1 Corinthians 9:21

To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

To them ... without law - i:e., without revealed law: the pagan (cf. ; ).

As without law - not urging on them the ceremonies and "works of the law," but "the hearing of faith" (); discoursing in their own manner, as at Athens, with arguments from Greek poets ().

Not without law to God - `while conforming to others in matters indifferent, being not without law toward God, but responsible to the law (literally, IN LAW) toward Christ.' The Christian's true position in relation to the world, to himself, and to God. Everything develops itself according to its proper law. So the Christian, though no longer a slave to the letter constraining him from without, is subject to the higher law, the spirit of faith in Christ acting from within as the germ of a new life. Christ was responsible to the law for us, so that we are no longer responsible to it (; ), but to Him, as the members to the Head (; Romans 8:1; ). In proportion as Christians serve Christ in newness of spirit, they fulfill the righteousness of the law, and are no longer under the law as an outward letter. Our old man still needs the law as a rule to convict of sin (; ). To Christ, as man's Head, the Father delegated His authority (; ); whence he substitutes "Christ" for "God" - "not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." The law of Christ is the law of love, which is the fulfillment of the law (; : cf. Galatians 5:13).