Romans 7:1-3 - Free From the Law

Romans 7:1-3 - 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? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

Message: Contrasting union from the law and freedom from the law

Time:Another source cites this book as being written around 56-58 BC. Because Paul himself was a Roman citizen, he had a unique passion for those in the assembly of believers in Rome. Since he had not, to this point, visited the church in Rome, this letter also served as his introduction to them.

What the Lord is Saying:

The Set Up
Romans 6 was broken into two parts, the Believers death to sin in principle and then in practice. We are dead to sin. Sin has been crucified. We are free from sin. In Adam, sin was our ruler and death our outcome. In Christ, righteous living is now our master and eternal life our outcome.

Dead to the Law
Where chapter 6 focused on sin and being dead to sin, chapter 7 will focus on the law and being dead to the law. In chapter 6, we found out we were freed from sin. Now, in chapter 7, we are freed from the Law. Sin resulted in death. Law resulted in needing to conform to a code of rules. We are free. The Law exposes our sin.

We ended chapter 6 talking about the fact that we now have eternal life in Christ. And here in verse 1, states that the law only is viable when a person is living. The law does have value during life.

Union with the Law
The problem with the law is when we adhere to it we get proud. Christians all over believe they are special because some diet code or type of living they believe that when they do it, it makes them more right with God. Paul has been clear, though, that we are complete in Christ. That our body of sin has been done away with. That we are no longer helpless. There has been a permanent change that has taken place in our life and so therefore, nothing can make us more worthy. No set of rules or laws that we keep makes us more worthy.

As a Christian, I have had a tendency to do this in my own life. I have thought that if I just listened to Christian music then I am more holy than my brother who also listens to mainstream or secular music. I have thought that if I remove certain TV shows from my life then I am more spiritual. I have thought that if I never take a drink of alcohol then I am more spiritual. I have thought if I am always in church then I am more spiritual. I can even have this perspective about daily bible reading or prayer or family devotional. Yes, I have convictions about these things, but they are my convictions and I can't then make them everyone's convictions. I never want to make it seem like that I must have these things in life in order to be spiritual or accepted by God or worthy of His calling. I do these things because I recognize the importance of them and I have a desire to have them in my life.

One of the big problems with many religions is they self-proclaim certain things about the faith or attributes or conditions about a person once they are in Christ and believe that a person must live in that sort of way to be accepted by God or even to truly be doing the will of God. Homeschooling your children has often been something that others have been convicted to do, but my family has not been. And we are often made to feel that we are not worthy or truly following the will of God because we are not homeschooling.

Wayne Barber stated: "Living under the law doesn’t mean that you are not determined, or self disciplined. It means that you measure your spirituality by these things and if they are not done, then you think you have failed to win the love and favor of God in your life."

An explanation or example offered for union with the Law
Paul here uses a compelling illustration of what it means to have new life in Christ. He undoubtedly understands the tendency to believe that marriage union is a great temptation for all people to think that this union must continue. But, Paul, I think, wants to show me and us that God has something greater in store for us after we die.

So, the idea here is we naturally think that are way of doing things, such as marriage, that there can be nothing greater than this, but in Christ, there is something greater and this is eternal union with our creator. There is unity in marriage as there is unity in Christ. There is a great picture of two people becoming as we become one in Christ. But, it is still just a picture and one day we will more clearly see the greatest union ever possible for man and be united with Christ in Heaven. Yes, we are already united with Him when we have faith and believe in Christ, but we will more clearly see and comprehend and live this union after we die.

Promise: The Law doesn't make us holy. Christ makes us holy. And our union with Christ will be greater than any union with a law.