Not under the Law Scriptures
When a pagan comes under the New Covenant, the training for holiness comes from the Spirit of God who dwells in him (Titus 2:11-12). It is therefore absolutely not true that a believer in Christ can say, “I live as I will, for I am not under the law, but under grace.” No, the Christian will say, “Because I am under grace, I am no longer a slave to sin. So how can I live to please God? A person who has come under the New Covenant is still a sinner by practice and habit. But they carry within them a new nature, a new spirit given by God who seeks God and His righteousness. The believer in Christ is “a new creation” and “has ceased to sin”—not that Christians do not commit particular sins, but they are no longer slaves to sin. He is no longer their master. When Paul says, “You are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14), he does not mean obedience to the law, but condemnation by the law. We are not under the law in the sense that we are not condemned by any law. In this article, let`s understand what Romans 6:14 means when it says that we are not under the law, but under grace. Find out if this verse says we don`t have to keep God`s law or not. So there is “no damnation,” because by God`s grace you could come out of the false law (the law that is hostile to God because it condemns us) and come under the righteous law (the law of Christ that saves us). Ephesians 2:11-22 is helpful in understanding all of this.
He explains that God brought Jews and Gentiles together – to a new man – not in the Mosaic covenant, but as a new man. In fact, she says that the reason Christ is able to reconcile Jews and Gentiles into one body is that there should obviously be a law for sin to exist, and this shows us that God`s laws are still binding even on Christians under the New Covenant. Romans 6:14 tells us that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Unfortunately, many Christians today would use Romans 6:14 to prove their teaching that we are no longer obligated to keep God`s law. Some will say that what we must respect is not a law, but something other than the law. This is not Paul`s view. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be he who does not observe all that is written in the book of the law, and does so. So the law was our guardian until Christ came so that we could be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, you don`t need to be one of them. After reading this, you can better understand what God`s grace means and how it can help us continue on our Christian journey. With the context leading up to this, Paul`s meaning is clear. For a Christian, “sin shall have no dominion over you” – for Christians are freed from the bondage of sin (being under the “dominion” of sin) because Christ died for us and is now “dead to sin, but alive for God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11 Romans 6:11). but alive for God through Jesus Christ our Lord.American version of King James×). Sin has no longer enslaved us. We escaped his power and his death penalty. Now he compares and contrasts two very different results.
“Under the law” in this context refers to being under the punishment of the law – which, as he has mentioned in almost every verse so far, is death. The law required death as punishment for sin. That has never changed. What has changed is that, by God`s grace, Jesus Christ emptied Himself of the glory, splendor, majesty, and power He shared with God the Father and came to earth as a physical man to take upon Himself this terrible punishment in our place (Philippians 2:5-8; Philippians 2:5-8] [5] Let this spirit be in you, which was also in Jesus Christ: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it was not stealing to be like God: [7] But he made himself without prestige and took the form of a servant and was made in the image of men: [8] And since he was fashionable as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient until death, until the death of the cross. American version King James×; 1 Peter 1:18–19 1. Peter 1:18-19 [18] For as much as you know that you have not been redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain conversation, which tradition has received from your fathers; [19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and without spots: American King James Version×). to those who are lawless, as without law, but not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I may win over those who are lawless. Jesus was the true sacrifice—not a sacrifice under the Mosaic law, but the true sacrifice mentioned in the Mosaic law, the shadow (Hebrews 8). His sacrifice and work as our high priest was not part of the system of covenant with Moses. In fact, if we were still under the Mosaic law with his Levitical priesthood, Jesus (who is not a Levite) could not act as our priest at all. Hebrews 7:11-22 explains: The law was a shadow that indicated the reality of Christ (Hebrews 10:1; Colossians 2:16–17). Now that we have Christ, we are no longer in the shadows because we have substance: but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
It is important to understand that those who are under the “law of sin and death,” who “live according to the flesh,” are condemned by God`s law. Therefore, do not allow sin to reign in your mortal body, in order to obey its desires, and do not continue to present the members of your body to sin as instruments of injustice; but present yourselves to God as those who live from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice before God. For sin will not be master of you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14, emphasis added. But what does Paul mean by “under the law” and “under grace”? If the meaning of a passage of the Bible is not clear, we should first read the context, the before and after verses. This will usually help clear up the confusion. Sometimes we need to read the whole chapter or even the entire book, or how a particular language is used elsewhere, to see the context. Then we come to Paul`s central statement in Romans 6:14 Romans 6:14 For sin shall have no dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace. American version of King James×: “For sin shall not reign over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.” When we put the two statements together, we see that Paul shows that to be under grace in his spirit is to be obliged to keep God`s law.
If God never intended to grant Abraham`s inheritance through law, why did God give the law? Paul answers this question in the rest of the third chapter. As part of his response, he says that we have been “kept in detention under the law” and that “the law has become our master to lead us to Christ.” But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the guidance of a single educator. Although today we are not under the specific precepts, blessings, and curses of the Mosaic law, it remains for us “useful in teaching, correcting, correcting [and] educating in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16); for through it we learn much about God`s holiness, righteousness, and character, what He loves and hates, so that we may know God and what it means to love Him and our neighbor today. This does not mean that it doesn`t matter how we live under the New Covenant. The difference is not that one covenant has one law and the other does not. The difference is that the Old Covenant shapes people in holiness from the outside out, and the New Covenant shapes them from the inside out. Here, it is important to understand the purpose of the law so as not to get bogged down in details. For sin will have no dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. So what? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? On no account! Because of this supreme sacrifice for us and His resurrection from the dead—which is also mentioned in almost every verse in this chapter so far—we are no longer under the death penalty, but “under grace.” By God`s grace, He called us to His truth, forgave our sins through His Son`s sacrifice, and offered us the Resurrection to eternal life, just as Jesus Christ rose to eternal life.