Most Christians would probably agree that obedience matters however what should we be obedient to? Christians should be in unity on the point of salvation, how we are saved. It is however the next step that becomes more problematic…

What do we do next? What denomination should we follow?

Too quickly we can become institutionalised into traditions and doctrines that are not at all biblical. We seek to explore this next step of our faith journey and try to find the most scriptural answer to these questions.

But before we get into the question of obedience we need to establish our foundation, even the most mature Christians should be reminded of this question to remember where it all begins and remember our unity with the whole body of Christian believers:

How are we actually saved?

Is salvation something we earn by keeping God's commandments? Is it achieved by doing enough good works? Is it obtained by joining the right church, following the right traditions, or living a good enough life?

Or is salvation a gift that God offers to us through faith in Jesus Christ?

It is our belief that the Bible gives us a clear answer.

We are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.

Here on in I want to create a scriptural reference point to bring as many verses as I can that support this position together as a reminder when we are perhaps getting frustrated with how others practice their faith, no entitlement, just pure grace, something that we all need to remember when discussing with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul writes:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8–9

Our salvation is a gift. We cannot earn it. Paul reinforces this in Titus:

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us..." Titus 3:5

And Romans tells us:

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Romans 3:28

The message is clear. We cannot stand before God and claim that our obedience has earned us salvation.

Salvation begins with God's mercy and grace.

So What Must We Do?

If salvation is a gift, how do we receive it? I have heard many iterations of this point, some focus on baptism, some on spiritual gifts, I want to focus on the one uniting foundational step to accept God’s grace towards us.

The Bible repeatedly points us to faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said:

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already..." John 3:18

And:

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life..." John 3:36

John's Gospel explains the purpose of its message:

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." John 20:31

Paul told the Philippian jailer:

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." Acts 16:31

And Romans gives us one of the clearest statements about what it means to respond to Christ:

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9–10

The Bible therefore teaches us to believe in Jesus Christ, to confess Him as Lord, and to trust in His death and resurrection.

But there is more.

What Does It Mean to Believe?

Biblical faith is more than simply agreeing that Jesus existed.

Even the devils believe that God exists:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19

The issue is not simply whether we believe certain facts.

The question is whether we truly trust Christ and submit our lives to Him.

Jesus said:

"Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46

This is a question worth taking seriously.

If Jesus is truly our Lord, then faith cannot simply be an intellectual belief about Him. Genuine faith changes the direction of our lives.

Repentance Is Part of the Gospel

When Jesus began preaching, His message was:

"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17

When Jesus sent His disciples out, they:

"went out, and preached that men should repent." Mark 6:12

After His resurrection, Jesus explained that:

"repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations..." Luke 24:47

Peter preached the same message at Pentecost:

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..." Acts 3:19

And when the people asked what they should do, Peter answered:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." Acts 2:38

Repentance means turning away from sin and turning toward God.

It does not mean that we earn salvation by becoming perfect.

It means that when we come to Christ, we are not asking Him to save us so that we can continue deliberately living in rebellion against God.

Paul describes this transformation:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Hebrew word commonly translated as turn or repent is שׁוּב (shuv, Strong's H7725).

It carries the meaning of turning back, returning, or changing direction. This gives us a deeper understanding of biblical repentance. It is not simply feeling sorry for our sins, but turning away from them and returning to God's ways.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, God declares, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin" (Ezekiel 18:30). Similarly, Isaiah calls us to "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found" and "let the wicked forsake his way... and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him" (Isaiah 55:6–7).

Although the New Testament uses the Greek word metanoeō (to repent or change one's mind), the Hebrew concept of shuv helps us understand what genuine repentance looks like in practice. We turn away from sin and return to God, seeking to walk according to His instructions.

Repentance is therefore not an attempt to earn salvation, but a response to God's grace and His call to live differently.

We Are Saved From Sin Not Saved So We Can Continue in Sin

This is where the question of obedience becomes unavoidable.

Paul asks:

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." Romans 6:1–2

Paul's answer is emphatic.

Grace does not give us permission to continue living in sin.

And John writes:

"He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4

These are powerful words, this verse should challenge anyone who has received Christ and is not turning .

Faith Produces Works

This brings us to an important distinction.

We are not saved by works.

But we are saved unto good works.

Paul writes:

"For we are....created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

Notice the order.

Ephesians 2:8–9 tells us we are saved by grace through faith, not by works.

Verse 10 then tells us that we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

Works are not the root of salvation.

They are the fruit of a transformed life.

James makes the same point:

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." James 2:17

And again:

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:26

James is not saying that we can purchase salvation through good deeds.

A faith that never produces action is dead.

The Faith That Saves Is a Faith That Obeys

Consider the words of Jesus:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

Jesus connects love with obedience.

John says:

"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2:3

And:

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3

The question, then, is not whether obedience earns our salvation.

It does not.

The question is whether someone who has genuinely placed their faith in Christ should have a desire to obey the One they claim to love.

According to Scripture, the answer is yes.

We Are Not Saved by Obedience But We Are Called to Obey

The biblical picture is therefore much bigger than the simple statement:

"We are saved by faith, not works."

That statement is true, but it must be understood in the context of everything else Scripture teaches.

• We are saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8–9

• Through faith. Romans 5:1

• In Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12

• By believing in Him. John 3:16

• By confessing Him as Lord. Romans 10:9–10

• By repenting and turning to God. Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19

• And having been saved, we are called to walk in a new life. Romans 6:4

• We are called to present ourselves to God. Romans 12:1

• We are called to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16

• We are called to live as God's people.1 Peter 1:15–16

• And we are called to obey Christ. John 14:15

The Bible does not teach that we obey in order to become saved.

It teaches that we obey because we have been saved.

We do not obey to purchase God's love.

We obey because God has already shown His love to us.

We do not keep God's commandments to boast that we have earned salvation.

We keep them because we love the God who saved us.

This is why faith and obedience should never be treated as opposites.

Faith is the root. Obedience is the fruit.

The fruit does not create the tree.

But a healthy tree produces fruit.

Jesus said:

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:20

So, the biblical answer is clear, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works.

Having received it, we are called to walk in it, in faith our journey is just beginning. So what did Jesus actually teach about what that journey looks like?

That is where we must turn next.

For centuries, believers have wrestled with the relationship between faith and obedience. If salvation is entirely a free gift of God’s grace, why does the Apostle James forcefully argue that "Faith Without Works Is Dead"?

This apparent tension has troubled many. During the Reformation, Martin Luther famously struggled with the Book of James, feeling it contradicted the Apostle Paul’s clear teaching that justification comes by faith apart from the deeds of the law. However, when we read the Scriptures as a unified whole, we find that James and Paul are not opponents arguing different gospels. They are addressing different issues. Paul combated the legalistic idea that we can earn our salvation through perfect obedience. James combated the dangerous assumption that saving faith requires no obedience at all.

The Danger of a Lifeless Faith

James challenges a passive view of faith right from the start:

"What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14)

He is describing a specific type of faith—one that exists only in words and intellectual agreement but produces no tangible change in a person's life. To illustrate how useless this superficial faith is, James points out that even the forces of darkness possess it:

"You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." (James 2:19)

The demons have excellent theology. They know exactly who God is. They believe in His power, His existence, and His authority. Yet, their belief does not result in submission, repentance, or obedience. Therefore, biblical faith must be more than simply acknowledging that God exists or that Jesus is the Messiah. Genuine faith is an active, living trust that fundamentally alters how we walk out our daily lives.

"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." (James 2:17)

A dead faith is one that claims to know the Master but refuses to follow His instructions.

The Royal Law and the Original Instructions

To understand what James means by "works," we must look at the standard of conduct he points to. He does not invent a new, arbitrary set of Christian rules. Instead, he directs his readers straight back to the foundational instructions given by God in the Torah.

"If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself,' you are doing well." (James 2:8)

James calls this the "royal law." It is royal because it was given by the King of Kings. But where does this law come from? James is directly quoting Leviticus 19:18. Furthermore, this command to love our neighbour is intimately tied to the greatest commandment found in Deuteronomy 6:5: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might".

Jesus Himself affirmed that all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. The original instructions found in Deuteronomy and Leviticus were never meant to be a cold, mechanical checklist for earning salvation. They were given as a comprehensive guide for how to practically express love to God and love to our fellow man.

When James speaks of the "royal law," he is validating the enduring authority of God's original instructions. Love is not a vague, shifting emotion; it is defined by God's unchanging commandments. If we claim to have faith, that faith must be demonstrated by our obedience to the King's royal law. If we ignore His instructions on how to live, worship, and treat others, we are failing to love Him scripturally.

Abraham: The Evidence of Living Faith

To prove his point, James uses the most famous man of faith in biblical history: Abraham.

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;" (James 2:21-22)

Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. This happened long before Isaac was even born. Abraham's salvation was secured by his faith. However, decades later, when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham obeyed.

James argues that Abraham's obedience did not purchase his righteousness; rather, his obedience perfected and proved his faith. The two worked together in perfect harmony. Faith was the root; obedience was the fruit. If Abraham had verbally claimed to trust God but flatly refused to obey His command, his so-called faith would have been exposed as dead and useless.

The same applies to believers today. Our works do not save us, but they are the undeniable evidence that we have been saved.

Grace Equips Us for Obedience

We must completely discard the idea that grace and obedience are at war with one another. When we properly understand James 2, we realise that true, saving faith inevitably produces a deep desire to obey the Father.

If we have genuinely received God's unmerited grace, our hearts are transformed. We are no longer rebelling against His authority. Instead, we look at the royal law, the beautiful, perfect instructions God laid out in Deuteronomy and throughout the Scriptures and we strive to walk in them out of gratitude and love.

"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:26)

Our faith breathes through our actions. As we progress in our journey, we must continually examine our own walk. Are we resting on a sterile, intellectual belief, or are we stepping forward in active obedience to the King's original instructions?

A living faith will always seek to do the will of the Father.

Did Paul and James preach different messages about salvation? Paul says we are justified by faith apart from works, while James says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Can both be right?

Paul writes:

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."  Romans 3:28

Yet James declares:

"You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."  James 2:24

At first glance, these statements appear to contradict each other directly. But if all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), we cannot simply pick the verse that flatters our existing view. We need to understand what each apostle is actually addressing.

What Does It Mean to Be Justified?

The Greek word translated as justified is dikaioō (Strong's G1344). Depending on the context, it can mean to declare righteous, acquit, or vindicate.

Paul frequently discusses justification in the context of how sinners can be counted righteous before God.

"Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."  Romans 3:24

His argument is that righteousness cannot be earned through works of the Law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16).

James, however, examines how faith is brought to completion through action. He pointedly asks whether a passive faith without works can save (James 2:14). Both apostles care deeply about genuine righteousness, but they approach it from different angles.

To see this distinction clearly, we only need to examine the shared case study they both cite: Abraham.

Abraham: The Same Scripture, Two Arguments

Remarkably, both Paul and James quote the same passage:

"Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."  Genesis 15:6

Paul cites this in Romans 4:3 to show that Abraham was credited with righteousness through faith decades before he was circumcised (Romans 4:10). Righteousness was not a wage earned by performing a ritual; it was credited because he trusted God.

James looks at Abraham decades later in Genesis 22, when God commanded him to offer Isaac:

"You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected."  James 2:22

Consider the sequence:

·         Genesis 15: Abraham believes God, and righteousness is credited to him.

·         Genesis 22: Abraham demonstrates his trust through obedience, bringing his faith to maturity.

James explains that Abraham's obedience fulfilled Genesis 15:6 (James 2:23)

Abraham did not earn his original righteousness through the offering of Isaac. Rather, his obedience brought his faith to its intended completion.

Paul explains how Abraham was counted righteous. James explains how that faith was subsequently brought to maturity.

They are examining different moments in the same man's relationship with God.

Did Paul Really Teach Against Obedience?

A common mistake is isolating Paul's statements on faith from the wider context of his letters.

Paul declares:

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."  Romans 3:28

Yet only three verses later, he asks:

"Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law."  Romans 3:31

If Paul believed that faith made God's Law irrelevant, why would he insist that faith establishes it?

Even more surprisingly, Paul writes:

"For not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified."  Romans 2:13

How do we reconcile Romans 2:13 with Romans 3:28?

In Romans 2, Paul establishes that God judges impartially according to people's deeds (Romans 2:6–11). In Romans 3, he demonstrates that all have sinned and therefore cannot establish righteousness before God through their own performance (Romans 3:9–24).

The passages are not contradictory. They address different aspects of God's righteousness and judgment.

Paul never taught that obedience was meaningless. He describes the purpose of his ministry as bringing about the "obedience of faith" among the nations (Romans 1:5; 16:26).

For Paul, faith was always intended to influence how we live.

Galatians and Faith Working Through Love

Paul's letter to the Galatians is frequently quoted to suggest that Christians are no longer expected to follow God's commandments.

However, the central controversy concerned circumcision and whether Gentile believers needed to take on that obligation to be justified.

Paul warns:

"You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."  Galatians 5:4

Notice the issue: seeking to be justified by the Law.

Paul was confronting the attempt to establish righteousness through religious observance rather than relying upon God's grace through Christ.

He then explains:

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love."  Galatians 5:6

This is remarkably close to James's description of Abraham's faith working together with his actions.

Paul does not conclude that faith should remain inactive. He describes faith as something that works through love.

And when Paul explains what love looks like, he quotes the Torah:

"For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  Galatians 5:14

This is the same commandment from Leviticus 19:18 that James identifies as the Royal Law (James 2:8).

Both apostles appeal to God's original instructions to explain how faith should be expressed.

Two Perspectives, One Message

The apparent contradiction becomes clearer when we recognise the different questions being addressed.

Paul asks: On what basis can a sinner be counted righteous before God?

His answer: By God's grace through faith, not through righteousness earned by works.

James asks: Can faith be considered complete if it never produces action?

His answer: No. Faith must become active through obedience.

Yet James is saying more than that works merely prove faith to other people. Abraham's obedience took place before God, who declared:

"For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."  Genesis 22:12

His obedience brought his trust in God to its intended expression.

Paul likewise recognised that God works within believers to produce obedience:

"For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."  Philippians 2:13

The God who justifies us by grace also transforms us to walk according to His will.

A Helpful Picture: The Covenant of Marriage

Throughout the bible our relationship with God is often compared with the marriage relationship between husband and wife. While Paul and James do not use this analogy in this specific situation, considering how marriage operates provides a helpful picture of how their two arguments complement one another:

·         Entering the covenant (Paul's focus): When two people marry, they commit themselves to each other at the altar. Even though their vows have not yet been lived out over time, they hold the full legal status of husband and wife from that moment. In a similar way, Paul emphasises how we stand as righteous before God: through faith and the covenant of grace, not by accumulating a prior track record of performance.

·         Living out the covenant (James's focus): A marriage certificate alone does not prove that a couple is living out that commitment. If the vows are completely neglected, the relationship fails to function as a genuine marriage. In a similar way, James argues that action is what demonstrates real faith. The lived obedience proves the commitment.

Paul focuses on how the covenant begins (by faith alone). James focuses on how a living covenant operates (a faith that acts). Both are true, and neither contradicts the other.

One Gospel, Not Two

Paul and James were not establishing competing versions of Christianity. Both drew from the Hebrew Scriptures, used Abraham as an example of righteousness and upheld the commandment to love our neighbour.

Their different emphases addressed different errors: Paul opposed the idea that righteousness could be earned through works of the Law, while James opposed the idea that inactive faith could be considered complete.

If our interpretation of Paul makes James appear wrong, perhaps we have misunderstood Paul. And if our interpretation of James makes salvation something we can earn, perhaps we have misunderstood James.

The Scriptures must be allowed to speak together.

Paul’s question remains: "Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law" (Romans 3:31).

If faith establishes the Law, what did he mean when he wrote that believers are "not under the Law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14)?

We hope to examine that question next.

We have often heard quoted:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14 (KJV)

This is commonly interpreted to mean that we are no longer under any obligation to follow the Laws and Commandments in the Old Testament.

Is this what Paul is saying by this verse?

Let's look at the progression throughout Romans 6 to see what he is saying, in context.

·         Romans 6:1 – Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?

·         Romans 6:2–3 – Absolutely not! We are dead to sin.

·         Romans 6:4 – We should walk in newness of life.

·         Romans 6:6 – Our old man is crucified so that we should no longer serve sin.

·         Romans 6:11 – We are to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God.

·         Romans 6:12 – We should not allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies.

·         Romans 6:13 – We should no longer present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, but as instruments of righteousness unto God.

So our relationship with sin has changed. Through baptism, we identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our old life is put to death, and we are raised to walk in newness of life. We are no longer to be servants of sin, but alive to God and willing to be instruments of righteousness.

Paul initially denies emphatically that we should continue in sin. Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Absolutely not! We are to move forward in a life that is renouncing sin.

What Is Sin?

The question then could be asked – what is sin?

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4

Even Paul confirms this:

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law...” Romans 7:7

So what we need to understand is that whenever Paul makes a statement that sounds like the Law is not good, he is careful to set the record straight. The Law is not sin. The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). Paul even describes the Law as spiritual (Romans 7:14).

This is an important point to understand because grace is a concept that, as humans, we struggle to understand and comprehend. Even more so in the early church, where God's instructions had often been surrounded by additional traditions and requirements imposed by religious leaders. Jesus Himself criticised those who placed burdens on people through their traditions while neglecting the commandments of God (Mark 7:7–13).

Paul is trying to bring people back to the foundations of grace: salvation is not something we earn through our own works, but a gift from God. Yet this does not mean we should disregard the instructions that teach us how to live righteously.

Grace becomes a safety net to catch us when we stumble as we try to live our new lives in the faith of Jesus Christ. It should not be possible to argue that grace gives us permission to disregard the very instructions that define sin.

The Safety Net – Understanding the Law of Sin and Death

Let's take the safety-net example and develop that further.

Imagine we are walking along a very narrow path, with a large crevasse on either side. If we stray from this path, the consequence of falling would be certain death.

Grace becomes the safety net from that consequence. If sin is missing that path, then without God's grace the consequence of sin is death. The Law or path shows us how to walk correctly; however, the consequence of missing that path is death.

Paul develops this concept throughout Romans and particularly in chapter 8, where he refers to the “law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

Paul's use of the word “law” in these passages can make them more difficult to understand. We need to recognise that he is not always using the word to refer to the Law of God given through Moses. In Romans 8:2, he contrasts the law of the Spirit of life with the law of sin and death. He is describing the power and consequence of sin, from which God delivers us through Jesus Christ.

The next verse, Romans 6:15, is one that makes this concept even clearer:

“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”

Of course not! Paul has just explained that we are no longer to be servants of sin. How could he now be suggesting that grace gives us permission to continue doing the very thing he has told us to turn away from?

Two Masters – Sin or Obedience

Paul continues in Romans 6:16:

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

Here Paul introduces a choice. We can be servants of sin, which leads to death, or servants of obedience, which leads to righteousness.

He goes on to explain that the believers had once been servants of sin, but had become obedient from the heart to the teaching they had received (Romans 6:17). They had been made free from sin and had become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:18).

Notice that Paul does not say they have been made free from obedience. He describes a change in who they serve. They are no longer slaves to sin but are now to live in obedience to God.

This is also consistent with what Jesus taught:

“Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34

And:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

The purpose of grace is not to give us a different master while allowing us to continue living the same way. It is to free us from the mastery of sin so that we can serve God.

The Law Is Good – But We Need More Than the Law

If the Law is good, why do we need grace?

Paul addresses this in Romans 7. He explains that the Law itself is not the problem. The problem is sin within us.

“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14

The Law can identify sin and show us what is right, but it cannot, by itself, change our hearts or free us from the power of sin. Knowing what is right does not necessarily give us the ability to do it.

This is where God's grace and the work of His Spirit become so important.

Paul explains in Romans 8:1–4 that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer under condemnation, because the law of the Spirit of life has made them free from the law of sin and death.

He then makes a particularly important statement:

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

Consider what Paul is saying. The outcome of walking in the Spirit is that the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us. He does not say that the Law has become irrelevant. Rather, God has provided a way for us to live according to His ways through the work of His Spirit.

This is not a new concept. God had already promised through the prophet Ezekiel:

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you... And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26–27

Jeremiah also speaks of a new covenant in which God would put His Law in the inward parts of His people and write it in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31–33).

The change is not that God's instructions no longer matter. The change is that God is working within us, changing our hearts and enabling us to walk in His ways.

So What Does It Mean to Be Under Grace?

When Paul says we are not under the Law but under grace, we need to read the whole passage rather than isolate one verse.

Romans 6 is about being freed from the dominion of sin. It is about leaving behind our old lives, no longer being slaves to sin, and becoming servants of righteousness.

Grace does not mean that sin no longer matters. It does not mean that God's instructions have become irrelevant. And it certainly does not give us permission to continue in sin.

Grace is God's provision for our failure. The Law previously had a provision for failure, that was a shadow of grace through Jesus Christ. This concept is one we will cover in a future topic. It is through Jesus Christ that we receive forgiveness and are delivered from condemnation. And through His Spirit, we are enabled to live a new life, walking in the ways He has instructed us.

Paul sums this up beautifully when he writes:

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Titus 2:11–12

Grace teaches us to turn away from ungodliness and to live righteously. It does not teach us that righteousness no longer matters.

Thanks be to God that He has provided a way for us to receive forgiveness when we fall short, and His Spirit to help us walk in His ways.

Being "under grace" is all about transformation. It allows us to walk before God with joy rather than under the crushing weight of condemnation. God has not abandoned His righteous standard, but He has provided a safety net through Christ to catch us when we stumble, enabling us to pursue a transformed life with Him rather than continually looking to death and sacrifice to cover our failures.