Released from the Law: The Christian’s Freedom to Live and Love

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:6)

Christians have been released from the law, and this is a pivotal concept in Pauline theology. The apostle talks about this release so much that it deserves our attention. What does it look like, practically, to live like people who have been released from the law?

What Does it Mean to be ‘Released’?

First come the obvious implications. Christians do not base their relationship with God on the Law given by Moses in the first five books of the Bible (the Mosaic Law Code). This means that they don’t work for their righteousness (Romans 3:21, Philippians 3:9), and they don’t progress in the Christian life by law-keeping (Galatians 3:2-5).

But release from the law means more! Christians do not live under strictures and binding commandments. Nothing hinders our freedom in Christ and no list of regulations impedes our freedom. Instead, we’ve been released to love God and our neighbors with freedom!

Safeguards of Freedom

This sounds radical, and even dangerous to morality, but the apostle does not share our fear. He trusts that Christians will use their freedom wisely. This is because Paul knows of at least three guardrails that keep Christians from abusing their freedom:

(1) Christians live with an internal heart change (the law written on the heart) which means that they have a powerful sense of right and wrong. This is more than conscience, because it includes an inclination to do what is right. Christians have a heart of flesh, which is sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit. While they are free from the Law of Moses, they are still under the Law of Christ.

(2) Christians have the Spirit of God, Christ’s Spirit, which dwells within them, and so they are the temple of God. This means that God is at work in them on a daily basis, providing an unseen source of spiritual help that nudges them towards godliness.

(3) Christians are chosen by God from the beginning of time for a glorious future. The God who started a good work in them will not abandon them to sin. Therefore, God can be counted on to keep them from going ‘over the cliff’ of sin.

Freedom from Regulations

The defining feature of Paul’s morality is his freedom to go about life unhindered by the commands of the law. Paul isn’t worried about external commands of what we can or can’t touch, taste, or hold (Colossians 2:21). These sorts of bodily regulations have no value.

Paul is not living his life based on a list of things that he can or can’t do. To be clear: there are very definite things that Paul does not do, and warns against doing. There are moral imperatives in the Christian life. But Paul’s orientation toward these imperatives is that they are not the dominant thought in his mind as he goes about living.

The law-keeper is constantly measuring himself by obedience to a list of commands. He goes through life with an internal checklist, seeking to avoid certain bad things, and measuring himself by his successes and failures.

But freedom from sin does not come through a checklist mentality. This approach will breed guilt and despair. This discouragement actually leads to more sin, which perpetuates a vicious cycle. Christians who focus their lives on avoiding sin actually sin more than those who live in freedom.

When someone is struggling with a specific sin, they often focus all their energy on avoiding that sin—  to the detriment of everything else. Such a person is so focused on not doing a specific sin that they fail to do positive good. Such a person is not practically living a life that is released from the law. Their primary focus is obligation rather than freedom— obligation to avoid evil, rather than freedom to do good.

Freedom to Love

Christians have been set free from the mindset of checklist-morality. They are free to go about life unhindered by this frame of mind. The measuring-stick mindset is replaced with freedom – release to live life fully and joyfully.

True victory over sin actually comes when we focus not on what we are freed from (the law, and the sin which hounds it), but what we are freed to – loving God and loving our neighbor. Release from the law means that we can enjoy the lives that God has given and focus on doing good. When God’s glory becomes our aim, obedience is a service and sacrifice, not a strain.

Bonhoeffer once said something to the effect that it is better to focus on doing good than avoiding evil. This is a sentiment which the Savior seems to echo in Mark 3:4 when He asks, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” The problem with a measuring-stick mindset is that it focuses so much on avoiding evil that it won’t take the opportunity to do good when that opportunity arrives out of fear of doing evil.

Instead, Christians are alive with Christ, and this means that they share not only in his death but in his resurrection. Since his resurrection, Christ’s life consists of an unending stream of moments lived for God. It is this type of life which Christians now get to enjoy as well. Because the focus is on loving God and living for him, Christians aren’t unhealthily obsessed with avoiding sin. While they do sin, their orientation (if they are living in the way that Paul recommends) isn’t fixated on that sin and its avoidance. Instead, they are focused on enjoying that ‘unending stream of moments lived for God.’

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