Freed From The Law

Welcome to another Sunday service my beloved family in Christ. As we gather here today, in this sacred space, we find ourselves on the precipice of a profound illumination. We are about to embark on an understanding of a divine truth that promises to set us free and fill our hearts with a renewed sense of purpose and joy.

[Title; Freed from the Law]

Our directional guide for today's sermon is found in Romans 7:1-6, a passage that beautifully encapsulates the transformation we undergo as followers of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes:

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 7:1-6

This passage, my dear brothers, and sisters, gently guides us towards a deeper understanding of our relationship with the law, our liberation through Christ's sacrifice, and the grace we now bask in as followers of Jesus. It's a message of freedom, of transformation, and of a love so profound that it breaks the chains of law and invites us into a life of grace.

So that we are clear, although Paul was speaking of the old Hebrew laws, this passage has application for us: first to know that the Hebrew laws were nailed to the cross with Jesus; secondly, it pertains to us in the present day regarding the law of sin that limits and constrains us. So, although I will use the word throughout, it is relating to both some of the Hebrew laws we want to hold on to as well as the sin we want to hold on to.

In the words of the great Charles Spurgeon, "The law condemns the best of us; but grace saves the worst of us." Isn't it a beautiful truth? That no matter how entangled we may feel in the law's demands, there is a grace that saves, a love that liberates, and a Savior who invites us into a life of freedom and joy.

Bearing the Burden of the Law

In the realm of the law, we find ourselves bound by its demands and expectations. It's like a heavy yoke upon our shoulders, a burden we carry day in and day out. The law, as Paul points out, has authority over us as long as we live. It's a constant presence, a constant reminder of our shortcomings and failures. It's like a mirror that reflects our imperfections, our inability to meet its standards.

Yet, it's not just about the burden of the law. It's also about the power it holds over us. The law, in its essence, is a set of rules and regulations that govern our actions and behaviors. It dictates what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not. It's a system that, in many ways, controls our lives. It's a system that, in many ways, confines us. As we live today, we see how society is working to change the laws so that sin becomes the good, while living a life for Christ becomes the bad.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

But the law, as Paul reminds us, also arouses sinful passions within us. It's a catalyst for our sinful nature, a trigger for our inherent tendency to rebel and resist. It's a paradox of sorts - the very thing that is meant to guide us and keep us on the right path often leads us astray. It's a struggle, a battle within us, a war between our flesh and our spirit.