to practice and enjoy justification, a process that we know as sanctification, until we understant sin and learn loyalty even in an imperfect scenario. The danger of not understanding justification by faith is that we may reject it as useless and with it, our only possibility of salvation. Sanctification triggers the fruits of the Spirit in the believer, that are a result of appreciating justification.
Understanding sin spiritually is extremely hard and it took God the entire Old Testament period to teach human beings about sin, death, life, salvation and the relationship among those concepts. It was not that God used other standard apart from grace, but that we were so stubborn that He allowed sin expose itself in its entire range of cruelty. After sin was unmasked, God’s grace in Jesus Christ was shown in the apropriate context for our understanding and appreciation as the Spirit pleases to reveal.
I find relief to know that there are alternatives, even more powerful than a legal explanation to draw other’s hearts to the kingdom. God’s advice should be followed not as a matter of law or constrain, but as a matter of trust and friendship with our creator.
Why do we automatically see these words as referring to the commandments, or Mosaic covenant?
“under the law”
They do not.
Paul is very clear as to what law he is speaking of here.
Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
All through these chapters he is comparing and contrasting 2 laws.
1. law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:27)
2. law of sin and death
Those who embrace law 1 are no longer underneath law 2. With this understanding, the entire concept of those who say they are "not under the law but under grace" loses power.
We are all underneath one law or the other. If we are under law #1 we are not under law #2. By being under law #1 concepts like the 10 commandments and Mosaic covenant are automatically kept because it is a natural outflow of being under law #1.
If we suggest here that Paul is referring to the commandments or Mosaic covenant then we are in danger of becoming the legalist that non-Adventist accuse us of being. However, if we realize this verse for exactly what it says their accusation holds absolutely no weight.
What are the laws of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and law of sin & death?
The previous chapter have strongly emphasized a point.
That point is that no matter how hard we try we will never earn salvation for we are all sinners condemned to death.
We must be justified by a Being outside of ourselves.
It's not dependent on us observing any law -- not even the ten commandment law.
To be saved by law means one has to keep the law perfectly, completely, not just outwardly, but also inwardly, fully in thoughts and motives. To break it just once, one ends up being condemned by the law. Adam just ate a little forbidden fruit, yet everything hinged on that one sin, and threw everything into the camp of sin.
We haven't just sinned once -- we have sinned millions of times. The only thing the law can do for us, is condemn us.
We must keep that reality in mind as we study Romans six.
Christ was born "of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal 4:4-5
Christ was born under the same moral law that condemns humanity.
But that moral law did not condemn Him -- it vindicated Him and declared Him righteous. Why? Because, He alone, of all born of woman, kept the law fully and completely.
To be "under grace" is accepting not only Christ dying for our sins, but also accepting His merits of a perfect life accredited to us. He gives us a clean record, He gives us His righteousness and then bids us to walk with Him in obedience in the paths of righteousness.
We are not "under the law" which condemns us, but that law is still the standard of righteousness in which we walk with Christ in obedience to His leading, and the prompting of His Holy Spirit.
Grace
Not under law but grace.
If we are not under the law, where are we in relation to the law? This analogy helps me.
After conversion you are not under the law but the law is under you...your foundation. The law may be considered as a foundational wall. If you are under it, it will crush you, but if it is under you it will stabilise you.
Grace is like the roof and other structures that surround, and protect and keep you from sin(ning)