The Meaning of, "Ye Are Not Under the Law, But Under Grace."

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)

We are "dead to the law." By associating ourselves with the death of Christ on the cross we are released from the authority of the Law of Moses.

But the purpose of being dead to Moses is not that we no longer will be under the law of God; rather, we are dead to Moses so we may be married to the Lord Jesus Christ. We were married to Moses. Now, through the death of our old nature, we are released from Moses and married to Christ.

As we have pointed out in this booklet, marriage to Christ brings forth in us the righteousness of the eternal law of God, of which the Ten Commandments are a preliminary expression. The eternal life working in us produces righteous behavior. The righteous behavior brings more eternal life to us, which in turn produces more righteous behavior. The daily increase of eternal life and righteousness is leading to bodily resurrection to righteousness, immortality, and glory. The new covenant works as follows:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. ( 2 Corinthians 3:18)

The new covenant results in the change from a filthy robe of immorality and violence to a white robe, a robe of righteousness and eternal life.

We have explained that the Sabbath is fulfilled in us because we are entering God’s rest, not one day out of seven but every day throughout eternity. God is resting, and we are becoming an eternal part of His rest through Christ.

To attempt to add to our rest in God the letter of the fourth commandment, or the dietary ordinances, or circumcision, or observance of the feast days, or any of the other statutes of the Mosaic Law, is not a sin. But it may bring confusion to what should be a simple following of the Lord.

There are believers, both Jewish and Gentiles, who keep the Sabbath-day commandment by doing no work of any kind on Saturday, who observe Passover, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles. These practices may be a blessing to them while Christ, who is the fulfillment of all these, is being formed in them.

The Lord loves His people who observe some of the ordinances of previous covenants, and a morality that works by the letter of the Law is better than the current teaching that produces little or no righteous behavior.

The new covenant of death and resurrection has a goal and a process infinitely higher than any previous covenant. There is no religious practice that can add to or improve on the process of death and resurrection. Keeping the Mosaic statutes does not lead to the goal of bodily righteousness, immortality, and glory. Only the death and resurrection of the inner nature can produce the first resurrection.

Since the process of death and resurrection derives its authority from the blood of the Lord, no one can condemn the saint for failing to keep the letter of the Law of Moses.

He who has died to the world and is bringing forth fruit through union with Christ need not look back to a lesser covenant. He is without condemnation because the living Christ is justifying him. Yet he is not to despise his brother who does not have this understanding or faith.

Let not the one who is keeping the ordinances of Moses despise the believer who trusts in the Lord Jesus alone for his salvation, and let not the one who observes none of the ordinances despise his brother or sister who believes the observance to be necessary.

Are the Ten Commandments binding on the Christian?

No, in the sense he is under a superior covenant.

Yes, in the sense that as Christ is formed in him he keeps the eternal moral law of God to an exceedingly greater degree than is possible to the sincere believer who is seeking to go back and observe the letter of the Law.

Let us repeat: there is no sin in observing the several statutes and ordinances of the Law of Moses. Let the believer in Christ observe the Passover, the Sabbath, circumcision, bar mitzvah, Succot, the mikvah cleansing, or whatever else he or she desires to do before the Lord. Let him practice these according to the Scripture and rejoice before the Lord.

The believer also must keep in mind that all such ceremonies are pointing toward the day when Christ is formed in the believer. It is the forming of Christ, the new creation, that is the new covenant and the salvation of the Lord. All else is temporary and a scaffolding that will be done away when we come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Listen to the Jew, Paul:

For in Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Galatians 6:15)