What Does “Under the Law” Mean?
Verses: Romans 6:14-19, Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-5, 4:21-31, 5:18-25.
Common Misunderstanding: The phrase ‘under the law’ is used several times in Paul’s writings, but it has been greatly misunderstood. People commonly think that this phrase means trying to obey God’s law, but it actually means something far different. Let’s look at the meaning of this phrase in his writings.
Think it Through: God would never condemn someone for obeying Him. Jesus’ sacrifice does not mean that we can live however we want to live.
Short Answer: ‘Under the law’ refers to those who live under the guilt or penalty of the law or those who live in fear and flesh instead of faith and God’s Spirit.
Longer Answer: We will take time to review several uses of this phrase in Paul’s letters.
In Romans 6:14, Paul wrote: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
This verse is used by many to say that the commandments of God, especially the Sabbath, are no longer important for believers. Their conclusion is that living under grace means God’s commandments are not essential standards for Christian living. However, Paul clarifies the meaning of his words in verses 15-19.
“15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”
In verse 14, Paul connected the idea of being ‘under grace’ to not allowing sin to have dominion or control over you. In verse 15, he said that living under grace does not give us permission to sin. One definition of sin in the Bible is transgression of God’s Law. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4).
Whatever living ‘under grace’ means, it cannot mean we have permission from God to transgress His law. In verse 19, Paul wrote that when we lived ‘under the law’ we yielded our lives as “servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity.” The Greek word translated as iniquity is anomia, and it means lawlessness. It is the same word translated as ‘transgression of the law” in I John 3:4.
As Christians, we live under the grace of the one who paid the ultimate price for our lawlessness and uncleanness. In the second half of verse 19, we learn that we now live as slaves to holiness and righteousness, which is defined by God’s Law. We discussed this subject in chapter three with regards to the Sabbath. We are bound to obedience.
In context, Paul connected the idea of being ‘under the law’ to living in bondage to sin before conversion. Living under grace means living in obedience to God. After salvation, lawlessness is part of our past, not our present or future.
In Romans 8:1-8, Paul explained that the sinful mind is hostile to God’s Law and refuses to submit to it. The mind controlled by the Spirit of God allows their vessel to obey it.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul uses the phrase four times. Let’s start with Galatians 3:23-25.
“23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:23-25).
In Galatians 3:23, Paul said that we were all under the law before faith in Christ was revealed. In the next verse, he clarified that the law was our school master to bring us unto Christ. In ancient Greco-Roman culture, a school master or paidagōgos was a tutor who helped train a child in moral behavior until they reached maturity.
The law teaches us God’s expectations for our lives – His view of right and wrong. Once we accept faith in Christ, we have been trained by the law in moral behavior that faith will maintain. As Paul said in Romans 3:31: “ Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
A person who walks by faith does not forsake the training that the law granted before faith. What would be the point of being tutored if everything we learned was forgotten or disregarded? Once we have come to accept Jesus as our Messiah, the training given to us by our school master is reinforced. Jesus obeyed God’s Law perfectly (I John 3:1-6).
In Galatians 4:4-5, Paul wrote: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
If the phrase “under the law” means obeying the Law, then Paul said in Galatians 4:4-5 that Christ only came to redeem those that were obeying the Law. We know that is not true! Christ came to redeem all mankind (John 1:29, 3:16).
Earlier in this same letter, Paul wrote that Jesus died to redeem everyone from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13-14). As he wrote elsewhere, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Jesus was born ‘under the law’ – meaning under its judgement – to redeem everyone.
In Gal 4:21, Paul wrote: “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
Earlier in this same letter, we learned that a major issue in the congregations of Galatia was people who trusted in their own human effort and the flesh rather than having faith in God (see Gal. 3:1-5). They put confidence in their own works. In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul challenged them.
In verse 21, Paul stated that these people desired to live under the law. In other words, they did not want to live by faith, but by human effort. This puts them out of the grace of God. He appealed to the law to refute them!
In verses 22-31, Paul utilized an allegory where Hagar, Mount Sinai, and the Jerusalem of that time were juxtaposed with the Sarah and the heavenly Jerusalem. Why did he utilize these examples?
Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, who was born through unbelief, fear, and human effort (see Gen. 16:1-4). In a similar fashion, the children of Israel in Exodus 19-20 did not go up to Mount Sinai to meet with God. They turned back in fear (Ex. 19:13, 20:18-21; Deut. 5:5). The people who received the old covenant chose fear over faith. In Hebrews 8:7, we learn that God found fault with the people, not with what He gave them (the Law).
Conversely, Sarah gave birth to Isaac through a supernatural promise from God received by faith (Genesis chapters 18 and 21). Similarly, Christians do not enter the New Covenant based on natural birth or ancestry. We accept Jesus as the Messiah by faith. At salvation, we are supernaturally born again of heavenly seed (John 1:13, 3:3-7, Titus 3:5, I Peter 1:23, I John 3:9, 5:1). This makes us children of the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-23). We are considered children of Abraham because we have the same faith as Abraham (Gal. 3:7-14).
In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul is not juxtaposing people being obedient to God’s Law versus those who are not. Instead, he is appealing to those who live by fear of man and human effort to choose to walk by faith. He uses the law to refute their position, which shows that the verses cannot be used to refute it.
The last usage of the phrase ‘under the law’ is found in Galatians 5:18.
“18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:18-23).
In these verses, Paul compared living under the law to being led by the Spirit. Those who are under the law manifest the works of the flesh discussed in verses 19-21. These verses are a good summary of lawlessness. Living under the law – human effort without faith – results in lawlessness.
Being led by Spirit results in fruits that can only come from God and behaviors that there are no laws against. This understanding compliments Paul’s words from earlier in the chapter where he said, “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal. 5:5).
The righteous life we seek comes by the Spirit of God and faith, not human effort alone. God’s Spirit empowers us to obey God (John 16:13, Romans 8:1-8).
In conclusion, the phrase ‘under the law’ in Paul’s writings has nothing to do with obeying God’s commandments. Instead, this phrase refers to those who live under the guilt or penalty of the law or those who live in fear and flesh instead faith and God’s Spirit.
Living under grace means that we enjoy the leading of God’s Spirit in holy and righteous living defined by God’s Law. We are not living by our flesh, human effort, and/or carnal reasoning. Instead, we obey God through the power of the Holy Spirit. We live by the Spirit.
To conclude our discussion of this subject, we will look at some verses from James, the half-brother of Jesus. “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-9).
In verse nine, the phrase translated as “of the law” means “under the law.” The underlying Greek phrase is hupo tou nomou, meaning under the law. In this context, we can see that this phrase means being guilty of transgressing God’s law. It does not connect to obeying it.
Since we are under grace, we are alive in Christ and enabled to obey the Law of Life (see also Deut. 30:11-15, I John 5:1-5).
Shalom!
Pastor Kelly