I was told early on that, “If you don’t get Romans, Romans will get you.”  This was in reference to God’s Law as it relates to the New Testament Church.  The lesson Romans would supposedly teach me is that the Law has nothing to do with the church.  Which, I later learned, is the exact opposite of God’s Truth which is plainly stated in the Book of Romans.  Of all the books in the Bible, Romans was by far the most confusing.  The Apostle Paul, Peter tells us, is hard to understand, and for this reason his words are twisted into meaning what they do not mean.  I found that even without the twisting, his words concerning the Law and sin were impossible to understand and kept me in a spiritual dither as I tried to make Paul’s statements come together into one clear meaning.  This, I found, was impossible.

My problem is that I am by nature a hard-headed, black or white (no gray area) purist when it comes to the Bible.  My mind-set dictates that if it is in the Bible, it is of God, and if it is of God, it is right–period.  Because of this mind-set I had serious problems with such statements as, “a man is under the Law as long as he lives,” which is followed by, “you are no longer under the Law.”  Being a super-purist, these double-tongued statements in God’s singular-tongued Bible were totally unacceptable.  Still, it was the true Word of God.  At times I would give up in frustration and avoid the book entirely.  But then the quiet “voice” of the Almighty would draw me back.  God’s head, I learned over time, was even harder than mine, for which I am eternally grateful.  “The gifts and calling of God is irrevocable” we are told in Romans 11:29.  He had called me and gifted me.  He was going to humble me and use me in spite of me.  Eventually He got through to me and enabled me to see what I had continually missed relative to the Law and the true Christian “walk”–the walk (sinless lifestyle) of Christ which all who will spend eternity with Him must walk (1 Jn. 2:6/ 1 Jn. 3:3/ Rev. 3:21).  What became clear was that the Law of God and the “walk” one must take in this life are inseparable.  One either obeys the Law (walks in holiness) and lives eternally, or one disobeys it (walks in sin) and dies eternally.

We first see this dichotomy of “walks” and results voiced by Moses while speaking to the nation of Israel as recorded in Deut. 30:19,20: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life …. That you love the Lord your God and that you obey His voice and that you cling to Him, for He is your life.” Joshua would affirm Moses’s words before leading Israel into the Promised Land: “… choose you this day whom you will serve (Josh. 24:15).”  The messages were clear: walk in holiness and live or walk in sin and die.  The type of living they were referring to involved obedience or disobedience to the Law they had been given from atop Mt. Sinai.  Nothing has changed over the thousands of years since then.  We know this because we are assured by the Lord that He “changes not,” that “in Him there is no shadow of changing” and that He is “the same yesterday, today and forever.”  Knowing this, it is imperative that we understand His unchanging definition of sin.

Sin is plainly defined in 1 John 3:4: “TO TRANSGRESS (BREAK) THE LAW IS SIN, FOR SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW.”  Paul confirmed John’s definition by stating that “by the Law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20) and that he “would have not known sin but for the Law ” (Rom. 7:7).  Now contrast those Truths with the equally true statements which tell us that “you are not under the Law but under grace,” and that “the Law no longer has dominion over you.”  For a purist, these statements were ultimately frustrating, confusing and rage-producing.  I ruefully admit that I once destroyed a Bible because of such “contradictions.”  I literally tore it apart and threw it into the waste can.  Thank you my most patient Father for your mercy.

It is absolutely essential that we understand exactly what constitutes the Law of the Lord, its connection with sin and the part it plays in the life of the true saint of God.  His Law is comprised of the Holy Bible in its entirety from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.  He gave to true seekers of His Truth a condensed version from Mt. Sinai and called them the Ten Commandments.  The first two commandments are a condensed version of the entire Law.  In order to qualify for salvation we must obey that Law in letter and spirit.  Through the Apostle James the Lord tells us that to break even one of His commandments is to break all of them (Jam. 2:10,14).  He also tells us through James that without “works” one’s faith is dead (Jam 2:14,17,17,20,24, 26).  The “works” James refers to is the keeping of the Law–the Truth of God (Jn. 17:17), which we must do with faith.  “Faith comes by hearing THE WORD (LAW) OF GOD” (Rom. 10:19).  God’s Words are His commandments.  Jesus said in John 14:15,23 that we show that we love Him by keeping His commandments (vs 15) and by keeping His Word (vs 23), proving that His Words and His commandments are one in the same.  Now contrast those statements with “You have been freed from the Law,” “you are dead to the Law” and “Christ is the end of the Law” which Paul tells us in his letter to the church at Rome.  These statements are what I refer to as God’s “headlines.” With these headlines in mind we will now use the Words of Paul himself to unravel this most perplexing of Scriptural contrasts as we leave them and delve deeply into the “fine print” which is where God’s Truth is found by those who truly want to know it.    Compare the headlines to a luxury car and the fine print to the fuel.  Without the fuel the car is useless, and visa versa.  L.J.