Not under Law but under Grace

Part Six

by G. A. N. James

This is the sixth part of the series of messages on the subject of Law and Grace, entitled “Not under Law but under Grace.” We have already established the limitation of the Law of Moses in fulfilling God’s aim to deliver humanity after the Fall from the bondage of death and sin into Life and righteousness. We have also dealt with the purpose of the Law in God’s unfolding plan of salvation to foreshadow and point to the true Life and righteousness which Christ would bring to humanity. We examined the fulfilment of the Law in Christ who came to reveal the true substance or body of Life and righteousness, which the Law foreshadowed. In our last message, we examined the truth that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one who believes and accepts Him. In this sixth part of the series, we will examine the truth that the righteousness of God apart from the Law is now manifested.

The Righteousness of God apart from the Law

We now can declare on the sound basis of the Scriptures that the Law with its commandments and rituals could not give or produce in man true righteousness before God and that the righteousness of God revealed in Christ stands apart from the Law. This in essence is the basic teaching of the Scriptures on the subject of Law and Grace. It is summarized well for us in Rom 3:19-26:

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Yes, indeed, apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed. The righteousness of God is now provided for man without the regime of the Law. This is the essence of the truth, which forms the theme of this series of messages, that we are not under Law but under Grace. With the end of the Law in Christ, we can find the righteousness of God outside of the Law, which inevitably brought us condemnation because of its inability to produce in us the righteousness of God. This is the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom. This good news ought to be welcomed by all of mankind who understand and realize the limitation of the Law, the purpose of the Law, the fulfillment and the end of the Law in Christ in relation to the righteousness of God.

Interestingly, the Scriptures declare that this righteousness of God apart from the Law is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. What does it mean for the righteousness of God to be witnessed by the Law and the Prophets? Does it mean that the Law and the Prophets substantially represent the righteousness of God? Many who want to hold on to the regime of the Law point to this Scriptural statement as a reason why they should continue to promote the Law as a means of attaining righteousness in the sight of God. However, a close examination of this Scriptural statement will show that it implies no such meaning.

We pointed out at the beginning of the series that the Law and the Prophets constitute more or less what we consider today to be the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Certainly, as we have clearly established, the Law and the Prophets were not intended to and could not produce the righteousness of God in man, but instead generate guilt and condemnation in sinful man. “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19-20).  However, the Law and the Prophets effectively foreshadowed and pointed to the true righteousness which would be brought to mankind in Christ Jesus, and, in this way, may be considered to be an effectual witness of the true righteousness of God which is apart from the Law. In other words, a proper understanding of the Law and the Prophets will point us to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. In this way, the Law and the Prophets bear witness to the truth that the righteousness of God would be revealed in Christ apart from the Law.

This is the exact point brought out by the Scriptures in Gal 3:21-25:

Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

A similar example in the Scriptures to clarify this point is John the Baptist’s being a witness to the Light, which would be manifested in Jesus Christ. The Scriptures make it clear that John was not the Light, but came ahead of Christ to bear witness to the Light, which Christ was to be the substantial representation of. We read in John 1:6-8: “There was a man sent from God; his name was John. This one came as a witness, to bear witness concerning the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”

Therefore, to say that the Law and the Prophets bear witness to the righteousness of God does not necessarily imply that the Law and the Prophets can provide, or essentially represent, the righteousness of God. John the Baptist bore witness to the Light, Jesus Christ, by prophesying of, teaching about, showing people their need of, and pointing the people to the Light, which Christ would come to be to the world, while acknowledging that he was in no way able to measure up to the glory and reality of the Light, which Christ would actually be. Here are some Scriptural excerpts about John and his role as a witness of Christ. “John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I spoke: He who comes after me has been before me, for He was preceding me.... And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.... And they asked him and said, Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor that Prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but One stands among you whom you do not know. He it is who, coming after me, who has been before me; of whom I am not worthy to loosen the thong of His sandal” (John 1:15, 19-20, 25-27).

John confessed that he could not be compared to Christ, the glorious Light, to which he bore witness, but, at the same time, he acknowledged that God had divinely ordained and set him to fulfill a divine role in His unfolding plan and purpose for the salvation of humanity through Christ. The Law, therefore, while being meaningful in its role in God’s unfolding plan of salvation to liberate man from the bondage of sin and lift him up into God’s own righteousness, is inadequate, and incapable to substitute, for the righteousness of God in Christ. Hence, holding on to the Law and the Prophets for the righteousness of God, after Christ has come to demonstrate the righteousness of God in Himself, is like looking to John for the Light after Christ, the Light which John bore witness of, has come to manifest Himself as the Light of the world.

Unlike many Old Covenant legalists, who continue to contend for the loyalty and devotion of God’s people after the role of the Law has ended, John the Baptist humbly and heroically faded into the sunset of his era to allow the glory of the Light of Christ to arise upon the nations. We read in John 3:26-30:

And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you bore witness, behold, He baptizes, and all come to Him! And John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it is given to him from Heaven. You yourselves bear witness to me that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Then my joy is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

The truth is that, under the present universal dispensation of the grace of God, the Jewish people, to whom the Law was given, can let go of the Law and to enter into the righteousness of God in Christ. Similarly, the rest of the nations, who themselves have always been outside the Law regime of the Old Covenant, need not come under the yoke of the Law in order to enter into the righteousness of God but can believe in and accept Christ as the true source of the righteousness of God. The difficulty that some people have had in understanding this glorious truth is in the realization that God is the One who produces true righteousness in a believer in Christ Jesus. The only method which God has designed and revealed for man’s salvation from sin and death is by imparting the righteousness of God in Christ to all who believe.

Human self righteous efforts are futile. The Scriptures are quite plain in presenting this truth. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20). Man can find the righteousness of God only in Christ, “Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom 3:25-28).

The dispensation of the Law and the Prophets demonstrated that the most elaborate  and strict system of Law and the most eloquent and powerful proclamations of Prophets could not generate the righteousness of God in the hearts of the children of Israel to whom the Law and the Prophets were specifically sent. When the Law was given by Moses to the people of Israel at Mt Sinai, the children of Israel zealously vowed under the old covenant to obey the entire Law. “And he [Moses] took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, ‘All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient’” (Exo 24:7). Evidence shows that the people, generation after generation, failed dismally in fulfilling their vow. God lamented through Ezekiel in the Book of the the Prophets, “Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness” (Eze 20:21).

As we said, the Prophets bore witness of God’s righteousness, which was to be established under a new covenant, as they lamented over the failure of the people of Israel under the Old Covenant and prophesied about the eventual introduction of God’s method of imparting His righteousness to man under the New Covenant of Grace.  “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Eze 36:25-27; cf. Jer 31:31-32).

The New Covenant reveals God’s plan of establishing His own righteousness in man. If truly our desire is to be genuinely righteous in the sight of God, then we will submit to God's righteousness. We will accept God's method of producing righteousness in us. And, indeed, God can and does produce an excellent work of righteousness through Christ in the lives of all who turn to Him in faith.

However, much of the reluctance in letting go of the Law and turning to God's righteousness apart from the Law stems from an ulterior motive in people to uphold and maintain the traditions of the Old Covenant and pursue their own righteousness which is of the Law. As Paul writes concerning those who zealously uphold Judaism: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes” (Rom 10:1-4).

There are, according to Scriptures, man’s own righteousness or self righteousness, which is of the Law or based on one’s self efforts to keep the Law, and God’s righteousness, which is apart from the Law and can be found only in Christ through faith and is imparted by God by grace to all who believe in Christ . It is plain in the Scriptures that the righteousness of God is distinctly different from self or man’s own righteousness. Paul, as a devout Jew, tried to pursue his own righteousness, which is of the Law, and sincerely thought that he had blamelessly achieved true righteousness, until he received the revelation of the righteousness of God. He writes in Phi 3:4-9:

“If any other thinks that he has reason to trust in the flesh, I more. I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. As regards the Law, I was a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness in the Law, blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith.”

Having come to understand the truth of the righteousness of God, Paul gave up the traditions of the Law in order to be found in Christ having the righteousness of God by faith instead of having his own righteousness, which he tried to achieve by keeping the Law. We must bear in mind that, as we have been emphasizing in this series of messages, the definitive aim of God from the Fall of Adam's race, or even before the foundation of the world, has been to deliver man from the domination of sin and death and bring man into the liberty, life and righteousness of children of God. God's revealed plan to effectively bring this about was not through the declaration of the elaborate regime of the Law of Moses, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ and the atoning work of Christ for mankind. The Law and the Prophets, as we said, pointed to this glorious plan of salvation, as a witness, and instructed man to hope and wait for and believe in its effective application through Christ Jesus.

For instance, in the Gospel of John we read about the introduction to mankind of this great plan of salvation through the coming of Jesus Christ in this way:

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:10-17).

Note the significance John places on the regeneration of man from a sinful being to an offspring of God by God Himself without the contribution of human genealogy, human psychology, and human choice (born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God). This is a profound truth, which cannot fit into human philosophy, which is based on humanism and self-will. We need to humble ourselves, let go of our worldly carnal way of thinking, and be renewed by the mind of Christ to grasp this New Testament truth by the revelation of the Spirit. Grace and Truth in Christ Jesus, not more of the dictates of the Law and the judgments of Prophets, was what was needed, and this was what God provided, to bring man deliverance from the bondage of sin and death and impart the righteousness of God to those who believe.

Law regimes, we must admit, play important roles of control and sanctions in human relationships and behaviour and are fundamental for the execution of justice and judgments in society. In fact, at the end of the age, when men will be brought before the judgment throne of God, those who did not embrace the New Covenant to submit to the righteousness of God in Christ and, hence, whose names were not written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, would be judged according the works of the Law (Rev 13:8; 20:11-15; 21:27). They would be those who reject Christ and the righteousness of God offered in Him and even those who were religious but chose to remain under the Law and pursue their own righteousness under Law. Obviously, as the Scriptures state, none will find justification and meet the standard of the righteousness of God by the works of the Law. Hence, such infidels would have sealed their own condemnation. Paul puts Law in its right perspective in this way, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane ....” (1 Ti 1:8-9).

However, there are those who still think that the Law could free us from the dominating influence of sin. They argue that if we had laws with more radical standards and severe consequences, surely man would not go on sinning. The evidence is that this approach has not worked in human society, neither in civil nor in religious institutions. No standards were as lofty as the holy law of God presented to the nation of Israel by Moses. No consequences were more severe than violating the Law of Moses. Yet, the prophet lamented concerning his people:  “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him [Christ]” (Isa 53:6).

Paul, himself brought up under strict Jewish adherence to the Law, hopelessly admitted in Rom 3:9-20:

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” "Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving,” "the poison of asps is under their lips”; "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; "their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known.” "There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Hence, Paul knew indeed that to be made righteous according to othe righteousness of God, Jews would have to leave the Law behind and turn to Christ in faith. He writes in Gal 2:15-16: "We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

It is important to understand the distinction between seeking to achieve one’s own righteousness under the Law and submitting to the righteousness of God under Grace. Some mistakenly confound the two. Of primary importance is the understanding that the righteousness of God is given by God to the believer in Christ by the grace of God and is, therefore, not the product of human efforts in keeping the Mosaic system of rules and regulations. In other words, the Scriptures do not instruct us to work to achieve God’s righteousness, but to submit to God’s righteousness imparted to us through faith in Christ. Notice how the Scriptures make the distinction in Rom 4:3-6:

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." But to him working, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt. But to him not working, but believing on Him justifying the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also says of the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness without works.

God makes us, who believe in Christ, into His own righteousness. “For He has made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2Co 5:21). The excellence of the righteousness of God produced by God Himself in us cannot be questioned or faulted, nor be compared with any form of righteousness we may attempt to produce on our own. According to Isa 64:6, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” So, it is not to the Mosaic system of Law we must look if we hope to see true righteousness in our lives, but to the Lord, who has become our righteousness and creates us into the righteousness of God in Him. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal 6:15).

It must be emphasized, as we have done in this series of messages, that, according to the teachings of the Scriptures, the Law was neither intended nor able to produce the righteousness of God in man. We have dealt with this when we examined the limitation of the Law and the purpose of the Law. This highlights the truth of the righteousness of God being meant to stand apart from the Law. Paul specifically makes the point that “if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law” (Gal 3:21). Hence, since the Law was not intended to or capable of producing life, the righteousness of God, which essentially is the Life of Christ in man, is now manifested apart from the Law.

Ironically, when we uphold the Scriptural teachings that the Law is inadequate in making man righteous and that now, according to God's new covenant of grace, we are no longer under Law but under grace, we are wrongly perceived or accused of promoting licentiousness or rebellion. The truth is that by recognizing the limitation of the Law in producing righteousness in man, and the effectual working of the grace of God in producing the righteousness of God in all who believe, we proclaim the good news of the Gospel of the grace of God and present to mankind God's effective remedy for man's inherent sin and rebellion problem. Paul, a firm advocate of this Gospel of grace, declares: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:16-17).

In fact, to comprehensively address and reject the misconception that to uphold the Scriptural teaching that we are not under Law but under Grace is to promote rebellion, the Scriptures give us a vivid summary of the message of the Gospel of grace in Rom 6:1-18 (It is a Scripture passage that believers in Christ need to read over and over to keep appreciating the true righteousness of God offered to man and the excellence of God's plan of salvation for mankind by grace):

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

So the good news of the Gospel proclaims to humanity the availability of the righteousness of God by grace through faith in Christ under God’s new covenant of grace. This is indisputably God's solution for man's rebellion and sinfulness, and it is certainly not an encouragement or permissiveness for man to go on sinning. When believers in Christ embrace God's liberating grace from the domination of sin, it is foolish to conclude that sin will persist, as though God's remedy for sin is ineffective and the Lamb of God, now the Lamb on the Throne, cannot take away the sin of the world. The truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is that Grace, and not Law, destroys the bondage of sin and produces the righteousness of God in man. To ignore this wonderful good news is to despise God’s lovingkindness and the redemptive work of Christ in making it possible for us to partake of the righteousness of God so freely and fully by grace. We who believe cannot neglect this amazing grace. As Paul declares, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Gal 2:21).

In closing, let us humbly admit before God that our best efforts to be righteous and holy by pursuing the keeping of the Law is insufficient to produce in us the true righteousness of God. And so, let us turn to God and accept with grateful hearts His abundant grace which is able to liberate us from the domination of sin in our lives and empower us to grow in obedience to Him and manifest His righteousness, which is now revealed apart from the Law.

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