Having explained the essence and purpose of grace, the Apostle Paul asks the church at Rome: “Shall we continue to sin so that God can desplay His grace?” His answer is: “God forbid.” GOD FORBIDS GRACE RECIPIENTS TO SIN. Paul asks: “How shall we who are dead to sin CONTINUE TO SIN?” Sin characterized the life of the old, Satan-serving man. Justified people are “a new creation,” created by God in His spiritual image. Just as the wages of our sin-filled past life was death; the wages of our new righteousness-filled life is salvation. Just as our lives lived then and now are direct opposites, the outcome of those lives are direct opposites. The “newness of life” we now live is a total change from the past (Rom. 6:3,4). EVERYTHING of the old life has passed away, ALL things have been made new by God the Creator of the New man. The change is total. Nothing of the old wineskin remains.

In Romans 6:12 Paul warns God’s saints not to allow sin to reign over them by obeying Satan’s call to return to him by sinning. In verse 13 we are told to overcome his call by yielding ourselves to God. Verse 14: “For sin (Satan) must not reign over you.” The final part of this verse has caused many a well-meaning God seeker to miss His spiritual path and to trod the devil’s religious path. “… for you are not under the Law but under grace.” Billions of people have been lured away from God and into Satan’s church system because of ignorance of the totality of God’s Word. Biblical ignorance results when we use a single Scripture to explain multi-scripture doctrines. “… for you are not under the Law but under grace” is one such doctrine. The whole of Catholicism/Protestantism has missed God because of this error. By using the totality of the Bible in study (Isa. 28:9-13) one realizes that one must believe God’s definition of sin and its relationship with the Law in order to understand His Words. His message to mankind is founded on two words: HOLINESS (obedience to His Law) and SIN (disobedience to His Law). SIN IS THE BREAKING OF THE LAW (1 Jn. 3:4). No break–no sin–no penalty. Break the Law–sin–penalty. I use the example of a speed law to explain the doctrine. We are all subject to (under) the speed law. However, that law has no effect on us (under its penalty) if we obey it. Likewise, we are not “under the (penalty of breaking) God’s Law” if we obey it. The fact that He forgave us for breaking it in the past has no effect on the situation. IF WE BREAK THE LAW WE COME “UNDER THE LAW”–WE PAY THE PENALTY. Those who are “not under the Law” are those who obey it. When those who have received grace break God’s Law they place ourselves back “under the Law”–must pay the penalty. Today, if we honestly repent and become converted by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not under the PENALTY of the Law, but under grace because of Christ’s sacrifice. By the same token, we now have the power of the Holy Spirit within us to resist Satan’s call to break the Law–sin. This we must do if we are to sit with Jesus on His throne in the Kingdom of God. Jesus makes this clear in Revelation 3:21: “To him who overcomes (Satan’s call to sin) I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I overcame (Satan) and now sit with (beside) My Father on His throne.” WE MUST OVERCOME EVEN AS THE MAN JESUS OVERCAME IN ORDER TO JOIN HIM IN HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM. There is no substitute for total obedience–holiness, without which no man will join the Godhead in paradise. For a look at the effects of breaking God’s Law, notice what is happening to the so-called “Christian nations” in terms of war, invasion of infidels, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, sickness, disease, racial conflict, economic conflict, etc. These are warnings from God about what is coming, which be much, much worse that anything the world has ever seen. THUS SAITH THE LORD. We have broken His Law (sown the wind). Now we will reap the whirlwind (pay the penalty). The Great Tribulation will be the penalty sinful man must pay for breaking God’s Law.

In verse 15 Paul, knowing that most people would misinterpret his words, wrote that, though we are not under the Law but under grace, “Shall we sin because we are not under (the penalty of breaking) the Law but under grace? GOD FORBID.”

God’s grace does not give us the right to live contrary to His Law–the Ten Commandments which cover every possible sin. If we can save ourselves by our own works, then Christ died in vain. On the other hand, if Christ did everything for us, allowing us to continue to break the Law because of grace, then He died in vain. Jude four states that ungodly, condemned men were using the grace of God to award themselves the right to break His Law, thereby denying the Lordship of both Father and Son. In verse five he warns that those who believe that God “nailed the law to the cross” will perish because they turned God’s grace into a license to sin. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Religious man continues to rebel against God by ignoring most of what He says in His Law–Genesis to Revelation.

We cannot save ourselves by being religious. Neither can Jesus do everything for us. However, if we 1) allow His shed blood to erase our past sins and 2) submit to God and His Law, CHRIST’S LIFE LIVED THROUGH US BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN SAVE US (Rom. 5:10), but only if we continue to do so “until the end” (Mat. 10:22). Recall that half of the ten virgins (Christians) failed to maintain their holiness until the end. L.J.