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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
February 18
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Today's Pathway:
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Paul has been giving reasons why the believer is not bound to sin anymore. In verse 14 he gives another reason:
"for ye are not under the law, but under grace".
This is another phrase in the New Testament which has been misused. Those who want to live as they please and ignore Biblical morals and standards interpret this verse to say, "there are no rules and no laws for us to follow. We have grace, so we can do what we please." People who believe this have obviously never read the next verse, which states,
"shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid."
So what is Paul saying in verses 14-15? The idea seems to deal with the superiority of grace to the law, and the great benefits that we have under grace. Matthew Poole explained the verse this way.
"You may be sure sin shall have no dominion over you; for you are not under the law, which forbids sin, but gives no power against it, or which requires obedience, and gives no strength to perform it (like the Egyptian taskmasters, who required bricks but gave no straw); but under the gospel or covenant of grace, where sin is not only forbidden, but the sinner is enabled to resist and overcome it."
When they were under the law, man had to obey it entirely, and if he did not he was cursed, for the law itself offered no remedy for sin. The ability to obey the dictates of the law comes only through grace. To be under the law condemns man to be unable to satisfy its demands, but to be under grace removes the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), gives us the righteousness of God (II Cor 5:21), and makes us alive unto God (Rom. 6:11). When men were under the law, sin always had dominion over them. When men receive Christ as Savior, sin no longer has dominion, but grace abounds more.
Paul anticipates the response that he would receive to his previous statement. It is interesting that Paul chooses a different way of expressing this question than he does in verse 1,
"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?".
In verse 1 the idea of "continue" is to follow on in that lifestyle. In other words, should we keep behaving like lost men so that we can get more grace? The obvious answer is "God forbid". In verse 15 the idea is, "Is it OK to occasionally commit sins now that we are under grace?" The person asking this question does not want to live like an unsaved man. He just wants the liberty to be able to violate God's principles if it happens to suit his "needs" on a particular occasion. He doesn't want to act like a heathen, he just wants to be able to pick and choose what laws he has to obey. He won't disobey the "big" rules (murder, stealing, the ones that get you arrested), but those "little" ones (lust, lying, covetousness, faithfulness) aren't really that important and can be disobeyed if the situation warrants it. Paul's response to this is identical to his response in verse 2:
"God forbid".
Tomorrow we will see Paul's reasons for this answer.
Are you obeying all of God's Word, or are you picking and choosing which rules to obey depending on what you want to do at any given moment? It's a thought-provoking question, isn't it?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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