Romans
7:1-6 is one of the more difficult sections of the Bible to understand. Here, Paul is continuing to unveil=
to
the believers the “mechanics” of their sanctification. He is explaining how God, in Chris=
t,
“rewired” us inwardly (organically) to live a sanctified life.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Romans 6 dealt with the matter of =
the
sinful nature and how we were severed from its power over us. Romans 7 deals=
with
the law and liberation from our bondage to it. These two matters must be made cle=
ar to
the believers. When thi=
s is
clear, we are enabled to live a sanctified life according to God’s
design.
Verse 1 begins with Paul’s concern for the believer’s ignor=
ance
regarding the law and how it has dominion over the man as long as he
lives. The Jewish believers
embraced the law, but Paul is trying to make it clear that embracing the law
gives it lordship over their lives.
This was never God’s intention. The law was not given for man to k=
eep,
but rather for man to break, exposing his inability to keep it. God wanted man to rely on Hi=
m for
everything.
Verses 2 and 3 liken our relationship to the law to that of a marriage.=
A
married woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is re=
leased
from the law regarding him.
However, if she leaves her husband while he is living and marries
another, according to the law, she will be called an adulteress. Why is Paul likening the matter of=
our
relationship to the law to that of a marriage contract? He does this to show us that we, as
believers, cannot maintain a relationship with our old man (who tries to ke=
ep
the law) AND Christ at the same time. God in His wonderful salvation has ma=
de
this a “legal” impossibility.&=
nbsp;
What then, did He need to do to end one and start the other? The answer is in the following ver=
ses.
Verse 4 tells us that we have been liberated from the law through the <=
/span>death of our former husband—the old man (6:6). When Christ died on the cross, our
former husband, the old man died with
Him. When the old man died, w=
e were
(forever) freed to be joined to the resurrected Chri=
st!
Verse 5
states that we WERE in the flesh with passions for sins. These sins operated through the la=
w,
which bear fruit that results in death; not lite=
ral
death, but a spiritual death toward God.&n=
bsp;
The more we tried to keep the law the more we could not keep it. The law said, “Do not
covet,” but the more we tried not to covet, the more we would covet.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Thus, the fruit of this
“trying” to keep the law was death to us.
Now that we are married to Christ, the fruit that we bear to God is the
living that issues from this marvelous organic union. We, the believer’s, are comp=
letely
dependent on Christ, our Husband, for everything. He is our shelter, our protector, =
our
provider and so much more. In=
contrast,
the old man endeavored, by his own effort, to keep the law in order to be r=
ight
with God. This was an act of
independence from God and an insult to Him. Since our old man has died, we no =
longer
need to endeavor to sustain a relationship with the law; it is over! We just need to trust in Christ Je=
sus
and depend on Him for everything.
Praise the Lord =
that
according to verse 6 we HAVE BEEN discharged or released from the law. We (our old man) died to the law in
which we were held in slavery and now we are free to serve our new husband,
Christ, in newness of spirit. Our
serving is fresh and vibrant—full of life and hope. We are no longer obligated to serv=
e in
the oldness of letter. Praise=
the
Lord, our old man has died and we are now married to our Lord Jesus Christ
joyously depending upon Him as our glorious Husband!