In most of the epistles Paul wrote he went to great lengths to describe and compare the concepts of being under the law versus being saved by grace. He says the law is our teacher.
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:24-25

As I sit day after day listening to and instructing my piano students I see many parallels between the art of learning to play the piano and learning to know and love God. A student may learn to play all the correct notes but until he grasps the concepts of phrasing, articulation, dynamics and expression, he will play mechanically. He will not be free to touch his own and another’s emotions and spirit. Until the teacher actually demonstrates these concepts, the student may not be aware of his lack.

So it is in our spiritual lives. We are very often not aware of our sin until we hear it pointed out to us. Then we are free to correct it or not, as we choose. A love for music and a desire to play the piano causes the student to seek for and put into practice the tenets of musicality. Our love for God and our desire to serve Him makes us seek after the things of God.

Gal. 5:18 tells us, “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” As the piano student learns the rudiments of the art he becomes able to soar above the rules and is free to express himself in his music. He has incorporated the spirit of the music into his being. When we love God and ask Him to be Lord of our lives we obey Him because of His Spirit within us. We are no longer “under the law” but above it because we have grasped the love and the grace of God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23 Thanks be to God that He so freely and lovingly teaches us!