Romans 7:1-6, “Dying to the Law, We are Free to Serve in the Spirit.”

Bible Text: Romans 7:1-6 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Romans

Last week (Romans 6:15-23), we studied how God freed us from the control, corruption, and condemnation of sin, through Jesus Christ; the purpose of our freedom being, to serve the Lord according to the Word of God.
Psalm 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”
Psalm 119:1, “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.”
Look up Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Moses told his father-in-law Jethro that his (Moses’) primary purpose and responsibility, as the leader of Israel (Exodus 18:16), was to “make known God’s decrees and laws.”
In time of Christ, many Jews considered obedience to God’s law the means by which salvation was obtained; although this was never God’s intention or instruction.
Before coming to Christ, Paul, the author of the book of Romans, considered himself the poster child for Jewish legalism; if salvation could be obtained by law keeping, he above all men would be saved (see Philippians 3:4-6).
But Paul understood that righteousness could not be obtained by keeping the law (see Romans 3:19-20).
Read Romans 7:1-6… Paul tells us (v. 1), we are set free from the judicial authority of the law, just as a dead person is set free from all the authorities that ruled over him or her while they were alive (gravity, driving, IRS).
In Romans 7:2-3, Paul makes an illuminating analogy between God’s law and marriage law. Simply, he is saying that marriage laws are only valid and binding as long as both the husband and the wife are alive.
For example, if a married person has an affair, they are guilty of fornication; if they marry another person or have an affair with a married person, they are guilty of adultery; but after a married person’s spouse dies, they are free to marry another person.
Paul is using marriage law to teach us about being dead to one relationship and alive to another. But what about divorce and remarriage? See Matthew 19:3-9; 1Corinthians 7:10-16; 1Peter 3:1, 7.
So, a divorce because of unfaithfulness or because an unbeliever wants out of the marriage, is allowed; for by the death of a spouse, or by decree of divorce (which is equal to the death of a marriage, when granted for either of the two stated reasons above), a spouse is no longer bound to the law of marriage.
Paul’s analogy teaches that marriage laws are binding only while both spouses are alive, or there has been a lawful divorce (equaling the legal death of a marriage).
In Romans 7:4-5… The law was never intended to provide salvation (Romans 3:19-20); but instead the law brings judgement (Romans 6:23a); for the law has no power to redeem sinners, it only makes sinners aware of their need for forgiveness and salvation.
The marvelous message of the gospel is that by faith in Jesus Christ, we become dead to sin’s authority over our life, having been freed from it’s curse in order to live a new life in Christ (Romans 6:3-7).
Through the body of Christ we are freed from a judicial relationship to God’s law, just as a widow, or one divorced for the reasons permitted in God’s Word, is freed from her lawful relationship with her former husband.
In the same way, believers are freed from the law and joined to another [Jesus Christ], who is (Colossians 1:18), “the head of the church,” (Colossians 2:9), “the head over every power and authority.”
Salvation causes total transformation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:21), “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” (Romans 7:4), “in order that we might bear fruit to God.”
We are freed from the law’s jurisdiction, so that we might serve God and do the works He prepared in advance for us to do, in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).
Under the law we live and act as carnal persons, displaying our sinful unredeemed humanness. Apart from our knowledge of God’s law, we cannot know what is truly good, for the works of the flesh only bring death.
See Romans 7:6… True believers in Christ are freed from their bondage to God’s Law. Paul says (Romans 7:1) the law has power over a person only as long as they live; for when a person dies, they is free from the control and the condemnation of the law.
In Christ, we are no longer bound by the law; but are free to do what pleases God, for He is our Savior, Lord and Master; we are no longer ruled by our sinful nature.
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
A Christian who doesn’t do what pleases God does not have the assurance of forgiveness and eternal life. When we are justified by faith in Christ, we are free to serve God, and we will bear fruit that lasts (John 15:1-8).
Those who belong to God through Christ will desire to obey God’s Word, for they have been made new in Christ (2Corinthians 5:17), and they are now able to serve God, because of God’s Spirit in them.
Ephesians 1:13, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there
is no law.”
As believers and followers of Christ, we are dead to the law’s authority in our
life, for we now walk in a new life, with a new purpose, through the indwelling of God’s Spirit, that we might serve God and obey His Word, in order to bring honor, glory, and praise, to Him.
John 14:15, “”If you love me, you will obey what I command.” 21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.” 23-24, “Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
Having been made dead to the law, through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are set free to live by God’s Spirit, expressing our love for God the Father, who is in heaven, while exemplifying the character and nature of God the Son, while we serve Him here on earth!
Amen? Amen!