Inspired to Obey
When discussing sin and righteousness the law quickly comes up. Many believe that one needs a certain amount of law to restrain sin and to bring to mind the consequences of disobedience. To imply that the law is no longer binding and has, as we are told in scripture, passed away inspires nightmares in the legalists among us. They imagine a church of no moral constraints and rampant debauchery.
The claim that the law is still needed to keep people on the straight and narrow is actually in opposition to the plain teaching of scripture. Without going into all the passages teaching that Jesus fulfilled the law and the law has passed away and was abolished, let’s look at the claim that the law is necessary to restrain us. Colossians 2:26 tells us that the law lacked any power to restrain. Hebrews 10:2 tells us if the law could restrain sin and produce righteousness the sacrifices demanded by the law would have stopped. The fact that these sacrifices were still needed was proof of the laws impotence.
Romans 6:11-14NIV says:
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
This passage stresses holiness and righteousness by commanding the offer of our bodies in service to God rather than in service to sin. The final sentence is the most helpful: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” This sentence is tied to the previous ones by the ‘For’ and offers the basis for obedience—grace. We obey because we are under grace and we understand what this means and what it costs. We understand that we did not deserve this grace, but deserved death. We also understand that the law is gone and no longer over us. Obedience and morality are now inspired by love of Christ. We are free to live in obedience rather than in fear of retribution. The law is coercive and therefore incapable of inspiring obedience.
