Are You Living Under Law or Grace?

Whenever the statement is made that the law's only purpose is to lead us to Jesus, the response is nearly always the same. "Well, if the law doesn't apply to us any more, then we have a license to sin –right?" That conversation must have been one that even Paul heard because he recorded the question and his response in Romans chapter 6. (As if any of us ever needed a license to sin. We have all managed to sin quite well without a license!)

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (Romans 6:14-15)
Almost every one of Paul's letters reveals the continual battle that plagued him wherever he ministered. He taught about the grace of God and following right behind him came teachers of the law. He taught about the freedom we have by living in a trust-faith relationship with God –we are holy and righteous because of Jesus' sacrifice for us. They –the teachers of the law– taught that after being saved by grace, a Christian remains holy and righteous by following the law –at least to do as good as he can.

He Didn't Come to Abolish It, or Did He?
There's nearly always another discussion following the one about having a license to sin. It goes something like this: "You say that the law came to an end for believers –that it doesn't apply to us anymore. But didn't Jesus say that He didn't come to abolish the law? And didn't He also say that the law would never disappear? So, if what you say is true, then how do you explain Jesus' words?"

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)
Did you notice that He said that the law wouldn't disappear "until everything is accomplished"? The solution to this mystery can be understood by knowing what needs to be accomplished. Jesus came as His Father's first-hand witness to explain:

•The law was to judge a man's heart –not merely his outward actions.
•Jesus was the substitute sacrifice –the Lamb of God– eliminating the need for any further sacrifices for sins.
•He freely gives life –eternal life– to all who put their trust in Him.
The law works on each of us in one of two ways. It either lays a heavy burden of guilt and shame on our hearts; or it exposes a great emptiness that is in need of being filled by Him. I ask you, "Did the law (either the Ten Commandments or the one written on your heart) make you realize that you needed God? Did you accept His sacrificial death for you? Did you put your trust in Him so that you now have His gift of eternal life?" If the answers to these questions are "yes" then the law has done its work –it can do no more for you.

Although the law has come to an end and no longer applies to those who are saved, there are others that still need to be convicted by that law so that they too will come to faith in Jesus. Everything has not been accomplished until that last person is convicted and saved. And shortly thereafter, heaven and earth will go through an amazing transformation.

As Far As You're Concerned, Is the Law Abolished?
Jesus lived the perfectly sinless life that we can't so that He could become the perfect sacrifice in our place. Now, because of what He did, the law comes to an end for us –it disappears for everyone who is in Christ. It's because He has accomplished His purpose! He fulfilled the law. For us, "It is finished!"

This passage in Ephesians should settle the matter once and for all –Jews and Gentiles alike– about whether Jesus abolished the law or not:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:14-16)
Some might ask, "What about Romans 3:31 where it says 'Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law?'" The response is this: We can only "uphold" the law through faith in Christ Jesus' sacrifice, burial and resurrection. Keeping, upholding, living up to, or following the law is only accomplished by trusting that Jesus did it all –leaving absolutely nothing for us to do. –Nothing!

Take a close look at what was accomplished when Jesus died on that cross.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)
He disarmed the powers and authorities –that's the Devil and all of his helpers– by nailing our record of debt (the written code) and the law (the regulations we broke) to the cross –canceling them. We were forgiven at the cross and we have been made eternally alive –"It is finished!"