Romans 6, 7 & the first bit of 8 part 6

Chapter 7

Here Paul goes into more detail about how we have died to the law.

"1Or 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?"

Paul has answered questions that arise from talking about grace. Now he is answering the question of, “What about the law?” Paul now creates an analogy to show our relationship to the law. It is important to note that we do not "know the law!" We have heard of it, we have read it, but we have not lived it. The Jews knew the law from the point of view of a living relationship. Imagine how hard it would be if someone said, "The food you eat, the way you wash, the way you name your babies, and so on has all got to stop!" I don't know many people who would cope with such a stark change.

"2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man."

"4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."

Here we see that it is the believer who dies to the law. We also see that the purpose is to bear fruit for God. The obvious point that Paul is making here is that no one under the law bore fruit for God.

"5For 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."

The only fruit those under the Law produced was fruit for death

"6But 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."

If the Jew is released from the Law how much more so the gentile?! We serve the Spirit and not the letter.

"7What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be!"

The obvious question here is if the Law could only produce fruit for death then does that mean the Law is a bad thing? Of course it isn’t the Law that is out, it is us, and the Law only showed us that we were out. That was the problem, the could only show our failings, it could not produce righteousness in us. James says:

"10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" James 2:10

Even if we manage to keep 99.999% of the law, we are still law breakers, we might as well have not bothered in the first place! Obviously, God has compassion and grace and knew the hearts of those who wanted to keep the law. Paul will go onto this idea in verse 14.