Are we under the Law?
Short answer… No!
We shouldn’t go around asking the question, “Am I under the Law?” We should know and understand that we are under grace. If we were still under the Law, we would still be under the power and authority of the law and would still be condemned by the law every time we break the law.
Paul tells us that we died to the Law. We’re not married anymore to the Law, you can have another husband, and that husband is Christ Jesus.
If we were still under the Law, it means that we will be judged by the Law and unless you keep it perfectly you have failed, if you break one Law then you are guilty of breaking them all. (James 2:10)
In the Old Testament, we read, “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy 27:26)
So, to be under the Law means you have to keep ALL the Law. In Galatians 3:10 Paul said, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’” That is what it means to be under the Law.
To be justified by the Law you must do and obey all that is written in the Law and must continue to do it perfectly all the days of your life. If you can do that then you have no need for a savior named Christ! But being that NO ONE can keep the Law perfectly, neither the natural man nor the regenerate man, he must accept the One who did fulfill the whole Law perfectly, Christ!
The Law requires perfect obedience, something we couldn’t do, we could NOT keep the Law, we failed miserably, that’s the whole reason Christ had to come and live the life we couldn’t or wouldn’t. Christ fulfilled and upheld the requirements of the Law for us and paid the penalty for our rebellion against God on the cross. This does not mean that believers are to be lawless, as some advocate today, but that by grace we can strive to obey Christ, even though we still fail.
We who have been saved can rest in Christ knowing that He will keep us, He will strengthen us, He will not allow us to go on living in lifestyles of unrepentant sins but like a loving Father He will chastise us. We have died to the Law, “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.” So, we are not under the Law. We are not under its authority. It has no power over us. We have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:6)
Now, this does not mean that Christians can go about sinning since we are not under the Law, Paul says to that, “God forbid”, By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (Romans 6:2,15)
Christians who have been made new have new hearts, have a new spirit, have the Holy Spirit within them, they have been made ALIVE, they have been given the gift of faith and repentance and cannot continue in lifestyles of unrepentant sins, because God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:8)
So, while we are not under the Law, we still strive to please God. It is now from a new heart, a new desire for Him, a love that seeks to please Him. It is not a burden that weighs heavy on a man.
I thank God that He didn’t give me what I deserve. I thank Christ for taking the wrath from my rebellion. I thank God that he didn’t require me to do something I could not or should I say would not do to be saved or to keep myself saved. I thank God for His grace by which I am saved, His mercy which He bestowed upon me by choosing a wretch like me, His compassion on us who cannot keep the law, and I give Him all the glory and praise!