4/27/10 Romans 7
Joined to Another
(Ro 7:4)4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
In the first part of Romans 7 specifically verses 1-6 Paul is continuing to follow the thought of being slaves to sin, but now moves to another example associated with the law. The law that Paul is speaking about at first is just the law of marriage found in the scriptures and probably the civil law that was in place during the first century. In verse 2-3 he gives an illustration of what it means to be bound by the laws of marriage. Verse 4 is where Paul makes his main point that Christians are released from bondage to the Law, this time the Mosaic Law, through the death of Christ.
In other words Christ death has provided us an opportunity to be free from the laws jurisdiction which leads to death. Paul goes on to say through the remainder of the chapter that the Law is good, yet it was used by sin. See we are totally incapable of fulfilling the Law and therefore it leaves us defeated and without hope. Even with our best intentions and best effort we fall short of doing what the Law says so the result is death because this is what is earned for not fulfilling the standard that God has placed upon humanity.
When we recognize that we cannot possible keep the Law, there is only one person who we can turn to and that is Jesus. Jesus kept the law perfectly and because he did my only option to be released from the jurisdiction of the law is to be joined with Him. This is exactly the point of verse 4.
Since Jesus perfectly kept the Law he overcame sin, death, and the grave. Therefore my only hope for the power of sin, death, and the grave to be broken in my life is to place my complete faith, hope, and trust upon Him.
In addition to being joined with Christ I am then able through Him to bear fruit for God. Just as John 15:5 states that “he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” If a person never joins themselves to Jesus then they remain in the flesh and under the Law fulfilling the sinful passions and the fruit of it which produces is death. But dying to the flesh releases us from the Law, which enables us to serve in the newness of the Spirit.
Prayer: Father you are the maker of all that we see the giver of all life. I thank you for giving me life. I thank Jesus for living a perfectly life so that I may have life in his name. I am thankful that there is no pressure for me to live up to a standard that I cannot attain. I ask that my life that you have given would through being joined with Jesus serving in the Spirit would produce abundant fruit to the praise and glory of the Father, in Jesus name. Amen.