PENTECOST 4 – June 28, 2020 – Rom. 7:1-13
“FREE FROM LAW”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Romans 7. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- In our text the Apostle Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit of God, discusses an important dynamic in our lives: our relationship with the Law of God.
- This would not be an important topic were it not for our sin. Sin is in us, corrupting our human nature. Paul speaks of it: “living in the flesh; our sinful passions aroused by the law, our members bearing the fruit for death.”
- The law is opposed to all of this, condemns it, and thus condemns us. We don’t like that! So we have a natural aversion to, rejection of, and hatred for the law. That is, our sinful nature rejects the law of God.
- By nature we are “under law,” that is, subject to its condemnation and its sentence: death and eternal hell. This is very difficult for us to take sitting down. So we build a case of defense for ourselves, justifications, excuses, rationalizations. As we do so, however, we are acknowledging tacitly that we are under the law. This is no remedy for us, for we surely won’t succeed at absolving ourselves. Even our fellow human beings will not let us off the hook!
- Somehow, we must find a way to be “FREE FROM LAW.” Surprisingly, it is God Who provides this opportunity for us. That is the gist of our text. However, this whole matter of our relationship with the Law of God is more complicated. Our sinful nature rejoices to be free from the condemnation of the Law of God, and immediately assumes that means we are completely and totally “FREE FROM LAW.” In other words, my sinful nature wants to have nothing to do with the Law of God.
- However, as the apostle reminds us, the Law of God is good. The whole purpose of being “FREE FROM LAW” is to be enabled and empowered to embrace the Law of God – and to do what is good.
- So we have to keep these things in careful tension! There is no question that the first and greatest reality is that:
I. We Are Free From The Law’s Condemnation And Compulsion Through The Body Of Christ!
A. We Belong To Jesus, We Are Married To Him, And Not To Law
Text: “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him Who has been raised from the dead.”
B. So Now We Are Able To Bear Fruit For God
Text: “In order that we may bear fruit for God.”
C. So We Now Serve God Not Under Law But In The New Life Of The Spirit
Text: “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.”
Statement: Just as when a spouse dies the remaining spouse is no longer bound to the oaths made to that first spouse, but can now be married to another, so we have died to the Law. This happened when we submitted to its right judgments, and confessed our sins in horror, repenting of them and confessing them to God. This happened when God heard our confession and assured us that the redemption Christ earned for the whole world, for every human being, also applied to us.
Application: We remain married to Jesus by a life of repentance and faith in Him! We are no longer married to law, subject to its penalties and torments. We are married to Christ, and under God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness! And now our relationship with the Law of God has changed. We no longer serve it, but we serve God our Savior!
Transition: However, this does not mean that we are through with the Law, and that it no longer has any relevance to us. For:
II. The Reason We Are Not Under Law Is Not Some Deficiency Or Fault Of The Law
A. The Law Of God Is Good
Text: “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
B. And The Law Is Still Good For Us Under Government
Romans 13:1-3 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.”
1. The Law Is Good In That It Still Convicts Us Of Our Sin, Leading Us Into Repentance
Text: “If it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’”
2. The Law Continues To Provide Us With Good Guidance
Rom. 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
C. The Problem Is With Human Sin – From Which Christ Has Freed Us
1. Through forgiveness
Romans 3:21-25 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God put forward as a blood atonement, to be received by faith.”
Eph. 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
2. So That We Have A New Man
2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Eph. 4:22-24 “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Statement: So you see that “FREE FROM LAW” means free from the condemnation of the Law, free from the coercion of the Law, but not free to disregard the instructions and wisdom of the Law. The Law is still a good thing, from which we can learn the ways of love. But we truly imbibe love, and are moved to love, when we hold fast in faith to Him Who first loved us!
Application: And as good as the Law may be, surely it is much more pleasant to be “married” to Jesus, our dear Savior! If we are in Him then we have all blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation. And knowing that the Law is His Law, and that He is love, we may more fully utilize the Law in learning how to love.
Conclusion: We must recognize – and it isn’t all that difficult – that our sinful nature is still with us, trying to pervert our hearts and minds.
That nature either tries to drag us back into marriage to the Law, or to deny any goodness whatsoever to the Law of God. Both of these positions is evil, and bears fruit for death.
Repentance, faith in Jesus, and meditation on His Word – this enables us to bear fruit for God! May He grant it richly to each of us, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep you hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto everlasting life. Amen.