Romans 7:1-6 - "Free From the Law"

Romans 7:1-6

"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. 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."

Free from the law, that is the apostle’s theme in Romans 7, as he unfolds the Spirit’s testimony. Scripture declares that “the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth” (v.1). God gave His law requiring absolute perfection—not the best we can do, but flawless obedience in heart, motive, and deed. James writes, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). This is the severe rule by which the Holy God judges sinners.

Because we are Adam’s race, we come into this world already under that dominion. As the Scripture declares, “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). We sin because we are sinners, born with that nature from our father Adam. Even those who never read a Bible perish without the law, for the work of the law is written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness (Romans 2:14–15). Everywhere one looks, God’s law stands as a relentless testimony requiring perfect righteousness.

The law cannot give life. It cannot deliver, cannot produce peace, cannot subdue sin. It only stirs up the motions of sins and brings forth fruit unto death. Whether a man has never heard the written commandments, or whether he holds the Scriptures in his hands and hears them preached every week, the law declares all guilty. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

So how can anyone hope to be free from the law? God cannot simply overlook sin. Satisfaction must be made. Either the sinner answers that law himself, or Another must do it in his place. Here is the good news of the Gospel. Before the world was, God purposed to save sinners in Mercy and Grace. He chose a people whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life from eternity, and for them He sent His Son to fulfill and accomplish the whole law. Christ is the Object of their God-given Faith, for “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4).

Thus Romans 7 opens this glorious Truth. Sinners redeemed by the shed blood of Christ unto death have become "dead to the law by the body of Christ" (v.4), that they should be married to Another, even to Him Who is raised from the dead. The illustration is simple. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives; only death dissolves that bond. So it is with the law. The law died—in the sense of its power to condemn—when Christ satisfied it. He fulfilled every precept in perfect obedience, and then was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. When He died, His people died. When He rose, His people rose (Ephesians 2:1-10). That is God’s declaration of full satisfaction.

Therefore, those united to Christ are no longer under the old husband. They are free from the law, being delivered from it by the death of the LORD Jesus Christ, and now are married to Him by His shed blood unto death and righteousness imputed. Now the fruit they bear is not the forced obedience of a slave, but the newness of the Spirit—the obedience of adopted sons, the loving devotion of a bride joined to her Husband.

At the cross, Jesus shed His blood unto death, and there is remission. There is forgiveness. There is justification once for all when He redeemed His people. And when the Spirit shines the knowledge of Christ into the heart, the elect, regenerated sinner sees that deliverance was accomplished entirely in Him. Free from the law—this is the believer’s happy condition. Christ has redeemed and God has justified once for all!