22 Freedom from the Law

While in Romans 6, Paul had at length discussed how the believer must truly understand that our identification in Christ points to the fact that we must reckon ourselves as being dead to sin, in chapter seven, he shows that we must make practical application to our lives.

The chapter begins, with Paul building upon some of which he’d previously discussed in earlier chapters.

1 Freedom from the Law

As Paul begins the chapter, he returns to the principle he’d previously established, which is that believers are no longer under the law, but grace:

Romans 6:14

In chapter seven, Paul desired to make his previous point understood, by using the illustration of the legal obligations between spouses in a marriage, as well as how those obligations end upon death:

Romans 7:1-3

Paul had previously shown, that the purpose of the Law, is to point to the unbeliever’s sinfulness, and the their need to be made righteous.

He had established how those who’ve come to faith in Christ, have been “accounted” as righteous by God through Christ.

Those in Christ aren’t bound by the Law, but are rather, under God’s grace. Yet, here at the beginning of the chapter, Paul used a very understandable illustration to make his previous points not only abundantly clear, but to show the believer may apply in their daily walk.

Sadly, many believers still live as though they are still under the Law, they are without doubt speaking about the written Mosaic Law, which was given to Moses by God. Yet, here, in verse one, in the original Greek, there was no article, such as “the” before Law, as we see in most translations. By eliminating the article, it shows that it covers more than the simply the written Law, but the unwritten moral law, that which as seen in chapter one, is revealed to the hearts of those in the world, who are without the Mosaic Law.

Here, at the beginning of the chapter, desiring to make everything as understandable as possible, Paul used the example of legal marital obligations, which understandably, are only valid, while both spouses are alive.

From the beginning, the Lord was clear, concerning the importance of the marital relationship:

Genesis 2:24

The Lord was showing that the relationship between a husband and a wife, is a covenant. And a covenant may only be between two living parties.

So, in much the same way, that a surviving spouse is no longer bound by law to the other who has died, the believer who as died to sin (as shown in the previous chapter) is no longer bound by the law of sin and death.

2 Bound to Christ

Paul had purposely used an illustration, which would be understood by his audience, not only showing that s surviving spouse is no longer legally bound to a husband or wife which has died, but that they are legally free to marry again.

In verse 4, Paul showed how the believer is “married” to Christ:

Romans 7:4

Paul had previously spoken of how the believer is not only free from the Law, but that they now have newness of Life in Christ:

Romans 6:4

That was expressly shown in the first part of the verse, where he expressed: “… you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ,”

In the verse, Pau also speaks of the evidence of the believer’s new life, “we should bear fruit to God”.

Paul had also shown, how the unbeliever, cannot bring forth any fruit. That can only come about in the life of the believer. Jesus had spoken about the need for believers to bear fruit:

John 15:7-8

3 Weakness of the Law

In the Jewish mindset however, the law was everything. Now, Paul desired to show that the Law itself had an inherent weakness:

Romans 7:5-6

The phrase, “For when we were in the flesh” in the original Greek, can be best understood to mean, “for when we were controlled by our sinful nature”.

Another Greek rendering is: “the motions of sin”.

Both speak to the manner of living of everyone prior to salvation.

In verse 5, Paul shows how the Law itself had a weakness, in that it aroused our sinful passions. That doesn’t mean the Law causes believers to sin, since prior to salvation, the individual was already spiritually dead, with sin being the manner of living.

In the Greek, the phrase “aroused by the Law” may be rendered “irritated by the Law”.

In verse 6, the words, “But now” can be looked as a declarative statement, showing that a true transformation has taken place in a believer’s life, as they’ve both been delivered from the law of sin and death, and serve (live) in newness of the Spirit, as opposed to the oldness of the letter (the Law).