Epistles (written)

Monday, 10 June 2013

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7

Again, as he has done several times already, Paul asks a rhetorical question to help us think an issue through. This is possibly asked in response to someone who was trying to defend the law as still being in force, even after Christ’s work was accomplished. His question begins with, “What shall we say then?” It is certainly asked as a result of his statement in verse 5 – “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.”

“Ok Paul, if what you said is true and the law arouses these sinful pleasures in us, then ‘is the law sin?’ Is the law insufficient to justify us or allow us to grow in sanctification? Is its design to make those under it worse people than before it was introduced?”

And his answer is the same as it has been five times already to such similar questions, “Certainly not!” If the law is sin, then God, who authored the law, authored sin! The issue is one of misunderstanding where the evil lies. It is in man, not in the law. To show that this is true, he states, “On the contrary…” This demonstrates that the thought which is presented is actually the opposite of what is correct. “The law isn’t sin, the opposite is true. And in support of this, I present that ‘I would not have known sin except through the law.'”

Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. There were, let’s say, 100 types of trees around them. If God has said nothing about the trees, then what they did with the trees wouldn’t matter. If He said, “You can climb any tree you want, but you cannot cut any down,” then that would have been the law. They would sin only if they cut a tree down. But this wasn’t a law that was given and so no sin could result if they did. The law was that they couldn’t eat of a particular tree’s fruit. If he hadn’t given that law, then there would be no sin for eating the fruit. Introducing a just law isn’t sinful. It simply demonstrates what sin is (or will be if the law is broken).

However an unjust law could be the cause of sin. God created Adam and Eve as beings needing food and water. If He told them they were not allowed to eat or drink, then the law would be unjust. How could sin be imputed in this instance? The law would, in fact, cause sin. But this isn’t the case. The law is good, reasonable, and correct. The same is true with the Law of Moses as Paul will now demonstrate when he says, “I would not have known sin except through the law.” This is exactly what was demonstrated concerning Adam and Eve. The law given to them wasn’t sin, but the sin was in them, waiting to be aroused. Paul continues, “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

Although the principle applies to any part of the law, whether of the Ten Commandments, or some other precept found throughout it, Paul chooses the last of the big ten. And, he only cites the basic premise of the commandment, not the entire commandment as was given in Exodus 20. The rest of it mentions things that can be coveted, such as “your neighbor’s house.” His citing of the opening portion is intended to include all coveting, something that wouldn’t be a sin unless we were told that to covet was sinful. Only when coveting is identified as coveting, and that it is wrong, can we know that coveting is sin.

Life application: When God gives a law, it is always just, righteous, and attainable. Nothing that we are asked to do by Him is sinful. Instead, sin is brought about by our knowledge of and failure to obey His law. Therefore, it is imperative to know what God expects and then to adhere to that.

How grateful I am to You, O God, for the work of Jesus who fulfilled the law on my behalf. I know that if I strayed in one part of Your law, that the whole law was broken. The weight of it all was so heavy, but then came Jesus. He did what I could never do and now I am free through Him. Truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light upon me. Thank You for Jesus.  Amen.

Sunday, 9 June 2013

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

“But now”… We are introduced to a contrast from the preceding verse which said – “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.”

The law, which aroused in us sinful passions, is behind us. We “have been delivered from” it. The law should no longer arouse these things because we are dead to it. As it says, “having died.” There is a dispute as to the meaning of “having died.” Is it the law that died to us, or we who died to the law? Some manuscripts imply one and some the other. The answer is that the law is in full effect for those who have not come to Christ. Therefore, those who have received Christ have died to it. We have died with Christ and are raised with Him – free from the law.

The law held us captive and we were slaves to it, but when we died with Christ – as Paul has so precisely detailed in the previous chapters – we were released from its bonds “so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” This theme will be reintroduced by Paul on several occasions in his epistles. The “oldness of the letter” is speaking of that which was written down; the law. It was received on tablets of stone and it bound the people of Israel to sin by showing them their utterly sinful nature. Now that we have died to the law through Jesus (because Jesus fulfilled the law, including His death which was in fulfillment of it) we should serve in newness of the Spirit.

In 2 Corinthians 3:1-18, a detail of the difference between the “letter” and the “Spirit” is given. Paul says there that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” As a real, tangible example of this, it was noted in Exodus at the giving of the law that 3000 who disobeyed received the wages of their sin and died (Exodus 32:28). However, at the giving of the Spirit on Pentecost, 3000 received the gift and were saved (Acts 2:41). This wasn’t an arbitrary pattern, but one set in the pages of the Bible specifically to show the difference – death from the law, or death to the law and life through the Spirit.

We who have called on Jesus now have the Spirit and we may walk in that new state. There is an eternal hope which cannot be taken away and the evidence is our placement in Christ; free from the bondage of the law, and thus free to serve our new Master.

Life application: We have died to the law, so heed the words of Paul from Colossians 2:20-22 –

“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?'”

What the law bound you to is gone. Live for Christ, and do not reintroduce the law to which you have died.

Oh most glorious Heavenly Father! You have given us freedom through Christ. He fulfilled the law which was contrary to us and then He gave His life as our Substitute. Now, we are set free from its bonds. We have died to it through His death and so we can now walk in newness of the Spirit. Because this is so, help our walk to be one which is pleasing to You. Lead us and guide us all our days. Amen.

Saturday, 8 June 2013

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. Romans 7:5

The term “for when” introduces a continuing explanation of the previous verses, particularly verse 4. We have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. This is so that we may be “married to another” – because death nullifies the previous marriage. Now that we are in this state, we are to “bear fruit to God.” This is the thought of verse 4 and now, “For when” is given to show us the contrast in the type of fruit from then and now.

“For when we were in the flesh” must mean when we were under law and prior to our spiritual rebirth. It can mean nothing else based on the context of what has been given. Therefore, “the flesh” is life under the law and its attempts to merit God’s favor apart from Christ. And what was the result? “The sinful passions which were aroused by the law…” How does the law arouse passions? To answer, we head right back to Romans 3:20 –

“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

There is no sin where no law has been given. However, with the giving of the law comes the knowledge of sin. And in violating the law, our members are working in a way which will “bear fruit to death.” As was noted in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.”

1) The law is introduced
2) The knowledge of sin comes through the introduction of the law
3) A violation of the law is an act of the individual which then deserves payment
4) The wages of sin is death
5) Therefore, the fruit of death has been borne through the law

Paul has been consistent in his thoughts as he has progressed through his letter. Each step is working towards a fuller understanding of what it means to be “in Christ” and free from the constraints of the law. Pay heed to what is given and apply it to your life and doctrine. Romans is a foundational letter of what it means to be a Christian.

Life application: Do you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ who is pleasing to God? Then properly apply New Testament doctrine to your walk. In particular, Paul’s epistles show us proper doctrine for the church age. Read them often, think on them always.

Lord God, music is a treat to my ears, but Your word is more wonderful. Honey is a delight to my taste, but Your word is far sweeter. The love of my family is warmth to my heart, but Your word is even more comforting. And Lord, this world is a joy and a blessing to experience, but the anticipation of what Your word promises is even more glorious. How I love Your word! Amen.

Friday, 7 June 2013

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. Romans 7:4

“Therefore…” Because of the contents of verses 1-3, we can now make the necessary connection. He addresses “my brethren.” This is the same as was noted in verse 1. Although this applies to all within the church, he is speaking to those “who know the law.” To clear up any confusion among Jewish believers, and to instruct the gentiles in the church who might otherwise be inclined to listen to wrong assumptions which those Jewish believers might come to and then teach, he gives his concluding analysis of this thought, “you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ.”

He has been speaking about a woman’s connection to a man through the bonds of marriage. When the husband is alive, she is bound to the husband through law. If the husband dies, then her obligation to the husband dies with him. Likewise, when Christ died, who is the embodiment and fulfillment of the law, those under the law “became dead to the law” through His body. How this can be misunderstood is almost beyond imagination. It is as clear as the ink on the paper. And yet, throughout history, people have attempted to “reinsert” the law, or selected portions of it as they pick and choose. Thus they reject Paul’s clear and obvious analogy.

Christ has released us from the law, completely and entirely. It is done. It is over. It is finished. It is set aside. It is obsolete. It is replaced. Can we not comprehend this? Rejecting this premise is a rejection of the work of Christ. He has freed us by justifying us. He has freed us from the law’s penalty. He has removed the curse of the law from touching us again.

The death of the law is clearly noted in Colossians 2:14 – “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Everything that stood against us is nailed to the tree. Why should we somehow desire to remove the nail and reject His cross when He has triumphed over it for us? Instead, we are now “married to another.” If we were “married to” or obligated to the law, which is God’s standard, and the law is dead to us, then let us now be “married to another–to Him who was raised from the dead.” Of course this is Jesus. Only He fulfilled the law. The wages of sin is death; He never sinned; therefore, death couldn’t hold Him. Our marriage to Him is to the One who embodies the law. Our fulfillment of the law is in Him, not in our futile attempts to meet its demands.

Because we are married to Him, let us “bear fruit to God.” How do we do this? By honoring the Son. God is glorified when we call on Him, live for Him, and fulfill His will for our lives. Attempting to be justified by the law that He has fulfilled for us is to reject His work. In essence, it is saying to God, “I don’t need Jesus, I have this one covered on my own.” This isn’t bearing fruit to God; it is dishonoring to Him.

If you see the logical progression of what Paul is writing, he went from speaking of our justification in chapter 5, to our slave-master relationship in chapter 6, and now to our marital status to Christ in chapter 7. All of this is directing us to how we are to interact with God through Christ. We are justified in Christ, we are slaves to Christ, not the law; and we are married to Christ because the law is dead to us.

Life application: Stand firm! Anytime someone tries to reinsert the law – any precept of it, then reject their words. If they say you can’t eat a baloney sandwich or you must tithe, then correct them. If they ask why you don’t have a Saturday Sabbath, then instruct them. In the end, it is all the law or none. Find a precept they don’t adhere to (such as offering animal sacrifices, or wearing clothes sewn with two types of material) and show them the illogical nature of their partial adherence to the law. It is all Christ, or it is no-Christ.

Oh God, how I cherish Your word. In it I find comfort and peace. In its pages I see Your heart for us and Your love for us. But I also see Your righteous and just nature. You demand perfection and then You provide a way for us to obtain it. All of this is revealed in the pages of Your glorious word. Surely it is sweeter to my taste than honey. Thank You for Your word! Amen.

Thursday, 6 June 2013

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. Romans 7:3

“So then if” takes into consideration the previous verse. That a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. However, should he die before she does, then she is no longer bound to him, but if he is alive she remains bound to him…. So then if, while in this state, she marries somebody else, she “will be called” an adulterous.

The Geneva Bible says, “That is, she will be an adulteress, by the consent and judgment of all men.” She not only is “called an adulterous” as if she were somehow being improperly maligned, but she is called it as a matter of fact. She has betrayed her vow to her husband and before God.

However, Paul continues – if her husband dies before she does, then the law which bound her to him dies with him; she is free from the obligation and the vow which made them one. Even though she has a new husband, nobody can mark her as an adulteress. She is free to commit herself to him, wholly and entirely. This example is given to show us a theological truth which will be explained in the verse to come.

Life application: As you are bound to your spouse while they live, live as if they live. Be faithful in your marriage and in your promise which you spoke before your Creator.

Heavenly Father, You have blessed me with my spouse, knowing in advance everything that I would face along this path of my marriage. There are joys, but there are struggles – Oh how there are struggles! But through both joy and trial, You have commanded that I abide as I vowed to do. Because I have vowed with my lips in Your presence, I will perform my vow to the one I wed. Amen.