Over the past several weeks, our church has been working through the book of Romans. This week we were in chapter 6.
There Paul makes the promise that “sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (6:14).
First, notice that this is a promise. Something has happened. Something has changed so that from now on sin will not rule over us. This is great news!
The reason why sin will no longer rule over us is because we are not under law but under grace.
What did Paul mean that we are no longer under law but under grace?
Is the law bad? Are we to conclude that the law God gave to Moses thousands of years ago now has no part in our lives at all?
We know that the law and its commandments are holy, righteous and good (Rom. 7:12).
We also know the Psalmist said that great blessing comes to the one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (Ps. 1:2). That person is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and prospers in all he does (Ps. 1:3).
So, the law, in and of itself, is not bad for us. On the contrary, it brings the blessings of life to us! There’s nothing more delightful or rewarding than living in obedience to God. We ought to delight in God’s law and seek to obey it in all that we do.
Why then, did Paul say that we are no longer under law?
We should be quick to note that the defect is not in the law. The defect is sin. Sin uses the law for its own ends (Rom. 7:7-13) and produces more sin under the law. That’s why Paul says of the law,
“Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure” (Rom. 7:13).
The problem is not the law, but sin which uses the law for its own ends.
So, when Paul says we are no longer under the law, he doesn’t mean that the law has nothing to offer us any longer, or that we should just throw it away and never try to obey it again. No!
He means that we no longer live under the power of sin, which uses the law to produce even more sin in us.
Not only are we released from the power of sin (using the law for its own purposes), but we are now also under grace. That means that we now live in an era in which we can obey the law by God’s grace.
If we were still under the era of law, then sin would rule over us. But since we are under the era of grace, sin cannot have dominion over us.
Paul’s point in Romans is that because of the faithful, obedient work of Christ on our behalf, we now live in a new era of grace in which the Spirit of God resides in us and enables us to obey the law of God.
This is Paul’s point in Romans 2, where he taught that only those who have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit are capable of obeying the law of God (2:6-11, 25-29).
This is Paul’s point in chapter 8, where he teaches that only those who are led by the Spirit are able to escape the law of sin and death, and not just in the future, but right here and right now during this life (8:5-11).
Again, the point is that there is nothing wrong with God’s law in and of itself. God wants us to obey Him!
The problem is the power of sin in relation to the law of God. Sin uses the law for its own ends and produces more sin under the law (Rom. 7:7-13).
Jesus said,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells in you and will be in you” (Jn. 14:15-17).
This is precisely what Paul is talking about in the book of Romans. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our Helper, we can keep Christ’s commandments.
John also tells us that,
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn. 5:3).
Praise God, the Spirit, for His ministry among us to enable us to obey Christ our Lord with joy!