Romans 6:14

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Part of the Torah Eternal study — examining every passage cited to argue the Law has been abolished.

The Common Reading

Believers are no longer under the law at all — grace has replaced Torah. Since we are under grace, the Law’s commands no longer apply. We are free from its requirements and live by the Spirit alone, without reference to the old rules.

What the Passage Actually Says

Paul Answers His Own Misinterpretation

If “not under the law” meant Torah no longer applies, Paul would have no reason to ask his next question. But he does:

“What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” — Rom 6:15

G3361 mē genoito — “God forbid!” / “May it never be!” — Paul’s strongest negative. He asks exactly the question that the common reading produces: “If we’re not under the law, can we sin freely?” And he slams the door: absolutely not. This makes no sense if “not under the law” means “Torah doesn’t apply.” It makes perfect sense if “under the law” means under its condemnation.

What Is Sin?

Paul defines sin by the law:

“I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” — Rom 7:7 (quoting the 10th commandment, Exod 20:17)

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” — 1 Jn 3:4

G266 hamartia — sin, missing the mark. The mark is Torah. If Torah is abolished, there is no mark to miss, no standard to transgress, and the word “sin” loses its definition. Paul’s statement that “sin shall not have dominion over you” only makes sense if there remains a standard against which sin is measured.

“Under the Law” = Under Its Condemnation

The phrase “under the law” (G5259 hypo nomon) appears repeatedly in Paul’s letters, and context consistently reveals its meaning: under the law’s condemning authority as a system of earning justification.

Romans 3:19 provides the definition:

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

“Under the law” = every mouth stopped, the whole world guilty. This is not instruction — it is indictment. Being “under the law” is being under its verdict of condemnation for sin. Grace delivers from that verdict so that sin no longer has dominion (G2961 kyrieuō — to lord over, exercise authority).

Grace Empowers Obedience

What does grace produce? The very next verses answer:

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” — Rom 6:16

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” — Rom 6:17–18

G1343 dikaiosynē — righteousness. G1401 doulos — servant, bondservant. Grace does not produce lawlessness — it produces servants of righteousness. Freedom from sin is not freedom to sin. It is freedom to obey from the heart — exactly what the $renewed-covenant promises:

“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” — Jer 31:33

“I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” — Ezek 36:27

Grace is the mechanism that enables what the old covenant’s external administration could not: heart-level Torah obedience.

Romans 8:4 — The Destination

Paul reaches the climax of this argument two chapters later:

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” — Rom 8:4

G1345 dikaiōma — the righteous requirement, the just ordinance. The Spirit-led life fulfills the law’s righteous requirement — it does not discard it. This is the purpose of grace: not to remove the standard, but to empower believers to meet it through the Spirit rather than through the flesh.

The Logic

If “not under the law” means “Torah doesn’t apply”:

• Then sinning under grace should be permissible — but Paul says “God forbid” (v.15).
• Then “servants of righteousness” has no Torah-based standard — but Paul defines righteousness by Torah throughout Romans.
• Then Rom 8:4 (“the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us”) is meaningless — but Paul calls it the purpose of the Spirit.
• Then Paul contradicts himself in Rom 3:31: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

If “not under the law” means “not under its condemnation”:

• Then v.15 makes sense: freed from condemnation, but sin (Torah violation) is still wrong.
• Then “servants of righteousness” means obeying Torah from the heart.
• Then Rom 8:4 is the goal: Spirit-empowered fulfillment of Torah’s righteous requirements.
• Then Rom 3:31 holds: faith establishes Torah by enabling true obedience.

Harmony

1. Paul immediately rejects the antinomian reading — “Shall we sin? God forbid!” (v.15). This proves “under the law” does not mean “Torah applies.”
2. Sin is defined by Torah (Rom 7:7; 1 Jn 3:4). If Torah is abolished, sin has no definition and grace saves from nothing.
3. “Under the law” means under its condemnation — every mouth stopped, all guilty (Rom 3:19). Grace delivers from the verdict, not from the standard.
4. Grace produces obedience — “servants of righteousness” (v.18), walking in Torah from the heart (Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:27).
5. The Spirit fulfills Torah in us (Rom 8:4) — the destination of Paul’s entire argument from chapter 6 through chapter 8.

Greek Reference