You Are NOT Under Law

(Romans 6:14)

A few posts back I wrote a post titled “You are NOT a Sinner.” The underlying reason for that post is that God has set you free from sin and taken your sins away through the saving and cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.

The principles for the release from sin was established in the old law where the blood sacrifices of animals were used to cleanse sinners from sins they had committed. This was also the basis for the acceptable sacrifice that Jesus offered to the Father in His own blood that we could take through faith and be free from past sins.

But His sacrifice did not stop there. The animal sacrifices could only provide forgiveness for past sins and the sins were not removed, only forgiven. But the blood of Jesus is more powerful for in the grace of god by Jesus’ blood our past sins are not just forgiven, they are removed and forgotten. Even more than that though, through Jesus’ sacrifice, God has dealt with FUTURE sin. And this was done through the way God dealt with the law.

Power of Sin

First, let us look at “why” God had to do something about the law.

The law was given to do a number of things. It defined sin for what it is. It was given to attempt to reign in the sinful excesses of man kind. It provided an insight into the wisdom of God. It established a standard for what is good and evil and drew a line in the sand between the two. And it became the schoolmaster to lead man to Christ.

The law is holy just and good, but because of what it is it presents one major problem. The biggest problem with the law is that it gives sin it’s power. If you look at 1 Corinthians 15:56 you find this insight into law.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

The law is what gives sin it’s power because the law defines sin. And we find in the law the constant reminder of sin and no sinner will stand before God.

So it was essential if man was to be acceptable to God, the power of sin as well as sin itself needed to be dealt with. God did this through the death of Jesus.

Death and The Law

The law was given to deal with matters of the flesh. It deals with things that can be seen, touched, felt and so on, but for the most part does not deal with issues of the spirit of man.

But one of the most significant facts of the law is that it ends at death. When a person dies they pay the debt of sin that is built up throughout their life. But they are also released from the law because the law only applies to people while they are alive.

We see this information provided in a number of scriptures, but consider these as evidence that show these principles.

Or do you not know, brothers-for I am speaking to those who know the law-that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? (Romans 7:1)

Paul was speaking to the Jews in particular when he wrote the above for they knew and understood at that time quite clearly that the law is binding on a person only while he lives. While a person is alive they are bound under the law. But when that person dies, they are released from the law, set free from the bondage of the law.

Another important scripture that clearly shows the fact that the law applies only while a person is alive is seen in the description of Christ’s death in Colossians 2:14.

“…having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside nailing it to the cross. (RSV)

The two Greek words translated here as “legal demands” are “cheirógraphon” (meaning handwritten) and “dógmasin” (meaning decrees or laws). That is, the bond that has been cancelled that stood against man was the “written law” and we see that this law was, “…set aside” by “nailing it to the cross.”

Jesus could not be held by death but He passed through death and rose to life again. But we see that at the point of death, the law was stopped at the cross. It was nailed to it, which tells us that when Jesus passed into death, the law could not go any further. It ceased to have any power after He died because the law could not go any further. The law could not and cannot pass beyond death.

So what we learn from this is that if a person dies, they are set free from the bondage of the law because the law if for this life only. The law does not go beyond death but remains here in the physical realm. It has no power in the spiritual realm for it ceases at death. Thus if we want to be set free from the law, and we must to be able to be reconciled to God and set free from sin, then we need to die. And God provided a way for this to occur now through Jesus Christ.

Baptism

To put it in the simplest possible terms, baptism is death. When we are baptised we are baptised into the death of Jesus Christ. We take on or put on the death that Jesus died as if it were our own as we see in the following scriptures.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3)

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)

We who are baptised are baptised into the death of Jesus Christ and through faith we accept His death as our own and put on Christ to no longer live a life in the flesh, subject to sin and the law, but set free from sin and the law to live lives in accordance with the will of the Father who set this up in the new covenant.

It is by grace that God gave us the chance to be freed from the law by faith in taking on the death of Jesus Christ so that we could die and thus be set free from the law. This is a work in the spirit for it is by the power of our hearts and minds that we accept the teachings of God by faith. It is nothing that we have done, but it is what we believe that The Lord has done for us and in us to set us free from sin, forgiving all our past transgressions, AND releasing us from the law so as to remove the power of sin and deal with future transgressions.

That is why Paul writes in Romans 8:1 that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. In Christ, God allows us to die by taking on Jesus’ death as our own through faith, so that the penalty of sin has been paid on our behalf. Jesus became the sacrifice for our past sins to take them away, not merely forgive them, and wipe the slate clean so we could stand before God.

And we have seen that because the law cannot pass through death but is in force only while a person lives in the kingdom of this world, when we take on Jesus’ death by faith as our own, we pass out of the physical kingdom of this world governed by law, and into the spiritual kingdom of God governed by grace.

And that is what this verse in Romans 6:14 is saying.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The power of sin is gone because we believe we have died with Christ and are no longer under the law. We also believe we now live to God to worship and serve Him through the power of His grace so that we can move to the next phase of growth in our walk with Jesus, which is to be transformed into the image of God.

And this all starts through the removal of sin and freedom from law. Without these things occurring, you cannot progress in Jesus. The Holy Spirit cannot assist you unless and until you accept these things by faith and realise you are truly free as Jesus said in John 8:36,

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

You are NOT under the law for the Son of God has set you free. Accept it. Believe it. And grow in the knowledge that this is the will of God that He established so that man could be reconciled to Him.

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