We're turning in our Bibles to
the book of Romans, chapter six, as we continue through our Bible
study, verse by verse through Romans. And the title of the
lesson is, Not Under Law, But Under Grace. And that title is
taken from verse 15. We're gonna start at verse 14,
but in verse 15 it says, What then shall we sin because we
are not under the law but under grace, and for verse 14 also,
you're not under the law, but you're under grace. And of course
this is referring to believers. It's referring to those who have
been brought by God in his good providence and power under the
preaching of the gospel, the gospel of God, as Paul said in
Romans 1, the gospel that concerns the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh, made of the seed of
David according to the flesh, referring to his sinless humanity,
that he is very God of very God, declared to be the Son of God
with power, that gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed,
Romans 1, 16 and 17, and the righteousness of God is a phrase,
that refers to the merit, the value, the worth of the obedience
unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety, the substitute
and the redeemer of his people. And so those who have been brought
by God under the preaching of that gospel and which the Holy
Spirit empowered in the new birth and regeneration and conversion
to be the power of God unto salvation, evidence by his bringing them
to a knowledge of God in Christ, the glory of God revealed in
the face of Jesus Christ, and by bringing them to faith in
Christ, trusting Him, relying upon Him, committing our souls
unto Him, our whole eternal well-being, our whole salvation unto Him.
And so that's who this is talking about is being Not under the
law, but under grace. But now these are two phrases
that if we don't understand, there's a lot of debate, a lot
of division over what these mean. What does it mean to be not under
the law? Does that mean that we're antinomian? You've heard that term, antinomian.
It means against the law, without law. Are we outlaws because we're
not under the law? Well, no, that's not what that
means. But we're under grace. We are
recipients of an unconditional, unearned, undeserved salvation
that was all conditioned on Christ, that's the grace that reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
So as there's been a lot of debate and division over what this really
means for a believer to be out from under the law, the dominion
of the law, that's what he's talking about. Later on he says
we're not under the dominion of sin but we're under the dominion,
the rule, the reign, the kingdom of grace. So what does all this
mean? Well first let's consider how sin's dominion has been conquered
for us by Christ. Now, what we have to understand
is that those who are not under the dominion of sin or they're
not under the dominion of the law, what that means is this.
It means the law cannot condemn them because sin is not charged
to them. Now you need to understand that. The Bible teaches that God does
not impute, charge, account sin to his people Because before
the foundation of the world, he appointed Christ, the Son
of God, to be the surety of his people. And a surety is one who
takes legal accountability for the debts of those whom he stands
surety. And so first of all, and what
we're gonna see is that sin's dominion has been conquered for
us by Christ in two ways. Number one, legally. And that's
what I've been talking about. Sin is not charged to them. They've been justified in Christ
by the grace of God in Christ based upon Christ having taken
their sins that were charged to him and sin imputed to him
and his righteousness, the righteousness of God, the merit of his obedience
unto death as their surety, His righteousness has been imputed
to them, charged to them, and that means they can't be charged
with sin. Now that's what Paul was dealing
with back in Romans 6 verses 3 through 7, talking about our
legal union with Christ as our surety in his death, his burial,
his resurrection. And he shows us that in Christ
there's no condemnation, and that God will not charge us with
sin. Over in Romans chapter eight,
I quote this verse quite often, when it says, in verse 33, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. It's God who declares me not
guilty, legally, in his court of justice. It's God who declares
me to be righteous in his sight, Now, how does God do that and
remain true and honorable with himself? Well, he does it on
a just ground, Romans 8, 34. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. So that's how sin's dominion
has been legally accomplished or it's been legally
torn down from us, that dominion. The law cannot condemn us because
sin cannot be charged to us. It was charged to Christ and
he died for those sins. He satisfied the justice of God. So that's the legal way that
the dominion of sin and thus the dominion of the law has been
destroyed. And then the second way is spiritually. Now that refers to our sanctification
by Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit in our new birth.
And this means that we have spiritual life from Christ and that we've
been liberated not from sinning, we still sin, even as sinners
saved by grace, we're still sinners. And sin, the sins of the flesh
still corrupts and contaminates and influences everything we
do, everything we think, say, and do. In other words, if somebody
tells you that the dominion of sin is destroyed in us because
now we're no longer sinners, we no longer sin, that's not
scriptural, that's a lie, that's self-righteousness. Paul deals
with that in Romans 7, 14 through 25. I'm still carnal, sold under
sin. The flesh is still with me. But
so how have I been spiritually sanctified and delivered from
the dominion of sin? What it is in the new birth,
the Holy Spirit, imparts spiritual life to a dead sinner. See, by
nature, we're born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins,
but the Spirit of God coming from Christ gives us spiritual
life, spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, a new heart, and liberates
us from the darkness and the deception of Satan that kept
us from trusting in and relying upon Christ for all of salvation.
Now that's spoken of here in verses we're gonna get to next
time. If you'll look at Romans 6, 17, it says, but God be thanked
that you were the servants of sin. The servant of sin there
is an unregenerate, unbeliever, spiritually dead, but you've
obeyed from the heart. Now in the context of scripture,
obedience from the heart in this matter of the gospel, refers
to the new heart. Ezekiel spoke of it, where God
said, I'm going to give you a new heart, a spiritual heart. Christ in John chapter three,
you must be born again or you cannot see and you cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God. So this is the new heart,
the natural heart. The natural man will not receive
the things of the spirit of God. He will not obey this truth,
this gospel. But the new heart is the mind,
the affections and will of a regenerated, converted, born again person.
So he says you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine,
that's the teachings of the gospel. The glorious person and the finished
work of Christ, which was delivered you, or literally which you were
delivered to. And he says in verse 18, being
then made free, liberated from sin. Again, not in the sense
that we're no longer sinners in ourselves. But we're free
from sin because sin can no longer deceive us to the point of keeping
us from coming to Christ and receiving him and believing in
him and repenting of our dead works. And he says, being then
made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
And to be a servant of righteousness is a believer who trusts Christ. So the dominion of sin has been
destroyed, not so as to bring us to a point that we can say
we've stopped sinning in our character and conduct, because
we still do. But in the sense that sin cannot
be charged and we have a righteousness, we're under grace, grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now recall, for example, in this thing about being, we're not
under the dominion of sin, we're not under the law. Recall how
the Apostle Paul in these very verses encourages and commands
the Roman believers to yield themselves unto God and their
members as instruments of righteousness unto God instead of instruments
of unrighteousness, to sin. Well, if we weren't still sinners,
why would he have to do that? Remember he told the Colossians,
stop hating one another, stop lying to one another. And we
have exhortations in scripture all the way through in the New
Testament that tells us to fight sin. We're in a warfare against
the flesh, the war of the spirit against the flesh. And so we
need to understand that. We also need to understand that
Those who yield themselves as instruments of unrighteousness
can refer to people who appear moral and righteous in the eyes
of men, but who do not know Christ. So understand that. So to be
under grace means this, to be not under the law, I'm not condemned. I'm justified. Sin cannot be
charged to me. The law cannot condemn me. That's
what it means. And to be under grace means that
we who are justified based on Christ's righteousness imputed,
legally, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, given spiritual
life, given a new heart with new godly desires, new godly
motives, godly goals, are under the dominion and rule of God's
grace. We are justified in God's sight, Sin cannot be charged and we
look to Christ out of the new heart. We look to Christ for
all salvation. God's grace in and by the Lord
Jesus Christ provides his righteousness imputed to us as the ground of
our salvation. And it also provides for the
spiritual resurrection that brings us to believe in Christ and to
repent of our dead works and our idolatry, that brings us
to sorrow over our sins after a godly sort, and causes us to
seek to serve him, to serve Christ, as we're motivated by grace and
love and gratitude. Well, look at verse 15. He says,
what then? Now, what can we conclude from
this? Shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace?
Well, God forbid. In other words, because we're
not under the law but under grace, should we therefore conclude
that because of this, that now it's acceptable? for us to take a casual attitude
towards sin and therefore sin more. In other words, does that
give us motivation to sin more than we do? Does that give us
a free reign? Does that give us license? You've
heard the term licentiousness. Well, does that give us license
to sin? Does the dominion of God's grace
give us a free pass to sin as much as we can without fighting
the warfare of the spirit against the flesh and without repentance
of sin and godly sorrow over sin? And he says it in the strongest
words that he can use, God forbid, God forbid. Well, what is the
answer? Verse 16, know you not that to
whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are
to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience
unto righteousness. Now think about what he's saying.
It's very simple. Don't you know who it is you serve? That's your
master. If you're a servant of sin, It
sends your master. You're in that dominion of sin.
If you're a servant of Christ, then he's your master. You're
under his dominion. Now, are we servants of God and
ruled by his grace? Or are we servants of sin and
ruled by our own fleshly appetites? We have fleshly appetites, don't
we? We do. And we have to live with that.
But how are we to deal with it? Somebody said, well, we're just
to taste not, touch not, handle not. Well, that may have a place,
but if that's what we think makes us righteous or makes us free
from sin, that's worldliness, Paul said in Colossians. So what
is this all about? If we're truly servants of God
and ruled by his grace, we're to yield, that means submit.
Ourselves unto him and his word, that's what he says. Now God
hates sin, we know that. If you don't agree with that,
then just look to Christ on the cross having the sins of his
people imputed to him. Well what happened? God forsook
him. He was punished unto death. He
said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So we don't
have to argue about this. God hates sin. Now here's the
key. How can we serve him, serve God,
and claim to love God and believe God and want to honor God and
take a casual view of that which he hates? We can't. How can we
serve him and still allow sin to dominate us without a fight? Now again, we have to understand
there is a certain way in which sin dominates us. You say, well,
what are you talking about, preacher? Well, look over at Romans 7 and
verse 14. Now, I'm going to deal with this
later on, but listen to what Paul says here in Romans 7 and
verse 14. He says, for we know that the
law is spiritual, that is, the law reaches to the heart. It
doesn't just condemn for outward acts for sin, it condemns for
the inward thought and the lust of sin. But he says, but I am
carnal, flesh. and sold under sin, a slave to
sin. Now, how can the same man who
in Romans 6 and verse 7 said that he's dead, that he's freed
from sin, and then in Romans 6, 18 say he's free from sin,
and then Romans 7, 14 say he's sold under sin. How can the same
man say all three things? Well, he's talking about three
different matters here. Some people say, well, Romans
7, 14, he's talking about his past life. But no, he's speaking
in the present tense. And then he goes on to describe
the struggle that a believer has of the spirit and the flesh. In Romans 6, 7, he's talking
about our legal justification before God based on the righteousness
of Christ imputed and the fact that sin cannot be charged. In
Romans 6, 18, he's talking about our spiritual liberation, where
we're no longer deceived in the darkness of sin, but brought
to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. We're believers.
In Romans 7, 14, he's talking about his state as a sinner saved
by grace, continually having to fight sin that plagues him
all the days of his life here on this earth. So it's three
different things. Well let me ask you this, I know
several months ago when I was writing this book on what is
the righteousness of God, you know one of the most common objections
raised against the reality of God's grace, and especially against
the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ, is that preachers,
false preachers who do not believe that, They claim, well, that
we just use that as an excuse to sin, that's what Paul's dealing
with here, it's not. And they say, well, they say
you can, this one false preacher, it was a girl, she was talking
about you can put on this, what she called a Jesus suit, the
righteousness, but you can go on sinning. And she said that those who believe
it say you can't stop sinning. Well, let me ask you this question.
Can we as believers who are not under the law, but under grace,
can we stop sinning? Well, we need to be clear on
what we mean by sinning. Now, some believe this means
that a true believer cannot continue on in a life of total disobedience
without some measure. of godly sorrow over sin and
repentance. Well, that's true. You know,
the new heart that he spoke of up there in Romans 6, 17, that's
a heart of faith. It's the mind, it's the spiritual
heart, the heart of faith, but it's also a penitent heart. And
it brings that repentance of dead works, it brings that godly
sorrow over sin. So a believer is one who cannot
continue in a life of sin without any warfare, without any sorrow,
without any repentance. Those things the Holy Spirit
through the Word of God will always bring to our minds. And
also, often, true believers can, to a certain degree, stop outward
acts of sin, like somebody said, he used to be a cheater, now
he doesn't cheat, he used to be a liar, now he used to be
a thief, he's no longer a thief. They can and do, to a certain
degree, have a reformation, you might say, of character and conduct
in a lot of ways. But we have to understand this,
Lost people in false religion without the gospel can have great
outward reformations of character and conduct. Many times those
who are brought to faith in Christ have already gone through those
kind of changes while they were lost because false religion,
society, conscience can bring about such reformations. And
whether or not such outward reformations accompany our conversion, that
does not mean that we can stop sinning You think about Zacchaeus,
you remember Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19, he was a publican
and he made his living cheating, lying and stealing. And when
God saved him, he said over in Luke chapter 19 and verse eight,
he said, I'm gonna stop that. I'm gonna return all that I stole
from people and all that. Now, does that mean that he stopped
sinning? The answer is no, he's still
a sinner saved by grace. How do you explain it? Well, sin is transgression of
the law. That's what it is. Sin, now listen
to this. Sin is anything that falls short
of the perfect righteousness of the law found only in Christ. You're not gonna find it in you.
I'm not gonna find it in me. And if you're looking for it
in you, I pray, well, here's what happens. A person who looks
for righteousness in themselves, even if they call it the righteousness
of God, even if they call it Christ in you, the person who
looks for righteousness within himself, he's either not gonna
find it and go into despair, which is unbelief, or he's gonna
find it, and what do you have then? A Pharisee. A Pharisee. When God the Holy Spirit imparts
spiritual life to us, we do love Christ, we do love his people.
We can honestly say that we love Christ, but not perfectly. Not the degree of love that it
takes to measure up to the righteousness required by the law that's found
only in Christ, without any contamination of remaining sin that still plagues
us in this life. Our love for Christ and his people
still falls short of perfection. And in this sense, we can never
stop sinning. Now that's what Paul deals with
later on in Romans 7, 14 through 25. But to one degree or another,
truly justified sinners bear the fruit of God's grace and
power in their lives. They bring forth fruit unto God. That's what he says in Romans
4. That's the fruit of the Spirit. But even in bearing the fruit
of God's grace, our best efforts to obey God, they don't equal
the perfect righteousness of Christ. They don't make us righteous
before God. Even our effort to praise God,
even our prayers, even our efforts to do good can only be presented
to and accepted by God under the blood of Christ, washed clean
by His blood. So in that sense, we cannot stop
sinning. The perfection of righteousness
that we have before God is Christ's righteousness imputed, charged,
accounted to us by God's grace. And this is evidence when we're
brought by God to receive Christ and believe in him as the Lord,
our righteousness. And that's what it is to be under
grace. We know our best efforts to please God do not contribute
to our salvation. They're the fruit of our salvation.
And so here we are dead indeed under sin. So when we talk about
not being under the law, what does it mean? It means that we're
not condemned. Sin cannot be, the law cannot
condemn us because sin cannot be charged to us. And then to be under grace, what
does that mean? That means we stand before God,
righteous in Christ. And because of that, the fruit
of His work as our surety and our Redeemer, we are brought
to Him by faith, God-given faith, and we believe in Him and rest
in Him for all righteousness.