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? 2 For the married woman is bound by law
to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is
released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while
her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the
law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to
another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to
the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to
another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we
might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the
sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the
members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been
released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound,
so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the
letter.

Not a List of Rules, but a Person

What we saw from verse 5, the last time we were together, was
that when the Law meets the flesh it becomes in the hands of the
flesh the instrument of defeating its own demands. Let's read that
verse again and get that truth before us. Verse 5: "For while we
were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the
Law [or literally: "the passions of sins through the
law"], were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit
for death." So sin took God's "holy, just and good" law (Romans
7:12) and made it an instrument of fruit unto death.

We argued that the reason this happens is that the essence of
sin – or the essence of the flesh – is
self-deification. We prefer being our own god. We do not like to be
told what to do. We are not just lawbreakers; we are law-haters. We
love autonomy and hate submission. This is what we are by nature
ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, who preferred their own wisdom
to God's. So when the "law of commandments" (Ephesians 2:15) comes
to us in our flesh (without the Holy Spirit and without faith) it
produces not the fruit of love – which Paul teaches is the
fulfilling of the whole law (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14) –
but fruit for death (Romans 7:5).

Therefore, Paul argues, if we are going to bear fruit for God
(verse 4) – if we are going to be transformed, Christ-like
persons – we must die to the law. Not just have stronger
willpower to obey it better, but die to it. Verse 4: "Therefore, my
brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the
body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who
was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for
God."

So the key to living the Christian life – the key to
bearing fruit for God – the key to a Christ-exalting life of
love and sacrifice – is to die to the law and be joined
not to a list of rules, but to a Person, to the
risen Christ. The pathway to love is the path of a personal,
Spirit-dependent, all-satisfying relationship with the risen
Christ, not the resolve to keep the commandments.

Freed from Sin, Dead to the Law

Now let me illustrate this way of life – this new,
non-law-oriented way of holiness and love – by comparing
Romans 7:4 and Romans 6:22. The parallels are very illuminating.
Romans 6:22 says, "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved
to God, you derive your benefit [literally: "you have your fruit"],
resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life." Now
let's compare this with Romans 7:4.

Corresponding to "having been freed from sin" in 6:22 is "you
also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ" in
7:4.

Corresponding to "and [you were] enslaved to God" in 6:22 is "so
that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the
dead" in 7:4.

Corresponding to "you derive your benefit [literally: "you have
your fruit"], resulting in sanctification" in 6:22, is "in order
that we might bear fruit for God" in 7:4.

· Freed from sin – dead to the law.

· Enslaved to God – belong to Christ.

· Bear fruit unto holiness – bear fruit for
God.

Why do I think "freed from sin" in 6:22 corresponds to "dead to
the law" in 7:4? Because in 7:5 it is "through the law" that sin
worked in our members to bear fruit for death. "The sinful
passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the
members of our body to bear fruit for death." In other words, law
and sin are partners to ruin our lives. If we are going to be free
from sin (6:22), we must be free from law (7:4). If we are going to
die to sin, we must die to law.

But Isn't God's Law Good?

How can I say that about God's good and holy law? I say it
because Paul says it. He not only says it here in verse 5; he also
says it in 1 Corinthians 15:56, "The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law." The power of sin is the law. That is true
of the Law's ability to condemn (Romans 3:19-20), and it is true of
the Law's ability to hold in practical bondage (Romans 7:5). Law
and sin are partners in ruining life and killing people.

I say this also because Paul said it in Galatians 3:22-23, "But
the Scripture [and the context makes it plain that he means "the
law"] has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before
faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to
the faith which was later to be revealed." In other words, God gave
the holy, just, and good law to have a temporary imprisoning
effect. It imprisons to sin. It "increases the transgression"
(Romans 5:20; see Galatians 3:19) and causes sin to become "utterly
sinful" (7:13).

So here's the crucial point: Freedom from sin into a life of
fruit-bearing for God does not come through the law, it comes by
dying to the law and its partner sin, so that you can belong to
another – not to sin [the first husband in Romans 7:1-3], but
to a new living, powerful Person, Jesus Christ, the risen
Son of God, or to God the Father, as 6:22 says;
or to the Spirit of God, as Romans 8:9 says. Whether it is
the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit – the key to the
fruit-bearing Christian life is not the written law, it is the
living God defining us, shaping us, guiding us, satisfying us.

And Isn't Our Aim Love, the Fulfillment of the Law?

Now let's try to get as practical as we can here to see if we
understand what this really means for our daily lives. And here's
the test to see if we understand: Why is it that we must die to the
law if our aim is the fruit of love, and love is the fulfillment of
the law? If the law is summed up in love, and love is the fruit God
wants, then why must we die to the law? Romans 13:8, 10: "Owe
nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his
neighbor has fulfilled the law. . . . Love does no wrong to a
neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Galatians
5:14 says, "The whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the
statement, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'" So why die
to the very thing you want to fulfill?

Because God has ordained that the goal of the law be
fulfilled in us through Christ-loving, not law-keeping.

Let try to say it with a picture. And I will tell you at the
outset that the picture has a truth in it and a falsehood in it.
I'll use it for the truth and then I will scrap it because of the
error.

Suppose the law is like a house with a front door and a back
door. And in the house is the treasure of love, the fulfillment of
the law. We want to be there. We want to become radical, loving,
sacrificial, Christlike people. On the locked front door are
written the laws for getting into the house. They are the
combination to the great padlock on the door. Right turn, don't
kill; left turn, don't steal; right turn, don't lie; left turn,
don't commit adultery; right turn, don't covet; and so on.

Paul says, if you want to get into that house – if you
want the treasure of love – you must die to the front door as
a way in. And when you die to the law as the door to the house, you
are joined to Christ who picks you up, takes you to the back door
and carries you in. He alone has the power to do it. You can only
get in by trusting him and riding in him. You must be united to him
if you would get into the treasure of love. In him and by him you
bear the fruit of love and fulfil the law.

In other words, to fulfill the law you must die to lawkeeping as
a way in, and replace it with Christ-loving. Attachment to the
living Christ, not the written law, is the key to life and love.
That is the truth in the picture: If you want to fulfill the law,
you don't approach it through the front door of lawkeeping, but
through the back door of Christ-loving.

Now what's wrong with this picture?

The Law Is the Servant
of Christ

What's wrong with it is that it puts the law at the center and
makes Christ the servant of the law, instead of putting Christ at
the center and making the law a servant of Christ. Or to say it
another way, it makes the law the goal of our being in Christ,
instead of making our being in Christ the goal of the law. The
danger is that what we may want is to get into this house of law;
and to that end Christ becomes useful as a key, a doorkeeper.

Oh how easy for us to come so close to getting the Christian
life right (the newness of the Spirit – Christ! –
instead of the oldness of the letter – law!) and then fall
right back into the old legal way of living by making Christ a new
list-giver and a new means of finally getting the old list "right."
And so we wind up going from room to room in the house turning all
the combinations that we got from Christ. And we think that is the
aim of the Christian life.

I don't think this what Paul means when he says in Romans 7:4
that we "die to the law so that we can belong to another, to Him
who has been raised from the dead," Jesus Christ. He didn't mean:
Die to the law so that you can belong to the one who can really
help you to belong to the law. He was saying: The law is not the
goal of history; Christ is the goal of history. The law is not the
goal of your life; Christ is the goal of your life. Christ did not
come into history to lead us to the law; the law came into history
to lead us to Christ. The law is not the goal of Christ; Christ is
the goal of the law. Marriage is not for the sake of wedding vows;
wedding vows are for the sake of marriage.

What Do Christians Do with the Law of God?

What then shall we, as Christians, do with the holy, just and
good law of God? Answer: we will look into this law for two
purposes. 1) We will look into the law to see Christ so that we can
know him and trust him and love him more. 2) We will look into this
law to test ourselves to see if we do know and trust and love
Christ as we ought. God's law reveals Christ in many ways, and we
may use it to know him and stir up our love for him. And the law is
a litmus paper to test the genuineness of our love to Christ.
Christ is the key to unlocking the meaning of the law; and then the
law displays Christ for our heart's satisfaction – and
transformation (see John 5:39; Luke 24:27).

Let me illustrate this by taking you to 2 Corinthians 3. Notice
first that the issue of living by law or living by the Spirit is
what is at stake here. Verse 6: "[God] made us adequate servants of
a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter
kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Now having said that, he describes the old covenant – the
Law of Moses – as having come with great glory on Mount
Sinai. Then he says that Moses' face shone with a reflection of
this glory when he came to the people, and he put a veil on so that
the people would not see this glory as it faded away. And then he
treats this veil as a symbol of how the true glory and goal of the
old covenant was concealed from most of Israel. Then, starting in
verse 2 Corinthians 3:14-17 he relates this to Christ:

But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the
reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because
it is removed in Christ. [Seeing the goal and glory of the old
covenant happens in Christ.] But to this day whenever Moses is
read, a veil lies over their heart; But whenever a person turns to
the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, thereis liberty.

This is what happens to us Christians in the fulfillment of the
new covenant: the veil that concealed the glory and goal of the law
is removed, and we see what it was all about. And in seeing that,
we experience its rightful aim. What is that? Verse 18: "But we
all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord [the goal and glory of the old covenant!], are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from
the Lord, the Spirit."

What we see when the veil is lifted is the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ: "We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord." This is the way to look at the law –
in order to see Christ. We have died to the law as a means of
lawkeeping that the veil might be lifted and we might use the law
as a means of Christ-seeing and Christ-loving.

And what happens when we do? How does the Christian life work to
produce love, if we have died to lawkeeping and turned to
Christ-seeing? "Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
[we] are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit." This is the Christian life. A
life of seeing and savoring Jesus Christ and being changed by that
sight and that savoring from one degree of glory to the next into
his image.

Therefore, for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of your own
soul: give yourself utterly to knowing Christ and to trusting
Christ and to loving Christ and you will be changed from one degree
to the next into the image of Christ. You will bear fruit for God,
not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the
Spirit.