The Believer's Relationship to the Law of God

Those under the Law are bound by the Law until death (Romans 7:1-3)

Explanation: The seventh chapter of Romans focuses on the Law of God and its relationship with the believer. In the previous chapter Paul taught the differences between the old covenant and the new covenant using the imagery of slavery. He is still teaching on the sharp contrast between the old and new covenants, but in this section he is framing the discussion in relationship to the Law.

You might wonder why so much effort to say what sounds like the same thing. The point is that many believers do not have a good understanding of the nature and purpose of the Law and Paul is helping to bring that to light. And, even more importantly, there are many that simply do not understand what it means to be a genuine believer in the new covenant. Paul continues to deal with this theme as well.

Paul begins by stating a simple truth: the law has dominion (or mastery) over a person as long as that person lives. That means that a person under the old covenant is bound by the the rules and regulations of that law system until death.

Paul gives an illustration to help them understand. He uses the familiar concept of marriage by declaring the truth that a spouse is bound by the law of marriage until the death of one of the spouses. When one spouse dies, however, the remaining spouse is no longer bound by the law of that marriage and is free to marry another.

NOTE: This illustration on marriage is important in several aspects, one of which is the assumed understanding that a marriage lasts until the death of one of the spouses (“until death do you part” not “until things get difficult”) This illustration is not designed to be a treatise on marriage itself so we move on.

Paul’s point is the binding power of the law remains on a person until a death occurs. And that takes us to the second point found in vv. 4-6:

Believers are those that have died to the Law and are freed to serve God (Romans 7:4-6)

Explanation: Paul explains that a death has indeed taken place. Christ has died that we might be freed from the demands of the old covenant. His sacrificial death opened the door to a new way of life for those who trust in His redeeming sacrifice.

Believers are those who have died to the law. This means that believers are no longer bound by the requirements of the law. A crucially important point to remember is that the law required 100% perfection in carrying out all of its commands. As the Apostle James puts it, “whosever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

Trusting Christ frees us from that obligation that we could not meet. Trusting Christ frees us to live for Him. Paul continues his thought of marriage in v. 4 when he states that the one who has died to the law (the requirements of the Old Covenant) is now married to Jesus Himself. This truth was discussed last week - there are no autonomous individuals roaming about the planet - we are under the old covenant of the Law or we are under the new Covenant of Christ.

Argument: Those who are under the New Covenant (part of the Bride of Christ) will reveal that relationship through our actions. As Paul states it, we died to the former way of living so that we can serve in the Spirit and bear fruit (progressively grow in holiness) to God.

Application: Belonging to Jesus under the New Covenant results in a transformed life (cf Romans 12:1-2). It is important, however, not to simply associate good behavior as the basis for union in Christ. There are non-believers who teach their children to be honest, to work hard, to follow the rules, and to be nice to others. This concept reduces God to what is termed Moral Therapeutic Deism through the following equation: Being a Good Person = Acceptance with God.

This observation leads to the final point

Believers are those who have encountered the true purpose of the Law and have come to understand their wretched condition before a Holy and Just God (Romans 7:7-12)

Explanation: Paul has just explained that it is necessary for a person to die to the Law in order for that person to be joined to Christ. He has previously stated in this letter that by no works of the law will anyone ever be justified (Romans 3:20). In Chapter 4 of this letter Paul declares that the promises of God did not come through the law but through faith (Rom 4:13-16). One could get the idea that the law itself is sinful.

Paul points out that this is not the case. The Law itself is a good thing; it is not sinful. The Law is from God and it reflects who He is and what He values. He tells the people that His commandments are righteous (Deut 4:8), they are pure (Ps 19:8) and Jesus declared that He did not “come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil.” (Matt 5:17). Paul clearly states in v. 12 of our text that the “law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12).

So why do we have to die to that which is holy and righteous and good? The answer lies in the purpose of the law and its relationship to believers. While the law itself is from God and it is good, it points out that we are not righteous and good. This is the essence of what Paul is communicating in verses 7 through 11. The law reveals our inability to please God through our own efforts.

Paul tell us that “if it had not been for the law I would not have known sin” (Rom 7:7b). He doesn’t mean that there was a point in his life in which he had not had to deal with or experience sin. As he took pains to point in the first chapters of this letter, all of mankind is born in sin and is alienated from God.

What he means is that there was a period in his life in which he was unaware of the righteous requirements of God’s law in which he was failing to achieve. In his previous lost condition, he thought his life was actually pleasing to God. In his efforts he was attempting to obey the letter of the law (Romans 7:6c) but he could not obey the Spirit of the Law. Paul references the 10th commandment that states “thou shalt not covet” which deals with thoughts of the heart, not actions of the hands. Recognizing his failure in this area led him to understand his overall failure of not being able to please God through law-keeping.

Argument: This is the point which is typically left out of most modern evangelistic presentations. We start with God’s wonderful plan and how wonderful we are as people and how much God loves us. We tell people that God wants us to be with Him in heaven and if we would just ask Him to come into our hearts through repeating a prayer we will have joy and peace and the promise of Eternal Life.

While the above is mainly true - God’s Love is real, Jesus did die for the sins of the world, and Heaven is a real place for a prepared people, we leave out a crucial piece of information when we bypass the sinfulness of lost humanity. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to start with mankind’s sinful condition before discussing the provision of Jesus

We have a great deal of people who sincerely believe they are OK with God because they have never been convicted of their true condition before God in terms of failing to meet His expectations. Many look at others and judge themselves just as good, and then look at the really evil and wicked people and know in their hearts that they are definitely better than those people!

What they fail to do is learn from the law. The law serves as a Teacher and it points out our inability and inadequacy before a Holy and Just God. When we fail to share this crucial part of the Gospel with others, we set them up for failure.

Illustrate: Darrell playing Axis and Allies. Three quarters the way through the game he informs us of a rule he conveniently forgot to mention and we end up losing the game.

This is way more important than a game. This is Eternity and we are called to proclaim the full counsel of God. Yes, we may offend people but the Cross itself is offensive. We are called to share the truth and leave the results to God.