Romans 7:1-3

1. Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

Transcript

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Hello, this is Dr. Bill Branks, author of Love the Word. I'll read our text for today, Romans 7 verses 1 to 3. Or do you not know, brethren, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress, but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote, You will die, and it will all be over. Death seems final. Many people live like death is the ultimate end, is it? After sixty-seven years together, an elderly couple died, just hours apart. Jeff, 89, had been ill for some time and died at home, surrounded by loved ones. Jerry, 86, died suddenly less than two days later. The friends and family always said they could not live without each other. A strong marriage is a bond. It is physical dependence and emotional sustenance. When that bond is broken by death, it is very difficult to carry on alone. Jeff and Jerry's story is unusual. A truly strong bond between a husband and a wife is often only broken by death. Before trusting in Christ, the law had quite an impact on everyone, and we barely noticed. It affected most of what we did. It set standards we didn't know we needed. We had a union, a marriage, if you will, to the law that was absolutely unbreakable. It was a true, until death do you part, non negotiable deal. Paul illustrates the shattering impact of Christ's death on our union with the law. The law has dominion over a person until they die. Then it has no power, like a widow who only because of her husband's death is no longer obligated to him. She is free. His death broke the bonds of marriage. Paul takes a bit farther and says if a married woman commits adultery, she is an adulteress until her husband dies. Then she is free of the law and no longer an adulteress. We as believers were married to the law. It is only the death of Christ that breaks that bondage and allows us to legally be free from it. His death annulled the union and released us to be joined to him. Paul's illustration in today's text shows the power of the law and the greater power of Christ's death over it. What we probably all failed to realize is we were held to God's highest standard of holiness set forth in his law. The law became a yoke, Acts 15, verse 10, listing 613 identifiable commandments, and failure of one is failure of all. But it was not meant to save, it was meant to reveal man's sin. We cannot take our bondage to sin lightly. The more we meditate on our woeful lack of righteousness and our hopeless marriage to an unattainable task of keeping the law, the more we will embrace the great cost of our salvation. Without Christ, we are chained to a sinking stone. We will perish if that chain is not unlocked. When we accept Christ, we die to sin and we are released from the chain. We have a new, holy, eternal union with Christ.