Introduction
In chapter 6, Paul answered the question, “Shall we continue in sin?” (6:1). We should not continue in sin because we have been crucified with Christ and raised in newness of life. Paul ends chapter six with another question: “Shall we continue in sin because we are not under the Law?” Paul answers this question in chapter 7.
What did Paul mean in 6:14 that we are not “under law but under grace”? To be “under law” means that we must do something for God out of obligation; to be “under grace” means that God does something for us. It is impossible to find holiness through our own efforts. We are made holy by our position in and possession of Christ and His Spirit! Paul explains this in chapter 7 through a series of “two’s.”
Two Husbands, vv. 1-6
A. The Christian’s relationship to the Law, vv. 1-3, 5
1. We are like widows freed from our husbands, vv. 1-3.
2. We are like dead men freed from our lusts, v. 5.
B. The Christian’s relationship to Christ, vv. 4, 6
1. We have been raised by Christ, released from our marriage to the Law, vv. 4, 6.
2. We are delivered from the Law to produce fruit/offspring through Christ, v. 4.
Two-fold Purpose, vv. 7-14
A. God used the Law to reveal the sinfulness of the flesh, vv. 7, 10.
B. Sin used the Law to rekindle the sinfulness of the flesh, vv. 8-9, 11-13.
Two Laws, vv. 15-25
A. The Law of Sin and Death, vv. 14-23
1. The Confusion, vv. 14-16
a. “I don’t do the things I want to do,” vv. 14-16.
b. “I do the things I don’t want to do,” vv. 15-16.
2. The Corruption, vv. 17-20: the total corruption of the old sinful nature.
3. The Conclusion, vv. 21-23
a. The old nature, always attempting to do wrong, vv. 21, 23.
b. The new nature, always attempting to do right, vv. 21-22.
B. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, vv. 24-25
1. The agony of the Christian’s problem, v. 24
2. The answer to the Christian’s problem, v. 25
Conclusion (by Warren Wiersbe)
The law of sin and death is counteracted by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It is not by submitting to outward laws that we grow in holiness and serve God acceptably, but by surrendering to the indwelling Spirit of God. We cannot fulfill the righteousness of the Law by our own strength; the Spirit fulfills it in us by His power.
What is the practical application of all this?
Simply this:
In our new position before God, as dead to the Law, we are not expected to obey God in our own strength. God has not enslaved us under a “Christian Law” that we must obey in order to be holy. Rather, He has given us His Holy Spirit who enables us to fulfill the demands of God’s holiness.
Shouldn’t we produce fruit for God? Certainly! But the minute we start doing works in our own strength, we discover that we are failures. Rather, we should accept the truths that we are indeed failures in ourselves, that the Law is good but we are carnal, and then allow the Spirit to work out God’s will in our life.
May God enable us to reckon ourselves dead to sin, and dead to the Law that we might, through the Spirit, enjoy the blessed liberty of God’s children and glorify God in holy living.