Romans 7:1-6
MARRIED? YES! BUT, TO WHICH HUSBAND?
Intro: It has been said that there is nothing certain but
death and taxes. I have never experienced death, but
I know something about taxes and I am convinced that
the only way to be free from them is to die. Your family
might get a bill, but you will be beyond the reach of the
IRS. This is what Paul is trying to get us to understand
about our new relationship to the Law and to sin.
Chapter seven finds the Apostle Paul still trying to
make this matter of our being dead to the Law and to
sin clear. In the last of chapter 6, he used the analogy
of slavery to teach us that, in Christ, we were free from
the old master of sin and alive to a new Master: the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, he moves from the analogy of a master and
slave to a husband and wife. He uses marriage as a
picture of our new relationship to the Law. The fact is,
spiritually speaking, we are married to either the Law or
the Lord. So, tonight, I would like to look into these
verses for a few minutes and consider the question
"Married? Yes! But To Which Husband?"
I. V. 1-3 THE LAW AND MARRIAGE
A. V. 1 The Power Of The Law - The idea here is
that all laws, whether they are God's Laws or
man's laws can only be enforced on a man for
as long as he lives. When he dies, he is free
from the power of that law. He is beyond its
reach.
(Ill. For instance, when Le Harvey Oswald was
arrested for the murder of President John F.
Kennedy, he was subject to the laws of the state
of Texas and of the United States of America.
However, when Jack Ruby walked into that
Dallas police station and killed Oswald, the law
could no longer touch him. It would have been
foolish of the authorities to have placed him on
trial with him being dead! When he died, he was
beyond the reach of the Law.)
(Ill. Spiritually speaking the same is true for the
believer. As long as we are alive in our natural
state, we are condemned by the Law of God, but
when we die, we are free from the demands of
the Law.)
B. V. 2-3 The Picture Of The Law - In these
verses, Paul uses the image of marriage to
demonstrate what he means. He tells us as long
as a woman's husband is alive, she is bound to
him by the law of marriage. If she leaves him for
another, she is guilty under those laws and is still
her husbands wife. However, if her husband
dies, she is free to marry again, because she
has been liberated from the law of her husband.
(Ill. The whole idea of this passage is not to give
us a treatise on marriage, but to remind us that
the only way to be free from the confines and
demands of the Law is for us to be dead. Until
we die, the Law hangs over our heads making
demands that we can never hope to keep.
However, at death, we are set free from these
terrible demands.)
I. The Law And Marriage
II. V. 4 OUR LIBERTY AND MARRIAGE
A. A New Freedom - Paul tells us that we have
become dead to the Law though the "body of
Christ." This refers us back to Romans 6:6. It
reminds us that when Jesus died on the cross,
those who receive Him also died on that cross.
Therefore, we are free from the Law, because
we have died to it! The whole idea is that when
Jesus died on that cross we also died and when
we died, our marriage to the Law and all of its
demands on our lives were done away with. We
died to the Law!
(Ill. Just as our death in Christ brought freedom
from the power of sin, so too, we have been
delivered from the power of the Law. You see,
the Law stood over us demanding death for the
sins we are guilty of, but when Jesus died, He
satisfied the righteous demands of the Law.
Since we were in Him when He died, we too
have satisfied the Law. The Law demanded
death. We have died and since that is true, it
has no more claims against us! In other words,
we are free in Jesus!)
B. A New Family - Verse 4 goes on to tell us that
we are "married to another". At the instant we
became dead to the Law, we were married to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have become a part of
His family.
(Ill. Just as a remarriage after the death of a
spouse brings about a change in the marital
relationship, it also brings with it other changes
as well. When we were under the dominion of
the Law, we were constantly being held to a
standard we could never meet. The Law was
harsh and it was never satisfied. Regardless of
how well we may have lived our lives, the Law
always told us that we were never good enough.
The Law constantly reminded us of our lost
condition and that we were totally helpless and
that there was no hope for us. Our relationship
to the Law was one of cruelty and pain.
However, in Jesus, we have a new husband
and a new relationship. He tells us that when we
came to Him for salvation, He cleansed us from
our sins and made us righteous. He holds no
impossible demands over our heads, because
He has already paid the entire price for us. In
Him, we are loved, we are free and we are
complete. This is pictured in Ephesians 5:24-27.)
(Ill. We are no longer bound to a hateful, cruel,
demanding husband. In Jesus, we have been
joined to One Who places our needs first. One
Who loved us so much He willingly died in our
place on the cross. One Who never remembers
our past, nor reminds us what we were before
we married Him. Instead of holding our past
over our heads and pouring salt into our wounds,
the Lord Jesus lovingly binds us up, draws us to
His bosom and loves our past away! What a
blessing to be His this evening!)
C. A New Fruitfulness - This verse continues with
Paul reminding us that God did not do all of this
fr us just to bless us. He saved us and brought
us into a relationship with Himself so that we
might glorify Him by bringing forth fruit for the
glory of God. This is made clear by what Paul
tells us in Ephesians 2:10. There we are
reminded that we are "His workmanship". That
is, we are His masterpieces and we were
recreated so that we might bring honor to the
Master. This is the idea behind Gal. 2.19-20.
We have been given new lives so tha twe might
glorify the Lord our God.)
(Ill. This fruit that we are to bear is two-fold. It
makes its appearance in our Attitudes. As the
fruit of the Spirit is displayed within and through
us to a dying world, Gal. 5:22-23. By the way,
these are things that the natural man cannot
consistently produce in his life! It also makes its
appearance in our Actions. Not only will we be
different internally, but externally through the
things we do for the Lord, John 15:1-8. God's
desire for His children is that we be fruitful for His
glory!)
I. The Law And Marriage
II. Our Liberty And Marriage
III. V. 5-6 OUR LIVES AND MARRIAGE
(Ill. In the last two verses of this passage, Paul
contrasts the old life of sin with the new life in the
Spirit. He shows us what changes have taken place
as a result of our marriage to Jesus.)
A. V. 5 The Old Life In Sin - This verse tells us that
four things were happening in our old, sinful
lives. Notice what they were:
1. We were in the flesh - That is, we could only
operate within the realm of what this wicked
flesh could produce. We were unable to walk
in righteousness and to walk pleasing to the
Lord.
2. We were controlled by the motions of sins
- That is, we were held captive by the natural
appetites and desires of our flesh. We lived
our lives according to the impulses of our lost
flesh, Eph. 2:1-3. (Ill. But God! - Eph. 2:4)
3. We were challenged to sin by the Law -
That may sound odd, but when the Law said
"thou shalt not", this wicked, rebellious flesh
determined that it would. So, in the hands of
rebels, the Law, which was given to show us
a right way to live, became a thing that lead
us into evil. Please do not misunderstand.
The Law was not evil, but it was used by our
fallen natures as a reason to go after what
the Law said was off limits.
4. We were actively engaged in working out
our own death - With every sin, with every
rebellion, the sinner was hastening and
worsening his own doom. When we thought
we were free, we were actually the prisoners
of our vices and we were digging our own pits
deeper with every single sin we committed.
B. V. 6 The New Life In The Spirit - This great
verse sums up this short passage very well.
Here, Paul is able to make the comparison
between what we were and what we are in
Jesus! Notice those two blessed words, "But
Now." Since we are in Jesus, some things are
forever changed! Notice the changes that have
taken place in Jesus.
1. We have been released from the Law -
Because we have died with Jesus, we are no
longer under the demands of the Law. We
are not bound by it any longer! Why,
because the Law has no power after death
and we are dead with Christ to the Law!
(Ill. Do you understand all this implies? What
this means is that we are free from all the
moral and spiritual liabilities and penalties
that go along with the Law. In Jesus, we are
free from judgment! We are free from lists of
do's and don't's that can never save the soul.
We are free from the worry of Hell. We are
free in Jesus. Freed forever from the terrible
bondage of the Law!)
2. We have been released to serve - This idea
of service does not refer to an employee who
is free to work if he wishes, but can change
employers if things don't go his way. No!
The idea here is that of a slave. It is the
picture of a person who lives for nothing else,
but to do the will of his master. This is what
should describe your life and mine! We are
free from the Law, but we are not the
servants of Jesus. While we are not bound
by lists of right and wrong, we are bound by
the fact that we are His slaves. Nothing else
should ever be in our minds but serving Him!
3. We have been given a new life with which
to better serve Him - Notice that in chapter
5, we are told that we are secure in our
salvation. We like that! We like to think
about salvation as being eternal and
unconditional. I rejoice in that truth!
However, chapter 6 tells us that we are to be
holy and this chapter brings to mind images
of our freedom, our fruitfulness and of our
standing as servants. May I remind you
that just like salvation, these other things
are also unconditional and they are not an
option! If you are genuinely saved, all of
these will be active in your life constantly,
though never perfectly!
Conc: So, has the Law been done away with? No! It
is just that we have a different relationship to it than we
could ever have had before. Now, because of the
imputed righteousness of Jesus and the indwelling
ministry of the Holy Spirit, we are able to meet the
righteous demands of the Law for the first time. Now,
even though we are not under the Law's bondage or its
penalties, we want to do what it teaches and we no
longer want to live in rebellion against it. In other
words, the Law is not seen as an obstacle to living, it is
seen as a standard that is neither too high or too hard.
Now, in Jesus, the Law fits our lives very well! Now, we
know that to love His Law and to joyfully do it is to
glorify Him and that is the burden of every saved heart!
Friend, where do you stand in relationship to the
Law this evening? Are you married to it and still abiding
under its impossible demands? Or, have you died to the
demands of the Law and married Christ? Do you know
bondage or freedom this evening? Nothing is any more
miserable than trying to keep the Law to please God! It
is far better that we should come to Jesus and receive
Him by faith, because He has already pleased the
Father, and when we are in Him, God is pleased with us
as well.
Is God's Law some burdensome obstacle that
hinders you every day, or is keeping it your way of
glorifying God? It all depends on which one you are
married to this evening!
