Are Christians Under the Law, and What Exactly Does that Mean?

Truly, the Bible tells us that Christians are not under the law (Galatians 3:23-25). Does this give us a free pass to sin? According to Scripture, it absolutely does not. It is clear Paul knew that as soon as he said Christians are not under the law, some would say Christians can break the law, which is why right after saying this, he clarified for us by saying, “What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not!” (Romans 6:15).

We are no longer a slave to our sin because we are not under the law. Meaning, our sin does not have power over us as it did before we were saved by grace (Romans 6:12-14). The authority of sin is overruled by grace. We can praise God that we have been given power over sin, and are now able to obey the law by the spirit that is in us. Let me explain this concept through a parable I once heard:

Suppose there is a man who, under the law, has been found guilty of murder. He has broken the law and is awaiting the death penalty. While he is waiting, the president reads his case, and gives him a full pardon. Now the man is no longer under the law, but under grace. Meaning, the law no longer condemns him. He is free to walk out of the prison, considered justified as far as the charges of the law are concerned. Does his pardon abolish the law? No. Is he free to go break the law now that he has been shown grace? No. In fact, he now has more of a reason to follow the law; as gratitude for the pardon he was given and in order to show his love for the country that showed him grace.

Romans 3:31 explains, “Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” Paul asks if the law is nullified for us because we have faith in our Messiah’s saving grace. His answer is surely not, that we uphold the law; meaning, we defend the law, we advocate for it, and we endorse it as Christians saved by grace.

It is as Jesus said, “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, nor the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19). Likewise, 1 John 5:3 tells us, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Mainstream Christianity preaches that because we are not under the law, that the law was abolished. This thought is only supported by cherry-picked verses that provide a false notion of what it means to have faith (see What Does it Mean to Have Faith?). Unfortunately, this ideology entered the church very early on. In fact, so early on, that it is directly identified as false doctrine in Scripture. In the New Testament, Jude, the brother of Jesus, urges the church to remain strong in the original “faith that was delivered to the holy ones once for all time,” further explaining that “ungodly” people had crept into the church and were “perverting the grace of our God into immoral indulgence” (Jude 1:3-4). Though, this thought that God’s grace is a free pass to sin was nothing new even when Jude wrote about it. It is a lie that has been perpetuated by the Devil all throughout Scripture. Malachi 2:17 reveals, “You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ By saying, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them,’” We are literally wearing God down by saying that he loves and accepts every Christian regardless of the sins they are committing. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:9 that “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness,” and Romans 8:7 makes in known that we are actually “hostile toward God” when we refuse to submit to His law. Finally, 1 John 3:6 and 8 sum this concept up in a very clear and simple way, “No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. Everyone who continues sinning has not seen Him or known Him… Whoever continues to commit sin is of the Devil…”