Paul tells us in Romans 6:14 that we are not under the Law but under grace, but what does he mean? Some folks like to define what Paul says by giving us a list of all the laws that are still in effect. For example, Paul couldn’t be including the 10 Commandments in his declaration. Nor could he mean we shouldn’t tithe to support the works of the Church, and the list goes on. One might even include the entire Old Covenant in the New Covenant, except for a few things, like ceremonial cleansing and animal sacrifices. However, Paul made no such distinctions. The 10 Commandments are inextricably part of the Old Covenant (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13). Any church that demands that its members obey the Law, as part of their obligation to being a Christian, are demanding they keep the Old Covenant!
So, is Paul giving believers permission to live licentiously? No, not at all, for he immediately responds to Romans 6:14 with: “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!” (Romans 6:15). So, what, exactly, is Paul saying?
Paul tells us, it is pretty much a matter of who or what controls our bodies, vis-à-vis who do we obey, the old man, Adam, or the new man, Christ. The beginning of our humanity is Adam, who became corrupt through rebellion, or wanting to live life in his own wisdom, apart from that of God (Genesis 3), and this resulted in the deeds Paul mentions in Colossians 3:5 – sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, evil desires, and greed, the like of which is nothing less than idolatry. In other words, that is how we behaved prior to our coming to Christ in faith. Now, that we’ve come to Christ, we must not permit ourselves to be controlled or allow our bodies to be animated by our former, corrupt man (Adam). Instead, we must allow our new Beginning (Christ) to be our source of life, and permit his Spirit to animate our bodies (WWJD).
Salvation or inheriting life (eternal) isn’t a matter of obeying laws, no matter what those laws may be, vis-à-vis the Ten Commandments, or the philosophies men embrace to help them behave like they would like to appear to others. Paul found that, although he desired to be righteous and obey the Law (Romans 7:18-19), something else was within him that kept him from doing the good he desired to do, or keep from doing the evil he didn’t want to do (Romans 7: 22-23). The problem was that Adam, the very beginning of human life, became corrupt, and Paul tended to behave in a corrupt manner; we all do. What’s the answer for a good life? How can we be saved (Romans 7:24)? Salvation and real change comes only through Jesus Christ our new Lord and Master (Romans 7:25).
Therefore, Paul tells the Colossian believers, don’t behave, as they had been doing prior to their believing the Gospel and trusting in Christ. They needed to put the old man (Adam) to death by not behaving according to his desires (Colossians 3:5), and it is because of the same evil behavior (Colossians 3:5, 8-9), which had been the manner of behavior (Colossians 3:7) that the wrath of God comes upon the children of the old man (Colossians 3:6). However, what does the scriptures mean, when they speak of the wrath of God. Most folks believe the wrath of God pertains to his anger which is stirred up in his judgment of mankind. Well, technically, that’s true, but I don’t believe “God’s anger and judgment” refers to what most folks believe it does.
The phrase, wrath of God appears ten times in the Bible, once in the Old Covenant text and nine times in the New Covenant scriptures, and five of those appear in the Apocalypse. Most folks have no idea what the wrath of God actually is,[1] believing God’s wrath is similar to man’s wrath, but it isn’t (Isaiah 55:8-9). Actually, God’s wrath is understood in Romans 1 as men ever increasing their evil behavior, because they simply don’t want the influence of God in their lives. God releases them to do evil more and more, as he withdraws from them more and more at man’s request. Stated simply, those who live by the sword will die by the sword, or you will reap what you sow in an ever increasing degree, as one continues to refuse to repent of evil behavior. It is this that Paul has in mind, when he tells the Colossian believers to mortify or put to death your lower, earthly nature (Colossians 3:5-9). Believers must not think, because they are saved by Christ, that they are excused and permitted to behave however they wish, as was so when they derived their life from their old man, Adam. We must live by faith according to the Spirit of our new man, Christ. More about this in our next study.
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[1] See my earlier study: What Is the Wrath of God?
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