A Wedding by Death Romans 7:1-6

The apostle Paul sets out a beautiful argument in Romans 7:1-6 concerning our relationship to the law and our relationship to Christ . Paul uses the illustration of a woman being bound to her husband by law. He explains that if the married woman leaves her husband and marries another man she is an adulteress. But, if she marries another man after her husband dies, she is no adulteress. So, we by nature are bound to the law, in the same way that a woman is bound to her husband. But, Paul explains, the really awful thing about being bound to the law is that “when we were in the flesh the sinful passions were aroused by the law.” The law was like a husband that constantly and harshly tells his rebellious wife what she must do. It actually served to enhance our sin. When we were unregenerate and heard the demands of the law–our consciences bearing witness to the commands–it actually worked against us to make us want to break the law. So our great need was to be set free from the law.

Well, according to Paul’s illustration, all of this means that the law had to die if we were to be set free. But, the reality is that a holy God cannot cast away a holy law. The law reflects the holiness of God and this means that the law can never be abolished. It will never die. This poses a great problem for us who need to be freed from the law. This is where the wisdom of God shines forth in glorious splendor. God, in His mercy, has discovered a way to set us free from the law. If we could die then we could be freed from the law to be married to another. This is Paul’s great argument. In the death of Christ, by virtue of our union with Him, we have died to the law. We died when Christ died. Now we are free to be “married to Him who rose again from the dead.” He gave us knew life when He rose form the dead. We rose when He rose. Jesus brought a marriage to pass in His death and resurrection. We are the bride of Jesus Christ. This is attested to time and time again in the NT. When John the Baptist stood and heard Christ he said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the Bridegroom–the one who stands and hears His voice–rejoices at the voice of the Bridegroom.” Instead of being a harsh taskmaster Jesus is a loving husband who enables us to obey His commands. He set of free from what stirred up the sinful passions of the flesh in order to draw us with bands of love. What makes a wife want to obey her husband? The apostle Paul tells us “husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.” The apostle John tells us, “In this is love, not that we loved Him but that He first loved us.” The law could only serve to strengthen our rebellion, but our Heavenly Bridegroom serves to compel us with His love.”