Chapter 2

Grace vs. Law: The Subtler Form of Works-Righteousness

We began the last chapter with a very relatable passage of scripture — Paul's monologue beginning in Romans 7:14, where he describes his wrestling with and bondage to sin. But then I stated if we truly know and believe the gospel, we should not be able to relate to this passage anymore. The gospel has to be better than this!

To put it bluntly, if Romans 7:14-25 is an accurate description of our current spiritual lives, then we are not experiencing the Christian life as it should be. To whatever extent we still relate to this passage, it is proof that we have not learned how to "access by faith… this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:2); that we have been living under law and calling it a state of grace; that despite being free, we have continued living as slaves.

Throughout this book, with the use of many scriptures, I intend to help you become as confident in that fact as I am. This passage was the doorway into me beginning to understand the depths of the gospel that transformed my Christian experience. To that end, let us start by addressing the most common misinterpretation of this controversial passage — Romans 7.

Paul, the Slave to Sin?

Starting in verse 14 is where many get lost in Paul's rhetoric:

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:14-15)

On the surface, it appears that Paul is talking about his current spiritual state, doesn't it? But if the reader knows Paul at all, they almost inevitably feel some internal conflict. Could the same apostle who said, "I am not aware of anything against myself" (1 Corinthians 4:4) and "we cannot do anything against the truth" (2 Corinthians 13:8) also have said years later that he was still such a struggling wretch? And how could the man who so confidently urged his disciples to "[b]e imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1) here be so pitifully defeated in sin? It is, admittedly, a little confusing, and it paints a picture of the spiritual life that is not all too wonderful. Fortunately, we can do far better than merely speculate about Paul's spiritual life. We need only to look at the context of the surrounding passages.

In verse 14, Paul says, "I am of the flesh, sold under sin." With regard to being "of the flesh," he implies earlier in the chapter that Christians no longer live in the flesh (7:4-5). And later, he tells them explicitly that they "are not in the flesh but in the Spirit" (8:9). Tell me, then, were all the Christians in the Spirit, but Paul still in the flesh?

And what about his being "sold under sin"? Has he not just spent the entirety of chapter 6 explaining to them that they are dead to sin (6:11), set free from sin (6:7, 18, 22), and no longer under the power of sin (6:14)? There is no reason to doubt what he means here. In Christ, they have been set “free… from the law of sin” (8:2) and are no longer debtors to the flesh (8:12) — i.e., no longer "sold under sin." So again, please tell me, were all the disciples free from sin, but the apostle still enslaved? I can hardly imagine an argument so ridiculous and unsound as this, and we have only touched on one verse in this passage. Must we go any further?

Isn't Paul’s rhetoric in this passage completely contradictory to the rhetoric of triumph and victory that describes the church in the rest of chapters 6-8, let alone the rest of his epistles? Unequivocally, it is. Therefore, we must conclude (as many rightfully have) that Paul is not describing his own spiritual state.

If we miss this point, the best we will get out of this passage is solace. Indeed, we will read it like one slave saying to another: “I get it, man. Hang in there. It’ll all be over soon enough.” But the other, far more dangerous possibility is that it will become one of the passages we champion to validate our own pitiful experience. We will go on pridefully about the hard, grueling nature of the Christian life, “humbly” insisting that no one can expect to have any greater freedom than Paul appears to have in this chapter. Anyone who suggests otherwise, we will say, is either prideful, naive, or walking a dangerous line. "How dare you put yourself above the Apostle Paul!" we will say. And subtly but surely, having given greater power to sin than to the Spirit of God within us, our gospel will become practically impotent.

However, once we realize what Paul is doing, it becomes an amazingly insightful passage. He is not describing his own spiritual life; rather, he is characterizing someone who desires to obey God but cannot because they are still operating under the law. Thus, if we relate to this passage, it is because we are still operating under the law.

This is increasingly evident in light of the following verse:

"But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit [or newness of spirit] and not in the old way of the written code [i.e., the law]." (Romans 7:6)

Notice that there are two ways a person can try to serve God and obey his commands: (1) the old way under the law or (2) the new way under grace. Since some of the people he is writing to still subscribe to the old way of the law, Paul has to show them why the law is unable to bring about obedience. He accomplishes this in the latter half of Romans 7 by acting like someone who is operating under the law. And he wraps it up nicely with this concluding statement:

"…So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:25).

When he says, "I… serve the law of God," he is making an allusion back to verse 6, where he said that Christians don't serve in that way anymore. This is just further evidence that Paul cannot be talking about himself. And more, it is his summary to the argument that someone who merely tries to obey God in their mind will inevitably continue serving sin with their flesh, not in spite of their service to God but because of it.

Have you ever considered that your efforts to obey God are actually the very thing keeping you from being able to obey him? This is not to suggest that we should exert no effort but that it matters a whole lot what we are putting our effort into. No matter how hard we try to obey God, if we try to do so with the wrong template (i.e., the law instead of grace), then it will be counterproductive.

The Obedience of Faith

If we broaden our view of Romans, we will find a phrase at the very beginning and the very end of the letter that could be easily overlooked, and yet it contains an idea that should revolutionize our entire approach to the spiritual life. Paul states that it is his apostolic duty “to bring about the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5, 16:26). Notice, this is the same goal as the law (i.e., to bring about obedience), but it is a different way of accomplishing that goal — i.e., the way of faith.

Paul preached a radical message, where we are released from the law and need only to believe, and he was constantly being accused of promoting a gospel where obedience is optional and sin is encouraged (see Romans 3:8). But as we now know, Paul argued that faith in God’s grace is never an excuse to sin. Rather, it is the very way that a person is set free from sin. Failure to understand this is what kept these early Christians hanging onto the law as the daily means to obedience and fearing the radical gospel of grace. I suggest to you here that the church has been doing this — just a little more subtly and unknowingly — ever since, which is why so many have not experienced the kind of victory over sin that the gospel promises.

Every true Christian desires to obey God, but many see no other way of doing so besides the same way as before — trying. They think that in addition to believing the gospel, they must then obey God — as if they could do one without the other. Christians struggling to find freedom look to every solution under the sun other than the one provided to them in scripture — i.e., believing the truth (see John 8:32). So, while they know they are not technically under the law, their obedience still depends on a law-abiding, works-based mindset, which keeps them enslaved to sin.

Is it possible that our daily application of faith looks more Jewish than it does Christian? Think about it. We believe in God. We have a relationship with him. We pray, worship, and read scripture. We find comfort in being his saved people. We love him, and we want to please him. And when it comes to obedience, we just try our best. Well, everything I just explained could be found in the life of a Jewish believer, as well. Nothing about this way of life is unique to Christianity, so let's not deceive ourselves into thinking we will find freedom from sin in these things.

I have no intention to condemn anyone here. This described me for years. My faith was genuine, and I wanted to live a holy life. But in the moments when I lacked the desire to obey, my understanding of God’s grace did not equip me with the power to obey. Despite my belief in Jesus, my obedience was still almost entirely contingent upon my own willpower (which changed all the time) and not really on my faith. Though technically under grace, I was functioning (in my mind) under the law, and I simply did not know any better. Romans 6-8 is what opened the door for me to see it. Here, Paul’s goal is to connect the dots between belief and obedience and to show how grace does what the law was intended to do but never could.

A Subtler Form of Works-Righteousness

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive…” (Romans 7:6)

It may be helpful to clarify what is meant by being “released from the law” and, on the other side of the same coin, what is meant by being “under law” (Romans 6:14). This way, we can determine for ourselves which way we tend to operate. Most Christians, I believe, understand these concepts partially but not entirely. As a result, they live in partial freedom but not the fullness that God intended for them.

Below are three ways that Christians may understand their relationship with the law. The first two are the most common but, without the third, are incomplete.

(1) The most basic understanding of being under the law is that one must obey all or some of the Old Testament Jewish laws — circumcision, Sabbath, festivals, animal sacrifice, ritual washings, dietary restrictions, etc. Subsequently, to be released from the law is to be free from all those burdensome and no-longer-relevant Jewish commands. (Here is where everyone issues a sigh of relief.) Now, you might reason, we need only to love, since love is the Great Commandment.

But that is just it — love is a commandment. Even more, it is the sum and fulfillment of God’s law, not freedom from it. Anyone who has seriously devoted themselves to perfect love, even for one day, knows that it is an exceptionally challenging standard compared to those outdated Jewish laws. Therefore, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that focusing solely on love inherently frees us from the law. Love is the law (see Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14).

(2) Another way to understand being under the law is that one must earn their right standing with God by obeying his commands. Logically, then, to be released from the law means that we are free from the constant pressure of having to earn God’s approval, having been placed in right standing with him through Jesus’ perfect obedience and sacrifice. Most Christians today understand that forgiveness of sins and eternal life are not something we attain through our works but only through faith in Christ.

And this, I was always told, is the power of God's grace (or the power of being released from the law) — that, because I am not obligated to obey him anymore, I can obey him freely and joyfully. While, again, this is true (and unspeakably wonderful), it still falls short. The message here is that God’s free gift motivates us to respond with loving obedience. But the problem is that, though it should, it does not always do that, at least not for me! So, again, how does our being released from the law actually produce obedience?

(3) The third (and fuller) way to understand being under the law is for one’s outward obedience (works) to depend on one’s own ability and effort (see Romans 9:16). For the law tells you what to do, but it does not lift a finger to help you do it. Righteousness “by works of the law” (Romans 3:20) could be equated to obedience that depends on your own effort. It is to serve a list of rules and regulations with one’s own strength. It is to love God by trying to love him, to receive God by trying to receive him, to please God by trying to please him, etc. You can call it whatever you like to make it sound better than it is — “surrendering to God,” “dying to yourself,” "walking by the Spirit," etc. But I think if we are honest, this is often just our fancy Christian language for doing our best to obey God's commands at any given moment. If we are doing these in our own strength, then, by definition, we are operating under the law. And anytime we try and fail to do these things, it is proof that we have tried to do them in our own strength.

Accordingly, if this is what it means to be under the law, then to be released from the law, in the truest sense, means that our obedience no longer depends on our own strength but on God's. It no longer depends on doing the right things but on believing the right things, for through faith, we access God. It is not about trying harder but trusting more. Faith alone produces obedience; the truth alone sets us free; and there is no longer any use talking about everything we have to do. Thus, if you've ever thought to yourself, "I'm not doing enough," then you are probably operating under the law. If you recognize that your spiritual life isn't where you want it to be, the solution isn't to do better but to believe better.

For this reason, I sincerely question any spiritual leader who constantly tells people what they need to do to grow. I question the pastor who feels the need to provide an "application" at the end of every sermon. In doing so, he unknowingly subjects his congregation to the law once again. Anyone who understands the gospel understands that simply believing it is the application, which will indeed bear fruit in all the ways God has ordained as we grow in faith. Under grace, all our efforts should be directed not toward the things we do but toward the renewing of the mind, by which we access all that we have been given in Christ.

All this to say, Christians everywhere believe (doctrinally) they have been released from the law, but then (in practice) they unknowingly continue living under it, desperately trying to obey God out of sheer willpower, just like any good Jew. This is why they remain enslaved to sin. The first two ways (described above) of understanding our relationship with the law are insufficient because they leave our daily obedience up to however much love we feel in the moment, that it might stir us to do the things we ought to do. And again, we do not always feel it. This is not the “obedience of faith,” as Paul describes it, but what we might refer to as the "obedience of feelings." And feelings are not really a means to anything (besides insanity and inconsistency). Rather, they are the result of maturing in the spiritual life.

Think of it this way: If "the fruit of the Spirit is love" (Galatians 5:22), then you are like a small apple tree, and the feeling of love is like the apples you were made to produce. Now, do you need to produce apples in order to grow, or do you need to grow in order to produce apples? Of course, it is the latter, or else you exist in some insane and illogical situation with no possible way of maturing. In the same way, whether or not we feel love towards God today has no bearing on our ability to obey him and grow spiritually. Quite the opposite, only through spiritual growth will we experience the feeling of love more consistently and powerfully. To think that we struggle to obey God because we don't love him enough is just as foolish as thinking that a tree is struggling to grow because it doesn't have enough fruit.

No wonder obedience has been so hard! No wonder sanctification seems so unattainable. We have mistaken the end for the means and, therefore, have not had the means to the end. We have been waiting to feel more love — approaching the gospel as a mere motivational tool — but what we need is more (or more accurate) faith.

To clarify, I am not saying anything is wrong with obeying God out of love. This is ideal. When the feeling of love is present and manifesting, it is an awesome grace that makes obedience easy, and we can praise God for that. However, we should not solely depend on the feeling of love to produce obedience to God’s commands. That only works until you feel distant from God and strongly tempted to sin. If you are going to make use of all the grace you have been given, then you must be grounded in something greater than your feelings — i.e., the truth. And the truth for every believer is that, despite what we feel at a particular moment, the love we need is already and always within us (see Romans 5:5). More on that to come.

Do you relate to this at all? Have you ever felt like the Christian life feels like a whole lot of striving and effort — a whole lot of you? Have you ever felt like the transformation that it promises is just out of reach? Like no matter how badly you want it, you never seem to want it quite enough? Like no matter how much you love God, you never seem to love him quite enough? If so — and I say this with no condemnation, given that this described me for so long — then you are still operating under the law in some form of works-righteousness. Perhaps not in the sense that you believe your eternal salvation depends on what you do but in the more subtle sense that you believe your spiritual growth depends on what you do or how much love you feel for God today. You are trying to produce obedience and achieve sanctification through some means other than faith, and God has made this impossible.

But, I tell you, there is a new and better way. The way to righteousness is the way of faith. For “[t]he righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17; see also Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

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