Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Romans 7:1-6
7:1 Or do you not know, brothers1—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.2 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.3
[1] 7:1
[2] 7:2
[3] 7:6
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Good morning. Good morning. Are you well rested with that extra hour? Or just hungry? I understand.
Jeffrey Heine:Well, it's good to be with you all this morning. We're going to be continuing our study in Paul's letter to the Romans, Romans chapter 7. There are pew bibles around. It's also printed in your worship guide. We're going to be in Romans chapter 7 looking at the first six verses.
Jeffrey Heine:Romans chapter 7, beginning with verse 1. And let us listen carefully for this is God's word. Or do you not know brothers and sisters, for I'm speaking to those who know the law, that the law is binding on a person only as long as he or she lives. For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
Jeffrey Heine:Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. And if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers and sisters, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for god. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
Jeffrey Heine:But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive so that we serve in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code. This is the word of the lord.
Connor Coskery:Thanks, John.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's pray together. Oh, lord. We thank you for your word and for this time to gather as your children in this place. And we ask that as we spend this time considering your word that you would meet with us by your spirit and that you would lead us to truth. Because we trust and believe that your words are true and that you nourish our souls by your truth.
Jeffrey Heine:And so we ask in all humility and all boldness that you would speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray this in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit. Amen. So for the past, 2 chapters, chapter 5 and chapter 6, the apostle Paul has been writing to the Roman congregation and describing the transformative hope that we have of reconciliation and justification through Christ. Back in chapter 5, Paul described justification by faith, meaning that we have peace with God the father through the obedience of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:And in chapter 6, Paul anticipated that the Romans would be wondering how, if Christ's obedience is what makes us right with God, does our obedience still matter? Does obedience really matter? And in anticipating this question, Paul details throughout chapter 6 why our obedience still matters. He explains that our new life in Christ and this new life in him, we are given a new motivation for obedience to the father. And we are further given new strength through the holy spirit to live lives of faithfulness and fruitfulness to the lord.
Jeffrey Heine:That has been the core teaching in chapter 6. Paul is instructing, yes, obedience still matters. And the motivation and the strength to obey are new and different. This new life, new motivation, new strength have come about by what happened to and through Christ. We have new life, new motivation, new strengths because of what Jesus has accomplished and those accomplishments being applied to us.
Jeffrey Heine:Remember, it's not enough that Jesus accomplished these things. They also have to be applied to us personally. And that application occurs for us and in us through being united with Christ. The 16th century pastor and reformer, John Calvin, called our union with Christ the highest degree of importance because, quote, this is the intention of the gospel, that Christ may become ours and that we may join into his body, end quote. In chapters 56, Paul outlined the results of our union with Christ, the consequences, the effects of you being joined to Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:And so here at the start of chapter 7, Paul offers an analogy. It's an analogy about marriage. And over the centuries, theologians have criticized this marriage analogy. Many have found it convoluted and inadequate. I read one commentator who thought that the analogy was inept and, quote, hopelessly astray.
Jeffrey Heine:If you have an ESV study bible, you will see that says in the footnotes, the analogy does not match perfectly. These criticisms have been offered because an analogy is supposed to help make a point clearer. And I'll be honest with you. Over the past week as I've read these verses over and over, the more I read it, the less I felt I understood it. Understanding this analogy in my mind was like drawing on an Etch A Sketch.
Jeffrey Heine:And right when I felt like I could start to see the picture, the image would shake and disappear again. Now if you read through it only once, as we just did, you get the gist of it, and you can simply keep going. It doesn't get problematic until you think about it. And I'm pretty sure we're supposed to think about it. I think we're supposed to pay attention.
Jeffrey Heine:We're supposed to listen carefully to all the holy intricacies of God's word. And to do this well, we have to turn down the distractions, lean in, and listen for the richness of God's voice speaking to us through his word and spirit. Why? Because there is often a great deal more for us to behold than what appears at first listen. 1 of my childhood friends is a musician in Nashville now, and he recently built a new studio.
Jeffrey Heine:At the start of the summer, I visited the studio for the first time and he showed me the the speakers that had recently been installed. He had a sound architect design the space. And the studio speakers were constructed in England and shipped over and installed to exact specifications. My friend told me to sit at the console and to pick a song, any song, but one that I had listened to a 100 times before. And so I picked Tom Petty's Runnin' Down a Dream, as we all would.
Jeffrey Heine:And honestly, from the moment that the song came on, it was like hearing it for the first time. The depth of the sound quality, the fidelity to the original recording was unlike anything I had ever heard, because my ear was trained to the car stereo or computer speakers. But now I was hearing instruments and vocal parts, all these details and intricacies, for the very first time. I believe Paul wants us to listen in such high fidelity, to listen in an eager faithfulness to what is truly being spoken. In this passage, these few verses of an analogy are not some mere illustration.
Jeffrey Heine:It is a God breathed revelation of the highest degree of importance. So let's lean in and, with careful fidelity, listen to the consequences of our radical union with Christ. To start, let's state once more. By the spirit, every believer in Jesus has been united to all that he has accomplished through his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return. And in being united to Christ, you now have new life in him and a new motivation for obedience to the father and a new strength to do so in the Holy Spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:And now Paul tells this analogy to help us understand more clearly this union and more clearly its consequences. So let us listen deeply. To help us do that, I'm gonna go through 3 layers of the analogy. Okay? 1st layer, it reads like this.
Jeffrey Heine:You are like a husband who is married to the old law. The old law is your wife. You, the husband, have died. And since you have died, your marriage is over. Your marriage commitment has ended.
Jeffrey Heine:Because you have died, you are no longer legally bound to your wife. You promised till death do us part, and in death, you have parted. That's the first layer. You have died. The second layer.
Jeffrey Heine:You are like a wife who is married to a husband, and your husband is the old law. You, the wife, were committed to this old husband, captive even. But he has died. And in his death, your marriage commitment is over. Your old spouse, the old law, is dead.
Jeffrey Heine:But you, you are alive. Not only are you alive, you are now free, free to marry another. And last, a third layer. Your dying, your living, and your freedom are all the result of being joined to Christ in his death, his living, and his freedom. Paul says in verse 4, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:You now consider yourself dead to the law, dead to sin, dead to your old master, dead to your old spouse, because you died with Christ. And just as this union means that you died with Christ, you are also alive with him. You are alive because Christ is alive. This is why Paul tells the Corinthian Christians, if Christ is not raised from the dead and alive today, then faith is useless. Your faith is worthless if Jesus is not alive right now, because there is no hope beyond your union with Jesus in both his death and his life.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus as our model for selfless living is not enough. Jesus, as an example of peaceful behavior or radical generosity, is not enough. Jesus cannot merely be our moral teacher or therapeutic encourager. We must die with him. We must be raised with him.
Jeffrey Heine:We must live united and belonging to him. Everything depends on your union with Christ. And in this analogy of marriage, Paul says that you're dying as one spouse, you're living as the other, and your freedom to belong to a new spouse are all the result of your union to Christ. This must be more than an illustration. It must be real because, otherwise, faith is worthless.
Jeffrey Heine:So an analogy is supposed to make things clearer. Right? Not more confusing. Then what does Paul want to make clear to us? I think he tells us in verses 1 and in verse 4.
Jeffrey Heine:Look with me. In verse 4, he begins with, do you not know? And he says that the law is binding on a person only as long as he or she lives. So first, the analogy seeks to make clear the point that the law stops being binding in death till death do you part. And because you are so united to Christ, united to his death, you have died with him and parted from the law.
Jeffrey Heine:That's point clarity number 1. Through your union to Christ's death, you are set free from the law. And then in verse 4, Paul says, likewise, my brothers and sisters, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for god. Since you have died to the law through the death of Jesus, you are now free to belong to another. That's clarity point number 2.
Jeffrey Heine:Through your union to Christ's life, you are free to belong to another. Like the widow in the analogy, you are free from the old marriage to the law and can now belong to a new husband. You can remarry without being an adulteress. And your new husband is Christ himself. In this new marriage, Christ has made you alive so you will belong to him.
Jeffrey Heine:And in this belonging, you are free to live in the newness of the spirit. And in that living, you can finally do what you were created to do, bear fruit to god. Through your union with Jesus, your being has been set right. Who you are in Christ has been set right. And so now you can live as you are created and redeemed to live.
Jeffrey Heine:This is what Paul wishes to make clear. These are the consequences of your union to Christ. You're being enjoined to his death and his resurrection and his spirit. You have died. You are alive, and now you belong to another.
Jeffrey Heine:Well, the past few weeks as, as we have been considering together as a church family, Paul's teaching in chapter 6, we've talked a lot about death and life. In fact, in chapter 6, Paul mentions death and dying 18 times. And now he's turning his attention to this new life and what this new life is all about. Here, Paul is bringing clarity to what was so confusing to Nicodemus. As you recall, Nicodemus goes and he visits Jesus by night.
Jeffrey Heine:He doesn't want anybody to see him going to talk to this wild rabbi. And so he goes by night. It's recorded in the gospel of John chapter 3. And there we read that Jesus, speaking to Nicodemus, says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of god. Nicodemus says to him, how can a man be born when he is old?
Jeffrey Heine:Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus explains further this need to be born again. And Nicodemus, in complete bewilderment, replies, how can this be? Paul anticipates that same kind of response from the Romans. And that is why Paul is offering this analogy.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is teaching them and us, we must die and be born again. And our being born again is made possible through being enjoined to the death and resurrection of Jesus, because he has died and he lives again. And if we are in union with him by the work of the Holy Spirit, then we too have died and live again. And Paul says, we died in Christ so that we can belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead. Why does that matter?
Jeffrey Heine:What's so significant about belonging to another? When you belong to another, you live in the privileged position of knowing their love. The 20th century Welsh pastor Martyn Lloyd Jones said of this analogy in Romans 7. He said this, quote, the whole object of being a Christian is that you may know the love of Jesus, his personal love for you, that he tells you in unmistakable language that he loves you, that he has given himself for you, and that he has loved you with an everlasting love. That is the thing, end quote.
Jeffrey Heine:When we belong to Christ, when we are married to him in a new and eternal covenant commitment, we are given this privileged position of knowing the love of Jesus. That is the thing. Christ died for us, and we died with him. Christ was raised, and we were raised with him. But that's not all.
Jeffrey Heine:All of those things happened so that. As I spent time in these verses, I've continuously been drawn back to the words of verse 4. They've served as a key for understanding the whole passage. We find this phrase, so that you might recall the old saying when you when you're reading the scriptures, when you come across a so that, you ask what that so that is for. I made that up.
Jeffrey Heine:That's not a thing. But we see a so that. He has died for us. We have been raised with him so that we would belong to another. That death, the death of Christ and us being joined to that death and Him being raised and us being joined to that resurrection life, it's so we could marry another.
Jeffrey Heine:Because, otherwise, we would be an adulteress. We'd still be bound to the law. We'd still be married to the law. The only escape is through death, and it's his death. And then he makes us alive that we can marry and belong to another.
Jeffrey Heine:This privileged position of knowing His love for us. We often look to the passages Bible about husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church as a way to understand Christian marriage. And we should. But the teaching works the other way too. Christ loves you as a groom loves his bride.
Jeffrey Heine:He loves you personally. And you are to personally know and experience and enjoy his love. It is not enough to simply agree in our minds that we are loved. We are intended and invited to experience his love. You are to meet with him, enjoy him, long for him.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is not simply talking about the doctrine of our union with Christ. He's describing an intimate, personal belonging to Jesus. He's describing a deep and personal relationship with God himself. Paul is directing you to experience the deep fidelity of knowing the love of god in all its intricate expressions. That is what Paul means when he says that you were redeemed to belong to another.
Jeffrey Heine:In Christ, you have died. In Christ, you are alive. And now you belong to him, and you get to live in the new way of the spirit. Let's look again at kind of after the analogy in verses 4 through 6. Likewise, my brothers and sisters, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
Jeffrey Heine:For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in the members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code. You were redeemed so that you would belong to Christ. And you belong to Christ so that you will bear fruit for god. Before this, as we were captive to the law, we would bear fruit, but for death.
Jeffrey Heine:Here, Paul says, in the newness of the spirit, in this newness of life, we bear fruit to God. The spirit bids us to listen, not for rules, but for life. We listen to the love of Jesus in the newness of the spirit who leads us step by step, moment by moment, breath by breath. The spirit is not like a code we must crack or a puzzle we figure out. He isn't a riddle that we guess or a game that we play.
Jeffrey Heine:He leads us, directs us, comforts us, guides us as we pray and we worship, as we seek, as we listen, as we live in the way of faith, and we trust in the love of God. That is the clarity that Paul is offering of a life released from the law and living in the new way of the spirit. The new way of the spirit is set against this old way of the law. Later in this letter, Paul will kind of defend the goodness of God's commandments and really explain how the good commandments were perverted by sin and death. Because we read over and over again in the throughout the New Testament that we are still called to follow the commands of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:That's built into the great commission, to teach one another how to obey all that Jesus has commanded. But Paul is outlining a difference between being captive to the old Mosaic law and being released from that law to live in the newness of the spirit. And since this section of Romans is about clarity, I think it's worth us considering the clarity that Paul is offering in this new way of life. To start, we need to declutter our minds from what we might want or suppose the new way of life to be. We need to know what it isn't so we can rid our minds of any falsehood, any deceit, and replace it with what it is.
Jeffrey Heine:So what it is and what it isn't in this new way of the spirit. As we close out this passage and close out looking at this analogy, I want to offer 3 things, 3 things, that this new way of the spirit is not and 3 things that it is. So first, the three things that this new way of the spirit is not. The new way of the spirit is not contrary to the word of God. The spirit does not lead us in ways that God is against.
Jeffrey Heine:He doesn't lead us in ways that God, against ways that God has revealed to us in the scriptures. The scriptures were breathed to life through the Holy Spirit himself, and he will not contradict himself. 2nd, the new way of the spirit is not following your heart. So often, I hear others and I hear myself try to dress up selfish desires as being God's will. The new way of the spirit is not just doing what we want and calling it holy.
Jeffrey Heine:Our hearts can still be deceitful, and our feelings can be rooted in selfishness and sin. The new way of the spirit is not simply following our own desires. And 3rd, the new way of the spirit is not finding your own way, just you and God. We were not ransomed from our slavery to sin to live in isolation. We were redeemed into the family of god.
Jeffrey Heine:The new way of the spirit is not a solo journey. It's not just you and Jesus. This new way of the spirit is a caravan of followers of Christ, And we were created and redeemed to speak truth into one another's lives. So 3 things that the new way is not, 3 things now that it is. The new way of the spirit is listening.
Jeffrey Heine:We listen to the direction, comfort, and conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. We listen to the word. We listen in prayer. We listen to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. The new way calls us to listen deeply.
Jeffrey Heine:If you've heard me over the years preach, you've probably heard me talk about doubt at some point or another. And that's because I have doubts, sometimes small, shallow doubts, sometimes big, deep doubts. And I'll tell you that over the years, I've found one thing that really helps, And it's you. To be specific, it's you singing. Because you singing one song speaks more directly to my doubts than a 1,000 books ever could.
Jeffrey Heine:We don't just come here to sing because we feel like singing. We also come here to sing because other people need to hear. So the new way of the spirit is listening. 2nd, the new way of the spirit is surrendering. We yield our own way.
Jeffrey Heine:We yield our own will. We surrender our preferences. We surrender to the spirit all that we have and all that we are so that we can follow the new way of life liberated to obey from our hearts. It's listening. It's surrendering.
Jeffrey Heine:And lastly, the new way of the spirit means responding. It means action. It means doing. It means stepping out in faith and in trust, even and especially when we are called to step out into the unknown. We are to respond to what we hear from the spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:We are to enjoy the freedom of having surrendered to Him, knowing that we are loved fully and eternally because we belong to Him. All week, my mind has gone back to Nicodemus. I'm a lot more like him than I often realize or care to admit. I, too, hear this call to new life, the call to be born again. And I wonder how this could all be real.
Jeffrey Heine:This new life, new motivation, this new strength, they don't always feel present. I don't always feel like a new life. I don't always feel this motivation. I don't always feel strong. But I have to remember that that doesn't make these things any less true or real.
Jeffrey Heine:This is why we need to be reminded and why we need to remind each other to clarify this new life of the spirit because the echoes of the old way, the old spouse, the old law of condemnation, those echoes can be loud. But the new way is much more intricate and intimate. And when we listen deeply with fidelity to the truth that has been spoken and when we surrender daily to the will of our savior, then from our hearts, from our mind, our soul, our strength, then we can respond, entrust to the spirit of life with all that we are, belonging to another. And we press on, making Christ our own because He has made us His own. And we live in that privileged position each and every moment of each and every day, knowing the love of our beloved, his love now and his love forever.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's go to him in prayer. Jesus, when we speak of your love for us, we do not think too highly of ourselves. We want to think highly of your graciousness. Help us by your spirit to believe the unbelievable, that you love the unlovable, you love us, and that your love changes us. Lord, help us to believe and in our believing that we would trust you more and love you more and obey you from our hearts.
Joel Brooks:We pray these things in the
Jeffrey Heine:name of Christ, our King. Amen.