The New Spirit vs. the Old Law
“For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, 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.” Romans 7:5-6
Paul was speaking to a group who was thoroughly acquainted with the law. Before Christ came, man was married to the law which meant he was bound by the law just like a marriage covenant. To contrast between law and grace, Paul uses the subject of marriage and only used the wife to illustrate his point, but it applies to either the husband or wife. If a woman is married to another man while her first husband is still living, she is guilty of adultery. However, if her first husband dies, she is then free to marry another which the law allows. However, if the husband represents the “law” and the wife represents “us”, we know that the law didn’t die; it was us who died to sin and the law, and consequently, we are no longer bound to the law because we are under grace. In effect, we are now married to Christ to walk in newness of life with Him. Paul is emphasizing the fact that there must be a death in order for there to be a new life in Christ. Christ died to provide salvation, and those of us who have received Him as Lord and Savior died to our old sinful way of life. I will admit, Paul illustration is difficult for me to explain.
Prior to conversion, we were ruled by sin. Sin carried us down the road to destruction causing us to produce fruits worthy of death. On this road, there is no pardon. However, there is hope. Christ frees us from that old slave master, sin, and we can serve the One who saved us. That old husband, the law, who beat and tortured us cannot hurt us again for we have a new Husband, One who tenderly loves us so much that He died for us so that we could be His bride forever.
Paul then asks the question: “Is the law sin?”. He answers by saying, “God forbid”. Because the law can’t save anyone and living under the law produces a lifestyle of sin, we might assume that the law itself is sin. Paul continued by explaining exactly what the law is and why we have it. The main reason for the law is that it shows us that we are sinners. It is like a mirror that reflects our every imperfection. It reveals the inner man. Paul used the sin of coveting to illustrate his point. “Thou shalt not covet” is the last of the Ten Commandments and different from the other nine in that it deals with an inward attitude rather than an outward act. Paul wrote that he wasn’t aware of sin, particularly lust, until the law revealed that he was not to covet. A simple example would be a child who has no desire to touch an object until mom tells him not to touch it, and then he has an overwhelming desire to touch that which is forbidden. Matthew Henry wrote, “Ever since Adam ate forbidden fruit, we have all been fond of forbidden paths…” If there are no laws to break, there would be no sins to commit. Imagine if there were no law. There probably wouldn’t be any people now because we would have killed each other off!
Before Paul came to know the Lord, he felt that he was a pretty good guy. Matthew Henry wrote, “Paul had the law in his hand and in his head, but he had it not in his heart; the notion of it, but not the power of it”. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he finally saw himself as God sees him, a sinner on his way to hell. Eve found out the hard way about how sin lies and deceives. Paul also came to the same conclusion. The law itself is good because God, the Lawgiver is good. The law commands holiness and justice and was intended to bring peace and order in the world. When sin is contrasted to the law, we see how good the law is and how evil sin is. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Unsaved people know that there is such a thing as sin; but they do not realize the sinfulness of sin”. It is not the law that is the problem, it is the sinful nature of man. Every word that God says is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), and the spirit of the law is the intent with which God created the law to bring us to Himself.