Before finishing chapter six of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, let us be reminded of his statement in 7:1: “The Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.” By way of confession (again) I once destroyed a Bible, ripped much of it to shreds and threw it into a trash can because of Romans 6:15 and chapter seven. My “problem” is that I demand to understand. Unable to tie 6:15 and chapter seven together, my frustration grew to the point that I exploded and did what I sometimes do when my frustration level reaches a certain point. I tend to react physically. I come from a past dominated by a violent temper. I have retained a tiny bit of that emotion when dealing with the Word and ways of the Lord. I INSIST ON UNDERSTANDING. To me, it makes no sense not to understand when dealing with eternal life and death issues. In order to be right, I must understand what I am teaching. How else can I know that I am right? What good does guessing do me or those to whom I minister? And did God not say that those who obey Him would know the Truth? I insist on knowing the Truth. When dealing with the Apostle Paul, it sometimes takes extra effort on the Lord’s part to get through to me.

Now let us return to Romans 6:14 and look into the seemingly confusing issue of being “under the Law” while “not being under the Law.” Paul tells us that we are both. We must take into consideration that we are dealing with the writings of a superior intellect whose statements can be very confusing and seemingly contradictory. Confusing–yes. Contradictory–no. Peter said of Paul’s writings that they are “hard to be understood” and therefore are sometimes misunderstood (2 Pet. 3:16). I believe that God used Paul to write so much of the New Testament because to understand him one must be totally serious and intent on knowing EXACTLY WHAT GOD IS SAYING THROUGH HIM. The writings of Paul are not for those who are only seeking salvation and are not intent on knowing God’s will and fulfilling it. Dealing with his writings separates church sheep who are intent on pleasing God and church goats whose goal is simply to get saved. Paul’s writings separate contenders (the few) from pretenders (the many) about whom Jesus spoke in Matthew 7:13,14. Read Because We Love Him …. Key word–Because.

In Romans 8:2 Paul explains what he means by “the Law” which He condensed into the Ten Commandments. Paul is referring to “the Law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). In 6:23 he states that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. This statement envelops the meaning of being “under the Law as long as we live” and “we are not under the Law.” The simplified answer to the “are under”-“not under” question is as follows. Sin produces death. But because of God’s grace our past sins can be forgiven–erased forever. This is called being “justified.” But that is only half of the Law-sin-repentance-holiness equation. As the Apostle John tells us, God had recorded and preserved for us gave to obey so that we would NOT SIN. His Word, specifically the Ten Commandments, tells us exactly what to do and to not do in order not to sin. However, IF we happen to sin, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father acting as our Mediator (1 Jn. 3:1). A problem arises when IF is rejected and replaced by WHEN relative to sinning, thereby nullifying God’s grace.

At this point I will tell you about a problem that shepherds of old sometimes had to deal with–runaway sheep. There were certain sheep that would repeatedly leave the shepherd and the flock and wander off on its own. The shepherd would search until he found the wayward animal and bring it back to the flock. The problem sheep would be happy to rejoin the flock, but would later wander off again. An added problem was that sometimes other sheep would follow the wanderer. Eventually, the shepherd would be forced to kill the wayward sheep. The message is clear.

In this same vein, we find Paul writing in Romans 2:5 that people who continue to sin (break God’s Law–1 Jn. 3:4) and repent prove that their repentance is false, that they have no intention of obeying the Word of God. What so-called saved sinners do not understand is that they never receive forgiveness of their sins. God, knowing their hearts, does not hear their prayers of repentance. He sees them for what they are–false Christians–who are “treasuring up” (accumulating) their sins until the day of wrath (judgment). He warns them about their “impenitent hearts,” meaning that, though they repent of their sins, their repentance is bogus. In God’s eyes they have never repented. In Matthew 7:22,23 Jesus warns these people, saying: “Many (leaders of such people) will say to Me on that (judgment) day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in Your name done many wonderful works?’ And then I will say to them, ‘Depart from Me, you who work iniquity (Lawlessness).'” He will say the same thing to those who followed such false prophets. These have been convinced that they have no choice but to sin, but that the fix was in, that in order to stay in good standing with God they need to “only believe,” go to church, repent, etc. In Matthew 15:9 Jesus warns such people who honor Him with their lips but whose hearts are bent on sinning. These call themselves “sinners saved by grace.” God calls them “workers of iniquity”–Lawbreakers.

In Romans chapter six Paul is saying that, yes, because of His grace, God forgives the sins of the truly repentant. But the truly repentant stop sinning. Being cleansed of sin allows God to fill them with His holiness. Grace makes repentance, forgiveness and holiness possible. It does not do this for so-called saved people who continue to sin. The truly converted are under grace which enables us to receive forgiveness of sin. However, this does not give us the right to sin simply because we are under grace. Paul’s response to this heresy: “God forbid.”

We are not under the Law of sin and death (8:2) IF we come to a point at which we “sin no more.” Otherwise, we are subject to (are “under”) the Law of sin and death (Rom. 6:23). God did not rescind His statement that “the wages of sin is death.” That Truth still holds true. He goes on to say that, because of His grace, “the gift of God is eternal life” FOR THOSE WHO, HAVING RECEIVED FORGIVENESS OF SIN, THEN STOP SINNING. Otherwise, grace has no effect and the sinners continue to accumulate their sins until the Day of Judgment. No amount of religiosity can change this Truth.

Paul summarizes the relationship between the Law, sin and death in Romans 7:9-12 where He says that he was “alive” before he knew about God’s Law. But when he discovered the Law and realized that he was a Law-breaker, he “died.” He realized that he was a walking dead man for having broken God’s Law. At that point he CHOSE to stop breaking the Law and YIELDED to the will of the Lord. In verses 13-25 he tells about his pre-conversion life when, in his zeal for God he strove to obey Him and believed that he was doing so. Satan was deceiving him into worshiping and serving him. In his mind (heart) he was obeying God, but in the reality of his doings (flesh) he was obeying Satan. When he realized the Truth, he knew that only one could free him from the sin prison in which he found himself. That One was Jesus Christ Who could save him from his “body of death”–his life in the flesh (7:24,25). In the last sentence of verse 25 he again speaks about his life prior to his conversion, noting that he had always wanted to serve God and believed in his heart that he was doing so. But in his flesh he was serving Satan. We all have served Satan in the past. Some of us believed that we were doing so. Praise God His grace enables us to learn His Truth, believe and obey it, thereby freeing us from the Law of sin and death. L.J.