We turn to another chapter in Romans today, to chapter 7. And as you probably know, the chapter divisions were not inspired by God. They were put in later for our help, and they are a help, I believe. But just because there's a new chapter doesn't mean there's a new theme, and we find that to be the case today. But let's read now verses one through six. I'll read it, and you can follow along or listen. Beginning in verse one. Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she's released from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she's free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 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. This is the word of the living God. May he write it on our hearts. May he change our lives and direct our steps by it. Let's pray. I thank you, Lord, for this passage of your eternal word. Father, this word, your word tells us that the word of God is powerful. So may it come in power today in spite of the weakness of the one who preaches the word today may the Holy Spirit speak Lord and may we have ears to hear in Jesus name amen. So in Romans 7 Paul is still addressing this issue of sanctification, that is, how we grow in holiness, how we grow in likeness to Jesus Christ. And in chapter 7, in particular, he gets into more detail about the relationship of the believer to the law, to the law of God. And he explains that for the believer, Our relationship to the law has changed significantly. And we are now dominated by a new relationship. We were under the law, but now we're under grace. And the new relationship is to the risen Christ. Easter is almost here, and Paul brings out the idea of the relationship that we have to the risen Christ this morning. Our God, our Savior, is alive. He is not dead. Now, he did die, and that's very, very important. We used to be slaves to God. That was the focus of Romans 6, but now we used to be slaves to sin, sorry, and now we are slaves to the Lord. So now we have this relationship with Christ and Paul changes the analogy. to that of marriage. And we might say, well, that's a better illustration. But every illustration that is inspired by God in scripture is good. We can't say that one is better than the other. But we might like the idea of being married to Christ. And while it's true that we're slaves to God, our relationship to God is much more than that. It's much more than just being a slave to him. So we are married to Christ now, and we used to be married to our sin, for sure, but we were married, we were under the law. And so Paul explains how this came about and what we can expect from this new relationship that we have with Jesus. He's going back, really, to Romans 6, 14 to 15, where he says, sin shall not have dominion over you. You're not under law, but under grace. Well, how did we get out from under law and get under grace? That's the first point. And then why? Why did God take us out from under the law and place us under Christ and His grace? Well, to the first point, how were we released from the law of God? Well, he says it's by death. It's by a kind of death that we were released from the law. Verse one, do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. Well, this is general knowledge. Everybody, most everybody understands that earthly laws have jurisdiction over us only as long as we live. Once we die, there's nothing the law can do. To us, death releases us from all our obligations. Maybe our heirs will have some obligations, but ours, regarding the law, are done. We can't be bound by the law or punished by the law when we're dead. Death is the ultimate punishment. The law can bring. There's nothing more the law can do. So if we're dead, our relationship to the law is dead. It's over. In the Old Testament, Job was speaking about the state of death. He said, the small and the great are there. Everyone has to go there. And the slave, he says, in death, the slave is free from his master. And not only that, a wife, As the illustration goes, as Paul uses this analogy, a wife then is free from her husband if he dies. And before that, a husband and wife are bound to each other by law, by God's law, and by the law of the state. The moment her husband dies, she's released from him. When he dies, she's free to marry another man, and she will not commit a sin by doing so. But if a woman walks out on her husband in the middle of their marriage and decides to go and marry, be with someone else, you'll be called an adulteress, Paul says. Well, his purpose here is not to teach about divorce or marriage or remarriage. That's not the point. The point he's Making here is how it is that we were released from the law verse 3 If her husband dies she is free from that law so that she is no adulterous Though she is married another man again. This is something we take for granted almost we understand it we accept that and So what is this point? Verse four, therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. So in this analogy, the law was our husband. before we came to Christ. Now, the interesting thing is, and commentators get in a mess about all this, he doesn't say that the law died. You know, the husband here is the law and the law didn't die. It's we who died to the law. Well, the effect is the same. And so I don't, to me, it's not a big deal. The effect is the same. The law is dead to us because we have died to it. And this is, Paul remaining consistent with what he's taught us in chapter 6 that the believer has died In Christ, how is it that we became dead to the law? It says through the body of Christ that is through his death Through his dying in our place through his body being crucified Jesus died and his death for him ended his relationship with sin. Jesus had no sin until sin was placed on him on the cross. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. But once Jesus was raised from the dead, then his relationship to sin was over. It was a very short relationship. On the cross, and three days in the grave, he was under the power of death, and then he rose again, and it's over. But not only that, his death ended, for us who believe, his death ended our old relationship with the law. Because he paid the law's penalty. He fulfilled its demands on our behalf. So when you trusted in Christ as your Savior and Lord, then his death became yours. And you died to sin. You died to the law. You too. In essence, in a certain sense, we're done with sin. Since you died with Christ, you are released from the law's hold on your life, previous hold. The law, you might say, was a husband and a very bad husband, a very bad husband. The law was unforgiving, very demanding. The law's husband was unbearable to live with because the law expected perfection, perfection. And the law only condemned you as a sinner, did nothing to help you to do anything about that fact. The law, in fact, made you miserable, guilty, and even angry at times. Verse 5, he says, when you were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members. Think about this. When you were in the flesh, before you came to know Jesus Christ, when the law came around, when you heard the law, that only stirred up your sinful desires even more. And so if your old husband, the law, would have only left you alone, you might have tolerated that relationship. But the law would never be quiet. Every time the law came around as your husband He said, don't do this, do that, and threatened you and said, if you don't do what I say, I'm going to kill you. Scary husband to live with. Frightful. Who wouldn't want to leave that husband? Who wouldn't want to be free from the law's condemnation and curse? Because no one can meet the demands of God's perfect law. The law has no mercy. The law says, if you break me in one point, you've broken it all. And there is no mercy. It cannot forgive. It cannot release. It's not designed to do so. In fact, the law does exactly what God wants it to. The law is not evil. The law is good. Paul says that more than once. It's we who are evil. That's the problem. The problem with the law is not the law. It's with us. But the law is a problem for us. Well, how do we get out from under this law? It's harshness, it's punishment, it's unmerciful, unrelenting, firmness. The law will not bend. We try to bend the law, don't we? That maybe make us feel better, but we can't do it. It's not bendable. It's firm. But how do we get out from under it? You can't get a divorce from the law. The law cannot simply be set aside. That's what we would like to do. There's only one option, and that's death. Either the law's got to die or you've got to die. The law doesn't die. You and I must die so that the law then becomes dead to us. And then in Jesus Christ, it's power to punish, it's power to inflict that condemnation is removed. So how do we die to the law? It's through the body of Christ, by trusting in his death on the cross, by accepting his substitutionary sacrifice in our place. Galatians 3 13 says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law Being made a curse for us. Do you believe that? Colossians 2 14 says having put an end to the handwriting of the law Which was against us Taking it out of the way by nailing it to his cross so the law condemns us the law demands that we pay for our sins and pay for them eternally and wouldn't you like to be released from the law? Then look to Jesus, believe in him, receive him, his finished work on the cross, receive forgiveness of sins, receive righteousness imputed to you by faith, and know that the condemnation of the law was nailed to the cross and will be left there and no longer apply to you. So if you will trust in Jesus, If you are receiving the Savior, then you will be delivered from the threats of the law, the punishment of hell. But the deliverance from the law, which Christ brings us, is not an end in and of itself. And that leads us to the second point this morning. Why were we released from the law? Those who trust in the Lord for justification are released from the law. But that's not all. They are released for a purpose. Now, a lot of people want to come to Christ. And why do they want to come to Christ? Many want to come to Jesus because they want to be delivered from hell. They want to be delivered from the law and its punishment. But that's all they want sometimes. And I have to admit, I was there at one time. The thought of coming to Christ was only because I wanted fire insurance. But many want fire insurance, they don't want any relief. They want relief from the punishment, but not from the thing itself, from sin itself. They want relief, but they have no desire to change. for God to change their lives. They want to be independent and free to do their own thing. You might say they want a divorce so they can live the life of a bachelor or bachelorette, I guess, in the case of the analogy. But in life, a widow, of course, does not have to remarry. She may choose not to remarry, to remain single. But that is not an option. the spiritual realm. With Jesus Christ, there's no neutrality. Either you belong to him by faith and are married to him, or you're still under the law and its punishment and its condemnation. Paul said, you have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. Yes, that's good news, but there's better news that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead. So Paul repeatedly emphasized that not only are we united to Christ in his death so that our sin is atoned for and we're delivered from the law's punishment, but we're united to him as the risen living Christ. We have a new relationship to a living Savior. Not only is our relationship to the old husband who was unrelenting, the law, but he, Jesus died that we might have this connection to Jesus that is a living, committed relationship whereby we become one with him spiritually. You know, the goal of marriage, Right? At the very beginning, God says, you know, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, that the two become one, one flesh. What do you think God calls us to? He calls us to a oneness with Jesus Christ. So when you come to know the Lord, you come without reservation. You commit your whole life, your body and soul, to the Lord. You cannot say, I want salvation, but I want to live my own life. I want you to rescue me, but I don't want to live with you. I don't want a relationship with you. That should sound odd to you, right? But this is how many people have thought. They want deliverance, but not a relationship with God. So you can't receive eternal life and go your own merry way. And that's the way it is in marriage. We get that, right? You must commit yourself wholly to the other person. You must take vows. We take vows to each other when we're married. We stand before the other and, you know, will you have this man to be your wedded husband? Will you pledge yourself to him in all honor and tenderness, richer for poorer and all of these things? Yes, I do. I do take this man. I will take this woman. They're committing themselves to each other to be faithful. as long as they live. And in that faithful, in that context of faithful, monogamous, committed relationship of marriage, which is a blessing from God, then the man and woman can experience the love and the blessing of companionship and so on. But likewise, if you want to experience the love of God and the blessing of a relationship with Him, then you have to say, I do, to Jesus Christ, without reservation. You can't be thinking about somebody else when you come to Christ, or something else, even yourself, is surrendering all to Him. One of the marriage vows, common marriage vows, goes like this. The woman is asked, will you have him to be your husband? Will you love him, honor him, and forsaking all others, remain true to him as long as you both shall live? You see, when we come to Christ, there must be this forsaking all others, all other gods. You shall have no other gods before me. All other idols, all other sources of life and happiness and blessing, because Christ wants to be that for us. He is a jealous husband. He's a jealous God. Exodus 34, 14, you shall worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. Now Jesus is Lord. His name, one of his names then, is jealous. He's a jealous husband. And so like marriage, this new relationship with Christ is permanent. It's more permanent than marriage. Without going into it, we know that marriage in heaven is not continued, not the way we know it. And that's hard for us to grasp and to hold onto, but it's a reality. There's no turning back, of course, to serve sin. If you come to Christ and then we turn back to serve sin again, that would be spiritual adultery. And the prophets in the Old Testament often dealt with that problem with the people of Israel. And so Jesus, just as God under the Old Covenant didn't tolerate the worship of other gods, Jesus Christ tolerates no other loves. in this marriage. Ezekiel said they have committed adultery with their idols. The entire book of Hosea was dealing with this issue and it would be an interesting study to think about in context of our marriage to Christ. But God, through Hosea, sought to correct the sins of Israel who had broken covenant with God and had mixed the pure worship of the Lord with the idolatry of the surrounding nation. So, if we are, as the church and as believers, married to Christ, then we have this obligation, don't we? We have an obligation of loyalty, of faithfulness, and to forsake others, all others, and to worship Him alone, to depend on Him. He's our provider. He's our protector. He is the one that loves us more than any other. And so we ought to gladly and lovingly submit to Him with all reverence, with all honor and respect to Him. We must not argue. for our own way in this relationship. That happens in marriage. One spouse or the other wants their way and doesn't want to give in. But isn't it wonderful with Jesus Christ? I don't have to argue with him. I don't need to. He always knows what's best. He always does what's best for me and for you. Well, he's a perfect husband. He loves us completely. We have been delivered from the law that we might be married to another, to Jesus Christ. That might be the end of the sword, but it's not. There's more. Why? Why does God bring us into this relationship with Jesus Christ? What's the purpose of being married to him? Verse four, that we should bear fruit to God. We should bear fruit to God. One of the purposes of marriage, it doesn't always come to fruition, but one of the purposes God said early on, be fruitful and multiply, to have children, to have posterity. But even then, even the issue of posterity, having children, that in and of itself wasn't the goal of marriage, because Malachi 2.15 says, what does he desire? Godly offspring. Not just children. but godly offspring. And the fruit that God desires from our union with Jesus Christ is godliness, it's holiness, it's the fruit of the Spirit. So when we were under the law or in the flesh, verse 5 says, The fruit we bore was fruit for death. Well, how could it be otherwise? We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and so all we did only bore fruit for death. The wages of sin is death. All we could do was sin until we were saved by Christ. And so the law without Christ, the law without the Spirit, it produces fruit. There's only one kind, and that's death. You know, the law without Christ, it has a purpose, and a good and holy purpose, but it's very limited. It can't produce good fruit in your life. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God, even if they go to the law and say, I'm going to do my best, I'm going to read the Ten Commandments, I'm going to memorize them, and I'm going to follow them. And there are people who think that way today. Many individuals, even atheists, think, well, you know, I don't believe in Christianity, I don't believe in Jesus, but I think the Ten Commandments are a good idea, and I try to live by them, or the Sermon on the Mount. But trying to be moral without Jesus is legalism. And legalism was the sin that Jesus, when he was on earth, got the most upset about. And so, how is it then for us that we are unable to bear this fruit for God? We certainly can't do it ourselves. Verse six, 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 spirit, of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. The oldness of the litter, I think, refers to the mere outward observance of the commandments or the law. The Pharisees, again, they were good at that. They were outwardly clean. They could say, I've done this, I've done that. And yet Jesus rebuked them. He said, you're like whitewashed tombs. You look good on the outside. That's not enough. because you're full of sin and horrible things on the inside. That's what God looks at. The Bible says man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. You can't see my heart. I can't see your heart, but God does. And you say, well, I don't like that idea, that thought. Well, that's why we need a new heart. We need a new heart with new motivations for serving Him and obeying Him. We must not serve in the letter of the law only. Moralism, legalism will not cut it. But we serve in the newness of the Spirit. That's the good news of the Gospel. And so you and I, as believers, we're under the influence of the Spirit of God. And so, by relying on His grace and influence as He indwells us, then we are able, we are inspired to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of righteousness. And so, that's why in Ephesians, Paul could write that we have been prepared, we have been saved, for good works, which have been prepared for us. And we're created under these good works and enabled by this new relationship we have to God through Jesus Christ and by the help of his Holy Spirit. So the law commands us, and just put the summary out there, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love your neighbor as yourself. in and of ourselves. We cannot produce this true heart obedience that the law requires until we come to know Jesus and have the change of heart. And what a change it is. It's called being a new creation. You're a new person. You're not the person you were. You are a new creation. We used to be slaves to sin, if we want to go back to that analogy. But the Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. And daily, by relying on him, we continue to be set free from the efforts of sin to regain ruling in our hearts. So our marriage to the law, it was bondage, slavery, and misery. But our marriage to Christ is freedom. Freedom from guilt and condemnation. And we still sin. That's why we still feel guilty. And you know, the people that you know, and I know, that don't know Jesus, they feel guilty, I promise you. They have guilt, and they have no solution. You and I have the means to deal with that guilt. Any moment, at any time, when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. You're here today, and I feel guilty. Look around I see all these good people and they're all so holy But not me, but you know what? That's what your neighbor's saying today to themselves at the same time We're all saying it all thinking the same thing none of us are Spiritual Giants there are no such things We're just lowly people who have been saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ and been joined to him in a permanent union of freedom of love, freedom from guilt and condemnation. Jesus does not act like the old law husband did. Now, he hates sin as much as he ever has as the second person of the eternal trinity. He still hates our sin, but he doesn't hate us. And He's come to redeem us. And He is doing that day by day. What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus? Draw near to Him. He'll draw near to you. He wants to shower you with His love. He wants you to understand it's not the oldness of the letter mail. It's the newness of the Spirit. We are saved to serve, but not in the old way. We're saved to serve by the grace and the power of the Spirit of God. Dr. Francis Schaeffer said it's no more possible to keep the law in our own strength after we become a Christian than it was possible for us to be saved in the first place by keeping the law. Are you saved by keeping the law? Of course not. Are you able to keep the law now that you're saved? Well, only as I look to the Spirit of God. So we are called to bear fruit for God, and that, first of all, is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. And there's also the fruit of service, of witness, we could say, of ministry. But in order to bear this fruit, we have to look to the Spirit of God. We have to abide in Christ. Jesus said, abide in me and let my words abide in you and you'll bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing, not even a little bit. But abide in him and you can do all things. I can do all things through Christ. who gives me strength. And so we have to abide in him. We have to look to him. Schaefer said, imagine this. You have a new bride who says, I'm married now. Now I can have children. But she ignores her husband and goes her own way. And there's no physical bond there. Well, of course, there's not going to be any children in the marriage until she gives herself to her husband, to her bridegroom. And so there will be no fruit in your life without yielding yourself and giving yourself and your heart to the Lord on a daily basis. You and I do not live this life on our own. God does not save us and say, now do the best you can. You can't. You must walk in the spirit, submitting yourself daily to his control and his influence. And the fruit will come. The fruit will come. See, Paul is getting at here is that you and I can never be saved by mere external obedience to the law. That only happens through that vital union with Jesus Christ. And God has emancipated us from the rigid requirements and curse of the law. And in place of that, he's given us the spirit of God. through whom we can please Him and walk in His ways. Even though we know that every good deed we do is still tainted with sin, if we offer ourselves to the Lord, He still accepts that in Christ. He cleanses all our works, even by His blood. Before you were saved, remember this, the law came around. And it aroused you to sin more. It bothered you, made you feel guilty, and it just made things worse. But now, as a Christian, allow the Spirit of God to stir you up, to bring forth fruit which is pleasing to Jesus Christ. I'm going to close at this point and I'm going to ask the elders to come forward, but I want us to retain this thought as we go into the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and to think about what we've been talking about as being those who are married to Christ. So I'll ask the elders to please come forward.