Week EightDecoding the Covenants 65
inTro
“LAW” TREATED AS “COVENANTS”
“I am not under the law, but under grace.”
Have you ever heard that line from someone to whom
you were trying to explain the Sabbath? It is used as a
conversation stopper: “Sorry, but I’m no longer bound by
anything the law required, including the Sabbath, now
that Jesus has come and put us ‘under grace.’ ”
While “you are not under law but under grace” is bib-
lical (from the last verse in our inScribe section for this
lesson—Rom. 6:11–14), many people do not realize that
it is not the entirety of verse 14 but simply a phrase from
the verse. Our purpose in this lesson is to study this verse
in its immediate and wider context.
But before we begin, we need to add another key concept
to the four we noted previously (see lesson 6 inTro) that
is important to keep in mind as we study this and the
next two lessons especially: when Paul and the New
Testament authors discuss “the law,” or “law,” they often
have covenant issues in mind. So the same historical/
experiential models of interpretation apply to the discus-
sions of the law as apply to discussions of the covenants,
especially when the discussions are polemical (argumen-
tative), appearing to portray a negative attitude toward
the law, and are presented through a series of contrasts, as
occurs in presentations on the covenants. In each passage
one must ask, “Is this referring to the law as God gave
it in history and intended it to function (the historical
dimension) or to the way humans have rightly or wrongly
responded to God’s Law (the experiential dimension)?”
Read This Week’s Passage:
Romans 6:1–23
Week Eight
“Under Law” vs.
“Under Grace”
“Under Law” vs. “Under Grace”66
inScribe
Write out Romans 6:1–23 from
the translation of your choice. If
you’re pressed for time, write out
Romans 6:11–14. You may also
rewrite the passage in your own
words, or outline or mind-map
the chapter.
Week EightDecoding the Covenants 67
inGest
Go back to your scribed text and
study the passage.
Circle repeated words/
phrases/ideas
Underline words/phrases that
are important and have meaning
to you
Draw Arrows to connect words/
phrases to other associated or
related words/phrases
What special insights do your
marks seem overall to point to?
Read more at
www.inversebible.org/cov08-3
Memorize your favorite verse
in Romans 6:1–23. Write it out
multiple times to help with
memorization.
How have you personally evaluated
interpretations that state that
Sabbath-keeping is no longer valid
for those “under grace”?
THE “UNDER LAW”/“UNDER GRACE” CONTRASTS
Romans is organized in a number of large-scale thematic units:
introduction, 1:1–16; universal condemnation from birth, 1:17–3:20;
basis for justication, 3:2–5:21; sanctication, 6:1–8:39; and so forth.
Romans 6 also forms its own thematic unit: 6:1–10 focuses on baptism
representing conversion and spiritual participation in the life and
death of Jesus leading to a death to sin and a new “walk in newness of
life” (v. 4, NKJV); 6:15–23 describes the life before and after baptism
as a transition from being “slaves of sin” to “having been set free from
sin, [being] slaves of righteousness” (vv. 17, 18, NKJV).
In between Romans 6:1–10 and 15–23 Paul summarizes this
transition by labeling the former life as “under law” and the new life in
Christ as “under grace.”
(Scan the QR code for the graphic)
In verse 14 Paul clearly states that sin has dominion over you
unless and until you come “under grace,” which, in the context of this
chapter, happens at conversion, and in the New Testament era was
symbolized by baptism. Romans is in sync with the rest of Scripture,
which arms that the transition from being destined to eternal death
and eternal life is marked by conversion, no matter when or where a
person was born in history. There are not dierent plans of salvation
or dierent gospels in the Old Testament and New Testament. In verse
14 Paul labels life before conversion as a life “under law” and life after
conversion as life “under grace.” Perhaps in this passage he means
by “under law” to mean under condemnation for breaking the law, or
possibly for relating to God’s law solely in a legalistic way. We do not
know for certain why he gave the pre-converted life this title; we only
know that in Romans 6:14 he did.
Verses 11–13 follow the same pattern in this template. In each case
the contrasts he presents are stark and unambiguous: life before the
transition, that is, the “under law” life, the old covenant life, shares an
anity with sin—you are “alive” to it, it has “dominion over you” and
“reign[s] in your mortal body”; you “obey…its lusts”, and you “present
. . . yourselves” to aide in its destructive work in the lives of others. In
contrast, the life after the transition to an “under grace” life, the new
covenant life, is “dead . . . to sin [and] alive to God,” does not let “sin
reign in [one’s] mortal body [or] obey…its lusts” or “have dominion
over you,” and “present[s oneself] to God . . . as [an] instrument of
righteousness” to participate in Jesus’ mission to seek and to save the
lost.
Most modern biblical commentators use Romans 6:14 to describe
the historical old (Sinai) covenant as a covenant that kept people
“under law” until Jesus came in history and enacted the historical new
covenant which set New Testament believers free from living “under
law” so that they might live “under grace.” So if you are sharing
the Sabbath or the biblical health message with someone and they
respond, “I am not under the law but under grace,” this is where they
are coming from—they likely heard it presented that way in church.
“Under Law” vs. “Under Grace”68
inTerpret
After looking at your scribed
and annotated text, what special
insights do your marks seem to
point to overall?
What questions emerge after
studying this passage? What
parts are dicult?
What other principles and
conclusions do you nd?
Considering that the historical
old and new covenants teach
the same gospel, which of the
two explanations above have the
greatest “explanatory power”
and the least “academic burden”:
interpreting Romans 6:14
historically or experientially? Why?
Read more at
www.inversebible.org/cov08-4
THE CONTEXT TELLS THE STORY
If they are studied carefully and prayerfully, most scripture texts/
passages will quite readily give up their meaning. Others require extra
study and prayer. But there is no better interpreter than Scripture itself
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The more Romans 6 is prayerfully studied, the clearer it should
become that it addresses the life experience of the believer rather
than the historical old and new covenants. Even the seminal death
and resurrection of Jesus are not emphasized as historical events per
se in 6:1–10, but are presented in terms of how they aect the life and
behavior of the believer. Romans 6 does not even emphasize Jesus’
historical death and resurrection as the basis for the forgiveness of the
believer’s sins, but rather speaks of it as the basis through baptism for
the believer’s own personal death to sin and rising to “walk in newness
of life” (v. 4). The believer’s baptismal identication with Jesus’ death
and resurrection becomes the experiential transition point from living
as “slaves of sin” to living as “slaves of righteousness” (vv. 17, 18). The
entire chapter is experiential, not historical in nature.
This is the context for verses 11–14 in general and for verse 14’s “you
are not under law but under grace” in particular. The context, as well
as the specic wording of the entirety of verse 14, readily gives up its
meaning as experiential, not historical, in orientation. When Paul writes
in verse 14, “You are not under law,” he was not teaching that the law
no longer has any application to the New Testament believer; when he
writes “you are under grace,” he was teaching that at conversion you
died to a life committed to a sinful lifestyle and you rose committed
to live a righteous life that will honor Jesus and contribute to the
expansion of His kingdom on earth. In other words, your response to the
gospel in faith and a commitment to an obedience that comes from faith
as God writes His law on your heart marks your transition from an old-
covenant experience to a new-covenant experience, from an old-covenant
person to a new-covenant believer.
Consider again the implications if verse 14 refers to the historical old
and new covenants. Consult the list of contrasts on the inGest chart/
slide for verses 11–14. If the left-column characterizations of the “old
covenant” all applied to the Sinai covenant, then that covenant would
have been designed by God to keep people “alive . . . to sin” and under
sin’s “dominion” and “reign,” requiring that they obey its “lusts” and
serve “wickedness”! And not until Jesus came in history could any of the
benets of living “under grace” have been experienced by anyone.
Week EightDecoding the Covenants 69
inSpect
Review your memorized verse
from Romans 6:1–23.
What other verses/promises
come to mind in connection
with Romans 6:1–23?
What relationship do the
following verses have with
the primary passage?
Exodus 34:6, 7
Psalm 103:1–14; 145:8–16
Jonah 3–4
2 Timothy 1:8–10
Hebrews 4:15, 16
“Under Law” vs. “Under Grace”70
inVite
Read more at
www.inversebible.org/cov08-6
How do you understand
grace anew?
What is He saying to you
through these texts?
How do you see Jesus
dierently or see Him again?
Prayer: How do you respond
to seeing Jesus in this way?
Meditate on Romans 6:1–23
again and look for where Jesus is.
LIVING WITH JESUS “UNDER GRACE”
What would it mean to live “under grace”? Whatever else it might
mean, it could mean nothing less than living under Jesus, the God
of grace, living under the care and keeping of “the LORD, who made
heaven and earth . . . [who] will not allow your foot to be moved . . .
who keeps you . . . [who] shall preserve your soul” (Psalm 121:2, 3, 7,
NKJV).
Jesus is the incarnation of Yahweh; whatever is said about Yahweh
in the Old Testament applies to Jesus as well. Living “under grace”
in the Old Testament era would mean living under the care of Him
who revealed Himself as “merciful and gracious, longsuering, and
abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exod. 34:6, 7). Israel’s
hymnal was laced with songs of praise to their God for His loving,
gracious, forgiving ways toward them (Ps. 85; 103; 111:4; 145:8).
The grace of Yahweh/Jesus so overwhelmed the Old Testament
believer that Jonah used God’s grace to excuse his disobedient refusal
to go to Nineveh with God’s warning message: “I ed . . . for I know
that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant
in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2,
NKJV). While Jonah was wrong to ee his mission initially, he can
be commended for arming that God longs for all to respond to His
timeless and universal appeal: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends
of the earth” (Isa. 45:22, NKJV)! Though Jonah proclaimed Nineveh’s
doom, the Holy Spirit enabled the Ninevites to interpret God’s warning
as a loving appeal to repent and be saved. Wicked Nineveh responded
and, for at least a period of their history, lived “under grace” (Jonah
3–4). Living “under grace” was never an exclusively New Testament
experience.
When Jesus came to earth, Paul declared that “the grace of God
that brings salvation has appeared to all” (Titus 2:11, NKJV). But
God’s grace did not begin in the New Testament era. John wrote that
Jesus’ appearance and mission added “grace upon grace” to the Old
Testament revelation and experience of God’s grace (John 1:16, NASB).
Paul referred to the gospel variously as “the grace of Christ,” “the
gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6, 7); “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts
20:24); “The gospel . . . [of] grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before time began” (2 Tim. 1:8, 9, NKJV, emphasis supplied). In other
words, “the gospel of grace” revealed progressively in God’s covenant(s)
throughout the Old Testament era and in its fullest expression when
Jesus came in history, existed in the heart and councils of the Trinity
“before time began.” Thus, Ellen White could write, “The covenant
of grace is not a new truth, for it existed in the mind of God from all
eternity. This is why it is called the everlasting covenant” (The Faith I
Live By, 77).
Every day of our lives, Jesus invites us anew to experience the
wonder, the security, and the adventure of that grace! “Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and nd
grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16, NKJV). That “throne of grace”
is Jesus’ throne. That “time of need” is every day. The result is a life
lived “under grace” that makes a dierence for the kingdom of God for
eternity.
Week EightDecoding the Covenants 71
inSight
Review the memory verse.
How does it apply to your
life this week?
After this week’s study of the
chapter, where is grace needed
in your life?
Where is grace needed in those
around you?
Read more inSight from the
Spirit of Prophecy at
www.inversebible.org/cov08-7
AMAZING GRACE
“ ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Through faith, irrespective
of feeling, Jesus, the Author of our salvation, the Finisher of our faith,
will, by His precious grace, strengthen the moral powers, and the
sinner may reckon himself ‘to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ.’ Simple faith, with the love of Christ in the
soul, unites the believer to God.” (Ellen G. White, Lift Him Up, 369.)
“Those who trust wholly in the righteousness of Christ, looking to
Him in living faith, know the Spirit of Christ and are known of Christ.
Simple faith enables the believer to reckon himself dead indeed unto
sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are saved by
grace through our faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.”
(White, Faith and Works, 91.)
“When the Christian takes his baptismal vow, divine help is pledged
to him. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit stand ready to work in
his behalf. God places at his command the resources of heaven, that he
may be an overcomer. His own power is small; but God is omnipotent,
and God is his helper. Daily he is to make known his wants at the
throne of grace. By faith and trust, by availing himself of the resources
provided, he can be more than a conqueror.” (White, Our High Calling,
157.)
“The grace given cost Heaven a price it is impossible for us to
measure. That grace is our choicest treasure, and Christ means that it
shall be communicated through us. It is sacred, in the name of Jesus,
to the saving of the soul. It is the revealing of the honor of God, an
unfolding of His glory.” (White, In Heavenly Places, 220.)
“Divine grace is the great element of saving power; without it all
human eort is unavailing.” (White, Evangelism, 629.)
“The sin which is indulged to the greatest extent, and which
separates us from God and produces so many contagious spiritual
disorders, is selshness. There can be no returning to the Lord except
by self-denial. Of ourselves we can do nothing; but, through God
strengthening us, we can live to do good to others, and in this way shun
the evil of selshness. We need not go to heathen lands to manifest
our desire to devote all to God in a useful, unselsh life. We should do
this in the home circle, in the church, among those with whom we
associate and with whom we do business. Right in the common walks
of life is where self is to be denied and kept in subordination.” (White,
Testimonies for the Church, 2:132.)
“The Holy Spirit will be given to those who seek for its power and
grace and will help our inrmities when we would have an audience
with God. Heaven is open to our petitions, and we are invited to come
“boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and nd
grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We are to come in faith,
believing that we shall obtain the very things we ask of Him.” (White,
God’s Amazing Grace, 217.)
“Under Law” vs. “Under Grace”72
inQuire
Share insights from this week’s
memory verse and Bible study
as well as any discoveries,
observations, and questions
with your Sabbath School class
(or Bible study group). Consider
these discussion questions with
the rest of the group.
How has there been dissonance
between the Old and Testaments
in your mind?
Why is understanding the Testa-
ments as contradictory so perilous?
Have has understanding the Testa-
ments as noncontradictory raised
your trust in the Bible and in God?
If you were discussing Rom 6:14
with someone, how could this
week’s chart be helpful?
How do you understand the “Law”
dierently now?
How does this study bring change
in how you understand Romans
6:14’s phrase, “you are not under
law but under grace?”
What does living under grace
mean to you?
How can we experience the
wonder, the security, and the
adventure of Christ’s grace daily?
