GAL. V, 18 by R. F. C.

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 29, 1868

By R. F. C.

“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” The reverse of this declaration is, If ye be not led of the Spirit, ye are under the law.

If the phrase, under the law, means condemned by the law as its transgressors, there is no difficulty in understanding the text. Those who are led of the Spirit are forgiven their transgressions, through faith and obedience, and are thus released from condemnation, while the others are not, the law still holding them under its just condemnation, and demanding the execution of the penalty.

But if it means that those who are led of the Spirit are under no obligation to keep the precepts of the law, while those who are not led of the Spirit are, we come to the strange conclusion that common sinners are held to moral duties that Christians are not; and consequently if the former fulfil their obligations, they will exhibit a better character than the latter! This puts me in mind of an expression I once heard. A friend was complaining of the unjust dealing of certain professed Christians, and contrasting with it the fair and upright dealing of some who made no profession. Said he, “I have sometimes thought that sinners were the best Christians!”

Those dishonest Christians probably held that they were not under law, but under grace. R. F. C.

GAL. V, 18.