WE BELONG TO CHRIST

Romans 7:1-13 / Keywords 7:4

So, my brothers, 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 to God.

 

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7:1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 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. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a] the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law and Sin

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b] 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

Footnotes

a. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

b. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21

1. When a man and a woman marry, the law that binds their marriage together is in place as long as the two are alive. But if one of the spouses dies, the law of marriage no longer applies. That means they can remarry without being guilty of adultery. It frees the surviving spouse from the law. In the same way, when we are united with Jesus Christ, we die to the law, just as Jesus himself died. Because we died with Christ, we no longer belong to the law. We belong to Christ himself, who was raised from the dead. In this way, we can bear fruit for God. What kind of fruit do we bear? The fruit of faith in Jesus, who died so that we ourselves would die to sin.

 

2. What, then, about the law? If the law just arouses our sinful passions, does that mean the law is sinful? Not at all! Actually, the law is holy, righteous, and good! Paul explains that before the law said that coveting was sinful, he didn’t think much about it. But as soon as the law declared coveting a sin, his sinful nature went to work and produced all kinds of covetous desires in him. So, the very law that was meant to save him brought about sinful desires and thus death. The law, then, makes our sin known, and then we know we need the gospel.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for the gospel which put to death my sin, that I may live a new life, bearing fruit to you.

One Word Died to the law, living for Christ