THE AUTHORITY OF THE LAW AS IT REGARDS THE BELIEVER

Romans 7:1-6
Bob Bonner
February 26, 1995

Neil Anderson, in his book, “VICTORY OVER DARKNESS” uses the following illustration that he borrowed from theologian, David Needham to describe the implications of what it means to be "born again" or to have a new identity in Christ. This illustration will reveal how a person's sense of meaning and purpose, and how one's priorities in life can change when they recognize that their true identity has changed.

Imagine for a moment a typical, macho college man. Let's call him Biff. Biff is into the whole college scene. He sees himself as a skin-wrapped package of salivary glands, tastes buds and sex drives. So how does Biff occupy his time with this self-perception? Eating and chasing girls. He eats anything and everything in sight without regard for its nutritional value. And he chases just about anything in a skirt, but he has a special gleam in his eye for luscious-looking Susie, the cheerleader.

Biff was chasing sweet little Susie around the campus one day when the track coach noticed him. "Hey, this kid can really run!" When the coach finally caught up with Biff he said, "Why don't you come out for the track team?"

"Naw," Biff answered, watching for Susie out of the corner of his eye. "I'm too busy." But the coach wasn't about to take "naw" for an answer. He finally convinced Biff at least to give track a try.

So, Biff started working out with the track team and discovered that he really could run. He changed his eating and sleeping habits and his skills improved further. In fact he started winning some races and posting some excellent times for his event.

Finally Biff was invited to the big race at the state tournament. He arrived at the track early to stretch and warm up. Then, only a few minutes before his event, guess who showed up: sweet little Susie, looking more beautiful and desirable than ever. She pranced up to Biff in a scanty outfit which accentuated her finer physical features. In her hands was a sumptuous slice of Dutch apple pie with several scoops of ice cream piled on the top of it.

"I've missed you, Biff," she sang sweetly. "If you come with me now, you can have all this and me too."

"No way, Susie," Bill responded.

"Why not?" Susie pouted

"Because I'm a runner."

What's different about Biff? What happened to his drives and glands? He's still the same guy who could pack away three burgers, two bags of fries and a quart of Pepsi without batting an eye. And he's still the same guy who was just itching to get close to beautiful Susie. 

What brought about this change? Was it a bunch of laws that the coach forced him to follow? No. That which changed Biff was the perception he had of himself. He no longer sees himself primarily as a bundle of physical urges, but as a disciplined runner. As a result, his priorities in life changed and so did his character. 

When he came to the tournament to run a race, that was his purpose. Susie's suggestion was at cross-purposes with why he was there and how he perceived himself. As a result of his new perception of who he was, an athlete, he was able to put aside activity that had previously been harmful to him.  Because of his new identity, he began to do things that were better and more rewarding for him. All because he gained a new identity. [VICTORY OVER DARKNESS, p.37-39]

My point is this: when we truly understand and believe that we as Christians have a new identity in Christ, the moment we were born again, it has to affect how we live our lives today. When we realize that we are now God's adopted children, unconditionally loved by God, that we are saints and that there is nothing we can do to make him displeased with us or more pleased with us, that gives us a sense of security and peace. He may be grieved by our wrong doings, but he is never upset with us. When we understand that, we no longer have to perform for God to maintain His approval, we already have it. We no longer have to work at obeying all God's moral laws with the risk of losing his approval. To know that we can always go to Him and never be rejected because we are now His adopted child---that's special.

But as we work our way through the book of Romans, and we come across the exciting truths, there is still an unanswered question or some confusion that arises in our minds due to a statement found at the end of Romans 6:14 which we looked at two messages ago, and what we saw last week, in verses 15-23. In verse 14, the apostle Paul said that we as believers are "no longer under law, but grace." Yet, last time, we saw that we as saints can choose to sin and disregard God's instructions or laws, and if we do there will be consequences to our lives right here and now. On the other hand, we can choose to obey the Lord and receive the benefits right now when we do. And to the casual reader that may sound like we are back under the law of do's and don'ts. Which raises the question of are we under law or grace when it comes to our relationship to God? What is our relationship to be to God's laws as believers? Does grace mean that we can ignore God's laws? This can become very confusing and has for many believers.

Well, it is that confusion that Paul wants to address in this next chapter, Romans 7. We will probably break up this chapter in three parts. This morning, we want to understand from verses 1-6, what it means to no longer be under law. Next time, we will see in verses 7-13 what happens to the human being, as illustrated by Paul's own life, whenever you put someone under laws. And then finally, we will see in the rest of chapter seven, how grace accomplishes in our lives what the law fails to do and was never intended to do.

Before we start to closely examine this subject of the authority of laws, whether they be moral, civil or religious laws, and how we as believers are to respond to them, allow me to point out the purpose of all laws and how they function in life. God gave us laws for a good reason. We need them as a society if we were going to keep from destroying each other. However, if we don't understand how the law works and its law's effects upon our lives, we as believers may think that being under laws is a good thing, which it is not.

The purpose of the Law is to warn of impending failure or most of the time, to condemn failure.

Have you ever noticed that the Law never pats you on the back and says, "Good job" when you do what's right? For instance: When you drive the speed limit, does a police officer, who represents the law, stop you and say, "I commend you for driving the speed limit?" NO! He only stops us to condemn us when we break it. When you obey the tax laws, does the IRS write you a thank you note for obeying their laws and for sending them your hard earned cash? No. But have the IRS catch you violating their laws, watch out. Hence, the nature of a law, whether moral, spiritual or civil is to condemn those who break it.

We will see more clearly in these next three weeks that Jesus Christ did not come so as to put the believer under the law, nor did he come to condemn you. However, I would have to say that most of us as Christians have put ourselves back under the spiritual or moral laws of God, when God says we are no longer to be driven or controlled by the law. As we mature in the faith, we recognize more often those times that we slip under the law and turn our backs on God's grace and the freedom we have in Christ and then get back under God's grace. But from my perspective too many Christians live their entire Christian lives as legalists putting themselves back under the law, trying to maintain their approval before God and others because of their discipline to obey God's laws. It is a very subtle trap that the Deceiver is experienced in leading us into. [warning: we are to submit to civil laws. Paul is not suggesting here that we are above the law.]

Here are some signs of Christians who are living under the laws of God, more than living their lives under His grace. As you hear these, take a hard look at yourself to see to what degree these things are true of you. If we are honest, we all will see something of ourselves here:

1.) They boast about their record: perfect attendance. Never smoked. etc. At least that's what they do in those areas in which they are succeeding. But often they point to their successes to hide their places of failure, like greed or being a gossip or carrying around bitterness.

2.) They are always critical of or condemn or putting down others. This again is another diversionary tactic to get the light off of their own weaknesses or failure and to point to their successes.

3.) Another is their own reluctance to admit their own weaknesses or their fears of being candid before those whom they love or who love them.

4.) Lastly, for those who have put themselves back under a moral or spiritual law, there is depression that comes from failing over and over to live up to a standard or reach a goal.

Paul writes Romans 7 to explain what he wrote in 6:14 about no longer being under the law. He wants to help us find freedom from the Law and freedom in Christ.

Let's begin our study by looking at Romans 7:1, where Paul reminds us of a basic principle of life as it regards laws. He says, "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?" If we are going to understand Paul's logic in this chapter we must understand what he means when we read the term "law". What makes this chapter particularly difficult to understand in the English, is that Paul uses our same English word here for "law" in two different senses throughout this chapter. In one place, he means "law" in a general sense, like the law of gravity, or a parents' set of rules concerning curfew on their kids. It refers to those instructions or guidelines of anyone in authority over us.

Then at other times, Paul uses this term in reference to "The Law" as in God's 10 Commandments. If Paul is referring to "The Law", he always does so by preceding it with the word "the." However, not every time you find the word "the" in front of "Law" does it mean God's law. So you can see that it gets a little tricky when you are trying to understand what Paul has in mind.

Two things enable the reader to understand which concept of "law", the 10 commandments or just laws in general that Paul has in mind in each case. One thing that enables us to understand what Paul has in mind as it regards the term "law" has to do with the context and the other has to do with something that is not always correctly translated from the Greek to the English. Sometimes in English, we have, as we do here in verse 1, the first time the word "law" is mentioned, it is mentioned with the word "the" preceding the word "law" when in fact the word "the" is not there in the original. In the original, it reads, "for I am speaking to those who know law..."

Adding the word "the" at this point could cause one to mistakenly believe that Paul is making a statement about only the laws of God. But in fact, Paul is stating a general principle that is true about all laws and anyone who is familiar with any kind of laws. Whether it be a philosopher or sociologist who study moral laws of culture, or a lawyer who studies civil law or a religious individual who studies spiritual laws, they all understand the following principle which is true of all laws: When I die or sometimes when the person in authority over me or the one who makes the rules for my life dies, their rules no longer affect me.

If I am dead, my parents' rules about curfew or what proper table manners are or can I wear an ear ring no longer have jurisdiction over me. I am long gone from this world scene, and human laws no longer affect my life. On the other hand, if my parent's die, they may hope I carry on the rules of proper table manners or that I never get my ear pierced, but those rules no longer have authority to rule my life. I am free from their rules. I may choose to never get my ear pierced, but if I want to, I can without any repercussion from them, because they are long gone.

So, the law only has jurisdiction over me if I am alive or if the one making the rules and trying to enforce them on me is still alive. 

This term, "Jurisdiction" is an interesting word. It means to have authority over someone or to control someone. In the original, it comes from the same word from which we get our word for "lord". Or, to "lord it over someone." Hence, Paul's principle about laws in general states that when I die or the one who rules my life dies, then his rules or laws no longer have authority or control me.

Now to drive this principle home, in verses 2-3, Paul uses an illustration of marriage to further explain his point. He says, "For the married woman is bound by law [roman civil law] to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband." Just a side note: in the Roman culture, a man could divorce his wife any time he wished. But she could not divorce him. The same was the practice of the day for the Jews. This idea of the husbands control over the wife is emphasized in the original language which literally translates the last phrase "the law of the husband". Once she was married, the wife was forced to be married to this man until he died or he divorced her. She was helpless to do anything on her own. That idea of her helplessness is important to keep in mind when get into the next couple of verses.

Paul continues, "So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called [or condemned by the roman community as] an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law [the law of the husband] so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man [husband]."

If we are going to understand Paul's application of this illustration to our lives as Christians, let's not miss the full meaning of the "woman being bound to her husband." Yes, she is legally married to her husband. That's what the law dictates. But in addition, in that culture, the woman's very identity and her sense of worth is tied or bound to her husband. If her husband was an honorable and respected man, she was an honorable and respected woman. If her husband cherished her, her identity her sense of worth would be one of one who was cherished. 

On the other hand, if her husband was a cruel husband who was an outlaw, she most likely would sense her identity, her value and worth as being very low. People around her would not treat her with much respect. "She's just a thief's wife!" And that would be the way she would view her life, unless God intervened and showed her that her value and worth stemmed from somewhere else. How she perceived herself was reflected in the one to whom she was bound or married. 

Look at Ruth and Boaz, from the Old Testament, for example. Ruth was married and then widowed. While she was married to her first husband, she shared the identity of her first husband. In addition, he was the controlling figure in her life. Then, when he died, Ruth was out from under his authority and untied from his identity. 

When Ruth returned to Bethlehem, the home of her mother-in-law, and married Boaz, she was given a new identity. Boaz, being the honored and respected man that he was, gave Ruth the sense of honor and value. She went from being a poor widowed foreigner who by her own words felt she deserved no valued treatment, to a woman who felt valued and blessed of all women. Not simply because she was married, but because she was married to a man of honor in the community and more importantly, because she was bound or tied together with a man who cared for her. Hence, she believed herself not only to be free from her first husband, but free to receive a new husband and new identity.

Understanding the point of the illustration, now Paul takes us to the application to the Christian's life, in verses 4-6. This has to be one of the most important illustration/application type sections for a believer to understand, yet it is one of the most misunderstood illustration/application sections in all of the Apostle Paul's letters. 

As we look at this illustration, there are three important entities that we need to be clearly identified. They are: what does the Law, the two husbands and the wife, from the previous illustration represent in this present application. Let's read, "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were {aroused} by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."

The purpose of the previous illustration was to teach what happens to the wife, in relationship to the Law, when the first husband dies and when she marries a second husband. The application of this illustration is to show us what happens to the believer, as he or she relates to the laws of God, after they are saved.

First, let me suggest what each of these entities represents in Paul's application and then go back and show you how it all fits together.

The wife is the easiest entity to identify. She represents the believer. The expression, in verse 4 which speaks of "you being joined" refers to the believers who are reading this letter.

In this illustration, the law does not represent the first husband. The law represents the law or that governing principle that effects how one husband relates to his wife. He was the authority in the home, and the one from whom the wife gained her identity. 

The first husband represents the believer’s identity before salvation. It is what the apostle Paul refers to as "the old man" or the "old self" in other passages of scripture. If you remember the circles [CIRCLES 2# AND 3#], it is who we were "in Adam".

The second husband represents the believer’s new identity following salvation or following the moment that person put their trust in Jesus Christ as savior and Lord. It is referred to else where as the "new man" or "the new self" or the person who is "in Christ" or "in the second Adam".

Now, let's go back and slowly read these verses again to get Paul's point. "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die death is nothing more than separation between the living and the dead.” In this case, the wife, or we did not die, but the "Old man" died, our first Adam, our old nature died. That thing which we for so many years were tied to and controlled by died. We didn't kill him. God put our old nature to death with Jesus on the cross. 

In what sense are we or our old nature dead? For one thing, Paul says "to the Law", what does that mean? Notice the capital "L" in many of your translations. This should tell you that this is not the same Law that Paul was speaking about in verses 1-3; make note of this in your Bible. Here, "The law" means, with the word "the" preceding the word "law" the moral and spiritual laws of God. In other words, when our old nature, our old husband, our old identity was put to death, so was that thing which controlled our old nature and always condemned us because we could never live up to it or please it or always obey it, that is the laws of God.

Before we were saved, many of us knew the right thing to do, like not to lie; but sometimes, we just couldn't help ourselves. And when we did, we felt guilty and condemned. That was the work of the Law in our hearts, driving our "old husband" our old nature to sin. All we could do was sin, hence our previous identity as sinners.

But how did our old nature, this first husband that ruled our lives die? Paul goes on to tell us,"...through the body of Christ," When Jesus died on the cross in our place for our sins, that part of us that died with him was our old nature, our old identity as a sinner, or this first husband. 

Why did Jesus do that? He did it for a very specific reason. Paul says here"...so that you might be joined to another," to another what? To another husband "...to Him" [Jesus] "who was raised from the dead." We are now linked up, not an old husband controlled by laws and religion, but with a person, Jesus, with whom we now have a relationship that is empowered by His very spirit which gives our spirit life, or the ability to do what is right. 

In addition, this new husband, Jesus, gives you a new nature, His nature, a saint, a holy one, a new identity that is not governed by any laws and cannot be changed by our failure or our success at living up to any law. We have become the pride of Christ, cherished and beloved. Wow! You may have thought that Ruth and Boaz was a great love story, but nothing beats this!

Notice that God has caused all this for a purpose, so "that we might bear fruit for God." He has caused all this to happen so that our lives will be transformed to bear spiritual fruit that will bring Him glory. Supernatural fruit, like super human love, joy, patience, etc. When people see a worry wart or a person who has been trapped in fear and anger become free from those things, and become filled with peace hope and joy, God gets praised. That's fruit for God.

Paul goes on to remind us of what kind of fruit our lives bore under the first husband, our "in Adam" nature, our old self. He says, "For while we were in the flesh, [that's a special term here that means our old Adamic nature, driven by this selfish sinful old identity] the sinful passions, which were {aroused} by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we [now] serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” 

This second husband has given us His holy and perfect nature as contrasted against the first husband, the sinful nature. We are saints. Since we have been linked to His nature through His spirit, we are permanently made acceptable to God. 

The old nature was linked to the letter or the laws of God and through the laws we tried to make ourselves acceptable to God, but could do nothing but fail and sin. But now we don't have to live up to a bunch of rules or laws to be approved or to maintain our approval, because if Jesus spirit is part of our spirits, we are bound together permanently never to be rejected, already approved. As far as God sees us, we are perfect in every way, not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us.

So, what happens to a person's relationship with the Law once they become joined to Christ? First, it does not mean that we are above the law or that the Law doesn't effect us in any way. God has called us to obey Him and the governmental laws he has placed over us. 

Second, it simply means that the law has no right to control, or drive our lives forcing us to determine our worth on the basis of whether or not we can obey it. The law has no authority to condemn us before God, even when we fail to obey it. Why? Because that old husband, our old nature which was run by the law, is no longer boss over our lives. He died. He and his laws have nothing to say about who we are.

Two more things about the Law as it relates to us as believers that I will simply state here, but more fully explain next week: As believers, the Law defines for us the problem of sin, but it si powerless to deliver us from sin. Only Jesus' power, which is wrapped up with His spirit, to which we are bound, can deliver us from the controlling power of sin.

Lastly, the Law is not so much used to tell us what not to do and what to do, but it is to remind us of who we are and who we are not as believers in Christ. 

Let's face it. We have a new nature that we need to understand, a new identity that is foreign to us. It is as foreign to us to understand who we are now, as saints, transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, as it would be for a poor white boy from Arkansas to be adopted as the son of the president of India and to understand what his new identity is there and how he is to live. 

For instance: In Ephesians 4:24-25, Paul tells us that we are to speak the truth. Why? Is this some form of regulation? Is this some kind of law? Not really. Verse 24 tells us that Paul is simply trying to help us see what our new identity is all about. We have never been saints before, so he is simply saying, "Look you guys, tell the truth because that is who you are, saints, truth tellers. Only sinners practice the lifestyle of telling lies. You are no longer sinners. So live according to your new identity.

Let's pick up here next week, but now respond to the Father for what He has written to us here in His word. Father, we thank you for your word, and we ask that you would help us to better understand its implications for our life here on earth. We thank you that the Law no longer is our boss, no will it ever be able to condemn us, because we stand approved and accepted in our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Even though we struggle and don't catch on to these truths very quickly, it is so good to know that you don't reject us or cast us aside. Thanks for understanding us and being so patient. Thank you for your commitment to leading us through this day as your precious bride, your beloved bride whom you adore. It is so good to know that we are loved by you. Amen.

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