“I Am Not Under the Law, but Under Grace”
By E. Hilliard
OFTEN obedience to the moral law involves an inconvenient duty; hence the perversion of the utterance, “I am not under the law, but under grace.” Instead of rendering cheerful obedience, through Christ, to the requirements of the law, it is argued that the law was abolished at the cross, and a new order of things instituted, even the fullness of grace without the law. Strange logic, indeed! As if, in the former dispensation, men were saved by the law of the Father, and in the latter dispensation, by the grace of the Son! To prove this theory, Rom. 6:14 is cited. It reads, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Let us read the fifteenth verse also: “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?” The Scriptures teach that “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Now let us read this definition of sin into the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of Romans 6: “For the transgression of the law shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we transgress665the law, because we are not under the law, but under grace?” The answer is that which every Christian should cheerfully render: “God forbid.” GUILTY WHEN UNDER THE LAW
What, then, does the expression “under the law” mean? Rom. 3:19 forever settles its meaning. It reads: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Here the law speaks to those who are under it, and pronounces them guilty. Now when is a man guilty—when he keeps the law, or when he breaks it? All are forced to answer, “When he breaks it, of course.” Very well. It is obvious, then, that it is the guilty man, or lawbreaker, who is under the law; and the guiltless man, or law observer, who is under grace. It is only through imparted grace that the transgressor is enabled to obey. The moment the penitent, pardoned soul violates the law, he becomes guilty, falls from grace, and is again under the law. He must again sue for pardon before he can be reinstated to grace, “for,” says the apostle James, “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” No sort of reasoning can consistently apply this Bible statement to any other but the Ten Commandment law; for the apostle quotes two of the ten by saying that whoever keeps the seventh commandment and violates the sixth, he becomes a transgressor of the law, of which these two commandments are a component part. James 2:10-12. SEES HIMSELF EXCEEDING SINFUL
When a man has transgressed the moral law, and under the influence of the Holy Spirit, is trembling with guilt, he is under the condemnation of the law. It is then that the transgression of the law, by the commandment becomes exceedingly sinful. Rom. 7:13. Were it not for the interposition of the sin-pardoning Redeemer, the individual would perish. Without the law to bring the sinner into a penitent condition, and a sympathizing Saviour to pardon, there could be no redemption for the transgressor of the law. The law must act its part before release from sin can be experienced. Says the psalmist, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Ps. 19:7. It is absolutely essential that the sinner have a knowledge of his sins before he can be converted and come under grace. Therefore “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” It must be apparent to all, that there can be no real change of heart without the intervention of the divine law. When, through the instrumentality of the law and the agency of the Holy Spirit, the sinner is made to realize his guilt, he will cry out with the apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The moment the sinner is willing to obey the mandates of Heaven, that moment our compassionate Redeemer is ready to deliver the sin-bound soul. Christ would send every angel of heaven to the rescue, if necessary, rather than let the penitent one perish. The thunders of Sinai cause the penitent transgressor of the moral law to look to the blood-stained cross for pardon. There he receives forgiveness full and free, and is released from the death claim of the law. He is immediately under grace. Such a one will never make void the law of God, or deny his Saviour, so long as he holds his position by faith. No; he will never, never plead, “I am not under the law,” in order to have his own will and way; but will exclaim with the apostle: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we ESTABLISH the law.” Rom. 3:31.