Not Under Law but Under GraceBefore launching into scriptures about this subject let me point out that Paul was reminding believers that God's grace empowers them more to overcome sin. It is NOT saying that they no longer have to keep the law. Again Paul is reminding them that because of grace they now have MORE power, not less, to overcome sin and lawlessness.Romans 6:14, For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (NIV)Romans 6:14, For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (KJV)Romans 6:14, for sin over you shall not have lordship, for ye are not under law, but under grace. (YLT)The aim of this chapter, is to help you think through the book of Romans as well as others and get an insight into the thought and doctrine of Paul. As mentioned before, Peter comments that some of Paul's wisdom and teaching is hard to understand and some people twist it to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16). In this lesson we try to represent Paul's doctrine accurately and clearly.You often hear the argument that we are "not under law but under grace." But what does it mean to be under grace? Does this mean we no longer have to obey the Ten Commandment laws or the other Moral Laws in the Old Testament?First let's define what sin is according to the Bible. 1 John 3:4 says, "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."Therefore, if there is no Law then there can be no sin, and for even further clarity Romans 4:15 says, "Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression."To give clarity to Romans 6:14 above we also look at Romans 5:21 and Romans 7:6-7;Romans 5:21, "so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."Romans 7:6-7, "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."Notice that Paul uses Commandment #10 of the Ten Commandments to illustrate this last New Testament scripture! So the law as stated in the Old Testament is still supposed to be used to overcome sin. But we do so in the Spirit, under the Lordship of Jesus under His grace.I hope you noticed the following key words that I underlined: Master, Dominion, Lordship, Lord, Serve, Spirit, Grace. Now the following is the key to understanding Paul's saying that we are "not under the law, but under grace": Before Christ the people of God's covenant were under service to the written code or the law. They were bound up in sin and the law was not enough (by itself) to free them from the power of sin. Under Christ, people - if they choose for Christ - would be freed from being bound in sin. The law was there (and still is there) to show them how far short they fell from God's righteous law. And the penalty of what breaking that law required was punishment and spiritual death (Hell or Sheol in the Old Testament). "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in (through) Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 6:23) So by receiving Jesus Christ we receive the grace of God. And so we put ourselves under the Lordship of Christ "under His grace."