Now we come
to a very misunderstood chapter in the Bible. Paul has clearly explained to us
in Romans 6 that we are dead and freed from sin, plus we are now servants of
righteousness. Christ lives mightily within us, we are new creatures in Christ
and walk in newness of life. Why, all of a sudden, does he say in Romans 7 that
nothing good dwells within him and he has no ability to do the right he knows
to do. We learn what this means by taking Romans 7 in context of Romans 6 and
8. Before beginning, it's imperative to know that the Law didn't die. We died
to the Law when we died with Christ, therefore, we are no longer under the Law.
Know ye not,
brethren, {for I speak to them that know the law}, how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth? {Romans 7:1} Paul has not suddenly
reverted to a discussion on marriage. He refers to the law of marriage because
it provides a perfect analogy for what he wants to say. He wants to show us how we are no longer under the Law, yet still alive. The Law's jurisdiction
over others is in practice as long as one is alive. {I know it's confusing but
just stick with me!} As long as a man is alive, he is under the Law.
For the woman
which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so
long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law
of her husband {Romans 7:2} A woman is bound to her husband as
long as her husband lives. The living husband typifies the flesh to which one
is wed. {Remember, husband = flesh; wife = believer} As the death of a husband
frees a wife from the Law of marriage that bound her to her husband, so the
death of the flesh frees the believer from the Law that governed men in the
flesh.
So then if,
while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall
be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law;
so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man {Romans 7:3}
If this woman {believer} should marry another man {Christ} while the first
husband {flesh} is still alive, she would be called an adulteress. The only
answer to her {our} dilemma {a desire to be married to Christ} is the death of
the husband {the flesh of Adam}.
Wherefore, my
brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God {Romans 7:4} We, like the
woman, have become dead to the Law since we died with Christ and to the Law.
When we discover exactly what died at our co-crucifixion with Christ, we have
discovered the identity of the husband. The flesh died with Christ so we could
be married to Christ. This is why we are new creatures in Christ! When Christ
died, exactly what part of His being died? His Adam flesh, since flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The purpose of the death of the old husband
{flesh} was to release the woman {the believer} to be married to Christ. Now
that we are free from the flesh, we can now walk after the Spirit and bring
forth fruit unto God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his {Romans 8:9}.
The next verses begin HERE. The series begins HERE.
The next verses begin HERE. The series begins HERE.
