Delivered from Under the Law
It’s Time to Die!
Romans 7:1 6
Highland Avenue SDA Church
March 9, 2002
All through the history of the Christian church there has been a great argument about Romans chapter seven. Men like Origen, Wesley, the great scholar Wyse, Moffat, the British scholar, C.H. Dodd, all take the position that this is the unconverted person that Paul is talking about. And then on the other side we have Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and that famous Swedish theologian, Anders Nygren, the British scholar, John Stott, who say, “No, he’s talking about the Christian.” Then you have the conservative Adventist Christian who theoritically knows that they are saved in Jesus by grace alone, but still carry a load of guilt everytime they fall. And then you have the faith based Adventist who says I don’t have to do anything but believe. And God will do it all. And so the battle has been going on, on.
I do not know if you have wrestled with this but I have. There are several reasons that we would say that Paul is talking about the Christian:
1. From verse 14 onwards Paul moves from a past tense, which was predominant in the previous verses, to the present continuous tense in verse 14 onwards. That would hardly be the case if he were talking of his preconverted experience.
2. The second reason would be that what Paul is talking of in Romans 7, this tremendous struggle with defeat, completely contradicts what he says about himself as a Pharisee, in Philippians 3:6. There he says: “Regarding the righteousness of the law I was blameless.” In Romans 7:24 he cries: “0 wretched man that I am!” a complete contradiction to his preconverted experience.
3. The third reason I will give is verse 22, where Paul says: “ I delight in the law of God.” It is not normal for an unconverted man to delight in the law of God. In fact, Romans 8:7 says: “The natural man is enmity with the law of God, and with God Himself, and is not subject to the law of God.” So again, verse 22 implies that he’s talking of his Christian experience.
4. Then, look at the context of the whole section; Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8, are dealing with the Christian. Why would he suddenly turn to his non Christian experience?
5. Finally, there are statements, like Romans 8:23, where he talks about groaning, and Galatians 5:17 where he talks about the struggle between flesh and spirit which agree with Romans 7, and which has to do with the Christian experience.
But when I look at Romans 7 as a unit, I am convinced now that to ask the question, whether Paul is talking about the believer, or the unbeliever, is to miss the point Paul had in mind when he wrote the chapter. Paul did not even think of that issue. What Paul is doing in Romans 7 is proving a very important point, a point that you and I need to come to grips with. It is this: God’s holy law, which is good, which is spiritual, which is righteous, and sinful human nature, which is the same in the believer and in the unbeliever, (that’s why the question is meaningless) are incompatible. And because they are incompatible, you and I can never be saved by the works of the law.
Paul made a statement in Romans 6:14 which to the Jewish community would be blasphemy, and would be blasphemy probably even to some Christian communities. In Romans 6:14, Paul says: “A Christian is no longer under the law, but under grace.” Now he has told us in Romans 3:19 and 20 that we are under the law. And because we are under the law the whole world stands condemned.
In Romans 6:14 he says that Christians are no longer under the law and the reason for that is because we have been delivered from under the law. But for Paul to make such a statement was very risky because Paul was planning to visit Rome, and if he did not explain what he meant, and why he believed what he believed (not just because he was inspired but because there was a real reason), he would be lynched if he went to Rome without explaining. We know from reading Acts 21. Here is an experience that Paul went through. Paul had returned from his third missionary journey, and like a good evangelist he gave his report. His report was that God had blessed his ministry tremendously, so that the Gentiles all over the Middle East had accepted the gospel. And the brethren in Jerusalem, the pillars of the church, said to Paul, “Do you know, we have had a similar blessing in Jerusalem. Many of the Jews have also accepted the gospel.” And they all said, “Praise the Lord.”
But James, the General Conference President, said to Paul, “But we have a problem. These Jewish Christians have been hearing about you and they think that you are a heretic, that you are against the law of God, and against the temple, and against the people. We know that you are not against the law; you are against legalism. But they don’t understand what you’re talking about. They have misunderstood you. So please, Paul, why don’t you do something. Shave your head (it wasn’t hard for Paul because he didn’t have too much hair, that’s what the scholars tell us) and go through the cleansing process to show the Jewish Christians that you are not against the law.” You’ll find that in Acts 21:17-26.
Unfortunately, this wonderful scheme backfired. I believe that the advice was not from God. It was James’ good counsel and it backfired. If somebody goes through a cleansing process, he is admitting that he is wrong. And they were accusing him against the law.
So after he had gone through the process and finally entered the temple a group of Jews grabbed him. Notice what they said in Acts 21:28. They cried out: “Men of Israel, help! (We’ve got the rascal) This is the man (what’s his problem?) who teaches all men everywhere against (1.) the people (he’s anti Jew) (2.) against the law, (3.) against this place (the temple. And furthermore, he also brought Greeks (these barbarians) into the temple, and has defiled God’s holy place.”
So when Paul says in Romans 6:14, “We are no longer under the law,” those are the kind of statements that got Paul into trouble and he has to explain. In chapter 7 Paul tells us how we were delivered from the law and why. In this important chapter Paul introduces the subject in Romans 7:1 6: “Do you not know brethren, (for I speak to those who know the law).” He has a specific group within the Roman community to whom he’s addressing this problem, those who know the law. The very first thing the Jews were taught when they were growing up as babies was the law. Then he makes this fundamental statement: “The law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.”
The word “dominion” means rulership, jurisdiction. What he is saying is true of any law. As long as you are living you are under the law of where you live. If you die, then the law no longer has a hold on you. That is true of any law. Now the question is of course, “Which law is he talking about?” Look at verse 7.” “What shall we say then. Is the law sin? Certainly not, on the contrary. I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not know covetousness unless the law had said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ What Law is Paul quoting from. Let us be honest with the passage. We need to know in what sense and why we are delivered from under the law. That is what Romans 7 is all about.
Now Paul then presents an illustration in Romans 7:2 and 3. It’s a difficult illustration, but it is one that we need to understand in the context of the Bible. “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives.” In other words, when a woman marries a man, she stays with him for the rest of her life, until he dies. That’s what Paul is saying because the Bible teaches that when two people get married they are married until “death do us part.”
But the word “bound” means more than simply, “She’s stuck with him.” It also means that she is under him, by the law. Well, there are three laws and we want to know which one. Follow me and you will see the three. Paul is not talking of all three laws. He’s talking of law number two..law number two being one is bound. I’m saying this because I don’t want any man to take advantage of law number two if he is a Christian.
We find in Ephesians 5:25 that law number three applies to Christians: “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for her.” Remember, Christ loved the church even when “she” was not good to Him. Law number one was when God created Adam and Eve. They were equal. But when sin came in, he gave them another law, it’s found in Genesis 3:16: “To the woman He said, (God said to Eve) I will greatly multiply your sorrow, and your conception.” God never intended for this world to be overpopulated. Sin has brought overpopulation. “I will greatly multiply not only your sorrow but also your conception,” which means that sin will bring more people into this world than God originally intended. “In pain you shall bring forth children, your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over her.
Now many men have taken advnatage of this law number 2; wife abuse is terrible primarily because of sin. Man wants to rule over his wife but Paul says: “A woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives.”
The problem is that this woman has found another man, a wonderful man. And she says, “I wish I could marry him.” Now, what’s the problem with the first marriage? Well, there are five problems with the first marriage:
1. Husband is unreliable and lets time slip by unnoticed. This leads to nagging by his wife as she repeatedly reminds him of things that need attention as well as his past wrongs and forgetfulness.
2. Husband is untrusting and condemning with an attitude of superiority. He demands control, and won’t let his wife know his plans. This leads to impulsive reactions by his wife.
3. Husband is angry and demanding, particularly with the children. Hates being inconvenienced by the family and sets standards too difficult for children to meet. This leads to permissiveness by his wife who makes excuses for the children’s disobedience and keeps secrets from the husband about their conduct.
4. Husband is insensitive and unkind, using hurtful words and often making his wife and others the butt of humor that is in poor taste and sarcastic. This often leads to over-emotionalism on the part of his wife who cries often, is easily hurt and keeps careful score. She can recall past offenses in minute detail.
5. Husband is inattentive, thoughtless, and untrustworthy, often preoccupied with personal concerns. He dismisses feelings of others as unrealistic or invalid (if he acknowledges them at all). This leads to desires of domination by his wife who makes a habit of answering all questions, even those directed to her husband.
Paul says “Husband love your wives as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for her.” The problem is some of are acting like the law, no compassion, no sympathy. Seems like we can’t even assist in what they are doing.
And he says, “My job is not to help you, my job is to order you around.” So number one, he can’t sympathize with her; number two, he won’t lift a single finger to help her! His not reliable. His not attentive, his thoughtless and he is always angry and demanding.
All he can do is to command her to obey him and when she disobeys he condemns her and so she’s always under guilt, always living in fear, with no peace, trying her best to please her husband, And then we wonder why she finds another man.
As a side note, Husbands let me give you some advice;
Love your wives with a Responsible Love (Ephesians 5:25-29, 33)
Take the responsibility for the relationship.
Love your wives with a Realistic Love (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Give security to your wife and family in ways that make a real, discernable difference.
Love your wives with a Sacrificial Love (Ephesians 5:25)
Live to give her good, not just producing relaxation for yourself.
Love your wives with a Constructive Love (Ephesians 5:29)
Build her up.
Love your wives with a Cherishing Love (Ephesians 5:29)
Encourage and support her, even if it’s her area of expertise.
Love your wives with a Understanding Love (1 Peter 3:7)
Respect and recognize her differences and unique personality.
Love your wives with a Romantic Love (Song of Songs 2:2)
See a vision of her at her best, even if she’s only in curlers or pancake foundation.
Jesus says husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church.
Getting back to Paul and his illustration. The problem is she finds another man but she can’t marry him because he’s also a good fellow. And she says, “I wish my old man would die.” And that’s the worst problem, he won’t die. Even when she puts arsenic in his drink he won’t die.
The reason is because the first husband is the law. Now let’s be very clear: the law is good, it is holy, it is demanding; but there are certain things that the law cannot do.
1. It cannot sympathize with you because the law is not a person, it is rules. When you are caught by the policeman for overspeeding, and by grace he forgives you, which is very seldom, remember it is not the traffic law that forgave, it is the policeman. What he did was really contrary to the law. He’s breaking the law in forgiving you because he’s not employed to forgive you, you didn’t pay him tax money to forgive you. You paid him tax money to punish you because that’s all that the law can do. It’s not a person, it has no feelings, no sympathy.
2. Neither is the law capable of helping you. For I read in Romans 8:3:“What the law could not do.” The law cannot produce righteousness in a sinful person. It can demand righteousness, but never produce it. It can’t even help you. All the law can do is say to you as Galatians 3:10 says: “Cursed is the one who doesn’t obey me and do everything I tell him to do.”
Church we can see why to live under the law means to live under fear, to live under insecurity, to live without peace, without assurance. And you say, “I wish I could marry the second man.” The second man is Jesus Christ. Listen to me wives and husbands take note from Christ.
1. Number one, He can sympathize with you. Hebrews 4:15: “We do not have a High Priest who is not able to sympathize with you, because He Himself was tempted in all points, yet He did not sin.” (So He can overcome it.)
2. He can do more than sympathize with you, He can help you. Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” What a wonderful husband! He can sympathize with me. The trouble is I’m already stuck with this old man. What do I do? Hebrews 2:18: “For in that He Himself (that is, Christ) has suffered being tempted He is able to aid (He is I to help, rescue) those who are tempted.” So Christ can sympathize, He can help.
3. But what is best about Christ is that He doesn’t condemn. Romans 8: 1: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” If you look at the last verse of chapter 6, before he began chapter 7, he says two things: “The wages of sin is death.” The law pays wages for sin because I Corinthians 15:56 says: “The sting of death is sin, but the power of sin is the law.” The law says to sin, “You must die.” Grace doesn’t say to the sinner, “You must die.” Grace says to the sinner, “I have a gift for you. It is eternal life.
That’s the gift of God.
“God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth should not perish but have eternal life.” So eternal life is not earned, it is a gift to sinners. But now, the problem is the first husband will not die. I put poison in his hot drink; he refuses to die because I read in Matthew 5:18: “Until heaven and earth pass away, not even one jot (which means not even one hair of his head) will pass away (die).” She doesn’t have a solution. According to the illustration, the woman wants the husband to die, but the problem is he will not die. And those who say that the law was done away with do not know that the law cannot die.
“Well,” the second man says, “I can’t marry you if you are still married to the first man; so the first thing I have to do is to make your marriage null and void.” To do it there are two problems:
1. You try get the first husband to commit adultery because then you would have Biblical grounds for divorce. But the husband is good, he’s holy.
2. He refuses to die. So whichever way you look at it there is no solution from the human point of view. So Christ says, “I have a solution.” And the wife says, “Really, what is it?” “Why don’t you die.” She says, “Me die? If I die how can I marry you?” “Oh I didn’t mean die by yourself. Let me take you and put an end to you. And by putting an end to you I annul your first marriage, then I’ll raise you up and you’ll be my wife.
In Romans 7:4, we find the solotuion. In the illustration the woman wants the husband to die, but in the application, it’s not the husband that dies, it is all of us, we are the woman: “Wherefore my brethren you also have become (having become) dead to the law (the first marriage) through the body of Christ.”
In Romans 6.
1. The death of Christ was a corporate death.
2. When you were baptized, you were baptized into Chnist’s death.
Two things happen when you die with Christ:
1. Romans 6, you are delivered from sin. Not just from sinning, but from sin.
2. Romans 7, you are delivered from under the law.
The law is still there, but you are no longer married to the law. So the law comes to you and says, “You obey me otherwise you will die.” You can say to him, “You can find another woman to say that to because I am no longer under your jurisdiction!”
But, does that mean you can do what you like? No, you are not a widow, you are not free, there’s no single person here. You’re married in both cases, but now you’re married to somebody else. Let’s look at the whole thing in Romans 7:4: “Therefore my brethren you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another, even to Him who raised from the dead that we should bear fruit.”
In John 15:1 we see this second husband has to say about this fruit. Under the first marriage, you lived under what we call rules, do’s and don’ts. But under the new marriage, this is the policy under the new marriage, John 15:1: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vindresser,” verse 4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”
In the first marriage, we see what was produced. “But if you’re married to me,” says Christ, “I am not asking you to do things, I am asking you to abide in Me.” John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.”
Here the Apostle Paul is saying, “If you’re married to Christ you will bear much fruit. Romans 7:5; “For when we were in the flesh.” The words “in the flesh” means, “before we died,” in our pre converted state, while we were still under the law, married to the law, depending on ourselves because the law will not help us. The passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.”
The only kind of fruit you bear under the law is sin, which ends up in death. Romans 7:6: “But now (now that you have accepted Christ and have become His bride) we have been delivered from the law (“the law” means under the law) having died to what we were held by.” Before you accepted Christ, before you were baptized into Christ, the law held you in its grips which means that every time you disobeyed, the law says, “You must die!” It is as if we tell people, that every time a Christian falls, the law says he must die. We are still putting them under the law. That’s why the church is so insecure and the result is that we are not bearing fruits. To God fruit is not only doing something good, it is doing it with the right motive.
See what the Apostle Paul says to us in Hebrews 2:14, 15: ‘In as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death (i.e. the devil) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage.” Paul is saying here that we human beings are born with a fear of dying and even if you are tough, when you face death that fear takes hold of you.
Let me tell you a story of a Roman Catholic but he wasn’t a practising one, and didn’t see the need of God. One day he was flying in one of our missionary planes in another country, and the pilot and the co pilot were having an argument. Now of course he had been there 7 years so he understood the language. They were arguing as to which direction they should take off. The pilot was a jet pilot from those big planes but they were short of a pilot so they asked him to fly this propeller plane. The co pilot was accustomed to this plane and he said, “No, you’re going in the wrong direction.” The jet pilot said, “Look, who knows better, me or you?.”
And so they were arguing. And here was the man, sitting in the front row, listening to these two fellows arguing, because there was no separation between the pilot and the passengers. While they were taking off the plane began to shudder and refused to climb. He looked out and there were the eucalyptus trees coming right in front of them and suddenly he remembered God. So he put his head down and held on and said, “Lord, save me!”
And the Lord saved him. That wing hit one of the branches of the trees and the engine with the propeller took off. The propeller was still travelling at a tremendous speed, and it tore in front of the plane, and ripped the front. He opened his eyes, and the propeller nicked off his watch without touching him. That’s how close he came to death. He looked up and there was the blue sky, with the plane in front, completely wiped out, six people, two pilots, and three tourists were simply cut up. He jumped about nine feet down and then he remembered there were passengers in the back so he opened the door and pulled them out.
We have a God who is able to save and we have a God who doesn’t put guilt on you every time you fall. He says, “The reason you fell is because for that moment you stopped abiding in Me. Let this be a reminder, that only when you abide in Me can you bear fruit. ”Romans 7:6: “We were held by the law and we must not serve any more in the letter, but in the spirit.” Read the whole passage to see what Paul is saying in verse 6: “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve (notice that the new marriage doesn’t mean sitting idle, it means serving) in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
We need to know what Paul means by “newness of the spirit and the oldness of the letter.” Under the law, you served the law, but for one reason out of fear: fear of punishment, fear of being wiped out, fear of the curse. So every time you were keeping the law you were doing it out of fear because if you did not obey the law, it would punish you! And it is a tragedy when Christians serve God out of fear. “The newness of the Spirit” means you serve God out of love, out of appreciation. When Paul says in Philippians, “For me to live is Christ, when Paul says, “I am a slave of Jesus Christ,” he is not saying it out of compulsion, I, with all my heart, want to be a slave of Jesus Christ. I want to serve Him, I’ll go where He sends me, I will do what He tells me, because He is my Friend and my Saviour, and I am willing to do anything for Him, because I love Him.” Paul says in Galatians 5:6: “In Jesus, cirmumcision means nothing, uncircumcision means,nothing, but simply faith which worketh by Iove.”
If you are not delivered from under the law, and you call yourself a Christian, you are guilty of committing adultery, because the illustration says if the woman marries the second man while she’s still married to the first man she’s committing adultery. I have a feeling that we have a lot of spiritual adulterers and adulteresses in the church because they still want to be under the law.
The law and Christ are not enemies. The problem is that the law and the sinful nature are enemies. The problem is not the law, the law is holy, it is good, it is spiritual, it is righteous. The problem is that in the first marriage I am a sinner incompatible with the law and therefore that marriage can never work. All I do is live in fear and insecurity.
But when I accept Christ and I am delivered from under the law, and I’m married to Christ not only does He give me peace, not only does He give me assurance, and not only does He give me hope, but He produces fruits. And fruit is in harmony with the law. What I failed to keep in the first marriage is now in harmony with what I failed to keep because in Galatians 5:22 it says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffening, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law.” Which simply means, the law is not against such things.
What we failed to keep in the first marriage, we are doing in the second marriage, without fear, with joy and peace. I think you will agree with me, the second marriage is a wonderful one but may God deliver us from the idea that we are still ruled by do’s and don’ts. We are no longer under the Old Covenant. We are under the New Covenant and in the New Covenant the law is not written on tables of stone, it is written on the heart. It becomes part of our delight, it becomes part of our desire. But we must remember, that desiring and delighting in the law is not enough, we need to abide in Christ.
"His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." His truth….The Word that was set forth from the time of Creation…shall be our protection. His truth shall shield us from the damning results of a mediocre education that seeks to keep us in our place; His truth shall shield us from the subtle atrocities of insult and disrespect; His truth will be our shield and our defense, while the powerful refuse to allow their abundance to supply our lack… in but only if we abide in Him.
In my Jesus, there is Divine protection from the unprovoked injustice of wicked men and the influence of malicious spirits.
At times, life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. It has its deep and painful moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flower. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. Through it all, God walks with us. Never forget that God is able to lift us from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope…and transform dark and desolate perils into the sunlit paths of inner peace.
In my Jesus, you may lie down in peace and sleep, comforted by the knowledge that your body, soul and spirit are in the hands of He, who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Come with me and abide in my Jesus. It is her, a place dripping with the waters of expectation and consolation;
Abide here, in my Jesus, and you will be renewed, rekindled, and rewarded.
He is whatever we need, wherever we are, and whenever we need Him.
He is Alpha and Omega.
And nothing is impossible for Him, when our spirit aligns with His will.
He is ubiquitous and all-knowing.
And no man can retreat from His judgment, though we hide behind closed doors and in dark places.
He is devoted and loving;
And no one can equal His compassion and tenderness in heaven or on earth.
He is Holy;
In Him there is no vulgarity, no impurity, no indecency, no hypocrisy, and no infidelity.
And in my Jesus. It is no Secret, what God can do…..what He’s done for others…He’ll do for you. With arms wide open, He’ll comfort you. It is no Secret, what God can do!
Appeal
And I can assure you that the life Christ lived 2, 000 years ago, a life of love, is the life that He wants to live today in you, and in me. And it is my prayer that this life will be manifested in our lives, that the world will see God manifested in the flesh once again, and give Him glory and praise. Church it’s time to die and let Christ ressurect us.
