I was in Grade 5. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, or exactly what was said, but there was a discussion going on in my economics and management science class that I was participating in. Somehow the discussion led to me saying that there was a Bible instruction that God wanted us to adhere to. At the end of the class, before leaving, my teacher asked me to visit him during break time because he wanted to share something with me.
During break time, he showed me this verse:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14
My teacher then told me how it was not necessary for me to adhere to that instruction given by God in the Old Testament, and that if I didn’t adhere to the instruction, God’s grace would cover me. Over the years I came to see that this was a common understanding of the commandments of God. The thinking among many Christians is that God tolerates some measure of disobedience to His commandments because of His grace. Combined with this is the idea that we are not, and never will be, able to keep God’s commandments fully.
This idea is actually debunked in the very next few verses in Romans 6. Verses 15-17 say,
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
Romans 6:15-17
Let’s also look at Romans 7:7-8:
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.”
Romans 7:7-8
When we are under the law, sin in us pushes us to disobey God’s law. This is the law of sin, or the way sin operates in us. But when we are under grace, it means that God’s grace has freed us from sin and the law of sin, so that when we read about God’s requirements, we are no longer pushed to disobey. Rather, we are strengthened to do what is right.
From these verses it is clear that Paul wasn’t saying that we are free to disregard God’s instructions because of God’s grace. Rather, he was saying that God’s grace has freed us from the power of sin. Without God’s grace, we are powerless when it comes to doing what is right because of the power of sin. With God’s grace, we are better able to choose, and we can choose not to sin; we can choose rather to keep God’s law. God’s grace has given us the freedom to choose between sin which leads to death, or obedience which leads to righteousness.
Understanding God’s Commandments
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus made some applications of the law of God that, for many Christians, adds to this idea that we are not able to keep God’s law fully. Christians don’t believe that one should lie, steal, commit adultery or covet, as described in the ten commandments. But Jesus’ applications of the ten commandments in the sermon the mount makes it seem as though we can never actually reach the full standard of the law of God in this life.
For example, in Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus said:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”
In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus said:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
It sounds like Jesus is saying, “The standard of the commandments is much higher than what you think.” As human beings, we might then conclude that, because the standard is much higher than we think, we can never really know the full standard of God’s law, and therefore we can never completely keep the law. For this reason, it is then argued, we need to live under the grace of God in order to cover our lack.
It is true that Jesus was saying that the standard of the commandments is much higher than what we think. But, it does not follow that we cannot know the full standard of God’s law, and it does not follow that we can never completely keep that law. Furthermore, the purpose of God’s grace is not to relieve us from living up the full standard of God’s law. Rather, it is given to empower us to live up to that standard. God’s grace forgives and covers the sins that we have confessed, and empowers us to do what is right, effectively freeing us from the power that sin has in our lives.
God’s Ultimate Requirement
Jesus was once asked, “Which is the greatest commandment” and He answered saying,
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40
In making this statement, and in His sermon on the mount, Jesus was teaching us the two eternal laws of love from which the ten commandments are derived. The ten commandments are the details and examples of violating God’s eternal law of love. The ten commandments tell us what sin is. God’s eternal law of love tells us how God created us to behave. We were created to love Him supremely and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we reach this intent of God in our creation, we will be fully living up the standard of God’s law.
If we say that it is impossible to know the full standard of God’s law, we are saying that it is impossible for us to know how to fully love God and how to fully love our neighbor as ourselves. This idea does not square with the rest of scripture. We can know what it means to love God fully, and what it means to love our neighbor fully. And we can fully live up to this standard.
Let’s look at some Bible verses for evidence of this truth.
The Enabling Gifts of God
In his letter to Timothy, Paul writes,
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
God has given us His word, the Bible, and as we read it, we understand what He requires of us. In the sermon on the mount, after providing applications of the ten commandments, Jesus said that we should be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Paul is telling us here that we have the Bible to help us to reach that level.
The phrase, “thoroughly furnished unto all good works” is translated as “thoroughly equipped for every good work” in the New King James Version. It is telling us that if we study God word, we will have complete understanding of what God requires of us and we will have all the tools needed to live a life full of good works.
Speaking of Jesus and the gifts of the Spirit that He gave to the church, Paul writes,
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
Ephesians 4:11-13
God has given all of these gifts to the church so that we can have a full knowledge of what He requires of us, and so that we reach that standard, so that we can become fully like in Jesus in all that we think, and say, and do.
Again, Paul writes,
“I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19
This verse tells us that we can have Jesus living within us. Not literally, but spiritually. That is, we can learn to think like Jesus, and we can receive strength to conduct ourselves like Jesus. We can learn to love God supremely and to love our neighbor as ourselves, just like Jesus did. Not just a little bit, but the full width and length and depth and height. Completely like Jesus.
It starts, of course, with putting into practice the things that we already know. We can read the ten commandments and know which ones we have not been keeping. We can read, “Thou shalt not bear false witness”, and then ask God to help us not to lie. We can read “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy”, and then ask God to help us to keep it holy. God will strengthen our inner man, so that when we are faced with the temptation to disobey His command, we will have the choice and the strength to resist the temptation and we will make the choice that Jesus would have.
If we continue like this, if we spend time in God’s word daily, we can know what it means to love God supremely, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we follow the leading of our conscience, our inner man, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and allow God to work in our lives, we will live up to that standard.
We are no longer under the law, that is, we have been freed from the power that sin has over our lives. We are under grace, that is, we have been given freedom to choose what is right, and the strength to do what is right. May we accept that grace and exercise its power.