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Free from Law & Will, Romans 7 by Rachel Cooke and Tim Hurst
Next week's entries on Free from Death through the Spirit will be written by Michael Womble and Andy Brown.
Romans 7:1-6 (Rachel Cooke)
This passage focuses on Paul’s continuing discussion on a Christian’s relationship with the law and sin. Here, he uses an analogy, which he knows his audience will understand: the laws of marriage. The basic argument is that marriage is a binding while both people are alive. If one dies, the marriage is no longer binding. However, if both people are alive and one person marries another, that would be adultery.
Throughout this passage, Paul uses the language of being bound and being free. He uses this language when describing marriage to set the framework for the point he intends to make about the law.
“In the same way” that the law applies to marriage, it also applies to Christians regarding the Jewish law. Because we have died to our old lives and the law through Christ, we are now free to be united with Him.
Furthermore, while bound to the law, Paul says, “we were living in the flesh,” which he says equates to working to “bear fruit for death.” But by dying with Christ, “we may bear fruit for God.”
Continuing in the language of bondage and freedom, Paul closes this passage by describing us as slaves, but “not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” This slavery to the “new life” offers freedom.
These verses reinforce what it means to be united with Christ and how that changes our lives. While this passage clearly speaks to the Jewish Christians who may have been struggling to let go of the Torah, we can also glean significance from Paul’s analogy. It is only by the death of the law that we can be “married” to Christ. Life in the Spirit must take the place of life in the law.
I think it may be helpful to imagine what a life-changing idea this might have been to those who built their lives around learning and serving a law that was given to them to follow. How radical would it have been to look at that law in a new light and then, decide to bind them by committing to Christ instead of the law? Especially confusing would have been how this would look in practice. Would they ignore the law, much of which conforms to basic morality and ethics? What does it mean to be “discharged from the law”? Paul addresses this in other areas of Romans, but this question of practicality applies to us as much as it did the Christians at the time. I believe that Paul is trying to convey the idea that the ideal by which we measure our lives is now Christ and no longer the law and that we cannot be bound to both at the same time.
Romans 7:7-25 (Tim Hurst)
Paul’s question and answer session in Romans 7:7-25 has always been one of the most interesting and puzzling pieces of scripture for me. Paul discusses the very nature of man in raw honesty, and this section always seems to leave me with nearly as many questions as it begins with. I think it has a tendency to become dangerous to struggling Christians because of one of the questions it can spawn: Is habitual sin acceptable for followers of Christ?
Paul repeatedly discusses the nature of humans to stray from what the law teaches us is right. From the time of Adam and Eve, it’s obvious that we simply cannot follow rules even when they are designed for our benefit. As soon as Adam learned of the forbidden fruit, he was tempted to eat from it and eventually succumbed to the temptation. Paul’s question is intriguing: would we fall into sin as much as we do, if the law didn’t dangle it in front of our faces? His answer of course is no. God provided the law so we would know what sin is – we need guidance to tell right from wrong. The law itself isn’t what makes us sin, but sin itself, because sin is ingrained into our human nature.
Even as Christians, we must remember that we’re not totally exempt from the laws of sin. The knowledge of Jesus creates a desire in us to follow the Old Testament law and the teachings of Christ, but the sinful nature of mankind also compels us to sin. So the reality both of Christ’s and of sin’s presence in our lives becomes a dangerous balancing act. We must be able to accept that God’s grace is sufficient to cover our missteps, but never take that fact for granted. Thank you God for your infinite grace and forgiveness!
