“Thank God, We’re Free At Last!”
Text—Romans 7
Read Romans 7:1-6
Introduction.
Sally was married to Bill for many years. Then one evening, Bill had a heart attack and he died. Several years later Sally married a man named Jack. Jack was, in many ways, different from Bill.
Bill, when he was alive, didn’t like eating breakfast. He would just come down the stairs in the morning and grab a cup of coffee on his way out. But Sally’s new husband, Jack, likes to start his day off with a big country breakfast.
There was another difference between Bill and Jack. Bill never really cared about the house and whether or not it was clean and straightened up. But Jack was different—he liked and expected a clean house. After Jack and Sally had been married for a year, Jack was beginning to get aggravated about these things.
He came down the stairs one morning hoping to find things different—but the house was a mess. He went into the kitchen hoping to smell bacon and eggs cooking on the stove; but, he only found a cold cup of coffee.
When Jack voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation, Sally replied, “Well, that’s the way Bill liked things.”
Then Jack said, “Sally, Bill is dead. You are my wife now. You have to stop living like you are still married to Bill.”
Dead To The Law and Freedom From The Law.
In chapter 7 of the book of Romans, Paul begins once again with a question for the Christians at Rome.
Romans 7:1
---1---“…or do you not know brethren, (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?”
In chapter 7, Paul is teaching the Jewish Christians another important lesson. We know this is who he was talking to, because in Romans 1:7, he addresses the letter to “all those in Rome called to be saints”. And now in Chapter 7, verse 1, he says, “…I am speaking to men who know the Law…”. The Jewish Christians knew the Law of Moses.
Another of the guiding principles in this chapter is the idea that the Law only has jurisdiction, or authority, over a person as long as that person is alive. In order to understand this concept of “freedom from the Law”, let me use the following illustration.
· A man does something he should not do—he gets drunk and decides to drive his car down the road.
· He has a terrible accident and is killed.
· A police officer arrives on the scene and assesses the situation. He finds the man dead in the car as a result of the accident.
· The officer does not write the deceased drunken driver a ticket for breaking the law.
· Why not? Because the law has no authority over him anymore—he is dead.
Now, Paul continues with these thoughts of the Law and being dead; and he, being dead to the Law. He illustrates the thought—that we’re only under the authority of the Law as long as the Law is alive—with an analogy from a marriage. We might say that Paul states the principle first and now, in verses 2 and 3, he draws the parallel.
Paul uses the illustration of marriage; but, I don’t think he does it to teach something new about marriage, divorce, or remarriage. No, his analogy is to teach on being free from the Law.
The point being made here is that, when a woman is married, the law concerning that marriage is in effect while both partners are alive. We state in our wedding vows, “…till death do us part”. But, when one partner in that marriage dies, the law concerning that marriage is null and void.
However, if a woman goes out and lives with another man while the law of the marriage still applies, she is then called an adulteress.
What Was The Purpose Of The Law?
The Bible says that the Law was added because of transgression. It revealed sin and the Law condemned failure. The people who lived under the Law were never rewarded for doing right—because they could never keep it right enough. The Law condemned those who disobeyed it!
To understand this concept, we should look at our traffic laws as an example. Our traffic law is a type of law, which will help explain the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was the law of the Jews when they were married to it.
In traffic, as long as we drive the right speed, as long as we obey all the traffic laws; everything goes well and nothing happens. Nobody mails us a nice blue ribbon for great driving. They don’t send a certificate that says, “Congratulations! No laws broken on October 13, 2002.”
And no one calls us on the phone, identifying themselves as the “enforcer” of traffic law and saying, “You did a great job of driving today, and if you keep it up, you could end up in the eternal hall-of-fame for great driving!”
These things do not happen when we keep the law. No, we only hear from the “enforcers” of traffic law when we disobey the law. The law reveals our disobedience!
Now, we all know when this happens in traffic law. We look up in our rear-view mirror and we see a police officer driving up behind us with light flashing, red, white, and blue, and the whole world knows that we are law-breakers. This is because the law condemns our failure, and it produces defeat in us.
The Law of Moses produced defeat in them, especially when they were trying to live up to it. No one could keep the Law perfectly. James, the brother of Jesus, writes in James 2:10—
---10---“For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
We can never be good enough, or do enough, to be righteous in the eyes of God. The Law could not save those Jewish Christians, because they—like us—could never keep it perfectly.
We need to understand that—before Christ came and died on the Cross of Calvary—we were in bondage. It was the bondage of sin, and we were slaves to sin. There was no forgiveness of sin under the Law of Moses—and trying to be righteous by our own strength was not enough! The Law just showed that we failed miserably, and were condemned and defeated.
Now, in verse 4, Paul gives us some encouraging news.
---4---“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him, who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.”
We couldn’t bear fruit for God till we died to the Law and joined to the One who was raised from the dead.
I believe, at this point, Paul is asking the Jewish Christians the same thing that Jack asked Sally—“Sally, who are married to? You are my wife now. You have to stop living like you are still married to Bill.”
Paul was saying, “You are dead to the Law of Moses and you are now married to Christ.”
Grace.
These people Paul is addressing are having a problem moving from the Law to live under “Grace”. “Grace and Truth” came by Jesus Christ.
Now, here are some interesting questions I think we should consider. I’ll admit, I’m not sure I have all the answers. Let me ask all of us this:
Do we have a problem with giving up Law?
I’m not talking about the Law of Moses, because we were not raised under it anyway. I’m asking, do we feel more comfortable in a code of laws—“The Dos and Don’ts”?
Some say we went from God’s old Law to God’s new Law. Now, is that old Law to new Law? Or, was it from old Covenant to new Covenant?
What is God’s Law in the New Testament? God gave all authority to Christ, so it must now be Christ’s Law.
What is Christ’s Law? Well, it must be the Royal Law (James 2:8), because “royal” refers to king.
So—is it the King’s Law? Is Christ’s Law “Grace and Truth”, because He brought “Grace and Truth”?
Some say we are under New Testament Law, and I emphasize Law. They say that it is the same as what James calls “the perfect Law of Liberty” (James 1:25); but what is that?
Liberty means “freedom”, and freedom comes from Jesus Christ. So, I guess we’re back to Christ’s Law—which bring us back to what? It brings us back to “Grace and Truth”.
We say, “Well, we can’t have sin without a Law”. In Romans chapter 7, Paul said the Law of Moses defined sin for Him; and, he also wrote, “…the Law brought us to Christ.” The Law of Moses—that’s how he knew sin.
Some say, “Well, we don’t have a code of Laws in the New Testament; therefore, we can live any way we want to and be covered by Grace.” Paul has already answered that in Romans 6, when he said, “Shall we sin so that Grace may abound?”
Then Paul answers his own question—“God forbid.” He went on to explain this thinking was contrary to our baptism, because we are to, “…rise to walk in newness of life.”
Well, what does confine us if it is not a code of Laws? Faith is what confines us— “…if it is not of Faith, then it is sin…”
Faith and love. If what we do is not motivated by love, then it is wrong and we should not do it. In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he said, “…walk as Children of Light…” (Ephesians 5:8).
This subject is complicated, and chapter 7 of Romans can test the best scholar of the Bible. If you don’t think so, just read some of the scholars’ books.
One thing that bothers me today is what some people are trying to do. I hate to say it, but many are our own brethren. I’m not just speaking of Whitehouse, but they’re out there. I’ve read their books, pamphlets, articles, and I’ve even met a few. These people are daily adding Laws—and labeling them as “New Testament Law”, and therefore the Law of Christ.
The problem I have with that is that they are writing them. Christ isn’t writing them; they are writing them! They tell me as a brother in good standing, I should keep their law and, if I don’t, I’m eternally lost!
I call these folks the “keepers of the Holy Grail”—and sometimes I call them the “Modern Day Pharisees”, who were the keepers of the Law during Jesus’ ministry. They don’t like being called that!
I’ve also noticed that when they tell me and other Christians that we’re “lost”, the attitude with which they do so really bothers me! They make this declaration that we’re lost if we don’t go along with their laws with a smug smirk on their face and not a single tear in their eye. I find not one ounce of compassion in them— and they do not in the least remind me of our dear Lord, Jesus Christ!
I believe these folks had a problem moving from Law to Grace. My question is, do we? Do we have that same problem? If we do, I think one of the reasons is that we live in a society that tells us we have to Do, to Be!
Yes, our society tells us—
· You are valuable only if you are pretty.
· You are valuable only if you produce.
· You are definitely more valuable if you can slam-dunk a basketball, throw a touchdown pass, or hit a home run.
· You are valuable if you have “Dr.” in front of your name, you are a movie star, you hold a high political office, or if you make a 6-figure income.
Where does this value system put us? Does that leave us in a constant struggle to be somebody or do something that society tells us to be?
When we try the very best we’re able and we fail, doesn’t this value system tell us that we aren’t worth much?
Doesn’t it tell us we’re not worth anything?
The apostle Paul, in Romans 7, declares our freedom! We are free from the Law of Moses, and we live under the Grace of Christ!
We are free from the burden of having to “Do, to Be”!
Some might ask, “Doug, if we live under Grace, does that mean we don’t have to do anything?” Well, let me say this—there are a great number of things we are to do under Grace, but the difference with law is why we do those things.
Under Grace, we don’t do things because a code of law demands it—we do them because of our Faith and Love. Jesus said the following—
· “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
· “My yoke is easy, my burden is light…”, and
· “If you eat or drink, do all in the name of the Lord.”
The reason we do the things Jesus desires us to do is, because we love Him.
Some may ask, “Are there things we should not do under Grace?
My answer to that is, there are a lot of things we don’t do; but, the important thing is the reason we don’t do them! The Bible says, “If it is not of Faith, it is sin.”
The inspired writers describe the life of a Child of God—no longer a slave, but a Son—how he should walk in the light. Remember what it says in Ephesians—“walk as children of light…”.
The Frustration of the Flesh.
Paul explains this truth in verses 5 and 6—
---5---“For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passion, which were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death;
---6---But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”
The effect of the Law bore fruit for death—it worked death in us. It did not produce joy—it produced a struggle that would go on and on within us. In verses 14-25, Paul described that struggle that was going on within him as he lived under the Law. It was a struggle with the frustration of the flesh, as he lived under a Law of the flesh. Paul says in Romans 7:14-15—
---14---“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into bondage to SIN.
---15---For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”
This struggle with law will bring us to where Paul found himself in verse 24—
---24---“…Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Paul had said, in verse 22, there was something inside of him that wanted to do right.
---22---“For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man…”
In verse 25, he tells us the answer to our problem of being set free.
---25---“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then, on the one hand, I myself, with my mind, am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin.”
He completes the answer of this problem from Chapter 7 in the next chapter in verses 1 and 2—
Romans 8:1-2
---1---“There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus;
---2---For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Paul had mentioned the Spirit earlier, in Romans 7:6—
---6---“…so that we serve in newness of the Spirit…”
Romans 8:14
---14---“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are Sons of God…”
Do you remember that in Romans 7:22, Paul said in his inner man, he wanted to do what God would have him do. In Ephesians 3:16, he said, ---16---“…to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…”
If we live by law rather than the power of the Spirit, we are going to be like Paul was and say, “Oh! What a wretched man that I am.”
The next question might be, “Do we have the Spirit of God in us?” The answer is in Acts 5:32: ---32---“…and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him…”
Romans Chapter 8 is about the Spirit of God. I’ll save that for next Sunday morning.
I’ll close with this statement: If we refuse to live by the newness of the Spirit of God, we are denying the power of the Spirit for living life. Let me illustrate that statement with this story of a lumberjack—an old lumberjack.
The story goes that the chainsaw had been invented—a power saw. The old lumberjack heard about it and how good it was, so he went to the store to buy one of them. The salesman promised him that it would increase his production 5-fold!
The lumberjack got up very early the next morning and worked from sunup to sundown. He looked at his production and saw he hand not cut down many trees—not nearly what he normally did without the power saw.
He said to himself, “I guess I didn’t work hard enough.” So he got up earlier the next morning and cut trees all day long. At the end of the day, he saw he had cut down even fewer trees than the day before. He was quite frustrated by this time and got to thinking, “Something is wrong with this saw!”
So, he took the power saw back to the store and told the salesman, “This thang don’t work!” The salesman was surprised and replied, “Let’s go back to the shop and see what’s wrong with it.”
They do that, and the salesman pulls the power cord to start it—and it fires up with a loud sound and starts running perfectly. The old lumberjack asks, “What’s that noise?”
We must understand the power of the Spirit that God has given Christians to live under Grace.
Invitation.
