“Do this and live the law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. A better way His grace does bring; it bids me fly and gives me wings.”
To live under the law is to do the best you can to keep external rules so that you will be godly and acceptable before God. Romans chapter 6 emphasizes the fact that in Christ, we died to sin and its reign in our lives. Romans chapter 7 emphasizes the fact that in Christ, we also died to the law and its demands that I do the best I can to keep the rules so that I can be pleasing to God.
Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” When the character of Christ is being manifested from a Christian who is walking in the Spirit, then there’s no need to put extra requirements on them because it is unnecessary. The word righteousness simply means “that which is acceptable or right before God.” We are in union with Christ, and therefore we are in union with the righteousness of Christ so that from Christ, we might display the kind of life that Jesus lives, which is the kind of life that is acceptable and right before God. Romans 5:17 refers to the “gift of righteousness” that is ours in Christ. God is not obsessed with right and wrong. He is obsessed with righteousness, and right and wrong are just one of the consequences of the kind of life that Jesus lives. Jesus does what’s right, and he doesn’t do what’s wrong, but our obsession is not with right and wrong but with a person, and that person is Jesus. Christianity is not about who you are for Christ. Christianity is about who Christ is in you, and therefore living the Christian life is to stay obsessed with Him and how He is living, not you and how you are living. True holiness isn’t driven by restrictions; it is driven by all the things that Jesus does and can do. True holiness is the distinct, set apart, unique abundant life that Jesus lives. By the way, when you live under grace, you can get away with far less than you can under the law. If you’re living under the law, then you’re always measuring your performance and trying to see how much you can get away with without breaking the law fully. When you’re living by grace, the life of Christ doesn’t even flirt with what you can get away with because Jesus is having too much fun doing all the things He loves to do and the supernatural way in which He does them. Spirituality and true holiness is always determined by the origin the activity, not the object of the activity. If Jesus is living His life through you, then playing Frisbee with your child is just as holy as leading someone to Jesus are praying for someone to get healed. Living from Christ, not for Christ.