Law vs Lawlessness

Did Grace Free Us from Obedience—or from the Penalty of Disobedience?

☕ Coffee Break

Have you ever heard someone say:

“Believers aren’t under the Law anymore.”?

Now place that statement beside Yeshua’s warning:

“Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” —Matthew 7:23

Wait... what?

If living without God’s Law is freedom, why does Yeshua warn people who practice lawlessness?

The Greek word translated iniquity in Matthew 7:23 is anomia. It carries the meaning of lawlessness, disregard for law, or living as though God’s instruction has no authority.

And notice who Yeshua is addressing.

These are not people who openly rejected Him. They called Him “Lord.” They prophesied. They cast out demons. They performed mighty works.

Their problem was not a lack of religious activity.

Their problem was that their lives were marked by lawlessness.

That should make every believer pause.

Grace rescues us from the condemnation of sin. It does not transform rebellion into righteousness. Yeshua did not save us so we could live as though the Father’s instructions no longer matter.

So let’s slow down, open our Bibles, and ask the question Scripture forces us to confront:

What is the difference between walking in God’s Law and practicing lawlessness?

📖 Key Scriptures

Yeshua rejects people who call Him Lord while practicing lawlessness.

Yeshua did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.

As lawlessness increases, the love of many grows cold.

Faith does not overthrow God’s Law—it establishes it.

Grace does not give believers permission to obey sin.

2 Thessalonians 2:7–12

Paul warns about the mystery of lawlessness and those who reject the truth.

Sin is identified with lawlessness.

Grace teaches believers to reject ungodliness, and Yeshua redeems a people from lawlessness.

Under the New Covenant, God writes His laws upon hearts and minds.

Those who walk in Yehovah’s instruction are described as blessed and upright.

.🔎 Track With Me

Before deciding that God’s Law and His grace oppose one another, let’s ask a few questions.

How does Scripture define sin?

What does Yeshua mean by lawlessness?

Why does He connect lawlessness with people who call Him “Lord”?

Does Matthew 7 criticize people for trying to earn salvation—or for doing religious works while refusing the Father’s will?

Why does Yeshua contrast lawlessness with doing the will of His Father?

If faith abolishes the Law, why does Paul say faith establishes it?

If grace removes every expectation of obedience, why does Paul ask whether we should continue in sin?

Why does Titus say grace teaches us to reject ungodliness?

Why would the New Covenant write God’s Law upon the heart if His Law no longer mattered?

Are we allowing Scripture to define lawlessness—or assuming it simply means being a generally bad person?

Don’t begin with the slogan:

“We’re not under the Law.”

Ask what the surrounding passage is discussing.

Is it condemnation?

Legal justification?

The power of sin?

A covenant administration?

Human traditions?

Or God’s standard of righteousness?

The word law does not carry exactly the same emphasis in every passage.

Context matters.

The goal is not to escape whatever God commands.

The goal is to understand how redeemed people are called to live.

Truth has nothing to fear from careful study.

Don’t take my word for it... Open your Bible.

🌍 Historical Context

In the first century, Yeshua and His apostles lived in a thoroughly Jewish world shaped by the Torah, the Prophets, the Temple, synagogues, biblical festivals, and ongoing debates about how God’s commandments should be interpreted.

When Yeshua confronted religious leaders, He did not accuse them of caring too much about Scripture.

He accused them of replacing God’s commandments with human tradition, neglecting justice and mercy, and displaying outward religion without inward faithfulness.

Yeshua’s audience would not have heard the word lawlessness as a vague reference to social disorder.

They understood that Yehovah had revealed His will and that rebellion against His authority was sin.

This is why Matthew 7 is so sobering.

The people Yeshua describes appear spiritually impressive. They speak His name and point to supernatural accomplishments.

Yet their religious works do not excuse lives that reject the Father’s will.

Scripture repeatedly warns that outward religion cannot substitute for covenant faithfulness.

Israel possessed the Torah but often rebelled against it.

Religious leaders taught commandments but sometimes violated their purpose.

Believers could confess Yeshua while still choosing disobedience.

The danger was never merely ignorance of religious language.

The danger was claiming to belong to God while refusing His authority.

📚 Literary Context

Matthew 7:21–23 appears near the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.

Yeshua has already taught about:

obeying even the least of God’s commandments,

righteousness that reaches the heart,

sincere prayer and fasting,

storing treasure in heaven,

judging with discernment rather than hypocrisy,

the narrow and wide paths,

false prophets,

good and corrupt fruit.

Then He warns:

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The contrast is not between believers who perform enough works and believers who do not.

The contrast is between those who merely profess allegiance and those who do the Father’s will.

Immediately afterward, Yeshua describes two builders.

One hears His words and does them.

The other hears His words and does not do them.

One house stands.

The other falls.

That surrounding context matters.

Matthew 7 is not teaching salvation by impressive deeds. The people being rejected already point to their deeds.

Yeshua’s emphasis is hearing and obeying His words—not using religious accomplishments as a substitute for faithfulness.

The same pattern appears elsewhere.

Matthew 24 connects increasing lawlessness with love growing cold.

First John connects sin with lawlessness.

Paul warns about the mystery of lawlessness.

Titus says Yeshua gave Himself to redeem a people from lawlessness.

Taken together, Scripture does not present lawlessness as Christian liberty.

It presents lawlessness as something from which Yeshua saves His people.

📖 Open Your Bible

Read the full passages before accepting anyone’s conclusion—including mine.

Then ask yourself:

In Matthew 7:21–23, what distinguishes the people Yeshua receives from those He rejects?

What does “the will of my Father” mean within the Sermon on the Mount?

Why are miracles and religious works insufficient evidence of faithfulness?

What does Yeshua say about the Law in Matthew 5:17–19?

How does Matthew 24:12 connect lawlessness with love?

How does 1 John 3:4 define sin?

Does Romans 3:31 say faith destroys or establishes the Law?

In Romans 6, what does being “under grace” free us to do?

What does grace teach believers in Titus 2:11–14?

From what does Titus say Yeshua redeems His people?

What does the New Covenant write upon the heart in Hebrews 10:16?

Does Scripture contrast grace with obedience—or grace with attempting to earn justification?

Can someone honor Yeshua as Lord while knowingly rejecting the Father’s authority?

Have you confused freedom from condemnation with freedom from obedience?

Are you building your understanding upon one phrase—or upon the full witness of Scripture?

Now read the final verses of Matthew 7 again.

One person hears Yeshua’s words and does them.

One person hears Yeshua’s words and does not do them.

Which foundation are you building upon?

Don’t take my word for it... Open your Bible.

🌱 Continue Your Study