Dead to the Law—alive to Christ [By Servant7]

Dead to the Law—alive to Christ [By Servant7] 

”Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.“

Romans 7:1-4 KJV

 

What does Paul mean? What does it mean to be “dead to the law” Before we explore Paul’s  husband-wife analogy, let’s understand this central thing, Paul did not write: “the law has become dead to us” No, he wrote “we have become dead to the law” the one who dies is not the law, but the believer. To use a modern example, imagine a family member tells you “you’re dead to me!” What are they saying? they’re saying as far as they are concerned you are already dead, they don’t regard you anymore, they have nothing to do with you—your relationship has been severed, in the same way, through the death of Christ we become “dead to the law” our first relationship with the law has been severed.

 

To understand this further, let’s explore Paul’s analogy,

 

”Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?“

Romans 7:1 KJV

 

Paul’s words carry over from the previous chapter,

 

”What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“

Romans 6:1-23 KJV

 

As sinners we are “under sin” meaning we are all—“under the law” as a prisoners awaiting judgment for our crimes (Romans 3:19-20, but Christ has died for us—meaning in Him “the body of sin has been destroyed” “the old man  is crucified with Him” the guilt we accumulated through sin has been removed by Christ, we are forgiven, pardoned and declared righteous before God through faith, so we are no longer under the dominion of sin, meaning we are also no longer under the dominion of the law—its job is to condemn sinners, we are forgiven, and in the eyes of God no longer sinners, “the old man” who broke God’s law is already dead—meaning the law has no one to condemn! 

 

”For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.“

Romans 7:2-3 KJV

 

The Law binds the married couple together, the wife cannot marry another until her husband is dead, in the same way, we could not marry Christ while the old man was alive, the body of sin, we were in a terrible marriage union with sin—it’s servants of unrighteousness, we could not serve two masters simultaneously, the law would continue to count us as transgressors deserving eternal judgment.

 

”Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.“

Romans 7:4 KJV

 

Once we have died in Christ (that is, the old man, the body of sin) we are free to marry another—the Man Jesus Christ, because the law no longer holds us under its condemning power over us.

 

”For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.“

Romans 7:5-6 KJV

 

In our first relationship with the law we could not bring forth fruit, our destiny was set, judgment, destruction, guilt and shame, but we have been delivered from the law—that is, we have been acquitted, delivered from from it’s condemnation and judgement, we have a new relationship with the law in Christ, not as prisoners awaiting execution, but sons of God who willfully walk in harmony with their Father’s will because they love Him. Paul goes unto elaborate on this in verses 7-25 and Chapter 8.

 

In sum:

 

”There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh 

—[Justification]: 

that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”

—[Sanctification]

Romans 8:1-13 KJV