Under Law or Under Grace
ROMANS 7: 1-13
(July 21)
I am not an outlaw. I do my best to obey the laws of the land and keep on the right track. But there are times when I DO break the law, even in small ways... rolling through a stop sign, not signaling before a turn, and other small infarctions that seem small in the scope of things. They are, however, still illegal. It is up to me to make sure I am not breaking rules. I hold that responsibility.
I have known people who have broken the law in more extreme ways ... and I have seen the consequences they have suffered. Some are like an episode of Law & Order, where justice prevails end the end and the criminal must pay for the crime.
In this section of Romans, Paul is addressing the relationship of the Christian to the law. And while the laws were given to the Jews, they apply to the Gentiles as well.
Paul breaks this down for us into two categories for today's reading: THE AUTHORITY OF THE LAW and THE MINISTRY OF THE LAW. So, let's take a closer look at those.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE LAW:
Paul uses the illustration of marriage to make his point. When a couple marries, they are united for the duration of their lives, under the law of marriage. But if the husband dies, then the wife is freed from that law and is free to remarry. Death broke off the relationship, making her free from that law.
The wife in this scenario represents us believers. The husband represents the law. If the law dies, we are free. If the wife dies, the only way she could remarry is to come back to life, right? Well, that is exactly the point Paul is trying to make. When we put our trust and faith in Jesus, we die to the law, and we come back to new life in Christ.
The law didn't die. It is still there. But WE died to it, so it no longer has power over us.
THE MINISTRY OF THE LAW:
Paul's opposition comes back at him with this: "What good is the law if we don't need it anymore? Why, a teaching such as yours turns the law into sin!"
Paul replied with a resounding "NOPE!" We need the law, and he breaks down the reasons why.
The law reveals sin. It shows us what we are doing wrong. It's like looking at yourself through a magnifying glass and seeing all your imperfections.
The law arouses sin. We are all human; therefore, we all were born with a sinful nature. Human nature seems to magically make us want to challenge law. The more we try to follow legalistic law, the more problems we will have.
The law kills. Law doesn't give life. It only serves to show the sinner where he is at fault. Because of this, when Christians rely too much on the law, they do not grow or bear the fruits of their relationship with Christ.
The law shows the sinfulness of sin. It is so easy for us, as Christians, to see our sins as "mistakes" or "weaknesses", but they are more than that. God tries to get us to realize our sins, and to understand how sinful they are. It takes this understanding of the severity of sin before we can have a desire to walk away from it and live a life of victory in Jesus.
Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
(Sorry, my mind burst into song!)
So, Paul's argument is this: (1) the law is not sinful - it is holy and good; (2) but it also reveals sin, arouses sin, and uses sin to come against us (3) The problem is not with the law, but with our sinful nature.
So, every time I roll through a stop sign, or go "a wee bit" over the speed limit, it is ME and MY SINFUL NATURE that is causing the problem.
We can make excuses, we can justify our actions, but at the end of the day, the sin is ours to own.