The Law and No Profit?

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Opening Prayer

Father, as I worship You today, may I be alive to the stirrings of Your Spirit in my heart and mind.

Read Romans 7:1-6

^[1] Do you not know, brothers-for I am speaking to men who know the law-that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? ^[2] For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. ^[3] So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. ^[4] So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. ^[5] For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. ^[6] But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“By God’s grace I will strive mightily against sin and will do deeds of love and mercy that lead to righteousness” (Richard Foster).

Think Further

In response to Paul’s bold description of two kinds of humanity, his Jewish listeners (“those who know the law,” v. 1) are left with questions: how does the Law of Moses in the Old Testament fit in with all this? Wasn’t the Law supposed to be God’s instrument to create a new humanity, and shouldn’t we go on obeying it?

It is possible to read Paul’s illustration of marriage in vs. 2 and 3 allegorically: in our humanity we were “married” to the Law; through death we have been released from this commitment; and in our new humanity we now are the bride of Christ. His illustration does not really serve this purpose, however. It is the husband, not the wife, who has died, and it is not possible to illustrate in human terms the idea that someone who has died is now free to marry again! No, Paul’s point is simply that death nullifies previous commitments; through death we are set free.

He will go on in this chapter to explore the positive value of the Law, but he is also clear (8:3) that the Law could not do what God has done for us in Jesus. When I tell my children to do what is right, and not what is wrong, this in itself does not make them obey me, however loudly and frequently I tell them! It is only when they see that I am concerned for their best, and they desire to please me, that they can follow this good pattern of life (assuming, that is, that I’ve got it right). We do serve God and live our life for him, not because we are told to by the Law, but because we are empowered to by the Spirit (6).

Apply

How do you see the commands of Scripture? Do you see them as obligation, or as a good pattern to joyfully live out by the Spirit?

Closing prayer

Spirit of God, do Your work through me as I present myself to You. I will attempt to do Your work in gratitude for Your mercy.

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