When Christians talk about not being under the Law, do we truly understand precisely what that means?
Have you ever bothered to pay attention when you are reading Romans 7? Romans 7 is all about Paul's encounter with the Law—before he was a Christian. If you pay attention to the context of verses 7 through 12, then verses 15 and 19 make complete sense. When you attempt to live by the Law, you can expect more sinning—not less.
"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." (Romans 5:20)
Did you catch that? The Law demands human effort to spring into action, and the inevitable result is failure. If you put yourself under the Law, or any set of rules, you will fail every single time. That is because being under the Law arouses sinful passions.
"For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death." (Romans 7:5)
Yes, you read that correctly: Sinful passions are aroused by the Law. When you are invited to a life of Law, you are invited to a life of sin. As I said earlier, if you attempt to live by the Law you can expect more sinning, not less.
"But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead." (Romans 7:8)
I hope you caught that. Sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment. The Law affords sin an opportunity to thrive. If you place yourself under the Law, then sin will master you every time.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15:56)
I hope you were paying attention. The power of sin is increased under the Law. Sin is excited under the Law. The Law breeds defeat if you are honest, and hypocrisy if you are not.
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul refers to the Ten Commandments as a "ministry of condemnation" and a "ministry of death." It could never make anyone perfect or righteous because it was "weak" and "useless" (Hebrews 7:18-19).
"For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law." (Galatians 3:21b)
Torah observance is anti-Christ! If you are flirting with Moses, then you are cheating on Jesus. You cannot attempt to date the Law. We broke up!
"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4)
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." (Romans 7:6)
Did you catch that? We have been released from the Law! Any groups that attempt to keep any part of the Law are delusional and ignorant of Scripture, especially the New Covenant and the Gospel. Tweaking the Law to make it manageable does not work. If you break even one, you are guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10). That is why Jesus freed us from it.
For the Reformed believers who parrot the Ten Commandments every Sunday, you would do well to read Galatians.
"Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law." (Galatians 5:3)
The Law is not divided into three parts. Man has attempted to do this, but to Yahweh God the entire Law is one complete whole. Those who refer to the Ten Commandments as the "moral law" are ignorant of Scripture. Only the last six are moral. Commands against incest, homosexuality, and bestiality are also moral. In arguing for the Ten Commandments, these people actually only mean Nine, since they ignore and disobey the 4th commandment, which means no late-night e-mails on Friday and no Saturday yard work. In their ignorance, these people attempt to argue for Sunday as the "Christian Sabbath." There is no such thing! If you want to attempt to keep the Ten Commandments, you are obligated to keep the entire thing! There is no cherry picking.
If the Reformed believers bother to pay attention, according to 2 Corinthians 3 and Romans 7, we can conclude the following:
- The Ten Commandments showed Paul what sin was.
- Sin seizes an opportunity through the Ten Commandments.
- Apart from the Ten Commandments, sin is dead.
We are not to live under the Ten Commandments. The Law, any part of it, has no place in the Christian's life! If we choose to live by the Ten Commandments, then we choose to experience the "ministry of death" and the "ministry of condemnation" as sin seizes an opportunity within us. Romans 7:9-11 is the true effect of the Ten Commandments in a person's life. Only apart from the Ten Commandments can we live free from sin.
Would a police officer ever write a speeding ticket for a dead man? Of course not! The man has died to the law and is no longer under its jurisdiction. The same is true of Christians. When Jesus was crucified, we were crucified with Him. We have died to the Law. The Law has no jurisdiction over us (Romans 7:1, 4). The Law has no place in the Christian's life! The Bible informs us that Jesus is the end of the Law for the believer.
When the New Covenant Scriptures tell us that we are not under the Law, it means we are NOT under the Law! You cannot put new wine into old wine skins. You cannot marry parts of the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The New Covenant is radically new, and the Old Covenant has been made completely obsolete.
Here is your relationship to the Law, Christian:
- You are dead to the Law (Romans 7:4, 5; Galatians 2:19).
- You are not under the Law (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18).
- You are free from the Law (Romans 7:2, 4).
- You are not supervised by the Law (Galatians 3:25).
- The requirements of the Law have been fully met in you (Romans 8:3-4).
- The Law is set aside (Ephesians 2:14-15; Hebrews 7:18).
- Jesus is the end of the Law for you who believe (Romans 10:4).
- You do not serve in the old way of the law (Romans 7:6).
- You serve in the newness and freedom of the Spirit (Romans 7:6; Galatians 5:13).
There are many ignorant people out there who think that if you preach the fullness of the grace of God, it will lead to more sinning. They think that by preaching the grace of God you are giving people a license to sin. They have not been paying attention. They are projecting what is in their own hearts upon other people while feigning that they are concerned about "other" believers and what they will do. I have just shown you that by attempting to keep the Law or any part of the Law, or any rules or principles in general, you will meet with nothing but failure, guilt, and more sinning. Every. Single. Time. Grace, on the other hand, leads to less sinning. People need more grace of the Lord in their lives, not less.
Do you want to see what following any list of dos and don'ts amounts to?
"Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world why, as thought you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." (Colossians 2:20-23)
Rules will not keep you on the right road with God. If you think otherwise, I suggest you return to the top of this article are re-read the verses shared. The reason you believe the way you do is because you were taught poorly by individuals ignorant of the Scriptures, the New Covenant, and the Gospel. The Law is not based on faith (Galatians 3:12). What does God's Word say in Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 3:11, Romans 1:17, and Hebrews 10:38? "The righteous shall live BY FAITH!"
"I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts." (Hebrews 8:10b)
What does this mean? Take notice of the plurality: laws, not Law. This is not the 613 commands of the Law; this is not the Ten Commandments; and this is not the two greatest commandments of the Law! So what is this? In John 13:34, Jesus gives us a new commandment (which was against the Law to do). The apostle John picks up this same idea in 1 John 3:23: "And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Christ Jesus, and to love one another as He commanded us." To believe and to love are the laws written on the Christian's heart. Love is the true fulfillment of the Law (Romans 13:10) and love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The Spirit is inspiring us to bear the fruit (singular) of the Spirit because "against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:23).
When the Bible says that we are not under the Law, it literally means that we are NOT under the Law! So stop trying to live as if you are. Live free. Learn your true identity in Christ Jesus and rest in His finished work.