Dead to the Law

Scripture Reading

and the Bible with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, if you're using the provided few Bibles, the New King James translation there, you'll find that on page 1003. Romans chapter 7, this morning we'll be looking at verses 1 through 6 together.

Brothers and sisters, hear now God's perfect word. Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies... She is released from the law of her husband. So then, if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another. To him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not... in the oldness of the letter. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, we know that every word is inspired by you. Lord, we thank you that you have given to us in a language we can understand. You've provided it to us in prose. But Father, we pray now that as your word is preached, Lord, I pray for your people, that they might get the sense of the text.

Sermon

Father, I pray that you would please loosen my tongue. Please do not let me stray from the text. Please do not let me stray into the guessing and the fancies of my own mind. But Lord, please let your people be good Bereans to go to the scriptures and find out whether these things are so. Father, please use both the reading and the preaching of the word as an effectual means for salvation and to build us up in our faith. That's only something your spirit can do. So Father, we submit ourselves to you in Jesus' name. Amen.

I want you to imagine you a woman. A woman who is married. And she has a husband and he's righteous. He's just. He's decent. He's upright. He's a pretty respectable fellow. Yet... This lady's got a problem. Her husband can often be nitpicky. He can demand a certain standard in his home. He leaves his wife wondering if she's ever done enough. She can wonder if even though she knows that her husband is a good man, a just man, yet she never knows if her relationship with her husband is just because of her performance or because he truly loves her. She doesn't receive much encouragement and so this woman, even though married for years upon years, decades, is always anxious about her husband's love toward her. And then one day there's a crash. Her husband dies. And at the funeral, an old family friend comes near. And in many ways, he's very similar to her husband, who he was.

He's righteous. He's just. He's good. He's an upstanding moral character. And yet, she starts to fall in love with him because he's gracious. Draws near. Is kind hearted. When things are wrong. He helps her. Sees her needs. Draw near to her. And she gets the sense that. She truly does. Love him and he. Loves her because of. Not because of her performance. But just because he has chosen to love her. And she marries him. That's the picture. of what God paints for us in Romans chapter 7, between the law and Christ.

And so what are you going to get out of this sermon? Well, I hope that what you'll get out of this sermon is that you will have a new understanding that you are free under the lordship of Jesus to bring glory to God. You are free under the lordship of Jesus to bring glory to God.

So we'll work through this in five different steps. First, we'll see that the law applies to the living. Secondly, we'll see that the analogy of marriage that Paul uses here in Romans 7, 1 through 6. Thirdly, we'll see that we have been united. Being united to Christ means that we bear fruit to God. Fourthly, the law leads to the fruit of death. And fifthly, I have been delivered from the law to serve in the newness of the Spirit. So first, the law applies to the living. There's a principle that Paul sets down right away.

It's in the form of a question in verse 1. Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? This idea that he's speaking to a certain group here. He's speaking primarily to Jewish people in the Roman church. And as he's speaking to Jewish people in the Roman church, they know the law. They've read Moses. They've lived their lives under all the ceremonial commandments. All the, you shall not touch this type of animal. And if you have this type of body sore, you're unclean and you have to do this. And they had all these different laws. And he says, you know the law. I speak to those who know the law, but he's asking the question, are you ignorant? Do you not know? What's the question? Do you not know that that law only applies to those who are alive? Right, that the law only has, the law has dominion, has, and this is where I'm getting the word in what I asked you to take away from this sermon, lordship.

The word there is kurye, literally the word that we get lord from. This is the verb form of the, we call Jesus Christ our Lord. That means he is able to lord over us. Not in a domineering sense, but just, he leads us. He guides us. He's our master. We follow after him. The law does that too. But only to those who are alive. And so he's speaking to Jewish people here and he's going to give them an analogy. Paul has been using analogies, right? In chapter 6 he used the analogy of slavery and now he's moving his imagery to talk about the analogy of a marriage. Look with me at verses 2 and 3. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. Right? That makes sense, right? If you get married... You're married as long as the other person is alive, right? Even in our vows, we'll say the traditional wedding vows, tell death do us part. Even in the vows, we recognize there's an end to this. The end is death. And so, but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. Right? And then what does that mean in real life, right? Verse 3.

So then, if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. So in both situations, she's marrying another man. What's the only difference? Whether or not her husband's alive. Her obligation to her husband depends upon whether or not he's alive. Because if she goes and sleeps with another man, what is she called? An adulteress. She's breaking the law. She's violating the command, you shall not commit adultery.

But not if he dies. Interestingly, if you turn over into 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says this also there. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 39 says, A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she wishes. Only in the Lord. Everybody, he's saying, once a woman's husband dies, she's free. She can keep living as a widow, or she can get remarried. It's up to her.

And so this is the analogy here that he's setting up for us. is that there's this sense somehow of those who are alive or those who are dead. What is Paul getting at here? When does this change and how does this tie into our lives? Well, this is where the application starts coming in in verse 4. So our third point, being united to Christ means bearing fruit to God. Look with me at verse 4.

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. So now here's the bridge. Paul has set up the principle, if you are married, that marriage only lasts so long as your spouse is alive. But once that spouse dies, you are remarried to another. He says, that's what happened between you and the law. Your first marriage was to the law.

But then something happened. Interestingly, here it's not that the law died, it's that actually we died in Christ. Did you notice that? He kind of switches things up a little bit here. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. Well, how did that happen? How did you become dead to the law?

Look with me at Romans 6.3. He said this before.

Romans 6.3. We spent a whole Sunday talking about this.

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His name? Death. I know in Sunday school, for the adults, you guys are talking a lot about union with Christ right now. You are united to Christ in His death. Right?

The letter of the law, that transcription against you with all of its guilt and sin was nailed to the cross. All of your guilt and sin was nailed to the cross. And when Jesus died, because we are united to Him now, your life hidden in Christ, you also died. Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death. So how did you become dead to the law?

By being united to Jesus. Well, that begs the question, doesn't it? How are you united to Jesus then? Well, Paul's already answered that. By faith. By faith. By faith, you are found in Christ. By faith, you are united to Jesus. But you didn't just stay dead. Notice verse 4. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. By the way, Jesus fulfilled the law.

Not only were our sins fulfilled, taken care of on the cross when he died, but Jesus also displayed his perfect passive and active righteousness or obedience. Jesus never broke any law anywhere in the entire Old Testament. He was tempted in every way as you are, yet never sinned. Never sinned.

And was even obedient to his Father, even obedient unto death on the cross. Jesus obeyed Dying on that cross. But notice it goes on. That you may be married to another. To him who is raised from the dead. Okay, so you died to the law when Christ died. So do you just choose to stay a widow? Alright. I'm dead to the law. I'm free. I get to do whatever I want. No. No. No, no, because we're united to Christ, what happens?

We're married to another. To him who was raised from the dead. That's Jesus. Again, that's just Romans chapter 6 coming up again. We stopped at verse 3, but look with me at verse 4. Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into his death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of of life do you see Jesus was put to death for your sins but raised for your justification and you were raised with Jesus by faith we are married to Christ we're not forever widows we're not those who died to the law and now we get to do whatever we want because the law doesn't matter no no no we went from a husband who had a purpose to a glorious husband And maybe you're like, ah, this is a little bit uncomfortable, especially for dudes. Like, I don't really like the idea of being considered a bride, right? Well, this is the picture that God uses for marriage.

Even in Ephesians chapter 6, Paul is going to pick this up. He's even going to tell husbands that they are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. And so maybe I'll step back here, right? Because we're going to get into a little bit of uncomfortableness.

Because if we've been... buried with Christ, married to Christ, who is now raised from the dead, what should we do? That we should bear fruit to God. Maybe some low-hanging fruit here is, husbands, how do we love our wives? Do we come more down as law, law, law?

Do, do, do. Performance. Get done. Follow. Toe the line. You're going to go after me. Let's go. Or do we lay down our lives for our wives? Lay down our preferences. Encourage them. Care for them. Bless them. We be like those who don't... I'm not telling you you lose your spine, you become squishy here. That's not what I'm talking about. Well, you may become squishy because you eat too much donuts, right? But... you don't lose courage.

I think about Jesus' interaction with people. And it's amazing to me that Jesus confronts the legalists, those who are heaping heavy loads on people's shoulders that they can't possibly ever bear themselves. And he's got the harshest words for them. And yet people who are failing, people who are struggling, people who are just trying and even doing it imperfectly, Jesus encourages them. And that doesn't mean He doesn't confront them.

Think about Jesus with the woman at the well. The woman at the well, she comes, she's a Samaritan woman, worshiping in the wrong way, at the wrong place, to most likely a wrong God. And she meets Jesus at the well. Jesus has gone to the well, by the way.

He's going to go talk to her. He says to His disciples, I must go through Samaria. By the way, that was a long route. That was not the fast way. Because he had a meeting. He was going to go meet with this woman. Sends his disciples away to go get some food and stuff. And she comes in the middle of the day. And he interacts with her. And this is the interesting thing about this interaction. How does Jesus interact with the woman at the well? Does he hide away from the truth?

No, sometimes... He has to tell her things that she doesn't necessarily like. You are right to say that you don't have a husband for indeed you have had five husbands and the one you're now with isn't your husband. This woman has been used and abused by the culture of the day that easy divorce and passed off and she just deserts marriage altogether and Jesus says you know that that's not right.

And yet, and yet in talking with her, he's still gracious. He's still inviting her, drawing her near. So much so that she would go away with great joy and tell everybody in the Samaritan village, everybody there, come and meet the man who told me everything I've ever done. Not shame, not guilt. Not guilt. but love. Jesus was inviting her to worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus was drawing her to have faith in him, to trust in him, that he would give her living water.

Husbands, do we, and this is hard, right? I'm not just trying to give you moralism here, but this is, the heavy weight of it is Do we draw our wives to Christ? This is a mysterious thing. Paul says that. It's not a clear-cut thing, but this is a mysterious thing. And yet, this is what Christ has done for us.

That we should bear fruit to God. And then notice, notice our next point. Under the law, we bear fruit to death Look with me at verse 5. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. Paul's going to expand on this more in the following verses, but the law has this way.

When the Spirit's not at work, maybe you've experienced this with kids, right? You anticipate maybe something in your kid's life. Let's imagine they're toddlers. You know when it's going to be church meal downstairs. There's going to be food for them that they should eat, and there's going to be food that Pastor Brian wants to eat. And you may anticipate that and even tell your kids, when you go downstairs, don't get any dessert today. And what do you think is going to get stirred up in their hearts? I want dessert. Why can't I have the cake? But I know there's cookies.

Because the law stirs up sinful passions when the spirit isn't working. Now, thank the Lord that doesn't always happen. But this is a general way, right? The man under the law goes on sinning. And that sin bears fruit to death. For when we were in the flesh, by that he means without Christ, outside of grace, not united to Jesus, living according to our own desires and passions, the sinful passions were aroused by the law. Right? And the sinful passions, even in the members of our own body, bore fruit to death. Bore fruit to death. It's a clear chain. And who's at fault? We are.

That's what he was getting at in chapters one through three. When he listed all these sinful passions and desires of the flesh for both Jewish people and non-Jewish people, But thanks be to God that's not the end of it. For the gospel is a power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. So we, the end of sin is death. And it reigned in our mortal members. And yet, verse 6, again one of my favorite phrases that Paul uses again and again, especially in the book of Romans, but now.

But now, there's a change. We have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. But now we have been delivered from the law. This idea here is that we are no longer under the authority of the Mosaic Covenant. No longer. And the church is going to start realizing this more and more as the Holy Spirit is going to reveal things to them.

Like Peter's going to go and don't call unclean what I've called clean. No, no, no. It's not about these endless genealogies and these myths that you Jewish people keep having. That's not what the gospel is about. Don't be focused there. No, he's saying that you are released from the law. Now, for some of you, you might think, well, hold on here. Released from the law. So we're back at antinomianism. We're back at lawlessness. Okay, so we got saved, so now sin can prevail. No. Well, Paul's already answered that, hasn't he? May it never be. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We have been delivered from the law.

By that, I think he means the condemnation of the law and its exactitude. The law could never give you life. The law only ever brings death. Having died to what we were held by, right? This is this marriage imagery. Having been died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit. There is a new consequence. We no longer serve the law for the law's sake. No, in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter, we get to glorify God. Why do you... Call Jesus Lord. And why would you serve Jesus? Why would you submit yourself to His dominion? If He is Lord and He lords over us, why would you follow Him? Is it because you're trying to earn His favor?

Is it because your mom and dad taught you early on in life that if you don't get your act together, Jesus is going to curse you at the last judgment day and so you better be good? Have you internalized the Christmas song, so be good for goodness sake? Because you treat Jesus like Santa Claus and he's got a good list and a naughty list? Why do you serve Jesus? Why do we bear fruits?

In keeping with repentance. Because Jesus does. Because Jesus shows us the path of righteousness. This is why I started with this analogy, this illustration for you to start with. The law in itself is good. The righteousness contained in the law is good. Right? When we were married to the law, we could say... The law was good. The law was upright. The law was just. The law was all these things.

And we could praise it. We could sing Psalm 19 of the law and it would be true. And yet at the same time, we would rebel and fight against its rule. Never knowing if we were ever doing enough because the letter of the law was never meant to show us grace. The law was given that we might see our need for grace. And that's what God has given you in Jesus. God has demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so if you have eternal life in Christ Jesus your Lord, does Jesus walk contrary to the law? Your new husband, church, your new husband, does he walk contrary to the law? Does Jesus have any other God than His Father? Does Jesus bow down to idols He's made with His hands? Does Jesus take His Father's name in vain? Does Jesus profane the Sabbath day? Does Jesus dishonor His mother and father? Does Jesus steal? Does Jesus kill? Does Jesus commit adultery? Does Jesus lie? Or does Jesus covet?

No. No. So you see, the same way in which we could say the law was good and upright and just, and yet when we are united to Jesus, we can say, oh yeah, and my Lord does that perfectly. And I get to follow Jesus because I'm united to him. So do you see your obedience changed? Your new obedience, the fruit of righteousness, being united to Jesus as born out of a place of safety. Knowing that God shows us His grace. And because He is gracious, because He is kind, we can also follow His justice. We can walk in His truth. And when we fail... Oh, and by the way, that's where we're going to spend some time in Romans chapter 7, because we're going to fail. And when we fail...

God's grace isn't revoked. There is still the pleasure of the Lord on those who will continue to repent. So what is the good fruit that you should be bearing in your life? If we are to serve in the newness of the Spirit, bearing good fruit to God, what are some of those fruits? I'm just going to encourage you, right?

Go to the book of Galatians. Galatians. There are some things there that there is no law against. Maybe some of you already have the chapter. Maybe you're there. Let's go to Galatians. And let's just look at this practical fruit. But the fruit, Galatians chapter 5, verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love.

Do you love Jesus? If you do, love others. If you see others in need, John is very clear about this. If you see others lacking need and they have needs of the things of this life and you close up your heart to one in need, how does the love of God abide in someone like that, right? Do you see the needs of others? Do you see the weaknesses of others and do you meet them? Do you go to where they are? Do you want their good? Are you committed to them?

For the fruit of the Spirit is love. Joy. Joy. Can you rejoice in the Lord always? And again, I say rejoice. Can you have a joy that cannot be stripped away from you? I'm not saying you're not going to have hard and bad days. But can you honestly say that you can rejoice or glory in tribulations? Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. Can you have joy? I just want to encourage you.

We live in an angry, angry culture. People like to yell at each other. People like to cut each other off in their words. People like to just talk about all the negativity of the world. Are you a saver of life to people? Do you bring joy to other people's lives? Or are you just a negative Nancy? You're just nag and complain and groan and grumble all the time. Are you a peacemaker? For the Spirit is peace. Again, who is our Prince of Peace but Jesus Himself? And by the way, if you think making peace with someone depends upon them first...

No, if your brother has something against you, it's better for you to leave your gift at the altar, go and reconcile with your brother, and then come and bring your gift. Jesus didn't sit on the sidelines waiting for you, saying, you know, maybe when they shape up a little bit, then I'll take on the form of man, and then I'll lay down my life.

But you know what? There's still a bunch of grumbling dummies down there. They can't get their act together. I'm not bringing them peace yet. Are you a peacemaker? Blessed are the peacemakers. Oh, I love the King James translation here. Long-suffering. Man, can you imagine how patient God must be to have to put up with us?

I mean, He gives us sunshine and we complain that it's too much. He gives us rain and we complain that we want the rain man to go away. He gives us health and we want wealth. He gives us a family and we hate our brothers and sisters. He gives us food and it doesn't taste good enough to us. He gave the people manna and they want meat.

And yet God is patient. Long-suffering and so ought we to be. And when I say so ought we to be, I'm saying put off impatience. Put off being easily irritated. Maybe instead of seeing somebody else where they're just kind of like your brother or sister or your spouse or your parents or whoever, your co-worker, and they just got these tendencies that are like bamboo under your fingernails and you've just gotten into a habit of complaining about them and it's just like constantly irking you. I'm going to challenge you. What if instead, by patience, patience means bearing with that person's weaknesses too. And how can you turn from being somebody who's irritable towards them to somebody who wants to see them succeed? Bless them. See the good things in them.

We can keep going on with the fruits of the Spirit, but I think you're getting the point here. When Paul says in Romans chapter 7, that we should bear good fruit to God. that happens because of the newness of the Spirit and not because of the letter.

It will happen as the Spirit indwells in you, as you fix your mind on Christ, you turn away from the deeds of the flesh, you turn away from sinful passions and desires, and you love others because God loved you. Brothers and sisters, against such things there is no law. you have the privilege of being married to Christ. You have the joy of serving Him. And because He pours out His Holy Spirit upon you, you get to live your life for God's glory out of a motivation of love.

Closing Prayer

May we be those who love because he first loved us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We confess to you that we so often still do according to the deeds of the flesh. Lord, sometimes we even doubt your goodness towards us and try to earn your love again, trying to earn grace. Lord, Father, please forgive us. Help us, Lord, to rest in you and help us, Lord, to bear good fruit.

Fruit that leads to life and righteousness. Fruit that brings a smile to your face. Father, please empower us and enable us. It is not easy. We strive to love you. We desire to abide in your love that we might bear good fruit. God, please lift our eyes to Jesus. Comfort us and empower us to live new lives. Thank you for your care for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.