Brief Commentary on Rom 7:1-6
Rom 7:1-6
7:1 Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he 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 of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries 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, even though she marries another man.
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. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, 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.
NIV
To state the obvious we have another Pauline analogy here. The analogy begins from a very specific category of law regarding marriage but then it's extended out to encompass the entire law. However, v.1 is the huge tip off that the Law only applies to the LIVING. Deceased, rotting corpses are not bound by the Law Covenant -- just to state the obvious. So, this is where Paul is going with this analogy. The Law only applies to the living.
From vv.4-6, it should also be understood that Paul, in using this marriage metaphor, is alluding to any number of passages in the OT and New (cf. Jer 3:14, 20; Ezek 16:32; Mat 9:15; 25:1; 5-6, 10 etc.).
Verse 4 begins the second half of the analogy. When YHWH took Israel as his "wife", he bound her to his Law Covenant. If Israel was to have this "marriage" relationship with YHWH, it would have to be according to the terms of his Covenant -- a covenant to which she willingly consented to obey!
Ex 19:5-8
5
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation....'7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8
The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
NIV
Note carefully from the above passage that obedience to Law was inextricably tied to keeping God's Covenant! Obedience to Law is synonymous with keeping the covenant! Law and Covenant are one and the same; for the Law is precisely a Covenant (cp Jer 11:1-3, 6, 10; Deut 31:16; . This truth should help all to understand a text like Heb 7:12 which talks about a "change of law". A change of law necessarily REQUIRES a change in covenant! For the law covenant itself cannot be amended!
In fact, there is not one single instance in all the bible of God ever amending any covenant he made with anyone!
Secondly, to be "wedded" to YHWH was to be wedded to his Law Covenant! And as we can see, Israel (and ONLY Israel) agreed to abide by the terms of the "marriage agreement". I say all this to give a little historical backdrop to the marriage metaphor that Paul is using so that we can understand his rationale behind it. We mustn't forget that the Gentiles were
EXCLUDED from the covenants (Eph 2:12; Rom 9:4-5).
What Paul says from vv.4-6 is that because believers
[spiritually] participate in the death of their Savior by BEING IN HIM (just as we also participate in his resurrection!) and have died to the Law Covenant (v.4), we can now belong to ANOTHER, i.e. to Christ who just happens to be the mediator of a better covenant (i.e. A NEW LAW) founded on better promises (Heb 8:6; 9;15). And we have to DIE to the Mosaic Law and its works if we want to be justified by Grace. We can't have it both ways. Law and Grace are incompatible, as are Law and the Spirit. The Law stirred up sinful passions, which is precisely why Paul elsewhere said that "the power of sin is the Law" (1Cor 15:56). We cannot serve the Law and the Spirit. They are mutually exclusive!
Notice what Paul does NOT say in this passage: He doesn't say that we serve the Law (or the written code) through the Spirit. And he makes this abundantly clear in v.6.
In verse 6 Paul says that "by dying to what
ONCE BOUND us..." PAST TENSE! This means there is only bondage and servitude in the Law of Moses; for the written code has no power to free anyone from sin. In fact, the law only aggravates and exacerbates the sinful flesh (v.5) Only Gospel Truth can set us free (Jn 8:32). Grace and Truth is what Jesus brought to the world stage; whereas Moses brought Law that can only condemn us, bind us, enslave us, arouse sinful passions, etc. This truth alone confirms what I said recently about Jn 1:17 in that the apostle was implying powerful and profound contrasts between Moses and his ministry of death, i.e. the Law (2Cor 3:7) and Jesus and his ministry of Grace and Truth, i.e. Life (Jn 3:15-15; 4:14; 5:21, 24; 6:63, etc.)
Verse 6 goes on to say that believers are
RELEASED from the Law. Or as Paul said later in this epistle, "Christ is the
END of the Law for all those who believe" (Rom 10:4). He fulfilled the Law perfectly and completely. Something none of us can do. The whole purpose to the Law was so that the Last Adam could do what the First Adam, and all his progeny, failed to do. Can it possibly get any plainer than this analogy!?
To conclude: If a believer participates in Christ's death, burial and resurrection, that believer is no longer bound to the Law Covenant. He's been released from it in order to be "wedded" or "in-lawed" to Christ -- the Bridegroom of the Church. It's not possible to be wedded to Him and the Law; for only He fulfilled the Law. We cannot add anything to his finished work. Christ and He alone fulfilled the ultimate purpose of the Law. Of course, this doesn't mean that we're lawless; but it does mean we're under a different covenant and different law -- another "law-covenant" but one that intently focuses on issues of the heart. For the condition of one's heart will determine the character of his lifestyle in his every thought, word and deed.
Also, we should not forget the first half of the analogy whereby the woman whose husband died is "released" from the law. Because she's been released, she is now FREE to marry another. Therefore, when a believer realizes he's been released from the Law, he soon discovers that he's now FREE to serve Christ, i.e. "walk in the newness of [Christ's resurrected] life (Rom 6:4). Just another little "factoid" to add to all the other many NEW spiritual elements to the New Covenant. Therefore, being released from and not bound to the Law is just to say that believers have been set free FROM the Law which makes us free TO serve Christ.
But regardless of that, the entire Law of Moses required perfect obedience. If you knew the Torah you would know that. Don't you even realize that Paul was quoting the Torah in the above passage in both its narrow and broad sense (Deut 27:26; Jer 11:3)!?
