Under the Law

I may have posted this before, but if so, please excuse me. I am easily confused as of late, (and I think it worthy of mention again, if so)

“The Law”
Christ fulfilled the law, proving that He could keep every facet of it, thereby doing what no man could do. The law, then, was weakened because it faced defeat in Christ, and became incorporated into grace. Grace overpowered law, having been stronger than it, and the law was “swallowed up in victory” along with death and sin. The law, then, never died, it dwells within the confines of grace; the strictest part of the law is now the weakest part of grace. Law has become “of no effect” unto us now, it has been fulfilled in Christ, our “all” and in all; it has merged with grace. Today, we live under grace, and walk by faith in it; we no longer consider the law to be our master, but have been set free from its grip, and have freedom in Christ and grace.

Under the Law
We hear this phrase often, as applied to the Jew, or usually to an ordinance of the law, such as tithing, but whenever we fail to see the grace of God, we place ourselves “under the law”. “The Law”, according to the letter of the law, is the commands for conduct in the Old Testament; though Gentiles never have been technically under the law, they become a “law unto themselves” when they fail to accept the grace of God, and thereby they are under the law, or rather should I say “A law”? Do not suppose that the Bible, when speaking of being “under the law” excuses the Gentile because he never was under the law in the strictest sense, but realize that there is no middle ground. You either dwell under “a law” (the law) or under grace, there is no other way aside from blatant unbelief; even then man is under the “law of sin”.
We are all under a law of some sort. When the Bible refers to “The Law”, it usually speaks of the Old Testament law which condemns men under sin, the law of Moses, but if we leave it there, then we must claim that the Gentile is not under sin, since he never was under the law! The purpose of the law was to expose man’s sin, but not all law is bad. You see, there are many laws; there is the “Law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2); there is the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2); the “perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25 and 2:12); the “royal law” (James 2:8). Again, there are many laws by which we are to dictate our lives, but none is sufficient to deal with our sin, only grace can do that!

So, why should we remain “under the law” when we can walk “above the law” as we know “the law” to be? We have the victory in Christ, and are not under “the law of Moses” and the others. We are only above the law in the sense that we are no longer under its authority, but have made another law, and another authority to guide our lives by, that being, “The law of Grace”. So, as we are freed from the old law, we are subject to a new law--the Law of Christ. In one way or another, it behooves us to remain under “a law“.