“I’m not under the law, I’m under grace!” So say many believers who do not understand what those words mean. Though those word are partially true, they are not the whole story. Understood as though they convey the whole truth, they convey untruth. Here is a brief consideration of the rest of the story.

Were Old Testament (OT) believers saved by keeping the law? No. Galatians 3:11 and Romans 3:19-20 make this crystal clear.

Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith."
Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The OT law was never intended to be a means of salvation. On the contrary, the law’s primary function is to condemn sinners by revealing God’s standard of perfection, which no one can ever meet, thereby condemning sinners, rather than saving them.

How then were OT believers saved? By faith, trusting in God to do for them what they were not able to do for themselves, namely to graciously forgive. OT believers believed God’s promise of a Savior who was yet to come. NT believers know that Jesus is that Savior who actually paid for the sins committed by every believer, both OT and NT.

Rom 8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

So why does the Bible say New Testament (NT) believers are not under the law (Galatians 5:18 and Romans 6:14-15)? We’ll consider that next time.