Thank God We Are Free At Last! Series

“Thank God, We’re Free At Last!”

Text—Romans 7

Read Romans 7:1-6

Introduction.

Sally was married to Bill for many years. Then one evening, Bill had a heart attack and he died. Several years later Sally married a man named Jack. Jack was, in many ways, different from Bill.

Bill, when he was alive, didn’t like eating breakfast. He would just come down the stairs in the morning and grab a cup of coffee on his way out. But Sally’s new husband, Jack, likes to start his day off with a big country breakfast.

There was another difference between Bill and Jack. Bill never really cared about the house and whether or not it was clean and straightened up. But Jack was different—he liked and expected a clean house. After Jack and Sally had been married for a year, Jack was beginning to get aggravated about these things.

He came down the stairs one morning hoping to find things different—but the house was a mess. He went into the kitchen hoping to smell bacon and eggs cooking on the stove; but, he only found a cold cup of coffee.

When Jack voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation, Sally replied, “Well, that’s the way Bill liked things.”

Then Jack said, “Sally, Bill is dead. You are my wife now. You have to stop living like you are still married to Bill.”

Dead To The Law and Freedom From The Law.

In chapter 7 of the book of Romans, Paul begins once again with a question for the Christians at Rome.

Romans 7:1

---1---“…or 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?”

In chapter 7, Paul is teaching the Jewish Christians another important lesson. We know this is who he was talking to, because in Romans 1:7, he addresses the letter to “all those in Rome called to be saints”. And now in Chapter 7, verse 1, he says, “…I am speaking to men who know the Law…”. The Jewish Christians knew the Law of Moses.

Another of the guiding principles in this chapter is the idea that the Law only has jurisdiction, or authority, over a person as long as that person is alive. In order to understand this concept of “freedom from the Law”, let me use the following illustration.

· A man does something he should not do—he gets drunk and decides to drive his car down the road.

· He has a terrible accident and is killed.

· A police officer arrives on the scene and assesses the situation. He finds the man dead in the car as a result of the accident.

· The officer does not write the deceased drunken driver a ticket for breaking the law.

· Why not? Because the law has no authority over him anymore—he is dead.

Now, Paul continues with these thoughts of the Law and being dead; and he, being dead to the Law. He illustrates the thought—that we’re only under the authority of the Law as long as the Law is alive—with an analogy from a marriage. We might say that Paul states the principle first and now, in verses 2 and 3, he draws the parallel.

Paul uses the illustration of marriage; but, I don’t think he does it to teach something new about marriage, divorce, or remarriage. No, his analogy is to teach on being free from the Law.

The point being made here is that, when a woman is married, the law concerning that marriage is in effect while both partners are alive. We state in our wedding vows, “…till death do us part”. But, when one partner in that marriage dies, the law concerning that marriage is null and void.

However, if a woman goes out and lives with another man while the law of the marriage still applies, she is then called an adulteress.

What Was The Purpose Of The Law?

The Bible says that the Law was added because of transgression. It revealed sin and the Law condemned failure. The people who lived under the Law were never rewarded for doing right—because they could never keep it right enough. The Law condemned those who disobeyed it!

To understand this concept, we should look at our traffic laws as an example. Our traffic law is a type of law, which will help explain the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was the law of the Jews when they were married to it.

In traffic, as long as we drive the right speed, as long as we obey all the traffic laws; everything goes well and nothing happens. Nobody mails us a nice blue ribbon for great driving. They don’t send a certificate that says, “Congratulations! No laws broken on October 13, 2002.”