What does it mean to be Under the Law?

[Hobie]

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

 

[Soyeong]

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

It is important to recognize that Paul spoke about multiple categories of Law other than the Law of God, so we should be careful to discern which law he was referring to us as not being under. For example, in Romans 7:25-8:2, Paul contrasted the Law of God with the law of sin and contrasted the Law of the Spirit of Life with the law of sin and death. The Law of God leads to do what is godly, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12) while the law of sin leads us in the opposite direction by stirring up sinful passions in order to bear fruit unto death (Romans 7:5). In Romans 7:22-23, Paul said that he delighted in obeying the Law of God in contrast with saying that law of sin held him captive, so it would be absurd to interpret Romans 7:5-6 as if Paul delighted in stirring up sinful passions in order to bear fruit unto death or as if he delighted in being held captive to sin, but rather that is the role of the law of sin. Likewise, it would be absurd to interpret Romans 6:14 as if Paul delighted in sin having dominion over him or as if he wanted to no longer be under the Law of God that he delighted in obeying, but rather he wanted to no longer be under the law of sin that was causing him not to do the good that he wanted to do.

In Romans 6:15, being under grace doesn’t mean that we are permitted to sin, and in 1 John 3:4, sin is the transgression of the Law of God, so we are still under it. Moreover, everything else in Romans 6 is contrasting these two directions. We are slaves to the one that we obey, either the law of sin the leads to death or obedience to the Law of God that leads to righteousness. We are no longer to present ourselves as slaves to impurity, lawlessness, and sin, but are now to present ourselves as slaves to God and to righteousness leading to sanctification , and the goal of sanctification is eternal life in Christ, which is the gift of God, so being a doer of the Law of God is His gift of eternal life in Christ.

In Matthew 4, Jesus consistently preceded a quote from what was written by saying “it is written…”, but in Matthew 5, he consistently preceded a quote from what the people had heard being said by saying “you have heard that it was said…”, so his emphasis on the different form of communication is important. Jesus was no teaching that we needed to surpass what was written, but that we needed to surpass what they had heard being said by said. Everything written in the Law of God is in regard to how to love God and our neighbor, so love is in accordance with what was written.