How do the flesh and Spirit affect our lives and our relationship to the law? Is the law pictured as the husband of the soul in a similar manner as a man is to his wife?
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? 2 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. (Romans 7:1-2 ESV)
When did the law and its covenant cease?
The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. (Luke 16:16 ESV)
Jesus, the lawgiver, died on the cross. So is the time from John to the crucifixion a transition period for the people of God? When is someone free to remarry?
So then, if she gives herself to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she gives herself to another man, she is not an adulteress. (Romans 7:3 HCSB)
Though Moses allowed divorce for many reasons, did Jesus?
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (Matthew 19:9 KJV)
Because of Christ’s death on the cross, is the church now free from the old covenant to marry Christ? In Christ have we also died to the old marriage covenant? Does that free us to also be fruitful?
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4 NIV)
Who will the Lamb marry? Does His Bride do righteous deeds?
“...Let’s rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let’s give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:7-8 WEB)
Did the law cause or expose sin? Does a clearer translation help?
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. (Romans 7:5 NASB)
Is there a moral spirit of the law that remains, like the two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) and the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23)?
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 7:6 NKJV)
Was the law wrong?
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7 ESV)
Did sin rebel even more against the law? Did sin bring death? Is the law good or bad?
But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. (Romans 7:8-12 NLT)
Did our sins bring death? Did the law expose our sins?
Am I saying something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is. (Romans 7:13 CEV)
Why?
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. (Romans 7:14 HCSB)
Was Paul humble and open about his flesh apart from the Spirit? Do we all have the same struggles with our flesh? Is Paul speaking in the past or present tense?
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. (Romans 7:15-20 NKJV)
Are struggles with the flesh still there after conversion? Was Paul generally a good example (1 Corinthians 11:1 CEB), practicing righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:3-7) but acknowledged our common battle with the flesh? Do we trust someone this honest more than someone who pretends that they are so perfect? Are we saved by fellow imperfect church leaders or a perfect Savior?
So I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, 23 but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. 24 I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse? (Romans 7:21-24 CEB)
Is there an answer to our flesh?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (Romans 7:25 NLT)
Are we condemned because of the weakness of the flesh? What frees us from the flesh?
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 NKJV)
We are all far from perfect. Church history is a mixture of sometimes terrible abuses and good works and Good News. An indigenous preacher once said that though immigrants had caused native peoples great suffering, they also brought the Gospel with them, and for that he was very grateful. Are we also grateful for the Good News brought by a church that sometimes behaves very badly? You decide!
