Question: What does Paul mean when he says that we’re not under Law but under grace?

What shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7.7

The psalmist referred to the Law of God as a lamp and a light (Ps. 119.105). The Law sheds the light of truth wherever it shines. Shine the Law into the soul of a sinner, and you will light him up for what he is.

And perhaps, in the process, you will help him to discover his need before the Lord.

Paul has previously written (Rom. 3.31) that faith in Jesus does not overthrow the Law of God. Instead, coming to faith we continue the Law into our Christian lives and establish it in its proper place. That is, we learn to approach and use the Law as God intends, and one of the functions of the Law is to expose the sin that yet lingers in us.

Following Jesus means laying aside our old person and being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4.17-24). We must work out(not for) the salvation we have freely received, and part of this process means being able to identify those aspects of mind, heart, conscience, and life that are contrary to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We cannot be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3.12-18) as long as we insist on holding on to our old ways of being unrighteous.

But we cannot identify the darkness that remains within us unless we shine the light of truth into our souls. This is an important function of the Law of God. The Law of God reveals the holy and righteous and good intentions of God for His people, so that they might live the full and abundant life for which He has redeemed them (Lev. 18.1-5). But in order to benefit from this function of Law – concerning which, more tomorrow – we first need the Law to “clear the rubbish” from the yard so that the fruit of true and lively faith may come forth.

Grace works with the Law to reveal our sins. This is Paul’s testimony in Romans 7.7. Since the “law of sin” continues to operate within even those who believe (Rom. 7.21-25; 1 Jn.1.8-10), we need to have the Law continue into our experience of following Jesus and be firmly established as a light to reveal the lingering presence of sin in us. Indeed, the Holy Spirit, Who sanctifies us in part by convicting us of sin (Jn. 16.8-11), intends to use the Law of God in this part of His work (Ezek. 36.26, 27).

Which also suggests that the Law of God should have some role in our work of evangelizing lost sinners. Since repentance and faith are required to receive the Good News of the Kingdom and forgiveness of God, people need to see themselves a sinners before they will be able or willing to respond to the call of God as they should.

But we, like Paul, must also make a place in our walk with the Lord for the Law to continue and be established as a light to reveal any sin that lingers in or intrudes into our souls. We’re not under the Law unto salvation; however, being saved by grace, we must be under the Law unto our sanctification. Otherwise, as Paul suggests in Romans 7.7, how shall we ever be able to deal with sin and work out our salvation before the Lord?

T. M. Moore

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