Slawomir Gromadzki
The heart and most important part of the gospel is undoubtedly chapters 6, 7, and 8 of the Epistle to the Romans. However, as I have suggested previously, these chapters will be of priceless value to us and can only be properly appreciated if we correctly understand the second part of chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 5:12-21). Therefore, let us read once more at least two verses of chapter 5 to remind ourselves of this exceptionally important and key truth that the Apostle Paul included there:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” Romans 5:12
The Apostle Paul is saying here that because through one man—namely, Adam—sin entered the world, we must all die, because we all sinned in him. Further on, however, in verse 18, the author adds that thanks to this seemingly unfair fact, God has the opportunity to save us in a legal, lawful manner. Just as we must die because we sinned in one man, Adam, so we can all live eternally because we were perfectly obedient and died in one man, Jesus Christ—the Second Adam:
“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Verse 18
This means that both Adam and Christ—the Second Adam—represented all people. And it is precisely because of this that what Adam did is shared by us, and what Christ—the Second Adam—did is also shared by us. The Bible clearly confirms that the death of Christ was a representative death, and that we all died in Him:
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead” 2 Corinthians 5:14
And in Romans 6:6, Paul adds that: “…our old man has been crucified with him…” Romans 6:6
We can therefore say that the holy history of Christ’s life and death is also our history. However, the fact that Christ as the Second Adam could represent all of us was possible, firstly, because we had to die as a result of the sin of one man, Adam, and secondly, because at His incarnation Christ identified Himself with our fallen humanity. Were it not for these two very important facts, the Son of God could not have acted as the representative of a fallen world and legally redeemed and delivered us from the power of the law, sin, and death.
Paul wrote about this wonderful freedom we have in Christ, for example, in chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Galatians:
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty…” Galatians 5:13
What did Paul understand by freedom in Christ? What kind of freedom is Paul speaking about here? The answer to this question is found in Romans 8:1–2:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2
Freedom in Christ is full justification from sin and deliverance from the punishment for sin, which is the second death. But in what way and thanks to what were we able to obtain this freedom? Who condemns us because of our sins and because we are sinful? It is the law that “condemns” us, saying that “the wages of sin is death”. In this way, the law, as it were, grants power to sin and enables sin to kill us. In other words, if the law did not say that “the wages of sin is death,” then sin could not cause our death.
“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” 1 Corinthians 15:56
Let us now try to engage our imagination and, using symbolic language, say that the electric chair on which convicts are executed is the “sting of death,” which is sin. The power plant, on the other hand, which supplies energy (power) to this chair is the law. Let this symbolic electric chair—sin—serve in this illustration as the tool used by Satan to kill us. However, just as an electric chair could not deprive anyone of life if it were not connected to a source of power (the power plant), so sin would not be able to kill a sinner if the law did not grant it power, because as Paul explains, “the law is the strength of sin”.
In what way, then, did God in Christ manage to legally save the sinner from the “sting of death”—the sin that kills him? It happened in the exact same way one can save a convict from death in an electric chair. You cannot save him by changing the sentence on the part of the law, because this person has already been judged, condemned, and the sentence has already been passed. The law itself cannot be changed either. Furthermore, no close relative or friend can face death instead of the condemned person, because the law does not permit this under any circumstances. How then could this rightly condemned man, sentenced to death, be saved? From a human point of view, there is no such way; in other words, only a miracle could save this convict.
And it is exactly in this kind of hopeless situation that we all found ourselves in Adam. The entire universe knew that we had sinned, and that according to the irrevocable judgment of the law, only eternal death could await us. Therefore, all the angels and inhabitants of unfallen worlds were convinced that there was no rescue for us, and that only a miracle could deliver us from this punishment. Fortunately, God is a God of miracles, and the greatest miracle He ever performed was the one He accomplished in Christ by saving sinful humanity.
How could God protect irrevocably condemned and sentenced sinful people from death? There was only one legal, lawful way in which He could save us. God had no choice but to allow us to sit in the “electric chair,” but we did not find ourselves on it alone. God placed us on it together with Christ. The entire fallen human race had to bear the punishment for sin and take its place on this symbolic chair, but it found itself there in Christ, “in His loins”. It could not be that the Son of God died instead of us, but rather as our Representative, identifying Himself with us, our fallen nature, and the resulting sins of possessing it, and as us, He bore the second death, which is the wages of sin!
However, there is another problem that had to be solved. God knew that although justification for all our sins—not only past but also future—was included in the death of His Son, the sins we commit even after conversion and the acceptance of justification would cause a loss of peace and the reappearance of the dread of punishment. God, on the other hand, does not accept service motivated by fear. He desired, therefore, despite our imperfections and falls, to endow us with lasting peace and full freedom from punishment and fear. How did He accomplish this and legally remove this obstacle? He accomplished this also in Christ, by cutting off sin—that symbolic electric chair we are sitting on—from its source of power, from the “power plant,” which is the law.
Yet He did not bring this about by removing the “power plant,” for it still exists; but now it can no longer supply power to the “electric chair” (sin). Thanks to this, sin—this symbolic electric chair—has been deprived of power, and though we still sit on it, because we constantly still possess fallen natures and have a connection to sin, we now sit on it already in Christ, and sin can no longer put us to death because it has been deprived of its source of power, which was the law. It is precisely because of this that we can right now, despite the sins that still appear in our Christian life, enjoy constant peace and the awareness that we continually find ourselves under the “umbrella” of Christ’s righteousness.
Since the source of sin’s power was the law, and only the law could grant sin the power to put us to death, it clearly follows that God could deliver us from the resulting condemnation and fear only by changing our position relative to the law. In other words, since sin is the “sting of death,” since sin kills us and can do so only by the power of the law, God could permanently deliver us from punishment, condemnation, and fear exclusively by depriving sin of its source of power—that is, by delivering us from under the power of the law! And this is exactly what the Apostle Paul speaks about in Romans 6:14:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14
This means that sin can no longer kill us, because we are not under the power of the law, but under grace. Thanks to this, sin can no longer receive power from the law to put us to death. The same author wrote similar words in Romans 7:6:
“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held…” Romans 7:6
What law did Paul have in mind here, ceremonial or moral? We do not have to guess, because the author himself answers this question in the very next verse—verse 7:
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Romans 7:7
There is no doubt that Paul had in mind primarily the moral law here, because he quotes one of the Ten Commandments! Sister White also believed that when the Apostle Paul wrote that we are not under the law, he meant primarily the moral law. Here is a fragment of her commentary on Galatians 3:23–25, where Paul, having the law in mind, wrote that we are no longer “under a schoolmaster”:
“The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. In this scripture, the Holy Spirit through the apostle speaks primarily of the moral law. This law reveals sin to us and makes us feel our need of Christ.”
Because Paul’s statements in Romans 6:14 and Romans 7:6 were very radical and could be misunderstood, he had to explain exactly what he meant by writing that “we were delivered from the law,” as otherwise he could have been accused of heresy by the Jews and Christians of Jewish origin. In all these passages, Paul implies only that when we bind ourselves to Christ, we are free not from observing the law, but only from its power! Thanks to this, the law can no longer condemn us, punish us, sentence us, deprive us of inner peace, or grant sin the power to kill us. The Apostle Paul explains this in detail in the first part of chapter 7 of the Epistle to the Romans:
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?” Romans 7:1
The law, or any other statute, can sentence and condemn us only as long as we live. When we die, the law can no longer condemn us by saying that “the wages of sin is death”. To explain this, Paul uses the highly apt example of marriage. According to this illustration, the wife (the woman) is undoubtedly us—sinful people under the law; the husband is certainly the law; and the second, or “other man,” with whom the wife would like to bind herself is Christ. Let us therefore trace this passage very carefully to understand what the author wanted to convey to us using this symbolic language:
“For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth…” Romans 7:2
We can read about what kind of law it was by which the woman was bound to this husband in Genesis 3:16, where it is written that according to this law, the husband was to rule over the wife—exactly as the law rules over us. Next, Paul explains how this woman could free herself from this husband (the law):
“…but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.” Romans 7:2
Only seemingly—as we will see in a moment—does Paul suggest here that we, meaning the woman, could free ourselves from the law (the first husband) if he were to die, i.e., if the law were annuled. Paul wrote about why this marriage—the union of a sinful person with the law—was unsuccessful and unhappy in Romans 8:7 and 7:14:
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7
“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14
This marriage was unsuccessful because the law, or the “husband,” is “spiritual,” “holy,” and perfect in every respect, while we, or the “wife,” are not “spiritual,” but “carnal,” possessing a fallen nature and “sold under sin”. The husband demands perfect obedience from her, but she—even if she wants to—is unable to meet his expectations. This, in turn, causes her to be constantly condemned by her husband and to live in continuous fear. Although her husband is perfect, faultless, and holy, he cannot sympathize with her or help her in her “weaknesses”; instead, he constantly demands perfection and condemns, because he is only the law.
When a police officer stops us because we exceeded the speed limit while driving a car, and as a result of our pleas forgives our offense, remember that it was not the law that pardoned us, but the police officer, because he can sympathize, whereas the law cannot. The law cannot sympathize with us or help us, because although it is good, it is not a person, but a rule, a principle. For this reason, this poor, lost, constantly condemned, and fearful woman deeply desires to free herself from this unhappy relationship and bind herself to someone who is as perfect and holy as the law, but at the same time would be able to help her and sympathize with her weaknesses. And she finds such a man (Christ), but she cannot bind herself to him, because according to the law, only the death of her husband or adultery could allow her to do so. The woman is therefore in despair, because she knows that her husband cannot die, and even if she tried to poison him, it would achieve nothing because her husband (the law) is immortal:
“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17
“The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Psalm 111:7-8
Thus, the woman is in despair because she knows that her husband is immortal. She also realizes that her husband will not commit adultery or do anything wrong, because he himself is “holy” and “spiritual”:
“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:12, 14
Because this husband is immortal, holy, and spiritual, he also has his seat in heaven, specifically in the heavenly temple:
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament…” Revelation 11:19
Since the “casing” of the law, meaning the ark of the covenant, is in heaven, the eternal and holy law of God itself must also be there. Consequently, Christ could not help the woman change her unhappy situation by putting her husband—the law—to death, because that was impossible. Fortunately, although the woman had lost all hope of freeing herself from her husband, Christ restored her hope, saying:
“I know how you can free yourself from your husband and bind yourself to me, but that depends only on you.”
“Really?!” replied the surprised and overjoyed woman. “Can you make my husband die?”
“No,” answered Christ. “He will never die, because he himself is holy, spiritual, and immortal, and endures forever.”
“How, then, can I divorce him?” asked the woman.
“According to the law, not necessarily your husband, but one of you must die. Since your husband is immortal, you yourself must die, and then you will become free and will be able to bind yourself to me.”
“But if I die, how will I be able to bind myself to You?” asked the woman.
Then Jesus replied: “I am not asking you to commit suicide, but I will cause you to be found in me. By assuming your nature and by becoming the second Adam, I will be able to represent you. Thanks to this, when I die, you too will die in me, and then you will rise again in me, and then you will be free from the bond with your husband and obtain the right to bind yourself to me.”
This is exactly what the method looks like by which God freed the woman—meaning us—from the connection with that first husband (the law), and thanks to this, He deprived sin of power so that sin cannot put us to death. Although in verse 2 of chapter 7, Paul suggests that “if the husband be dead” we would be free from the legal bond with him, in verse 4 he explains that it was not the husband, but actually the wife—meaning us—who was put to death in Christ:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another…” Romans 7:4
Thus, it was not the law (the first husband) that died, since he is immortal, but the wife died—we died! In what way did we die? Paul wrote that we died “by the body of Christ”. Christ, by identifying Himself with our fallen humanity, became us, our representative; thanks to this, when He died, His sinful representative humanity bore death—and the second one at that—and thereby we all died in Him. This also follows from many other biblical statements:
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead” 2 Corinthians 5:14
The substitutionary sacrifice of Christ did not consist in the fact that ONE DIED FOR ALL, but ALL DIED IN ONE. Similarly, in Romans 6:6, the Apostle Paul wrote:
“…knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:6
Therefore, it was not the law, but we who were nailed to the cross along with Christ. But for what purpose did God cause us to die in Christ? The Apostle Paul provides the answers to this question in verses 4 and 6 of chapter 7:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:4
“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6
Our death in Christ gave us the right to be freed from under the power of the law and to bind ourselves to Christ, thanks to which that first husband (the law) can no longer condemn us and deprive us of inner peace. The second husband, Christ, is our perfection and holiness, thanks to which God—despite the fact that we are not perfect—looks at us as if we were holy and righteous. Besides, Christ—unlike the first husband (the law)—is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses and can assist us in temptations, because He Himself “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”. Thanks to all of this, we can now serve God “in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter”.
Serving God “in newness of spirit” means that we now desire to act according to God’s will not out of fear or in order to obtain salvation, but out of love for Him and because He already now in Christ regards us as righteous and deserving of salvation. Thanks to this, we can say: “I work not to save my soul, for God has already accomplished this, but I—a servant—must work out of love for the Son of God.”
When a woman divorces her husband and marries another, can the one she divorced continue to punish and criticize her if, for example, she burns the soup? No, he has no such right! It is similar in our case. We too, according to what the Bible says, are no longer under the first husband. We were freed from under the power of that first husband thanks to our death with Christ, to whom we are now legally bound. And since we are no longer under the law, then even if we sin again, that first husband (the law) cannot punish or condemn us, because we are not under him, but under grace:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14
Furthermore, the law can no longer condemn and punish us, because we died in Christ, and this death constituted payment for all our sins, not only past but also future ones. If a man commits a crime and by virtue of the law is sentenced to the death penalty, and this sentence is carried out, can the law sentence him once more? No! Why can it not sentence him again? It is impossible, because that man died! And according to Romans 6:6, “our old man is crucified with” Christ. In Christ, we died the second death and were punished for all our sins. Therefore, if we sin now, can the law sentence us and sin kill us? No, because we died, and a dead man cannot be put to death a second time!
For this reason, as long as we remain in Christ and endure in faith, the law cannot punish us a second time. Hence the Bible says that right “now there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” Romans 8:1
Therefore, a Christian who is under grace should not fear the punishment for sin, which is the second death, because he has already died that death in Christ and thanks to this has been freed from it. For this reason, the Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrews 2:15 that Christ came:
“…and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:15
If, however, a Christian still fears the second death, it is either because they did not believe, or because they continue in sin. In both the first and second cases, this fear is justified, because a lack of faith and continuing in sin can lead to total separation from Christ and falling away from grace. However, a sincerely believing Christian who bases his salvation solely on the righteousness he has in Christ and on the death he suffered in Christ—a Christian who does not continue in sin, does not indulge sin, but if he sins, sincerely repents and grieves not because he is afraid of punishment, but because he hurt the author of grace—such a Christian, though he still sometimes falls, enjoys constant inner peace and has no reason to continue feeling fear toward that death which is the wages of sin.
A certain little boy fell ill with one of those diseases for which a cure has not yet been invented. His parents did what they could to stop the progression of the disease and save his life, but to no avail. Although the boy was still young, he already knew that sooner or later, everyone must die. For this reason, he greatly desired to find out and understand what death is, especially since he had a fearful premonition that he, too, would soon part with life. One day, lying in bed, he listened to his mother reading a story about the brave and noble knights of the Round Table and about that last battle, during which many of them fell. Very moved by what he heard, after a moment of silence, he finally asked about what was troubling him so much:
“Mom, what is it like when someone dies? Does it hurt?”
When he asked this question, tears immediately welled up in her eyes, so under some pretext, she turned away and went out to the kitchen for a moment. She knew that a great deal depended on how she answered this question. Therefore, in earnest prayer, she asked for wisdom and that she would be able to keep from crying when speaking about it. And when she finished praying, she knew what to say. So she returned to the room, sat down next to the boy, and said:
“Son, do you remember how you would often play without restraint all day long, and when evening approached, you were already so tired that you didn’t have the strength to go to your room or get undressed, so you fell asleep in your clothes lying on my bed? You fell asleep so soundly that you couldn’t be awoken. The bed you fell asleep on was not your bed. But in the morning, when you woke up, you were surprised to find yourself in your own room, dressed in your pajamas, and lying in your own bed. You found yourself there because someone loved you and cared for you. Your father would take you into his strong arms, carry you to your room, and lay you on your bed. You see, son, death is similar. One day, we simply fall asleep—we fall asleep so deeply that no human being is able to wake us up, and we are not aware of anything, nor do we feel the passage of time. But one day we will wake up in a wonderful new reality, with a great new body; we will wake up to meet the Lord Jesus when He returns for those who believe in Him. This is because He loves us very much and longs for us.”
When the boy heard this, the sadness disappeared from his face because he finally understood what death is. From then on, in his heart, the place of uncertainty and fear was forever replaced by peace and an unwavering faith that it is just as his mother had said, and he never asked what death is ever again. And a few weeks later, with trust and without fear, this boy peacefully fell asleep—he fell asleep just as his mother had said.
The sad truth is that each of us is a sinful person condemned to death, but the wonderful news is the fact that none of us has to die forever, because if we only believe that “our old man was crucified with Christ,” we “have everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”! Romans 6:6; John 5:24
Christ also frees us from fear, because we are no longer under the power of the law, but under grace.
Freedom in Christ
Also in the Epistle to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul clearly implies that in Christ we are freed from the power of the law. This passage is found in Galatians 3:23-25, and it was the primary subject of theological discussion during the General Conference in Minneapolis in 1888:
“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:23–25
Paul addresses exactly the same topic here that he raised in Romans 7:6 and 6:14, namely, that since we believed in Christ and united with Him, we are freed from the power of the law (“we are not under a schoolmaster”).
It just so happens that my father was an educator (“pedagogue”) and for many years I was “under him”. This meant that he established certain rules at home and expected obedience from me. And if I was not obedient, he had a so-called “discipline” with which he administered punishment when necessary. Did this mean, however, that my father was a bad person? No! He was only fulfilling his rightful educational duties toward me. Therefore, being “under my father—the pedagogue” meant that he demanded obedience from me and could punish me when I was disobedient. So I tried to listen to him and act according to his will, but I did so out of fear rather than out of love.
However, after many years passed, I became independent and am no longer “under the pedagogue,” that is, my father, but have instead bound myself to my wife. Because of this, I am no longer condemned or punished by my father, because I am no longer under him, and he has lost his power over me. Does this mean, however, that my attitude toward him became negative, and that he ceased to exist for me, or that I stopped listening to him and considering his opinion? No! Only my relationship with him and his authority over my person have changed. Thanks to this, my relationship with my father actually improved, and additionally, I stopped being afraid of him and began to have greater respect for him, but not out of fear, as I no longer felt dread regarding potential punishment for insubordination.
My father’s belt no longer has power over me because I am no longer under a tutor, but under my wife, and my wife does not punish me, but helps and sympathizes with me in my weaknesses.
And is this exactly what Paul meant when he wrote that we have been “released from the law”?
He only wanted to make us understand that we were released not from the presence of the “tutor” nor from keeping his commandments, but from his power, from the power of the Law.
And this is exactly how the Millennium Bible renders this passage:
Romans 7:6
“But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” Millennium Bible
When we sinned while being under the law—that is, at the time when the law was our spouse—then every time we fell, it would say to us: “the wages of sin is death.” In this way, the law armed sin with the sting of death aimed at us, for as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:56:
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”
Sin is something that kills us, but where does sin get the power to kill us?
It is precisely the law, which in itself is “good,” by stating that if we transgress it we deserve death, that gives sin the power to kill us.
So if the law now has no power over us, then by the same token sin cannot kill us.
Now, thanks to our death in Christ, we are no longer under the law, but Christ is our spouse; therefore, this former husband, although he still exists, can no longer condemn us.
What lesson flows from this?
The truth that Paul wanted to convey to us in this way is wonderful Good News!
This means that now, when we sin as beings already united with Christ, sin can no longer cause us any harm in such a situation; it is unable to kill us, because the law can no longer grant it the power necessary for sin to put us to death!
This new situation in which we find ourselves in Christ means that “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
When I sinned while being under the law, then the law condemned me and said that the wages of this sin is death, whereby sin “used what is good (the law) to bring about my death.” Romans 7:13
But when I became united with Christ and am no longer under the law, then when I sin now, the law can no longer condemn me!
And it is precisely because of this that in Romans 8:1, Paul could present us with the wonderful news:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
There is only one condition we must meet to free ourselves from all condemnation right now.
This sole condition is the acceptance of the historical truth that Paul wrote about in the 5th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, verses 12-21, which is why understanding it is so important.
This historical truth is that Christ came into this world as the second Adam, that is, as the second representative of all humanity.
Thanks to this, everything He accomplished, we accomplished in Him, because He was us.
Only through the recognition and acceptance of this historical truth can we find ourselves in Christ, and thanks to this, through faith, this wonderful promise becomes our portion, and we can say:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation (for us), (because we are) in Christ Jesus.”
It is not without reason that the apostle Paul used the word “now” here. This means that we can enjoy this freedom—freedom from condemnation and punishment, and freedom from fear—right now, even while we still notice many imperfections and stumbles in ourselves.
However, this truth is so wonderful that many even sincere Christians have significant trouble accepting it, despite the fact that the Word of God speaks about it clearly and plainly.
On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln presented a document by virtue of which he announced the abolition of slavery in the United States.
However, when this good news quickly spread across the American South, many slaves did not believe it and continued to remain in bondage to their masters, thinking that the proclamation of freedom was a joke.
Their masters kept telling them it was a false rumor. And those deceived slaves believed they were free only when they noticed that other former slaves were actually free.
The Word of God says that we also found ourselves in the bondage of the “body of sin and death.”
But the good God found a way to restore our freedom. He sent His Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh and, offering it for sin, condemned sin in the flesh,” so that He can offer all of us a document proclaiming our freedom.
The contents of this document were written precisely in the previously quoted 1st verse of the 8th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
This is how the legal document proclaiming our freedom in Christ sounds, freedom from our former “master”—the “law of sin and death.”
But we must ask ourselves a very important question: Have we truly believed that there is now no condemnation for us, thanks to being in Christ?
Has this wonderful freedom, freedom from death and fear, truly become our portion?
Or perhaps, like those slaves, do we still remain in bondage because this truth about freedom seems too beautiful to be true?
Could it be that the devil has managed to convince us that we are still in bondage, despite the fact that a legal document has already been officially announced stating that we have freedom in Christ?
This is a matter of extraordinary importance, because according to what Paul wrote in Romans 7:4-6, the acceptance of this freedom is necessary in order to “serve God in the newness of the spirit” and bear “fruit” in the form of a truly sanctified life!
How the devil tries to rob us of this freedom is something I understood much better when I once heard how elephants are prepared for circus work.
When a poacher captures an elephant, he puts a special iron collar on its leg and then chains it to a tree.
Initially, the elephant desperately tries to break the chain by yanking its leg, but as time goes by, it does so with less and less energy, until finally, after several months of struggling, it gives up completely.
It only lifts its leg slightly and, feeling the iron collar on it, no longer attempts to break the chain.
And then the poacher—the one who stripped it of its freedom—knows that this elephant is suitable for the circus.
So he removes the chain but leaves the iron collar on the leg. And even though the elephant is free, it does not run away and does not use this freedom, because feeling the iron collar on its leg, it seems to it that it is still in bondage.
In this way, the elephant ends up in the circus, losing its freedom forever.
And exactly the same can happen in our case.
The “poacher”—the devil—captured us, put on the “collar” of our fallen nature, and bound us to the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” with the chain of death.
However, the Lord Jesus came into this world, identified with our condition, and allowed the “fleshly collar” to be put on Him.
Despite this, however, He managed to accomplish what was impossible for us; He succeeded in breaking the chain on our behalf.
Thanks to this, in Him, we too have freedom from the “chain of death” right now, and from the “collar of fallen nature” at His second coming.
However, the “poacher”—the devil—is very cunning, and although the “chain” has already been broken, he exploits the fact that we still feel the presence of the “collar” of our fallen nature, our imperfections, and our falls, and convinces us that we are still in the bondage of death, despite the fact that the Lord Jesus has already guaranteed us freedom!
Unfortunately, the truth is that very often we allow ourselves to be deceived by the devil to such an extent that despite the Savior constantly assuring us through His Word that we are free, we do not believe and do not accept this freedom.
However, if we constantly allow ourselves to be led by the nose by the devil and submit to the yoke of bondage, it could prove tragic in its consequences, and in the end, we will find ourselves in the “circus.”
And from there, there is no way back, and we will find ourselves in bondage forever.
The apostle Paul understood this perfectly when he wrote in Galatians 5:1:
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
This text is even more expressive when we read it in one of the English translations of the Holy Scriptures, “The Living Bible”:
“Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery.”
However, this extraordinary truth, although it is wonderful news, can on the other hand turn out to be something dangerous if it is misunderstood.
And indeed, among Christians there are many who believe that Paul, by writing that we are “released from the law” and that “there is now no condemnation for us,” declared that the law has been canceled, and thanks to this, every Christian can enjoy full and unconditional freedom, guided at most by their own conscience and feelings rather than the moral norm that is the commandments.
The well-known Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer always opposed such a claim, and he was the first to term it “CHEAP GRACE.”
But does true Christian freedom—freedom from the power of the law, punishment, and fear—consist of being able to live according to the principle of “DO WHATEVER YOU WANT”?
Let the Word of God answer this question:
Galatians 5:13
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh.”
Although Christ has endowed us with freedom, we nevertheless read that He did so not for the purpose of us “indulging the flesh”—that is, not so that by distorting the meaning of this freedom we would conclude that we can now indulge the inclinations of our fallen nature (the flesh), breaking the commandments with impunity.
Similarly, the woman symbolizing us from the 7th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, although she received the right to break the bond with her first husband (the law), does not continue to live alone, does not become a widow, but is united with Christ in order to “bear fruit,” as we read in Romans 7:4.
What kind of fruit we are to bear is explained by the same author in Colossians 1:10:
“So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord… bearing fruit in every good work.”
Therefore, Christian freedom is not freedom to disobedience, but to obedience, to bearing fruit—that is, righteous good works.
And in Romans 6:14-15, the same Paul adds:
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”
If, on the other hand, we claim that we are saved while remaining in sin, it means that we do not abide in Christ.
This, in turn, may indicate that we are not under grace at all, but under the law; and being under the law, our sins once again possess power from the law and are able to kill us.
This is exactly what Christ meant when He said in the Gospel of John 15:6:
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
A truly converted Christian, though he may still make mistakes, does not indulge sin, does not justify it, and does not continue in sin, because he is aware that now, with every sin of his, he hurts no longer himself, but the Author of grace.
A true Christian should also not plan sins and sin deliberately, thinking to himself that after all, he will still be able to confess that sin.
I recall a scene from a certain movie when only two pirates remained on a ship, and since they had nothing to eat, at one point the stronger of them began to look at the other as a potential meal and started chasing him across the deck.
In the end, the weaker one, saving his life, climbed up the mast; however, that was of little use because the other one took an axe and began to chop the mast.
But while he was doing that, the one from above cried out: – If you do that, you will fry in hell for eternity!
To which the one who wanted to eat him looked up at him from below, indignant, and said: – And what about confession, does that mean nothing?
If someone who considers themselves a Christian justified by grace exploits the possibility of confessing sins in such a perfidious way, planning them with the thought that they will receive forgiveness anyway, it may indicate that they have not been born of the Spirit, have not yet united with Christ, but are on a direct path to the sin against the Holy Spirit.
Such a person is not an authentic Christian, for the apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:18 that “he who was born of God does not sin”—meaning he does not commit the sin against the Holy Spirit and does not continue in sin.
In the Old Testament, when an Israelite sinned, he had to bring a lamb to the temple, which symbolized Christ.
This shows that this man was under grace, because by coming with a lamb, he expressed his faith in Christ.
Then the sinner would confess his sin, placing his hands on the head of the lamb, after which he would take a knife and plunge it not into himself, but into the lamb.
This man would have killed himself with his sin if he were under the law, but because he was under grace, having expressed his faith in the promised Savior, by his sin he caused not his own death, but that of the lamb (Christ).
It is similar in our case, because if we sin while already being believers and united with Christ, with this sin we no longer wound ourselves, but the Author of grace—Christ.
A certain father had considerable behavioral problems with his young son. The boy was unruly and often saddened his father with his behavior.
In the end, to teach him a lesson, the father decided to give him a practical, illustrative lesson that the boy would not forget for the rest of his life.
He gave him a bag of nails and told him to drive one nail into the fence every time he lost his patience and argued with someone or did something wrong.
On the first day, the boy drove as many as 37 nails into the fence. In the following weeks, however, he learned to control himself, and the number of nails driven decreased day by day.
Finally, a day came when the boy did not drive a single nail into the fence.
So he went to his father and told him about it, unable to hide his satisfaction.
Then the father told him to pull one nail out of the fence every day that he did not lose his patience and did not argue with anyone.
Days passed, and finally the boy could tell his father that he had pulled all the nails out of the fence.
Then the father led the boy to where the fence was and said: “I am very glad, son, that you have made such progress and that you are a better boy now, but look how many holes are in the fence now. This fence will never be the same as it used to be. Remember, then, that when you hurt someone or do something wrong, even if you fix it, the wound remains. No matter how much you regret it and apologize, every wrong deed leaves a permanent mark in the heart of God.”
Can God forgive us every sin, even the worst? Yes, Jesus can forgive us every sin (except for the sin against the Holy Spirit), but even if He forgives, this sin leaves a wound in His heart.
For this reason, a truly converted Christian, despite the fact that his “flesh” may still desire sin, should now, thanks to the inner presence of the Holy Spirit, feel a loathing for sin in his mind and find “delight in the law of God.”
When he sins, he confesses this sin no longer out of fear of punishment, because he constantly lives under the umbrella of Christ’s righteousness, but he repents of the sin and confesses it because he sincerely grieves over having hurt the Savior.
Nor does he ever justify or indulge sin. This does not mean, however, that as a converted person he will never sin again.
But even if he falls because he turned his gaze away from Christ for a moment, it does not mean that he has found himself under the law again and fallen from grace, because God constantly looks at him through the prism of Christ’s representative righteousness.
It is so, because “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” Romans 8:1
Although this person has indeed been born again, enjoys the inner presence of the Holy Spirit, and God has endowed him with everything necessary to lead a holy and victorious life now, God knows that he still possesses a fallen nature, can always neglect fellowship with Jesus, and fall again.
But if that happens, does God stop loving him and condemn him because he fell again?
Does a mother who loves her still-crawling child, seeing how her child falls from time to time while learning to walk, say: “I’ve had enough of your falls! Go away! I don’t want to know you!?” and throw the child out of the house?
Of course that is not the case, and none of us would even entertain such a thought.
Why then do we think that God rejects us and condemns us every time we fall from time to time while learning to “walk in the Spirit,” learning to keep His commandments?
Why do we suppose that He turns away from us then, when we know that His love for us is incomparably greater than a mother’s love and patience for her own child?
We hurt Him by thinking in such categories! After all, God loved us and sent His Son even while we were still His “enemies,” as Paul wrote in the 5th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. So, if God loved us even then, how can we doubt that He loves us now, when we have already converted to Him?
The greatest tragedy is if a sincerely believing Christian, who has accepted his death in Christ and who has converted, thinks that God rejects him every time he sins.
A certain believing girl often dreamed of Christ. So she told her pastor about it and added that in these dreams she even spoke with Christ.
The pastor, however, had a somewhat skeptical attitude toward this, so he said: “Really? Could you then, when you dream of Him next time, ask Him what sin I last confessed to Him in prayer?”
After some time, when they met again, the pastor asked the girl: “Well, did you dream of Christ again?” “Yes,” she replied. “And did you ask Him what sin I last confessed to Him in prayer?” “I asked.”
– And what did He say? – It’s strange, – replied the girl – but when I asked Him about it, He answered: I don’t remember!
Whenever, relying solely on the righteousness of Christ, we sincerely repent and confess our sins, not only does God constantly look at us as if we had not committed that sin—because He sees us in the light of His Son’s representative righteousness—but additionally, He does not remember our sins, in accordance, moreover, with what God Himself promised through the apostle Paul in Hebrews 10:16-17:
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
In the book Steps to Christ, there are many such wonderful thoughts, encouraging us to rid ourselves of all fears and uncertainties:
“Many who are really sincere, and who desire to live for God, he [Satan] often leads to dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses, and by thus separating them from Christ he hopes to gain the victory. We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved… Talk and think of Jesus… Put away all doubt and fear… God is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror… There are those who have… sincerely desired to be children of God, yet they find that their characters are imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Steps to Christ, chapter VIII, pages 79, 71
Why did the apostle John write that if we sin, we must remember that we have an Advocate in heaven who is RIGHTEOUS? Do we not know that Christ is righteous?
The apostle John certainly wanted to tell us in this way that just as Jesus was our Advocate (Representative) on earth and His representative righteousness was imputed to us through faith, so also now, as He stands before the throne of His Father, He remains our perfect, righteous, and holy representative, and thanks to this, God, looking at Him, does not see our imperfections.
Therefore, according to the Word of God, a “saint” is not a person who has earned this title through some special deeds, but a saint can only be someone who has accepted the holiness of Christ as their own possession in Him.
A certain little boy could not understand what the word “saint” meant.
He asked a few adults about it, but no one explained it to him to a satisfactory degree.
Until one time, while he was in a church, his gaze was caught by a beautiful stained-glass window depicting one of the holy biblical figures.
And as the boy was looking at it, the sun came out from behind the clouds, penetrating the figure of the saint on the stained-glass window with its bright rays.
This beautiful and expressive sight made the boy very happy, because thanks to it, he could finally understand the meaning of the word “saint.”
– Now I know! – he thought – I know who a “saint” is! “Saint” must be a person through whom the light passes!
A saint is not a person who earned this title by their good works, because that is impossible.
We can be called saints only when we allow ourselves to be penetrated by the rays of the “Sun of Righteousness,” which is Jesus Christ.
Only in this way can we become the “light of the world.” And if we allow the Holy Spirit to kindle the light of Christ’s righteousness and love within us, then we will naturally bear fruit in the form of deeds of righteousness.
However, even these deeds do not help us obtain the title of saints, but only testify and assure us that in Christ we have received His representative righteousness, holiness, salvation, and freedom.
And so it is; we are and remain righteous in Christ, even if these deeds are not yet perfect.
However, the fact that God accepts us right now, when perhaps we have not yet learned to walk in the Spirit and believe enough to be able to achieve full victory over sin, does not mean that such a victory is not possible.
No Christian should doubt that since the Lord Jesus perfectly “condemned sin in the flesh” two thousand years ago, He can also do it a second time, this time in us.
This is precisely what Paul wanted to assure us of when in Colossians 1:27 he wrote about a certain “mystery,” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Christ in us is the hope of glory, meaning the hope of reflecting God’s character, His righteousness, and love.
However, I have noticed more than once that this fully justified view is often criticized and accused of perfectionism.
I think, however, that this stems more from an incorrect concept of what perfectionism is and opposition to the truth that Christ assumed our sinful humanity.
Perfectionism in the bad sense, and according to what E. White wrote on the subject, is the belief that those who are sanctified cannot sin, which further leads to the conclusion that the feelings and desires of these individuals must always be holy, and that one can be freed from the fallen nature even in this life.
Besides, perfectionism can also be associated with striving for salvation through one’s own perfection, and at the expense of the suffering of those around them, accusing and pointing out the imperfections of others.
On the other hand, I once found an accurate definition of the true Christian perfection that God requires of us in the Bible Lessons for the third quarter of 1994, on page 50. To some extent, it is also a quote from Christ’s Object Lessons, page 188:
“In this life and in eternity, total spiritual, mental, physical, and social perfection will never be attained, for that would mean the end of the possibility of growth. However, perfection in the sense of victory over sin is available to all through Christ. God primarily requires moral perfection from us.”
What kind of perfection does God require from us? Moral perfection, meaning constant progress and improvement in keeping the commandments.
And if such are God’s expectations toward us, then He certainly can enable us to do so, and He does this through the Holy Spirit and Christ, who dwell in us for this very purpose.
Our role, on the other hand, boils down to not neglecting the cultivation of our relationship with Christ through the Word of God and prayer, since “apart from Him we can do nothing.” John 15:5
About 20 years ago, I went to Szczecin to visit my sister’s family. From my brother-in-law, who was a well-known soccer player, I received a pair of original Adidas sneakers as a gift.
That very same day, I put them on and went to the swimming pool. Since it was hot, I decided to go for a swim. However, when I came out of the water, I noticed with horror that the sneakers were gone.
I returned home ashamed, wearing old torn sneakers that I found when leaving the pool.
When I recall this unpleasant experience, I come to the conclusion that a similar story can take place regarding our salvation, which we have through faith in Christ.
The Adidas sneakers I received from my brother-in-law were an entirely undeserved gift from him. I had complete certainty that they were mine and that it was an accomplished fact. I was very happy with this gift.
However, I could have gathered that in order to enjoy these sneakers permanently, I should have taken better care of them and watched over them, because after all, I knew that someone could steal them.
God also gives us salvation in the form of an undeserved gift. It is an accomplished fact, and we can rejoice in this gift right now. We can be certain that salvation is our portion. But we must not forget that this gift is our possession through faith.
And faith must be constantly cultivated and cared for through continual prayers and feeding one’s spirit with the Word of God.
If we neglect this, the “thief of truth” will do everything to weaken our faith and steal this salvation from us. And we know many such people who claimed to have the assurance of salvation, even preached sermons on the subject, and today can no longer say so, often not even believing in God.
Let us remember, therefore, that our task is a constant care for this salvation—the salvation that we have already received in Christ.
We are to care for this salvation because we carry this “treasure in earthen vessels,” that is, in a still-sinful body.
And that is precisely why Paul adds: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12
The book Steps to Christ also speaks about such a need for constant watchfulness:
“Satan will constantly urge us to break our connection with Christ. That is why we must constantly watch, pray, strive, so that nothing will induce us to surrender ourselves…”
The book Steps to Christ also speaks about this need for constant vigilance:
“Satan will constantly urge us to break our connection with Christ. That is why we must constantly watch, pray, and fight, so that nothing inclines us to surrender to another master. For we can always do this. Let us focus our gaze on Christ, and He will save us. Looking at Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can snatch us out of His hands.”
If, first of all, we accept the gift of Christ’s righteousness, and secondly, we take care never to break the bond we can have with Him through prayer and the Word of God, then the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us and the Holy Spirit will ensure that we achieve victory over sin.
In 1890, E. White wrote:
“We must no longer stumble, complain, and then pour out tears of despair upon God’s altar.” Ms.16,1890
A certain man who fed pigs every day noticed something very interesting when he sometimes poured food that was too hot into the trough. As soon as the pigs noticed it, they immediately ran quickly toward the trough, pushing each other along the way. And the pig that reached the trough first, right away, without waiting for the other pigs, put its snout in there, but because the food was too hot, it immediately jumped back, squealing loudly. Watching this, the man thought that now the other pigs would be careful, seeing and hearing what had happened to the first one. However, this did not happen, and each pig in turn had to stick its snout into the trough and get burned, jumping back and squealing loudly.
Well, we might say, pigs are pigs, that is just their nature. However, allow me to note that if we constantly make the same mistakes that we have made before, or know that someone else has made them, then we behave similarly!
Our task is to constantly look at Christ and no longer allow ourselves to make the same mistakes, but at most new ones, and even those should become fewer and fewer. Therefore, let us remember that:
“we must no longer stumble, complain, and then pour out tears of despair upon God’s altar.”
Our task is to constantly look at Christ, “the author and finisher of our faith,” because “looking at Him we are safe,” and additionally, the Holy Spirit changes us into His likeness, just as happened in the case of the Apostle John:
STEPS TO CHRIST “Even the beloved disciple of Jesus…—the Apostle John, did not have a good character from birth. He was not only possessive and desirous of honors, but also hot-tempered and vengeful when offended. However, when the divine character of Christ was revealed to him, he saw his shortcomings and humbled himself. His soul filled with admiration and love after what he discerned in the daily life of the Son of God… Day by day his heart drew closer and closer to Christ, until John, in love for his Master, completely lost his sense of self-love, and his offensive and ambitious character yielded to the molding power of Christ. The regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. The power of Christ’s love transformed his character. Such is the sure effect of fellowship with Christ.”
Not so long ago, I was listening to a broadcast that provided very interesting information about Japanese scientists conducting an unusual experiment on ordinary gray sparrows. They placed them in white cages in rooms painted entirely in white. Even the people who looked after these sparrows and fed them were dressed in white jumpsuits. Then, the scientists patiently observed what the effects would be. Thus, in the first generation, sparrows with ordinary gray plumage were born. In the second generation, no changes were observed either. But in the third generation, little sparrows with completely white plumage were born!
This remarkable discovery assures us even more of the truth of the biblical fact, which states that when reading the Bible, we look at the love of Christ, then the Holy Spirit has a basis to change us into His likeness:
2 Cor. 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face (without fear, reconciled to God), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (the character and love of Christ), are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Since, as this experiment showed, as a result of mere looking, some extraordinary changes occur in the organisms of animals, then certainly, in relation to us humans, it will bring similar results.
But did those Japanese scientists discover something new?
No, because in the Bible this principle was known not only in the New, but even in the Old Testament! The patriarch Jacob carried out the same experiment several thousand years ago, obtaining similar results:
Gen. 30:37-43 “Jacob took fresh branches and peeled the bark from them in such a way that white stripes appeared on them. He fixed the peeled sticks by the watering troughs so that they would be seen by the flocks that came to drink water… So the flocks bred while looking at the sticks, and brought forth young that were striped… Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” Millennium Bible
If those Japanese scientists receive the Nobel Prize for this discovery, then the patriarch Jacob certainly deserved this distinction to no lesser extent, and even more so the One who inspired him to conduct this extraordinary experiment.
Let us therefore constantly look at Christ, daily studying the Word of God and focusing on the beauty of His character and His love. Let us also never neglect the opportunity to establish a connection with Him that prayer gives us, and then victory over sin will also become our portion. We will also win because now, when we are no longer under the law but under grace, God places His law in our hearts:
Heb. 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.”
What does God want us to understand by saying that He will write His laws on our hearts and put them in our minds?
Certainly, it can mean that now, when we have accepted through faith everything that the Son of God accomplished for us as our representative, then as a result of the new birth, the Holy Spirit becomes our portion, and from that moment on, it is He who enables us even to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” and makes it so that now the commandments become part of our desires! Now, in Christ and thanks to the Holy Spirit who is in us, we fulfill the commandments no longer out of fear, but out of love, thanks to the fact that in Christ we are no longer under the law but under grace.
Did the Apostle Paul, however, by writing that “we are no longer under the law” or that we are “released from the law,” believe that the holy law of God was canceled? According to Paul, are we exempt from keeping the commandments? Here is how he himself answers this question:
Rom. 6:14-15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”
Similarly, in chapter 7, he repeats once more that he has nothing against keeping God’s commandments, and that anyone who thinks so deserves blame:
Rom. 7:7, 12-14 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!” “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” “Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.” “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
These and many other biblical statements prove that the Apostle Paul had nothing against keeping the Decalogue with the right motivation, but meant only freedom from the power of the law. Besides, this view is held not only by Adventists, but by many well-known and popular Protestant theologians. One of them is, for example, John Stott.
Pastor Sequeira once had the pleasure of participating in a symposium and listening to a speech delivered by Stott. This great symposium, where leading Protestant theologians met, took place in 1980 in Nairobi and was convened by the World Council of Churches. As many as 180 different denominations and over 1,500 pastors took part in this convention. Since we do not belong to the World Council of Churches, we did not receive an invitation. But because John Stott—one of the most prominent Protestant theologians—was also to speak during this convention, Pastor Sequeira decided to go there to listen to him. And so, during one of his speeches, Stott said:
“We evangelicals know how to preach the Good News (grace). We have forgotten, however, the duty to also preach a good life. And I will tell you why this is so. It is because we got rid of the law!”
One of the most prominent Protestant theologians, speaking to representatives of almost all Protestant churches from around the world, accused them and himself of making a cardinal mistake by teaching that the New Testament invalidates God’s law. Then, during the same speech, Stott explained what the Apostle Paul meant by writing that “we are not under the law”:
“We made a mistake, because the New Testament does not invalidate the law as a norm, a model for Christian living!”
Pastor Sequeira personally participated in this meeting and heard this with his own ears, taking notes on everything and being unable to believe that such words were spoken there. Right in front of Brother Sequeira sat two bishops, one from the Presbyterian Church and the other from the Anglican Church. And at one point, commenting on what Stott said, one of them said to the other: “He (meaning Stott) speaks like a Seventh-day Adventist!” And Brother Sequeira, hearing this, was the only one of the participants to say loudly: “Amen!”
John Stott speaks just like a Seventh-day Adventist, and anyone who wants to preach the true gospel and the truth free from contamination must speak in accordance with what Adventists teach!
A similar opinion on this subject is held by another well-known Protestant preacher and evangelist, David Wilkerson. Here is what he wrote in an article entitled Love, Fear and Obedience:
“Many clergymen call out from pulpits today: Just love Jesus, and everything will be fine! We are not under the law, we are called to freedom! We all fall, but love covers every sin. Love Jesus and the brethren, and you are guaranteed heaven! These are words pleasing to the ear, but inconsistent with what the Word of God teaches! Surely now you will say: But did Jesus not say that the two greatest commandments are based on love, that we are to love God and our neighbor? That is true, but true love is not just an emotion or a feeling. It cannot be fully shown through worship and preaching alone, because true love means obedience to the commandments! Recently I heard a preacher say: You cannot obey all the commandments in the Bible. And even if you did obey them, it wouldn’t save you anyway. That would be legalism! No! On the contrary! Unfortunately, we (Protestants) have tried to destroy these commandments of Christ, calling them the law! When Jesus says that we are not saved by the works of the law, He is talking about something completely different! He is talking about our efforts to “earn” salvation! But I have a question: Which of the Ten Commandments can you break with impunity and go to heaven? Can you commit adultery, or, for example, lie? After all, it is the New Testament that clearly states that “God will judge fornicators and adulterers” (that is, those who break the seventh commandment), and that “all liars (those who transgress the ninth commandment) shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire.” Jesus said that He did not come to “destroy the law, but to fulfill it, and that if anyone teaches otherwise, a millstone should be hanged around his neck and he should be drowned in the sea!” Heb. 13:4 Rev. 21:8
Charles Spurgeon, another great Protestant preacher, also had no doubt that God’s law is immutable and that Paul nowhere taught that we are exempt from keeping it:
“Our King did not come to abolish the Law, but to strengthen and establish it. His commandments are eternal, and if those who are teachers of this Law, even inadvertently, break them and teach that any of these commandments, even the least, has been canceled, then they will be demoted to the lowest rank. (For although salvation is a gift available exclusively through faith in Christ,) dignities in His Kingdom are attained on the basis of the degree of obedience.” The Gospel of the Kingdom, 1893, p. 48.
Proponents of the false claim stating that in the New Testament the law was canceled or replaced solely by the commandment of love often refer to what Paul wrote in Rom. 10:4, saying that “Christ is the end of the law.”
Did the author, however, mean here that the law was canceled?
To understand his intentions, one must take into account the entire context of the letter to the Romans, which is the doctrine that salvation is possible solely and exclusively through faith. The Apostle Paul opposes here the claim that man can attain salvation through the works of the law, as evidenced by the previous verse:
Rom. 10:3 “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
So, what does Paul want to convey to us by writing that “Christ is the end of the law”?
Christ is the end of the law in the sense that He put an end, put a stop to attempts to obtain salvation through the works of the law, which is clear from the context.
Secondly, “Christ is the end of the law” in the sense that the Savior fulfilled the law to the end (perfectly) on our behalf.
Besides, the Greek word telos translated here as “end” can just as well mean a goal or fulfillment. Thus, we could also read this passage in the following way:
“The fulfillment,” or: “the goal of the law is Christ,” which means that the role of the law is not to save us, but to bring us to Christ, who is our only rescue, and He alone perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf, opening the way to salvation for us.
And here is the understanding of Paul’s statement from Rom. 10:4 held by John Stott, quoted earlier:
“There are evangelical Christians who believe that Paul’s statements “Christ is the end of the law” and “you are not under the law” mean that Christians are no longer obligated to obey the moral law of God. Attempts to carry it out, they claim, are “legalism,” which denies the freedom that Christ gave us. However, they misunderstand Paul. The “legalism” that Paul rejected is not God’s law itself, but attempts to gain God’s favor and forgiveness through obedience (through the works of the law).” GRACE AND LAW
Unfortunately, many Christians at the present time misunderstand Paul’s intentions, stubbornly claiming that this holy, spiritual, and unchanging Decalogue of God has been canceled.
On the other hand, we Adventists can also make a mistake and fall into the other extreme, accusing those who present the truth of the gospel in the right light of being a doctrine that, in turn, undermines the authority of God’s Law. Once, for example, Waggoner experienced this during the memorable conference in Minneapolis, and today we are also not free from such people who oppose this wonderful truth.
In the book of Acts 21:20, the Jews accused Paul of teaching against the law. Today, too, anyone who correctly preaches this message, just as Paul did, may face the same accusations. But does the Gospel actually undermine the authority of the law, or bypass the just claims that the law places on the sinner? Paul asks the same question in Rom. 3:31:
“Do we then make void the law through faith?”
How does Paul’s answer sound?
“God forbid!” “On the contrary, we establish the law!” King James Version New International Version / Polish Century Version
This means that the truth stating that we are saved solely through faith in Christ does not weaken, but even strengthens the position of the law. This is because God in Christ does not save us by bypassing the claims that the law makes against us, not exempting us, for example, from the death penalty, but in Christ, God satisfied all the just requirements of the law. God’s law was even “established” by the gospel, because God, in order to save us, preferred to take a huge risk and send His Son into this fallen world in the “likeness of sinful flesh” rather than make any change in His law. He preferred to agree to His only Son, identifying with us, going through the experience of the second death, rather than permit any “bending,” modification, or cancellation of His Law.
Paul also asks a similar question regarding the law in Romans 6:1 and answers in the same way. If, therefore, anyone studying the content of the letter to the Romans comes to the conclusion that the teaching contained in this letter encourages the breaking of the commandments, or undermines the position of the law, it can only be a person who has not understood this message and should study this book again with prayer and the humility of a disciple.
Amen