Liberated

Series on Romans

IX The Gospel and Indwelling Sin

A Released from the Law

Text: 7:1-6

Introduction

The Apostle begins with an illustration that teaches us that the law is against sinners just as sinners are against the law, but the law is for, not against, people of faith. As we read on in this chapter we shall see that it is the clear teaching of Paul as well as the rest of Scripture that we continue to be sinners till the day we die. However, our relationship to the law has changed. Most people do not understand what it means to be under the law of God. They understand what it means to be under the traffic laws, because, if they are speeding or run a red light they get a ticket. But since God’s sanctions for His law do not come quickly and with each offense, they are ignored as if they did not exist. Just how oblivious many people are to understanding the law of God may be seen in their responses to evangelistic questionnaires. When asked how one becomes a Christian they often reply, by going to church, or living a good life, or by doing what is right, or at least trying hard. We know that the Bible says in John 1:11-13, He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. These same people when asked if they were to die tonight and appear before God and He asked them why He should let them into heaven, what would they say, answer, “Because I tried to do my best, or I was one of the good guys.” First of all they do not understand the demands of God’s law, but more importantly in the second place we observe that they are prisoners of the law. They willingly submit to the law as a means of salvation, but the Bible says that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified. Thus the first thing Paul points out is that when we believe in Jesus Christ we are liberated from the law. Then he reminds us of a new loyalty and a new way of living.

I New Liberty

This new liberty from the law is illustrated by the institution of marriage in verses 1-3, Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. The idea is that when a spouse dies, the remaining partner is free to remarry. Once as an unrepentant sinner you were under the law, and the only way out was death. When you believe in Jesus Christ you are united to Him in His death and resurrection. Consequently you are dead and the law has no power over you because Jesus met the demands of God’s holy law when he gave Himself for you. By nature and by birth we are under God’s law. Paul described this relationship in 6:14, For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. When you were under the law, sin was your master You were a slave to sin, but now Christ has delivered you. Being under the law implies bondage, servitude, and slavery. Paul is not saying the law is irrelevant or bad. He is simply saying that the power of the law to exact revenge has been eliminated. The law is still there but it has no more ability to condemn you. We are not to understand the statements of Scripture about law and grace as being absolute. They are relative, and can be understood only by understanding the role of each. So when John says in his gospel in 1:17, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, It is a relative statement. We learned in Romans 4 how Abraham and David were saved by grace in the Old Testament as were faithful Jews, and we learn in Romans 12:9-19 that there are many commands or laws that we are to follow as Christians, Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. It should be immediately clear to us that many of these commandments replicate or duplicate much of the ten commandments. So our liberty is from under the law, but it is a liberty born to a new law of obedience to Christ.

II New Loyalty

So now we have a person of whom we may say, they are dead and the law has no power over them. But Paul says this individual is free to remarry, and we read in verse 4, So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. Let me ask you what happens when they remarry? They are under a new set of obligations are they not? As Christians we do not escape the power and penalty of the law in order to do whatever we want. Instead we are married to another, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we know that he taught the law and kept it. In fact he said in Matthew 5:17-20, Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus had the highest regard for the law. He kept it for you. He endured its punishment for you. He fulfilled all the types of the ceremonial law, and also perfectly kept the moral law. He delivered you from the guilt and penalty of the law so that the Holy Spirit could incline your redeemed heart to keep the law. This was plainly prophesied in the Old Testament in, for example, Ezekiel 36:24-27, For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Salvation in the Bible always has the goal of obedience to God’s holy law.

III New Living

We see the sentiment of Ezekiel reflected in verses 5 and 6 of our text, For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Paul is saying that in our new life in Christ we obey, not in slavish fear but in the freedom of the sons of God.It is at this point that many people make the terrible mistake of saying that the ten commandments are for the Old Testament, but now all we have to do is love. They think the Spirit replaces the law. What in the world do they think the ten commandments are about? They are about love. I love my brother when I preserve his life as in the sixth commandment. I love my brother when I preserve his property as in the eighth commandment. I love my brother when i preserve his reputation as in the ninth commandment. The commandments of the Old Testament and New Testament are the same, and they teach us how to love, and without them we could not love one another or our neighbor. Paul is not anti-law, he is anti-sin, and sin is defined by the law. He is making a case here for a new way of living. An obedience not of slavish fear but of gratitude for mercies received. It is an obedience grounded in hope and not in fear. When all we have is the written code, then all we have is fear, but when we have the Spirit we have a new way of living.

Conclusion

In conclusion, take heed to a warning. Nothing that Paul says about the law relaxes its stringent requirements. I have observed that sometimes aerials on radios have to be adjusted within tiny fractions of an inch. Strings on a guitar or violin are more demanding. In industry tolerances are often measured to millionths of an inch. I had a friend who worked for a company that made wire tubing. He carried a sample in his wallet which was thinner than a needle but it had a hole through the middle, and he told me that the Japanese made a tube to fit inside of that one. The fact of the matter is that these standards are considerably less exacting than the demands of God’s law. This teaches us two indispensable lessons. The first is that we have an unending debt of gratitude to Jesus for meeting the standard for us. The second is that we should not take lightly the role of God’s law in our new life in Christ.