What the Law Cannot Do

• The law cannot justify the lawbreaker. Law as law has no provision to make us right
  with God. There is no forgiving grace in the law. It gives no power to fulfill its own
  demands.
• The law knows no clemency for the remission of guilt.
• The law provides no righteousness to meet our iniquity.
• The law exerts no constraining power to restore or reclaim our waywardness.
• The law knows no mercy to melt our hearts in penitence and new obedience.

God views us through the lens of either the law or grace, and no one can be under both at once, as far as justification is concerned. The law has no strength to dethrone sin or to destroy sin. It discovers sin and condemns sin, but gives no strength to oppose it. The law directs us to the right road to travel but gives no strength for the journey.

Run and work, the law demands
But gives me neither feet nor hands.
A sweeter sound the gospel brings,
It bids mefly and gives me wings.

Though the law is just, it cannot justify sinners. Though the law is good, it cannot make sinners good or deliver them from the power of sin. Though the law is holy, it cannot make sinners holy who have made themselves unholy. Our text, Romans 6:14, teaches us that the law can do nothing to relieve the bondage or dominion of sin. It is in this light that we have the apostle’s wonderful expression "not under law but under grace."

Oh! That wonderful word, "grace." "Grace, grace—marvelous grace." "Amazing grace—how sweet the sound!" Grace is the sovereign will and power of God, not for regulating thought and conduct but for delivering people from the thought and conduct that binds them as slaves to unholiness.

Grace is the deliverance from the dominion of sin (which is the transgression of the law). Yes, there is an antithesis in respect to justification between the function and power of the law, on the one hand, and the function and power of grace, on the other. But, this antithesis does not mean that all relevance of the law to the believer is abolished in Romans 6:14.

Not Lawless
My main point is to show that the Christian is not lawless or without a standard of righteousness. I could show this from many passages, but I will focus on just one passage, I Corinthians 9:20-21 (and compare it with Rom. 6:14): "To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under the law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law."

Paul is saying that he is not lawless in respect to God; he is law—bound in respect to Christ. The expression "under law to Christ" means "bound in the law to Christ, or under the obligation of the law of Christ." First Corinthians 9:20-21 does not contrast the law of God and the law of Christ. Paul does not say, "I am not under the law of God but under the law of Christ," rather, he says "not being without law toward God." The implication is that he is under law to God, and this "under—law toward God" finds its validation and explanation in his being under law toward Christ.

Clearly Paul was "not without law to God" because he was "under the law to Christ." God the Father and God the Son do not have two different standards of righteousness for creatures or new creatures—that would mean conflict in the Trinity. This passage teaches us that Christ gave commandments in harmony with the Ten Commandments (see also Matt. 5:17-48).

Here is the same law that Moses gave in Exodus 20:1—1 7. Therefore, Romans 6:14 cannot mean we are not under law in any sense, cut off from any fixed objective standard of conduct. To take half of this verse and set up a false antithesis between law and grace, one misses the whole teaching of this wonderful verse. This verse is meant for assurance that sin shall not have dominion over those who are under grace. To be under grace is to have a saving interest in the gospel, with all the rights, privileges, and benefits of the gospel.

The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.

A most important word in this verse is "dominion." Sin has dominion over people in their unregenerate state. After conversion, sin is still in the Christian and often has great power to hinder good or to promote evil. Sin still entices, ensnares, and brings the Christian into captivity, seeming as though it might reign again. But our verse assures us that it will not have dominion. Why? Because the Christian is under the power and dominion of grace! "Bless the LORD, 0 my soul" (Ps. 103:1).

Romans 6:14 is expressing more than what ought not to be; it tells us what cannot be and shall not be. It is an absolute promise:

Sin shall not have dominion over true believers. It is speaking of sin’s tyrannical, governing power. It shall not "lord it over you," Christian! In regeneration, sin is dethroned. Christ enters as Lord and continues to be so. Saints are of another kingdom—the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of grace. If sin could reign over Christians, they could be lost and perish. But this can never be!

The supposed proof-text for antinomianism turns out to be a few words in a verse that tells us why sin shall not have dominion over us—because we are not under law but under grace. This verse does not set up an antithesis between law and grace. It teaches us why the recipients of grace will not be law-less. The antinomians undermine the Ten Commandments on the basis of half a verse—and that robbed of its true meaning! No exposition of any text is right that does not agree with the principles of Christianity set down in the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. When you have only one passage of Scripture on which to form an important doctrine, on closer examination you will probably find you have no basis for that belief.

The Context of Romans 6:14
Let us consider the broader context of Romans 6:14, the surrounding chapters in the book of Romans. As mentioned earlier, the apostle in Romans 3-5 is talking about justification: "If Abraham was justified by works, he has something of which to boast, but not before God" (4: 2); "[Jesus] was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification" (4: 25); "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:1).

Justification by faith alone presented two problems among the Jews. The first problem was the idea that the more we sin, the more we experience grace. Paul wrote in Romans 5:20-21, "The law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." But Paul anticipates how his readers might well misuse that truth: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Rom. 6:1). And so, chapter 6 continues the discussion of justification, but now in terms of our need for sanctification.

The second problem for the Jews is their Suspicion that Paul was doing away with the law. Paul addresses this in Romans 7, the best chapter to show the believer’s relationship to the law.

When Paul states in Romans 6:14 that sin shall not lord it over believers, he offers a glorious promise of encouragement. Let us examine this verse more closely.

Two "For’s" in Romans 6:14
The little word "for" at the beginning of verse 14 is extremely important. It comiects verse 14 to the immediate context, verses 12—13, which are part of a complete statement. Therefore, verses 12—14 should be considered together. I have stressed that verse 14 is not a command or an exhortation, but a statement of fact, a statement of promise, encouragement, and assurance. It explains verses 12—13, giving reason why we should and can obey the commands in those two verses. Why should you "not let sin reign in your mortal body" (v. 12) and "not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness" (v. 13)? "For [because] sin shall not have dominion over you.",1

There is a second "for" in verse 14. Can you not picture someone saying to the apostle Paul, "How can you make such a dogmatic statement—"Sin shall not have dominion over you"? He answers, "For you are not under law but under grace." This explains the first statement and why the first statement can be made so confidently.

To what law is the apostle referring here? Not all expositors agree. I am of the opinion (and I am in good company) that Paul refers not only to the Mosaic Law here but also to law in general, that is, the law as a principle binding on every creature apart from Christ. Earlier Paul wrote that "when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them" (Rom. 2:14—1 5).

In other words, the non-Christian is under law by the fact that he is a creature upon whose heart the law was written. Therefore, the Gentiles who never heard of the law of Moses were under law, for they were a law unto themselves. By the law written on their hearts they were able to accuse or excuse one another. The whole of mankind is under a principle of law.

Being under law means that you have to justify yourself in the presence of God by your own actions, works, and deeds. Law as a means of justification comes to man and says, "Do this and you shall live," meaning not at all what Moses and Christ meant by that phrase—do this in humble faith and live. Being under the law apart from true faith in the Redeemer is nothing more than self-righteousness.

Why is the apostle so concerned to say that we are not under law? Because it is the only way we can understand the truth he has already stated, namely, that "sin shall not have dominion over you." That question is more fully answered in Romans 7-8:4. There Paul shows us exactly what Romans 6:14 means. His position is that no law of any kind can deliver us from the power of sin.

In an earlier chapter, I pointed out that one of the difficulties of dealing with the law is the many ways in which the word is used in the Bible. Sometimes law is used as a principle, as in Romans 7:21—23 and 8:2. Sin remains a law, a principle, in Christians, but not a law that has complete dominion over them, as over unbelievers. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). In the believer this sin principle exerts force but has lost its ultimate power to rule.

Laws are accompanied by rewards and punishments. The reward of sin is its temporary gratification, "the passing pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:25). By this sorry reward the law of sin keeps the world in obedience to its commands, showing us what power it has to influence the minds of men. The pleasure of sin is the object that most people lose their souls to obtain.

But in Romans 6:14, Paul describes those who are no longer dominated by sin because they are no longer under the law of sin. And that raises some personal questions.

Romans 6:14 and You

Does this verse describe your life? Are you living under the law of sin, or have you been delivered from sin’s dominion? What hope do you have for victory in your daily battle with your own sin? To answer those questions, Romans 6:14 offers first a test, then a promise, and finally an encouragement and assurance.

A Test
Does sin have dominion over you? Notice, I did not ask, Do you sin? "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (1 John 1:8, 10). he question is not whether you obey perfectly but whether you manifest a genuine desire to obey as one set free from sin’s dominion.

To expect the favor of the Lord without a habitual desire to conform to His image is one of the many delusions of a self-deceived soul. A Christian has an earnest desire to be delivered from the power of sin as much as he desires to be delivered from the guilt and penalty of sin. The true Christian has prayed for acceptance. Now, as a Christian, he cries for holiness: "Let no iniquity have dominion over me" (Ps. 119:133).

The throne of our hearts allows only one ruler. Therefore, although grace and sin may and do co-exist within, they cannot be partners on the throne. Thus David prayed in Psalm 19:13, "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression."

Sin, even when subdued, will struggle to the last to have dominion. But by looking to Jesus, we will have the victory (Rom. 7:25; 8:1.) The clearer our view of Jesus, the more complete will be our victory. "And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (1 John 5:4). He continually gives us strength so that sin cannot have dominion.

A Promise
Romans 6:14 promises that "sin shall not have dominion over you," not that sin shall not dwell in you. In the holiest Christian, there is enough remaining sin to destroy him if it were not for the grace of God, which restrains its deadly operation. Alas, some of God’s choicest saints have fallen: David, Peter, and many since. The promise is in the words "dominion" and "grace.

"Sin shall not have dominion over you." A sheep may shimble into a ditch, but it will not be at home in the mud. If a hog falls into the muddy ditch, however, it will be fully at home and wallow in it.

Notice, the reason attached to the promise. Why won’t sin have dominion over you? You are under the power of grace. There is no power in the law to save, to sanctify, or to preserve you. The power is in grace. Sin shall not have dominion, because, though sin is strong, grace is stronger. Satan is strong but grace is stronger. There will be awful wars within you because of remaining sin. But—another wonderful word in the Bible—sin shall not have dominion over you.

Yes, Christian, you sin, but you have not signed a peace treaty with sin. True, you are not perfectly holy, but you would like to be. The bent and bias of your mind is toward righteousness if you are a Christian indeed. And with Paul you can be "confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

Encouragement and Assurance
This verse offers great encouragement and assurance to believers in various stages of their struggle with sin. Some Christians are very weak. If you are a weak Christian, you should find encouragement in the truth that sin shall no more have dominion over the weak or over the strong. Some of you are fighting with great sins. But if you are a real Christian, your battle with sin is not in vain. Sin shall not have dominion. You are not under law but under grace, and there is power in grace. You maybe a young Christian still in the early stages of warfare with your past habits. Sin shall not have dominion over you; you are under grace. You may be a backslider—you have fallen back into sin. You will be chastened, but sin shall not have dominion over you.

There are two principles in the world that are meant to promote holiness. The one is the principle of law and duty, and the other is the principle of grace and faith. Yes, Christian, there is a law of sin remaining—that is why you have an inward warfare (Rom. 7:23.) But there is also grace. John Newton phrased it beautifully in a hymn.

THE INWARD WARFARE
Galatians 5:17

Strange and mysterious is my life,
What opposites I feel within!
A stable peace, a constant strife;
The rule of grace, the power of sin:
Too often I am captive led,
Yet daily triumph in my Head.
I prize the privilege of prayer,
But oh! what backwardness to pray!
Though on the Lord I cast my care,
Ifeel its burden every day;
I seek his will in all I do,
Yet find my own is working too.
I call the promises my own,
And prize them more than mines of gold.
Yet though their sweetness I have known,
They leave me unimpressed and cold:
One hour upon the truth Ifeed,
The next I knew not what I read.
I love the holy day of rest,
When Jesus meets his gathered saints:
Sweet day, of all the week the best!
For its return my spirit pants;
Yet often, through my unbelief
It proves a day of guilt and grief
While on my Savior I rely,
I know my foes shall love their aim,
And therefore dare their power deft,
Assured of conquest through his name;
But soon my confidence is slain,
And all my fears return again.
Thus different powers zvithin me strive,
And grace and sin by turns prevail;
I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,
And victory hangs in doubtful scale:
But Jesus has his promise past,
That grace shall overcome at last.

Sin, the Perplexing Indweller
Sin is always ready to apply itself to every end and purpose. That is what caused the apostle Paul to say that when he would do good, evil was present with him. If you want to pray, if you wish to hear the Word of God, to give, to meditate, to work righteousness, to resist temptation—you can be sure this troublesome, perplexing indweller will be present with you. As you try to apply your mind to anything good, there it is, in ignorance, darkness, vanity, folly, and madness. If you would engage your will to some good end, there it is also in spiritual deadness, stubbornness, and the roots of obstinacy—the everpresent indweller. Are your heart and affections set on some good work? This indwelling sin is present.

Do you find this principle in you? What experience do you have with its power? Is it always putting forth its poison in all your duties when you would do good? Oh! our need for spiritual wisdom, for supplies of grace, and assistance of the Holy Spirit!

My dear readers, I may not have fully explained this wonderful verse, but I do not want you to miss three things:

• The safe and peculiar position of the true believer: not under law but under grace.
• The special assurance given to the true believer: "Sin shall not have dominion over you.1"
• The remarkable reason given as to why sin shall not have dominion over you: "for you are not under
   law but under grace."

Well did Philip Doddridge speak of this marvelous grace in his hymn:

Grace! ‘tis a charming sound,
Harmonious to mine ear;
Heaven with the echo shall resound,
And all the earth shall hear.
Grace first contrived a way
To save rebellious man,
And all the steps that grace display
Which drew the wondrous plan.
Grace taught my wand’ring feet
To tread the heavenly road
And new supplies each hour I meet
While pressing on to God.
Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the top most stone
And well deserves the praise. Amen.