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It is perhaps the most misunderstood phrase in the Bible: "not under the law." Not only is it a very important concept, but a misapprehension of it can be disastrous. We look at the concept carefully, explain what it means, and apply it to our lives in a practical way. Introduction In the Bible, in Romans 5 and 6, it is written: 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: This text describes a very important concept: how to overcome sin. How do we arrange our thinking so that we sin less? The concept appears to be a
mystery into which we seem to have very little insight. This text describes, in several different ways, this mystery: how to change our thinking so that we sin less and less.
The heart of the matter is found in verse 14, in the following concept: Common Mistakes Firstly, let us deal with the most common misconception concerning God's statement that we are… "not under the law." The most common interpretation of this phrase is that we are no longer under any obligation to obey God's Law, that we have no responsibility to obey it. God no longer minds if we violate it because Christ died for
us. This is, frankly, absurd, for the following reason. Sin is defined to be "the transgression of the Law," (1 John 3:4) independently of whether God cares whether we obey the Law or not. Those who have no
responsibility to obey the Law are therefore free to violate it, or simply -- to sin. Thus, the most common interpretation of this concept, that "we are not under the law," is that it is fine for us to go ahead and
sin -- God doesn't really mind. Absurd? Of course! "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." (Rom 6:1-2)
Those who insist on promoting this kind of foolishness are described in Jude as follows: "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (vs 14) Turning the grace of God, or the concept of it anyway, into an excuse to just keep on sinning… is by all accounts a twisting of the
text: the context we have before us is pointing us to a place where we overcome sin, not wallow in it. Well then, the next twist is to say that the Law wasn't actually given to us Gentiles, but only to the Jews.
This position would state that the Law is optional for Gentiles, and that it is only required for the Jewish people. This position is perhaps not so insidious and wicked as the first, on first glance anyway, but in the end it is
also absurd. It makes the entire passage in Romans 6 meaningless. If the Law does not apply to Gentiles… then the Gentiles have no sin problem with which to concern themselves. "Where no law is there is no transgression."
(Rom 4:15) This position has the same end as the first, to encourage Gentiles to live as they wish. But then, if the Law applies only to Jews (and only the Jews have a sin problem), why would Paul go to such great lengths to
explain that those in Christ are "not under the law" and that this can help them overcome sin? He would just as well have said… "Only the Jews need to worry about this problem… you Gentiles were never meant to obey God's Law
anyway." Again, this is patently absurd. A more reasonable approach to the text suggests that Paul is trying to tell us all, both Jews and Gentiles, that we in Christ are not under the condemnation of
the Law. This position is certainly not
absurd; it is quite true for those who are "in Christ." I would, however, still call this insight a mistake, in this particular context, for the following reason. I see no real connection between this concept -- that I am not subject to the condemnation of the Law -- and an apparent attempt on God's part in this text to teach me how to overcome the practical dominion of sin.
Telling someone who is struggling with sin that they are no longer under any condemnation for their sin is certainly a relief, and in some cases it may be an initial step in overcoming sin. Yet such a claim does
not appear to me, either in concept or in experience, to provide in the end a very powerful truth to enable us in our actual fight for holiness, the practical day-to-day battle with overcoming sin. Rather, telling someone they
won't be rejected and punished for their sin tends to make the person relax while still under the power and dominion of their sin. In relaxing, we do not try so hard to overcome it; it moves us to be less concerned about our sin.
This, it seems to me, is not so much providing a motivation for holiness as it is providing an excuse to continue sinning. I have seen this affect commonly in myself and in my spiritual acquaintance, and I do not appreciate it.
Let's Face It We believers in
Christ are yet a very sinful people, and the leaders of our churches don't seem to have a very good handle on how to help us here. Most of us have dozens of self help books in our libraries and we are constantly hearing messages
that are intent on making us feel better about ourselves while we continue in our sin. But has that really helped you? What has
really helped you, practically? Are you firmly grasping the reality of God's call to be holy, just as He is holy, and making real progress in your fight to overcome anger, envy, lust, fear, love of the world, cowardice, lying, laziness and apathy? Are you really growing in that "love thy neighbor as thyself" thing? What about loving God with all of your heart? Are you seeing real progress there? If not, perhaps it is because you have not yet understood what God is telling you in Romans 6, and in so many other places.
The fact is, if you really knew what "not under the law" meant, I think you would shout to high heaven. Not because you found that you now have an excuse to go on doing whatever you have been doing with no
consequence, but because you would begin to understand -- in a practical way -- that what you desire with all of your heart… to be more like Jesus Christ… is in reality being provided to you by Him. This struggle after holiness
need not be a futile, hopeless one. God has made you a promise… "you are not under law, but under grace." Unpacking "Grace" I think getting at what not under the law means may be connected with understanding what grace means. And, as not under law
is perhaps the most misunderstood phrase in the Bible, I suggest that grace is the perhaps the single most misunderstood word
in the Bible. I think the enemy has gone to incredible lengths to completely re-define this word grace
in contemporary society. I also think that he has been largely successful, and that he has gone after this word with intensity because what we think when we use this word has a significant impact upon our entire theology. The insidious part about re-defining a word is that you very likely won't be delivered from the lies of the enemy which are related to the poor definition by simply reading the Bible for yourself, which is normally
one of the most productive ways to rid ourselves of the enemy's lies. The reason it doesn't work in this particular case is that every time you see "grace" in a text you impose on the text an inconsistent definition of the word,
provided by the enemy rather than the Lord, and thus drive the lie deeper into your soul… rather than discovering the truth. It takes a brother or a sister to point the problem out to you… and that is what I aim to do now. Again, let's start with the common misconception of the word. When most of us hear that we are under grace, most of us interpret this to mean under mercy, under favor, under loving kindness
. We are really thinking along the lines of leniency and forbearance and tolerance
than anything else. We hear, "God is merciful. He won't punish me for my sin, He loves me just the way I am, and He will forgive me unconditionally. God will be nice to me, He will be kind and loving to me no matter what." This erroneous concept is perhaps most clearly seen in Phillip Yancey's wonderful book, What's So Amazing About Grace, with glowing endorsements from the likes of Charles Colson, J.I. Packer and other renowns.
In his effort to encourage us to grow in grace, Yancey equates grace
with unconditional mercy, forgiveness, compassion and love, and suggests to us that the church should be giving this unconditional mercy, compassion and love freely to the world. This, I claim, is a serious mistake. Not because I disagree with Yancey… I don't disagree with him at all: the church certainly
should be the vehicle for unconditional mercy, forgiveness, compassion and love to the world. Yancey is just missing the whole point about grace itself: this is not a biblical definition of grace at all. As support for this, I admit, rather bold claim, I submit the following definition provided by James Strong, the author of Strong's Concordance, for the Greek word charis, which is translated grace
in the above verses. Strong's definition is as follows: "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude." This definition is, I think most anyone would admit, quite a different
definition than that commonly understood. This is certainly very significant. As additional support, I submit the following: there are many places in the Bible where believers are instructed to be merciful,
compassionate and loving. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matt 5:7) These references abound in both the Old and New Testaments. However, it may come as a surprise to find that there is not a single command
in the entire Word of God that we be gracious to anyone, or offer grace. Not only is there no command like this, there is absolutely no mention of the idea, anywhere, that we can be a source of grace to others. No one is seen as an
ultimate source of grace, of divine influence, in the Bible. That is, no one except God Himself. We find many texts where one seeks the favor of another, to "find grace in their eyes," where someone is vulnerable to another and
seeks their favor. But these texts don't get at the concept provided by Strong. We receive enabling grace only from God. "The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy." (Ps 145:8)
Clearly, the concepts of compassion and mercy and love are very closely connected with grace, but the terms should not be confused. While it is true that God is merciful
, it is also true that God is gracious, and these concepts are certainly very unique. They are not synonyms, even though your dictionary tells you that they are. In the Bible, these words evidently mean very different things.
What we may say here, leaning on the definition provided by Strong, is that when God's grace
is upon a person, when there is "a divine influence upon the heart, and this is reflected in the life," then we expect to see, as a result of that divine influence, character qualities like mercy, compassion and
forgiveness being expressed in that life. Consider the use of the word in Heb 12:28: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear." Having grace enables us to serve God acceptably. This is a context where the proposed definition seems to make much more sense than the conventional definition. Another place is 1Co 15:10: "But by
the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Here again, understanding grace
as divine enablement makes so much more sense in the broader context. What we should understand when we think of grace is not its godly fruit, but the root of godliness, the source, the
divine enablement from which this wonderful fruit springs. Grace is not something we do, but something God does in us, an ability or power that God gives us. We cannot give it to others, only display to
others what we have received. We can only be gracious in that we are filled with divine influence, when God has enabled us by grace to be like Him. There are certainly some texts that may seen
problematic with this definition, such as in the first part of our initial context, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Rom 6:1) Here we might be strongly tempted to think of grace as leniency, mercy or
forgiveness. We would almost have to think this way if we thought the grace mentioned here was abounding toward ourselves as we continued in sin. However, if we thought about how the grace of God would need to abound in the lives
all of the other poor souls that have to deal with our sin, then we might again apply our proposed definition with ease, and see that the entire context, that grace "reigns through righteousness," (Rom 5:21) makes so much more
sense. Implications of "Grace"
Armed with this definition, we may go back to the Bible and read it anew. We may find now that the Bible is often saying something quite different than what we once thought it said. Take, for example, Ephesians
5:7-8: "…that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…" We used to read it like this, "for by God's love and compassion and leniency and forbearance and mercy you are saved through faith." Now, rather, we can read it as: "for by
divine enablement you are saved through faith." This is an entirely
different meaning! The former suggests that God allowed us to do something by withholding punishment, the latter suggests that God did something in us, that our faith came from His working in us. It is this second meaning that fits with and is reinforced by the rest of the text, "and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
The exceeding riches of "divine enablement" (vs 7) leading up to this text is also quite differently understood. When we understand grace as forgiveness and compassion, we see that God blesses us in a
passive way in the sense that we are not getting something bad that we definitely deserve. God withholds something from us. This is at the heart of mercy, and it is certainly wonderful. But there is no real salvation in
mercy, no real deliverance from the power of sin… just deliverance from its penalty. If we are content to live in bondage so long as God doesn't cast us into the lake of fire… which is where most
people seem to be… then mercy is what we will look for. Perhaps it is no real surprise that the church is where she is… clinging to and promoting the mercy of God in a world that has forgotten what sin and
repentance mean. No wonder things are such a mess! But if we are not content with that, if we want victory now, we must have something more than mercy and compassion from God. It is in grace
where we find true salvation, deliverance, victory, strength, empowerment... in getting some actual help to be different, better… and this is good news indeed. It is not a passive blessing, but an active, effectual one… a
true gift. As in this example, as we consider this definition in our study of God's Word, as well as in our use of the word in common conversation, the implications may begin to appear profound. One such
place is in our present context: trying to understand what "not under the law" means. "Under Law" vs "Under Grace" Equipped with a clear, correct and pertinent definition of grace, let us now consider the term under grace. God says that "sin shall not
have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but" -- let us say, "in a new paradigm of living in which we understand that we are being enabled and empowered by God, actually and experientially, to become like Him." We are
not "on our own" any more. Jesus Christ has become part of us, woven into the very spiritual fibers of our lives. He is
our life (Col 3:4), the pulse and energy that inclines us away from lies and toward God. Jesus Christ is constantly beside us, in and around and through us, offering us His life, His nature, His inclinations and passions and likes and dislikes. He is offering Himself to us every moment of the day. He has never believed a lie, never succumbed to any temptation, never been lazy, or indifferent to God. He lived a perfect life and overcame the world once before, and He is doing it again in us. Our goal is assured, our way is cleared, our energy is provided… by Him and for Him and through Him!
When we are under grace, God's Law is written on our heart. In other words, our heart is inclined by the life of Christ to love, enjoy, and obey God's Law. In this state, we "delight in the Law of God after
the inward man." (Rom 7:22) This is in contrast to the way we lived outside of Christ, before He came into our lives, before He became our life. In that paradigm, which we call under the law, we were
on our own, trying the best we could be good in our own strength. From that standpoint, the Law of God was not so much a delight as it was a burden. We didn't want to obey it but felt compelled to do so. We had an obligation but no
inclination, no power. Parts of it we may have liked, the mechanical or ritualistic parts, but the parts that dealt with our corrupt and broken hearts we either ignored or re-wrote. We constantly felt condemned by the Law because
we actually were condemned by it. We were guilty of breaking the Law of God, and we often wanted
to break it, and were therefore subjected to both the temporal and eternal consequences. God was angry at us and was ready at any moment to destroy us. And there was nothing we could do about this, no matter how hard we tried. Trying hard is good, but if we are dead… our trying isn't really trying at all. A dead man can't do anything good, or even really try to be good. What we thought of as trying was actually just more sin… more
pride, more selfishness, more fear. In the end, without Christ, our hearts did not love God… and all else we thought of as good in us was less than nothing… it was, in fact, dirty, filthy rags. (Is 64:6) But now
that we are in Christ, God is not saying that we should stop trying, He is saying that we should be trying in a different way, walking in a different paradigm, with a different understanding, and pursuing a different means to
holiness than we did before. When God is saying that we are "under grace," and that we are "not under the Law," He is explaining the same concept in two different ways. He is showing us that before Christ came to us many of us were
insisting that we could do better if we just tried harder. But God is saying that we can't do anything at all apart from Him, and He is also saying that we are not alone any more. He is telling us that we have another life in us
that actually can be good. It is in this life, the life of Christ, which we learn to put on, learn to walk in, learn to appropriate, where we find victory over sin. Rejoice in the Power of Another Life So, if you are in Christ, look to Him to live through
you. When you are envious, say, lay it out before Christ, your life. He is not envious. Let Him have your envy and let Him give you His contentment. Let Him be content in you. Ask Him to show you the lies, thinking that in someone
else's loss or misery that you might find solace or comfort. Allow Him to show you that He is all the comfort and solace that you will ever need, or ever have needed. Not only allow, but now in faith, because you are not under law
but under grace, expect Him to do it! This is the key to living the Spiritual life: abide in Christ and let His life course through, abide in, yours. It is now possible because you are no longer
under the law, you are no longer living in a paradigm where you are trying to obey the Law on your own strength... and only failing. Now, in Christ, you have an inclination to obey the Law, and this very inclination is Christ
Himself willing and believing within you. You have grace, divine enablement, to live in obedience, to live in freedom. Whatever the temptation, whatever the need, remember that you are no longer
"under the law," living this life all on your own, by your own strength. Christ is your answer, your source, your help and your strength. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." (1 Cor 30:31) He is everything you will ever need to live the Christian life: in fact, He is
your very life. Rest in this fact, depend on it, and by all means… enjoy it! home |
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