Sabbath School Material: "Under the Law."

Excerpt from 4 articles by E. J. Waggoner, on "Under the Law."

Then the conclusion: “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14. Notice a few facts and necessary conclusions. 

1.    Since “sin is the transgression of the law,” the absence of sin must indicate obedience to the law. Therefore when the apostle says to any persons, “Sin shall not have dominion over you,” it is evidence that they are keeping the law. 

2.    Those over whom sin has no dominion are those who are not under the law. “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law.” The fact that sin has no dominion over them is evidence that they are “not under the law.” Therefore, to be “not under the law” is equivalent to being free from the dominion of sin. 

3.    But we have already seen that to be free from the dominion of sin represents a state of obedience to the law; therefore, to say that one is “not under the law” is equivalent to saying that he is keeping the law.

These propositions will stand the test of any criticism, and they demonstrate that the apostle’s argument is based on the fact that the law is in full force, binding upon all, and that there are but two classes of people; those who keep the law, and those who transgress it. Those who keep the law are not under it, and of course those who transgress it are under it. In other words, those over whom sin has dominion are under the law; and those over whom sin has not dominion, are not under the law.