As a fellowship, we have been working our way through the book of Romans as our weekly Bible study. We have found ourselves in a place of being challenged as to our relationship to the Law of God, from the perspective of redeemed believers and followers of Christ. This can at first sound like a simple issue to many Christians, but to those who simply want to live a life of obedience unto the Lord, not as a means of salvation, but as an expression of worship and thanks, it can be a little unclear. Anyone who is truly surrendered to Christ as His own, then there will be a natural desire to obey that which He commands, for in the words of Jesus Himself, this is the very thing that shows the sincerity of the love which we profess with our mouths:
John 14:15
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
It is important therefore, that we understand clearly what our relationship with the Law is now we are believers, and at what the obedience is that Jesus commands of us in our lives in Him. Whilst the whole chapter of Romans 7 gives a clear understanding of our relationship with the Law, it helps if we view what it says through the lens of related statements made elsewhere in Scripture too.
Firstly we need to understand how perfect the Law of God is in His sight, and understand the emphasis that was put upon the Israelites to live by it:
Psalms 19:7-11
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
1 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
2 that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you— ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Whilst this shows that the Law of God is perfect, and helps us to understand how some would hold it in such high esteem, it would also be possible to elevate the Law of God higher than God Himself, and sin against Him by doing so. This may sound ridiculous, but the Pharisees, who the apostle Paul was most definitely one of before His conversion, were perfect examples of this truth. Paul was specifically chosen by God as the one who would witness to all men as to the way in which we should truly honour the Lord by doing His will:
Acts 22:3-15
3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.
4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,
5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’
8 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’
11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,
13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him.
14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.
15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
We can learn from the apostle Paul that, although the Law is holy, righteous and perfect, it is unable to produce righteousness within us, but rather has been given for the purpose of exposing our unrighteousness:
Romans 3:19-20
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 5:20
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
Before we can move onto what Romans 7 tells us, we must understand two things clearly in order to see it in the true context it was written:
Firstly, we have been put to death in Christ:
Romans 6:3-7
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Secondly, as we die alongside Christ, we shall also live with Him in new life, where we are no longer under the Law but under Grace:
Romans 6:8
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Romans 6:14
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
As we read on into Romans chapter 7, we find in the first three verses something common with regard to any law, not just concerning the Law of God. Namely, that law applies only to those who live under that law, and as those who are already dead in Christ, we are no longer under the Law of God, but the law of Grace:
Romans 7:1-3
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
We are now seperated by death from the Law, but raised back to life in Christ, that we may legally be joined together with Him, as a wife to her Husband. The Law demanded our death, and that is exactly what it got when we are in Christ. It has no longer any legal claim on our lives, because we are dead to it. Now the One to have rightful claim on our life is our Husband. As we submit to Him faithfully, as a wife to her husband, we automatically begin to bear fruit to God, just as we automatically bore fruit unto death while we were under the Law. We no longer have to try and follow the Law by the letter, but it is the Spirit within us that produces fruit for the glory of God.
Romans 7:4-6
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
The fruit that is produced in the life of the redeemed believer is then manifested primarily in two ways. Firstly there is an inner fruit that is produced, that is displayed in the character and attitude of the individual believer, as the indwelling Spirit of God manifests Himself through them:
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, the second fruit produced, is a desire to surrender our lives obediently to His will, so that the Lord may be glorified through our lives. This is an ongoing, life long process for every believer, of constant self examination in the light of Scripture. As this takes place, the believer will recognise that which is ungodly in their life, and in true repentance will seek to put these things out of their life by the power of the Holy Spirit, and replace those ways with that which is revealed through Scripture, and the guidance of the Spirit, as being pleasing to the Lord our God:
Hebrews 13:5-21
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”
6 So we may boldly say: “THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT FEAR. WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME?”
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.
12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
19 But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The important thing to remember is that, as Christians, we are already justified by the blood of Christ before a Holy and Righteous God. His Law no longer has any hold upon us, for the penalty of that Law has already been laid upon His Son on our behalf. Therefore we now stand in a place of freedom and liberty, not to gratify the sinful desires of our flesh, but to seek to follow and serve the Lord Jesus Christ in a constantly deepening way, and for His glory alone.
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