The Greek adjective ennomos means lawful, under law, or within the framework of law — used by Paul in a striking paradox to describe his relationship to Christ's law while being free from the Mosaic law.
Ennomos appears in 1 Corinthians 9:21, one of Paul's most nuanced statements about law and freedom: 'To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law — ennomos Christou).' Paul distinguishes between the Mosaic law code and the principle of Christ's law (love) that undergirds all true righteousness. He is not anomos (lawless) but ennomos Christou — lawfully bound to Christ. Acts 19:39 uses ennomos for a 'lawful assembly,' the legal assembly of citizens. Theologically, ennomos in the context of Christ's law reminds us that Christian freedom is not antinomianism — it is freedom from the Mosaic law code to be fully bound to the law of love (Romans 13:10).