#4.12 WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE

This bible study uses a Greek Unicode font and a Hebrew Unicode font and is printable.

Greek Word Study on 4521 σάββατον sabbaton Sabbath.
Hebrew Word Study on 7676 שַׁבָּת shabbat Sabbath.
Full Sabbath Index || Search this website || Bible Studies Index

#4.121 Scripture proof that we are not Under the Law

Greek - Romans 6:14-15 - English
ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ χάριν	14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for *you are not under the* law¹, but under grace.**
τί οὖν ἁμαρτήσομεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ χάριν μὴ γένοιτο	15 What then? Shall we sin, because *we are not under the* law¹, but under grace**? Let it not be.

Greek - 1 Corinthians 9:20 - English
καὶ ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἰουδαίοις ὡς ἰουδαῖος ἵνα ἰουδαίους κερδήσω τοῖς ὑπὸ νόμον ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον κερδήσω	20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to those who are *under the* law¹, as under the law¹, that I might gain those who are under the law¹.**

GALATIANS 3:23-25 (Paul)
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law¹, shut up to the faith that should afterwards be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

GALATIANS 4:4-5 (Paul)
4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law¹.
5 To redeem those who were under the law¹, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

GALATIANS 5:4 (Paul)
4 Christ has become of no effect to you, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace.

GALATIANS 4:21 (Paul)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law¹, do you not hear the law?

GALATIANS 5:18 (Paul)
18 But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law¹.

Note: Many people quote, "We are not under the law", as a reason for not keeping the Sabbath day; but what does the expression "not under the law" mean? In each of these scriptures the words translated under the law¹ (Gr. ὑπὸ νόμον, Gtr. hupo nomon) literally mean "under law". The definite article "the" does not occur in any of them. This is not significant unless we are trying to argue that being "under law" is not referring to the law of Moses, but rather the principle of law. However, the law of Moses does seem to be included in it, so there are several facts that we ought to bring out:

(1) Being "under the law" is contrary to grace (Romans 6:14-15).
(2) Being "under the law" is contrary to faith (Galatians 3:23-25).
(3) Being "under the law" is contrary to being an adopted son of God (Galatians 4:5).
(4) Being "under the law" is contrary to being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18).

The obvious conclusion to draw from all of this is that some of those who Paul wrote to were seeking to be justified by letter obedience to the law, and the phrase "under the law" means "under the law as a means of salvation and justification". In this case, they would not only agree to circumcision, which Paul clearly taught against (Romans 2:28-29; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:2; 5:6; 6:15), but also to the animal sacrifices which were supposedly required to justify them under the law (See #4.04). The last three of these points come from Paul's letter to the Galatians, where he also said to them:

(Galatians 3:1) "O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you?"

His accusation against them was very serious. However, a Christian is saved by grace (Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:5; 2:8), and justified by grace (Romans 3:24; Galatians 5:4; Titus 3:7). He is saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8; 1 Timothy 2:15), and justified by faith (Romans 3:28; 5:1; Galatians 3:24). He is obedient to the spirit of the law through the Spirit of God in him (Romans 8:14) - not the letter of the law in the flesh (See Intro 3 (2)). We do not keep the Sabbath day in order to be justified, any more than we keep any of the other of the ten commandments to be justified. We keep them because we love God, and wish to please him, and be obedient to his word. We know that breaking the law is sin (Romans 7:7, 1 John 3:4) and that would displease God. Through the spirit of Christ in us, our love for God is expressed by our obedience (See #1.25). This bible study proves that there is no justification in the phrase 'not under the law' for not keeping the Sabbath day.

Sabbath Questions and Answers bible quiz

If you have benefited from reading this study, then please tell your friends about this website.
If you have a website of your own, consider linking to Logos Apostolic website.
Please copy and paste this link into Facebook and Twitter to all your friends who think that because we are not under the law we do not need to keep the Sabbath day.

Law only until John || Full Sabbath Index || Top || Bible Studies Index || Sabbath necessary for Gentiles

Top