Married to the Law, Married to Christ

And it is called Romans for a very simple reason, which is that it's written to the churches in the city of Rome.

And this letter is about the gospel.

It's about the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Last week we ended chapter 6.

You'll remember chapter 6 was asking this one big question, which is,

hey, in light of God's grace, do we actually need to obey?

Do we need to live lives of holiness or can we just do whatever we want?

And Paul gave us three main reasons, told us, no, actually, belonging to Christ, you continue to walk in his ways.

This morning we're continuing chapter 7.

Chapter 7 is related but different.

Chapter 7 focuses on the law of God.

Meaning, when we talk about the law, we're talking about God's commands to mankind.

And so we can think about the law in a couple ways.

In the Old Testament, the law is summarized in the Ten Commandments.

So it's more than the Ten Commandments, but that's the main summary.

That's the high points of the law.

In the New Testament, in Matthew chapter 22, Jesus summarizes the law and he says it's really two things.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

So that's the law.

The Old Testament summarized in the Ten Commandments.

In the New Testament, summarizes loving God and loving neighbor.

So this is, again, the follow-on to chapter 6.

If we are supposed to obey, if we're supposed to do what God says,

which is what chapter 6 says,

how do we think about God's law?

What is our relationship to God's law?

Even more than that, how do we obey God's law?

Where, in fact, do we get the power?

Those are the questions of chapter 7, which is where we turn now.

I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 7, starting at verse 1.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

You can turn to page 7 of your worship guide.

Wherever you turn, remember that this is God's word.

In Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5, tells us,

Proverbs 30:5

every word of God proves true.

He's a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Which is why we read now Romans chapter 7, starting at verse 1.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Or do you not know, brothers?

For I am speaking to those who know the law,

that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives.

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives.

But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man

while her husband is alive.

But if her husband dies, she is free from that law.

And if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, 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.

In order that we may bear fruit for God.

For while we were living in the flesh,

our sinful passions, aroused by the law,

were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

But now we are released from the law,

having died to that which held us captive,

so that we serve in the new way of the spirit

and not in the old way of the written.

code.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we thank you and we praise you again this morning

for sustaining us in our lives,

for bringing us here to worship you together.

Father, we thank you for your word that brings us life and truth.

We ask that you be at work by your Holy Spirit this morning,

bringing your word to us.

We ask that you would clear our minds,

you'd soften our hearts,

you'd open our ears and our eyes,

that we'd be able to see and hear and believe

and understand everything that's written in your word.

And we ask most of all that you would show us Jesus.

We'd grow in our love and our affection and our obedience to him.

We ask these things in his mighty name.

Amen.

Many of you know,

and I've said before,

that I am an East Coast boy.

I grew up right outside Washington, D.C.

and you can take the boy out of the East Coast,

but you can't take the East Coast out of the boy.

And sometimes people ask me,

you know,

what is different from the East Coast in Colorado?

And there's a lot of different answers I could give you.

My favorite one comes from someone who told me this.

People go to the East Coast to work

and they come to Colorado to play.

Now, there's a lot of different things you can do to play in Colorado.

One of them would be climbing 14ers,

which actually is a type of work.

So we're going to come around full circle.

And if you ask someone,

why is it that you climb 14ers?

You might hear a variety of answers.

I'm going to tell you one answer, though.

You will, at least you should, never hear.

If you ask someone,

why do you climb those tall mountains?

They should never say to you,

because it's so easy.

I tell you that because I have told you before

and I will tell you again this morning,

I have both bad news for you and good news.

The bad news is that Romans is really hard.

The good news is that Romans is really great and worth it.

I've told you many times this quote from Andrew Nassili.

Paul's letter to the Romans is arguably

the single most important piece of literature

in the history of the world.

And I'm reminding you of that again this morning

because we are coming to chapter 7,

which is especially intricate.

So if we're climbing up a 14er here,

this is a steep part of the trail.

So we're going to plot a little bit this morning.

We're going to build bit by bit,

layer by layer, step by step.

So let's jump in.

First, to understand chapter 7 of the book of Romans,

we must remember the categories

that Paul gave us in chapter 6.

In chapter 6, Paul told us

all people in the world fall into two buckets.

You are either under law or under grace.

And being under law and under grace

capture the two and only two ways

that you can make it to heaven.

If you are under law,

you make it to heaven by perfectly

obeying all of God's laws

and never sinning.

That's what it means to be under law.

So when you look at the Ten Commandments,

you perfectly keep them.

When it comes to loving God and loving neighbor,

you have always done that perfectly.

If you're under law,

you must do those perfectly.

And if you do, you can make it to heaven.

Problem is that's not a real option.

It's hypothetical.

And it's not real

because Paul's already told us in chapter 3,

they all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God.

We saw it in our confession of faith this morning

that Andy read for us.

No mere man, since the fall,

is able in this life

perfectly to keep the commandments of God,

but does daily break them

in thought, word, and deed.

So under the law is an option.

That's a way to get to heaven,

but it's not going to work for you.

Under Christ, under grace,

that's the other option.

If you're under grace,

you trust in Jesus Christ

that he died the death that you deserved,

lived the perfect life you didn't.

So those are the two categories of humanity

from Romans chapter 6

Romans 6 · chapter mention

that you must keep in mind

to make sense of seven.

You can be justified by your obedience,

or you can be justified by Jesus' obedience.

Those are the options.

Okay?

That was six.

Now, moving on to seven.

In seven, Paul says,

let's take those two ways of getting to heaven

and let's imagine

that they are two different marriages.

Okay?

Let's take those two ways of getting to heaven.

Imagine that there are two marriages.

If you are under the law,

you are married to the law.

If you are under grace,

you are married to Jesus Christ.

Two marriages,

under the law,

married to the law,

under grace,

married to Jesus Christ.

Here's the catch, though.

You can only be married

to one person at a time.

I know that's a shock.

You have to be able to switch

from one marriage

to the other marriage.

How do you do that?

That is simply what Paul is getting at

in verses 1 through 3.

He's saying this.

Marriages are binding

as long as both people live.

Of course, you know this.

What do you say when you take marriage vows?

As long as we both shall live.

So how are you going to get out

of this bad situation

of being under the law,

married to the law?

Well, if you're going to get out

of that marriage,

someone has to die.

Unless someone dies,

the marriage can't end.

That takes us to verse 4.

Surprise!

That happened.

You did die to the law.

Verse 4.

Likewise, my brothers,

you also have died to the law.

How did this happen?

Through the body of Christ.

So your marriage to the law ended

through the body of Christ,

which is a reference

to Jesus' death and resurrection.

When Christ died,

you died to the law

if you have faith in him.

You died to your performance

determining whether or not

you enter heaven.

Dying to the law

means that you died

to your moral performance

determining whether or not

you enter heaven.

So once again,

Paul is circling back

to this concept

we talked about multiple times

in chapter 6,

which is union with Christ.

That is,

what is true of Jesus

is true of you.

So you died to the law.

You're not in that marriage anymore.

You're in a new marriage, actually.

That's what verse 4 also tells us.

The result,

this is verse 4,

so that you may belong

to another,

to him who has been raised

from the dead.

You switched marriages.

You're not married

to the law anymore.

You're married to Christ.

When Christ died,

you entered a new marriage

if you belong to him.

Christ's death

frees you

from an abusive spouse

and brings you

to a loving spouse.

That begins to answer

the next question.

We have two marriages.

what were these marriages like?

Marriage to the law,

being under the law,

is terrible.

And being married to the law

and under the law

is terrible

because it is

an abusive marriage.

It's abusive

for these reasons.

All the law can do

is accuse

and condemn.

So the law is looking in on you.

Imagine the Ten Commandments

are talking to you

and what are the Ten Commandments

saying?

They're saying this,

obey me or die.

That's what the law is saying.

That's what your spouse

is saying to you

if you're married

to the law.

That's the control,

the rule

that it has over you.

Is that the kind of spouse

that you want?

Do you want an accusing,

a condemning spouse,

one that says,

obey me or die?

Of course not, right?

That's why verse 6

uses this strong language,

that which held us captive.

That's the sense

in which the law

is holding you captive.

So it's abusive

and terrible

in this sense.

It's also abusive

and terrible

in two other senses.

The second one is this,

the law is a command

to obey.

It does not give

the ability

to obey.

The law gives

the command

to obey.

It does not give

the ability

to obey.

Think about it this way.

The law is looking

in on you.

Imagine now

it's love God

and love neighbor.

So we talked about

the Ten Commandments

says keep me or die.

Let's say the law

comes to you

and says

love your neighbor

as yourself.

Do you do that?

Do you love

your neighbor

as much

as you love

yourself?

I certainly don't.

And I actually

can't.

I actually can't

do that

in and of myself.

I can't change

my own heart.

I'm not powerful

enough to do that.

The law also

will not change

my heart.

This is why

we've sung before

if you've been with us

the song Run and Run

which says this.

Run and Run

the law demands

but gives me

neither feet

nor hands.

Which is a way

of saying

the law can command

me to obey

it can't give me

the ability

to obey.

We'll talk about that

more in coming weeks.

If you thought

that was bad

actually it's going

to get worse.

So those are the

first two reasons

the law is abusive.

The law accuses

and condemns

number one.

Number two

the law commands

you to obey.

It doesn't give you

the ability

to obey

but it's actually

more sinister

than that.

Look at me

at verse five.

It's not just

that the law

doesn't give you

the ability

to obey.

The law

actually makes it

more likely

that you won't

obey.

Verse five

says this

for while we're

living in the flesh

for while we were

living in the flesh

our sinful

passions

aroused

by the law

were at work

in our members

to bear fruit

for death.

Now we're not

going to dwell

on this a lot

because we're

going to talk

about it in length

verses seven

through twelve

but the point

is this

when we find

out that we

cannot do

something

we want

to do it

more.

When we find

out that we

cannot do

something

we decide

that actually

we're even more

interested than we

ever were before.

I think it's on

page eight of your

worship guide

there's a quote

that basically

says we hear

do not

and we think

why not?

so the law

comes

it actually

makes us

more likely

to do

what's wrong

and so I tell you

all of these things

to drive at this

point

the law

is a terrible

spouse

that is not

a marriage

you want to be in

the law is a

terrible spouse

because it

condemns you

you're captive

to it

that's what

verse six

says

the law

is a terrible

spouse

because it

actually doesn't

give you any

resources to do

what it commands

the law

is a terrible

spouse

because it

makes your

behavior

worse

that's a rough

marriage

that's a

dysfunctional

relationship

that's the

relationship

you had

to the law

before

you were

in Christ

that's the

relationship

you have

to the law

right now

if you are

outside

of Christ

you have

a dysfunctional

abusive

relationship

with the law

now I want you

to feel the

weight of that

because if you

feel the weight

of it

you'll feel

the sense

of relief

and joy

that comes

for us

in verse

six

which tells

us this

but now

we are

released

from the

law

sigh of

relief

shake it

out

shake it

out

you're free

from the

law

that nightmare

is over

that terrible

marriage

has ended

die to that

which held us

captive

yeah that means

you're no longer

a prisoner

to the law

if the law

comes to you

now

the ten commandments

walk up to you

and they say

obey me

or die

what can you

do

you thumb

your nose

at it

I don't have

to obey

you or die

I'm not

captive to you

anymore

now thumbing

your nose

at the law

doesn't mean

you disobey

the law

you're thumbing

your nose

at being

captive

to the law

but actually

you are able

for the first

time to do

as I've told

you before

the right

thing

for the right

reason

being married

to the law

didn't give you

any ability

didn't give you

any power

to obey

now

you're in a good

marriage

you're in a marriage

that actually

provides motivation

and power

look with me

again at verse 5

verse 5 tells us

we were living

in the flesh

this is again

a concept

from previous

chapters

that we've discussed

if you're living

in the flesh

that's the opposite

of living by the

Holy Spirit

so if you're living

by the flesh

your heart

the center

of your heart

is still

controlled

and ruled

and governed

and dominated

by sin

that's what it

means to live

in the flesh

flesh means

multiple things

for the apostle

Paul

in this instance

the flesh means

the opposite

of the spirit

so you were

verse 5

living according

to the flesh

you are now

verse 6

living

in the new

way

of the spirit

sin doesn't

rule

control

dominate

or reign

in your heart

anymore

if you

are married

to Jesus Christ

if you are

under grace

your heart

is ruled

and controlled

and dominated

by him

you were

married

to a spouse

who condemned

you

you were

married to

the law

you were

married to

a spouse

who told

you to

do things

that you

were incapable

of doing

on your own

you were

married to

a spouse

who said

obey me

or die

now

if you're

in Christ

you're married

to a spouse

who gives

you

life

now

if you're

in Christ

you're married

to a spouse

who gives

you

life

you were

verse 5

bearing fruit

for death

you are

now

verse 4

bearing

fruit

for God

there's

a different

thing

going on

there's

a different

relationship

you now

the law

comes to

you

and says

love your

neighbor

as yourself

you think

oh yeah

God's at work

in my heart

actually I'm

starting to

want to

do that

I'm

realizing

I have

new

powers

and abilities

page 8

of your

worship guide

says this

the new

covenant

believer

never

looks at

the law

without

understanding

that his

relationship

to it

is the

fruit

of his

union

with

Christ

which is

a way

of saying

this

if you're

married to

Christ

if you're

under

grace

you look

at the

ten

commandments

and instead

of thinking

man that's

the ten

commandments

are condemning

me and

ruling

over me

no you

think

oh wow

that's the

type of

person

God's

making me

to be

those

are the

sorts of

actions

that are

going to

come out

as the

Holy Spirit

is at

work

changing

my

heart

that's

the type

of person

I'm

going to

become

as I

am

taken

away

from a

heart

of stone

and given

a heart

of flesh

oh you're

saying love

God and love

neighbors

what you're

saying is

the Holy

Spirit's

going to

make me

into the

type of

person

who loves

my

neighbor

as

myself

wow

what a

wonderful

thing

that's

how you

think about

the law

now

because the

law is

not a

condemning

spouse

the law

is the

fruit of

your marriage

with Christ

what the

law could

not

produce

God

by the

work of

his Holy

Spirit

given to

his people

because of

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

now

does

in you

when you

got married

did it

change you

are you

different

now

because of

your marriage

I hope

so

and I hope

it's in

positive ways

although I

know that's

not always

the case

this marriage

to Christ

is changing

you

and it

is changing

you

in positive

ways

verse 4

so that you

may belong

to another

in order

that we

may bear

fruit

for God

the law

is now

a description

not of how

you fall

short

but of your

future self

what God

is making

you

to be

I've told

you before

and I'll

tell you

again

Romans

is the

fifth

gospel

and it's

the fifth

gospel

because what

Paul teaches

Jesus

taught

first

Jesus

says this

in John

John 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15

already

you are

clean

because of

the word

that I have

spoken

to you

in other

words

your

justification

is in

my

actions

not your

actions

abide

in me

and I

in you

as the

branch

cannot bear

fruit

by itself

unless it

abides

in the

vine

neither

can you

unless you

abide

in me

if you're

married to

the law

that's not

going to

produce

good fruit

in your

life

ten

commandments

can't

change

your

heart

I

can

I

am

the

vine

you

are

the

branches

whoever

abides

in me

and I

in him

he

it is

that bears

much

fruit

for

apart

from

me

you

can

do

nothing

what

makes

all of

this

possible

Paul

tells us

that as

well

in

verse

four

you

died

to

the

law

so

you

may

belong

to

another

that's

Jesus

Christ

to

him

who

has

been

raised

from

the

dead

it's

possible

because

of the

death

and

resurrection

of

Jesus

Christ

do

you

want

the

power

to

obey

God

do

you

want

the

power

to

do

what's

right

for

the

right

reasons

do

you

want

the

power

to

love

God

and

love

neighbor

if

you're

in

Christ

you

do

and

you

do

because

you

are

married

to

him

not

the

law

and

his

Holy

Spirit

is

at

work

in

you

and

it's

been

given

to

you

because

of

Jesus

death

and

resurrection

and

so

you

can

sing

this

which

is

true

the

power

that

raised

him

from

the

grave

now

works

in

us

to

powerfully

save

he

frees

our

hearts

to

live

his

grace

go

tell

of

his

goodness

let's

pray

our

father

in

heaven

we

thank

you

that

you

come

to

us

not

as

the

law

comes

with

condemnation

with

standards

to

meet

if

we

want

to

be

accepted

no

that

you

tell

us

we're

clean

because

of

the

word

that

you've

spoken

to

us

and

we

ask

that

you

would

be

at

work

in

us

by

the

Holy

Spirit

reminding

us

of

these

truths

that

you

continue

to

turn

our

hearts

of

you

and

follow

you

more

and

more

we

ask

these

things

in

Jesus

name

amen