Life Through Jesus
07/03/2016
Scripture: Romans 7:1-6
Series: A Second Marriage (1/3)
By: Colin Smith
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.
Romans 7:1-2
One of the responsibilities of a pastor is to make sure that the people of God have a balanced
diet. There are five basic food groups: Fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. Each of
these contributes in a distinctive way to your health. A balanced diet is one in which you absorb,
in proper proportion, the unique value of each food group.
What is true of the body is also true of the soul. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4). Our diet is the Word of
God, but the Word has different parts, just as there are different food groups. Our spiritual health
depends on us taking in the unique value of God’s Word in all of its different parts.
Earlier this year, we did a series on contentment. That series was on Christian character and its
focus was on what Christians experience. Today we begin a new series on Christian doctrine.
Its focus is on what Christians believe, and especially, what Christians believe about law, grace
and the Christian life.
I invite you to turn with me to Romans 7. We will read the whole of this chapter in the three
weeks that we have together, but our focus will be especially on the first 6 verses.
Three Aims
Now a good place to begin in a new series is always to set out some objectives, and I have three
aims in mind for these weeks.
1. To better grasp the doctrine of our union with Christ
(which is central to the whole Christian life).
We will look today at Romans 7:4, where we have this wonderful statement that we “belong …
to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” Question:
How can I bear fruit for God? Answer: Through union with Jesus Christ – by belonging to him.
2. To better understand why Christianity is more than
a sustained effort to live a moral life.
There is a vast difference between true Christianity and a sustained effort to live a moral life.
Could you clearly explain that difference? Many people don’t know that there is a difference at
all. They have the idea that to be a Christian is that you commit yourself to pursue a good and
moral life.
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But an atheist can make a sustained effort to live a moral life. You don’t need Jesus Christ to do
that. Christians are committed to a moral life, for sure, but there is nothing uniquely Christian
about that. If all you have is a sustained effort to live a moral life, then you have not yet
discovered the joy, the life, the love, the power, and the peace that Jesus Christ is able to bring
into your life.
3. To taste and savor the freedom and joy of an authentic Christian life.
Romans 7 is one of the most important and also one of the least understood chapters in the Bible.
Growing up, I heard teaching that said, “You have to get out of Romans 7 and into Romans 8,”
and I mention that because some of you may have heard this too. And if you have, you may be
thinking, “What in the world are we doing in Romans7?”
We are going to taste and savor the freedom and joy of an authentic Christian life right here in
Romans chapter 7. This is the chapter in which Paul says, “Who will deliver me from this body
of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25).
If you feel discouraged or depressed after reading Romans 7, it is because you simply have not
understood it. But if you find in Romans 7 a fresh joy in Jesus Christ, and a new energy for
serving him, you have grasped what this chapter is all about.
Paul’s Illustration from Marriage
So I hope that you will have your mind, your heart, and your Bible open at Romans 7. The title
for this series, A Second Marriage comes from the analogy or illustration that Paul uses here in
these first 6 verses.
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 (Rom. 7:1-2).
Paul is using an illustration. Any illustration has its limitations and if an illustration is pressed
too far it becomes confusing. But a good illustration is a like a window that brings light to our
understanding.
The point that Paul is seeking to illustrate is in verse 1: “The law is binding on a person only as
long as he lives.” Think of your relationship to the law as being like a marriage. So for the
purpose of illustration, Paul is speaking of the law as if it was a person. So I am going to give
this person a name. I am going to call him or her ‘Nomos’ which is the Greek word for ‘law.’
What is it like to be married to Nomos (or as Paul says, “bound by law”)? The law makes
endless demands. Nomos is never satisfied. However hard you try, you can never live up to the
expectations of the law. So if you are married to Nomos, you do not have a happy marriage.
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Think about what this is like. You can never get to the place where the law is pleased with you.
Even when you have done your best, Nomos will always find something more for you to do. To
be bound to the law is worse than an unhappy marriage. To be bound to the law is like being
stuck in an abusive relationship.
The Law in Pilgrim’s Progress
John Bunyan gets at this in his marvelous book Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory of the Christian
life, in which a man called Christian leaves his home in the city of Destruction and makes his
way to a new home in the Celestial City. At one point in his journey, Christian meets another
believer whose name is Faithful and the two of them talk about their battles with temptation.
Faithful tells Christian about how he came to the home of an old man called ‘Adam the first,’
who lived in a town called Deceit. He lived in a luxurious home and he had three daughters.
He said that if Faithful would come and work for him, he could marry any of the daughters, or he
could marry all three if he wanted to! More than that, he would inherit the house and everything
else that belonged to Adam the first.
Faithful says, “At first I was inclined to accept his offer. But then the thought came to me that
this old man wanted me for his slave.” So faithful said ‘no’ to what at first had attracted him.
Then the old man became angry and turned on him. He said that he would send someone after
Faithful who would “make his life miserable.”
When Faithful left the town of Deceit, sure enough someone came running after him. And when
this man caught up with Faithful, he took a swipe at him – right in the stomach, doubling him up.
When Faithful caught his breath, he looked up at the man and said, “Why did you do that?”
The man said, “Your first inclination was to go with Adam the first.” Then he hit faithful again,
and knocked him to the ground. Faithful realized that he was in trouble and begged for mercy.
But the man said, “The law knows no mercy,” and he kicked him while he was still down on the
ground.
At this point, Faithful knew that he was in trouble. He told Christian, he felt sure this man would
kill him. But then a second man appeared, ordered the first man to stop, and he did.
Christian said to Faithful, “Do you know who that second man was?”
“No” said Faithful, “But when he passed by, I saw that he had scars in his hands and his feet.”
Then Christian said, “Do you know who the first man was – the man who was beating you up?
His name is Moses. The law spares no-one and it shows no mercy.” 1
That’s a story that every Christian can relate to. The inclination to sin is within us all, and even
if by God’s grace we say ‘no’ to temptation, as Faithful did, the law sneaks up on you and
condemns you. It beats up on you because, even if you resisted a particular temptation, in your
heart you were drawn to it, and your first inclination was towards it.
1
Adapted and retold from John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress in Today’s English, p.70-72, Moody Publishers, 1971.
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The law is always beating up on us, and if it was not for the Man with the scars in his hands and
in his feet, the law would surely leave us for dead. So the person who is bound to the law, or to
use Paul’s illustration, married to Nomos, is in a really bad place.
To be married to Nomos, would mean living with someone who makes constant demands, is
impossible to please, and often beats up on you. So, as long as you are married to Nomos, you
can never be at peace and you can never rest.
Til death do us part
How long will you be bound to Nomos? How long will this miserable marriage last? “The law
is binding on a person only as long as he lives” (Rom. 7:1)! This marriage is ‘til death do us
part.’ There is no getting out of your obligation to the law of God. For as long as you live, you
are bound to all the requirements and all the demands of the law of God.
There is no way that you can divorce Nomos. The only way that this marriage ever ends is
through death, and Nomos is never going to die. Nomos was there long before you were born,
and Nomos will last long after you are gone. The law will never pass away.
Christian, you are no longer bound to the law
There is only one way out of this miserable marriage – that you should die. And that is where
we come to the marvelous words of Romans 7:4. “Likewise my brothers…” So here the
Apostle is talking to Christian believers, and he is telling us what we need to know about
ourselves. “…you also have died to the law.”
You are no longer bound to the law. You are no longer locked into this abusive relationship.
You are no longer married to Nomos. And the reason is not that the law has died. Jesus said:
The commandments of God stand forever – not one dot of an ‘i’ or cross of a ‘t’ will ever pass
from them (Mat. 5:17-18). The reason you are not bound to the law is not that the law has died,
it is that you have died.
Union with Christ
Now how can that be? “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body
of Christ.” Here we come to this marvelous truth of the believer’s union with Christ – that we
are made one with him in his death and resurrection. Paul says, “I have been crucified with
Christ” (Gal. 2:20).
When Jesus died, all who are made one with him through the bond of faith died with him: We
died to sin (Romans 6) and we died to the law (Romans 7). When Jesus rose, all who are made
one with him through the bond of faith rose with him! We rose to new life in the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Jesus died, so that through his death we might also die, and so be released from this miserable
marriage to Nomos, from which our death was the only way out. If it had not been for the man
with scars on his hands and his feet, Nomos would have been the end of us.
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But God’s purpose in delivering you from that miserable marriage to Nomos is to bring you into
a second marriage – a new and very wonderful union with Jesus Christ: “You… 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” (Rom. 7:4).
God’s purpose in delivering you from that miserable marriage to Nomos is that you should enter
a second marriage – a new and wonderful union with Jesus Christ: “That you may belong to
another, to him who has been raised from the dead.”
A sustained effort to live a moral life
Do you see the difference between being a Christian and a sustained effort to live a moral life?
A sustained effort to live a moral life, by definition, is a sustained attempt to please Nomos. And
however hard you try you’re never going to succeed. Nomos is never satisfied!
To be a Christian is to be delivered from that miserable marriage and to be brought into a new
and entirely different relationship with a Savior who loves you.
Karen and I are close to someone who made a bad choice and found herself in an abusive
relationship. It was a miserable marriage and it lasted for some years. Then finally the marriage
ended, and when it did, we were all relieved.
But then something else happened. She met and married a man who really loved her, and since
then her whole life has been different. There is a light and a joy and a peace and a contentment
about her. She is a different person, and she is living a completely different life.
That’s the illustration that Paul is using here, and it gets to the heart of what it means to be a
Christian.
All that has happened to us is because of all that happened to him
All that has happened to us – being forgiven, dying to sin, getting free from that miserable
marriage to Nomos – how did these things happen to us? They happened to us because of what
happened to him. Christ died and we died in him: “You also have died to the law through the
body of Christ” (Rom. 7:4).
What else has happened to us? We have new life in Christ. We have the presence and power of
the Holy Spirit with us always. We have new hope, we have a future of unclouded joy in the
presence of God – how did these things happen to us? They happened to us because of what
happened to him. Christ rose and we have been raised to new life with him.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it well, “We are not saved by teaching, we are not saved by ideas:
We are saved by the fact that the eternal Son of God came into this world… was born of the
Virgin Mary, died upon a cross, was buried in a grave, conquered death… and ascended unto
God, and is seated now at God’s right hand.” 2
2
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Romans: Exposition of Chapter 7:1-8:4, p. 41, Banner of Truth Trust, 1973.
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All that has happened to us is because of all that happened to him. It all becomes ours through
this marvelous union with Christ. Paul says it is like a new, wonderful second marriage.
The fruit of this union with Christ
“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” (Rom. 7:4).
Here is a strange thought for those who are parents. If you had a different spouse, you would
have had different children. Remember, Paul is using an illustration and we must not press this
too far, but the general point is clear. The law brings out the worst in us. We will look at this
more fully next week, but marriage to Nomos never produces good fruit.
If you’re married to Nomos, you might comply for the sake of peace, but you will not love
Nomos, and Nomos cannot love you. Listen to what Paul says, “You have died to the law, so
that you may belong to Christ who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit
for God” (Rom. 7:4).
The good fruit of a life that is pleasing to God does not come from a sustained attempt at living a
moral life. It comes from union with Jesus Christ who died and rose. It comes from the life of
Jesus Christ in you.
What Do You Know About This in Your Life?
Today we are all invited to the Lord’s Table. There may be some of us who feel that we should
not take the bread and the wine because we are not really fit to come. You know your own sin
and you feel condemned.
But the voice that condemns you is the voice of Nomos. Here’s what you need to know: When
you are in Christ you are no longer bound to Nomos. The man with the scars in his hands and
his feet tells Nomos to stop! “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)!
This Jesus, the Son of God, offers himself, and is ready to give himself to all of us who will
receive him today. 2,000 years ago, on the cross, Jesus was asked the question, “Will you take
sinners and be their Savior.” And in the agony of his death, he said, “I will!”
I have the privilege of saying to each and every one of us today, “Will you take Jesus Christ?
Will you forsake all others and keep only to him as long as you shall live? Will you bind
yourself to him in the bond of a living union through faith in the Son of God who loved you and
gave himself for you?”
If you will have Christ, then your sins, though they be many, will be forgiven. If you will have
Christ, you will be released from the oppression and condemnation of that miserable marriage to
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Nomos. If you will have Christ, you will be brought into the freedom and joy of this new and
second marriage in which, by his Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ lives in you.
© Colin S. Smith
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