Free from the law to belong to Christ
Free from the law to belong to Christ
Free from the law to belong to Christ
Paul, as the master communicator that he is, delivers to us first a principle, then an illustration, and then finishes with an application to the Christian life.
1) The principle is that anyone who has died is no longer subject to the law. As is the case in our common experience, dead people are not held accountable for crimes. Dead people are not chased down by debt agencies. Dead people are free from the law. This is the principle that Paul wants to apply to the Christian. Through our unity to Christ we are free from the law and its consequences.
2) The illustration: Paul illustrates this point by considering a marriage, and the marriage Paul has in mind is between a Christian and the law. Here Paul expects the principal to include not just the idea that death has ended our relationship to the law, but that death has made it possible for us to move to our second husband - Christ!
3) The application: Paul then applies this to the believer. We are those who are no longer under the legalistic and harsh husband of the law, but under the gracious husband - Jesus Christ. Under our old husband we produced "fruit unto death”, namely sin. But under our second husband we produce “fruit for God”. This is because the way our new husband treats us is entirely different from the way our previous husband did. The law told us all our faults, Christ tells us of all his grace. The law pounces on us when we make mistakes, Christ dies for us to cover all our mistakes and make us new. Praise God that we have died so that we might live under grace and not law.
Bible Text: Romans 7:1 -6 | Preacher: Ian Goodman | Series: Romans—The Greatest Letter Ever Written | Paul, as the master communicator that he is, delivers to us first a principle, then an illustration, and then finishes with an application to the Christian life.
1) The principle is that anyone who has died is no longer subject to the law. As is the case in our common experience, dead people are not held accountable for crimes. Dead people are not chased down by debt agencies. Dead people are free from the law. This is the principle that Paul wants to apply to the Christian. Through our unity to Christ we are free from the law and its consequences.
2) The illustration: Paul illustrates this point by considering a marriage, and the marriage Paul has in mind is between a Christian and the law. Here Paul expects the principal to include not just the idea that death has ended our relationship to the law, but that death has made it possible for us to move to our second husband – Christ!
3) The application: Paul then applies this to the believer. We are those who are no longer under the legalistic and harsh husband of the law, but under the gracious husband – Jesus Christ. Under our old husband we produced “fruit unto death”, namely sin. But under our second husband we produce “fruit for God”. This is because the way our new husband treats us is entirely different from the way our previous husband did. The law told us all our faults, Christ tells us of all his grace. The law pounces on us when we make mistakes, Christ dies for us to cover all our mistakes and make us new. Praise God that we have died so that we might live under grace and not law.