Dead to the Law: Romans 7:1-6

Introduction

Good morning. Let’s open our Bibles to Romans 7, and I would like to talk to you today about a topic titled “Dead to the Law.” Romans chapter 7, verses 1 through 6.

The Bible reads:

“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he 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. 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, 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. 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.”

Let’s pray. Father, I pray that You would bless us this morning as we open Your Word. May You remove any distraction, Lord. Please, I pray, Holy Spirit, move. Give me the words to speak for the glory of Your name and for the building up of Your people. And may You speak to our hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Context: Not Under Law, But Under Grace

In the previous section, last week, we learned that we’re not under the law but under grace. Remember that? In chapter 6, we’re not under law but under grace. So some Jews in the church, the Jewish members, were probably trying to make sure that the Gentile believers followed the law. Otherwise, they thought that if they don’t follow the law, we run the risk of having people misbehaving. They have to have the law, because if they don’t have the law, they don’t have a code to follow.

For the Jews, the law was everything. It was an identity issue. That’s what made them Jewish—the law of Moses. They were children of Abraham and Moses. They read in the Old Testament that the law was more precious than gold. So to them, it was a big deal. In fact, the last commandment given by God in the Old Testament is: “Remember the law of Moses my servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.”

The obedience to the Torah, the obedience to the law, is what made them unique, separated them from all other peoples. God’s law was so dominant in ancient Israel that many Jews had made it virtually an idol. They loved the law more than they loved the Lawgiver. By the time of Christ, many Jews considered obedience to God’s law to be not only the demonstration of godliness, but also the means of salvation. “Oh, if you obey most of the law, you’ll be saved. You’ll be fine.”

But God never intended it like that. Faithfulness to the law came to surpass and supersede faith in the God who had given the law. And now Paul is saying to them, “You need to leave the law because you’re dead to the law. The law is no longer binding for us because we are under grace.” So imagine how they felt.

The law had power only to condemn men to death for their sin. In the law we found that we were sinful and exposed to God—the law was like a mirror and would say, “You are condemned.” But it had no power to redeem us from the condemnation. It had no power to redeem us. But Paul now in this passage declares that faith in Jesus brings death to the law and consequently freedom—not just from the law, but from the law’s penalty, especially from the law’s condemnation. And that is what we will attempt to prove.

In Christ, we didn’t just die to sin. We also died to the law, meaning the penalty of the law for not keeping the law. Therefore, we can serve Him in a different way now—not under the law, not under a written code of rules and regulations, but by the power of the Spirit. That’s what we will attempt to prove today.

Main Idea

Here is our main idea for this morning: Because in the death of Christ, God has released us from the law, we must serve Him by the power of the Spirit and not legalistically. Because He has released us from the law, we must serve Him by the power of the Spirit and not legalistically.

I’m going to show you a few things in the passage, and we’re going to unpack this idea.

Point One: The Analogy (Verses 1-3)

The Law Is Only Binding as Long as There Is Life

Paul gives us an analogy in verses 1 through 3 to exemplify what he means by “we’ve been dead to the law.” Here’s the analogy: The law is only binding as long as there is life. That’s the point of the analogy. Look at verses 1 through 3:

“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he 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. 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.”

Now, this passage is not to teach us about divorce and remarriage, or when one can be free from a husband or a wife. “Can I get divorced? Can I get remarried?” That’s not the purpose of this passage. If you want to know more about that topic, you can go to Sermon Audio and find—I preached a sermon on that, I don’t remember the date, but it might have been three or four years ago, maybe four years ago, on Matthew 19. So if you look up on Sermon Audio and go to our Kitwe Church page, you can find the preaching on Matthew 19. You can find two sermons: one is on divorce and remarriage, the second is on singleness for God’s kingdom. So if you want more information about that, you can go there.

But today, what Paul is doing here is he’s using the analogy of a married woman. She is married to a man, and she is bound to the man and to the imposition of the law of faithfulness to the man while he lives. In the context, Paul speaks of the freedom from the Mosaic law. He addresses those who know the law. He says, “I am speaking to those who know the law,” in verse 1. And what he’s telling them is obvious: The law is binding on a person as long as he lives. Therefore, the analogy in verses 2 and 3 will be about how we have died to the law and how it has no dominion over us anymore. That’s the principle—simple. The law is only binding as long as we live, and the law has no jurisdiction over a person after death.

The Law Didn’t Die—You Died

Listen, the law didn’t die. Let’s follow this, and I want you to understand this passage. The law did not die. It doesn’t mean that the law in the Old Testament is not inspired anymore. The unbeliever stands under God’s law today, so God is going to use His law to condemn him.

What is revealed in the whole Bible—whether it’s the law of Moses, whether it’s the law of God revealed in the Scriptures or in Christ—unbelievers still sit under God’s law and they will be condemned by it. What does that mean? The law didn’t die. You died. You died to the law, meaning it is no longer binding on you. You don’t have to obey the precepts of the Mosaic law. You were released from those so that you may serve God because of the Holy Spirit that He has given you.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not indwell the people of God. This time the Holy Spirit indwells us, and He compels us to serve God out of a heart that loves Him, not out of just pure obedience to a set of regulations.

The Difficulty of Leaving the Law

What is interesting is that many early Christians were still holding on to Judaism and the law of Moses. It was so hard to leave the law behind, something that had meant so much for them. This is why the analogy of Paul is very good. They couldn’t leave the law, even though they had died to the law. These Christian Jewish people—they had died to the law, but they couldn’t leave it because it meant so much for them throughout their lives.

It’s like, have you ever met a widow or a widower who can never get married again? People say, “Ah, if I lose my wife, if I lose my husband, I don’t think I could get married again.” So you meet a widow and she can’t get married again. And it’s not because she doesn’t want to, it’s because she may feel guilty that she’s betraying the memory of her husband. Have you ever met someone like that? Because that marriage for 25, 30, 40 years meant so much to her or to him, so now getting into a new relationship seems like it’s a betrayal. It feels wrong. But in reality, she is released from that. And actually, 1 Timothy 5, Paul encourages widows to get married again if they marry in the Lord.

So that’s what is happening here. They were not willing to let go of that previous marriage to the law of Moses. And Paul says you have, as it were, a new husband—Christ. You don’t have to follow that anymore. You’re not under the authority of that husband anymore—the law.

The Galatians, remember, they struggled. They were believers and Paul says, “Who has bewitched you?” You already left the law, you died to the law, and you’re going back to it? Because the Galatians were saying, “All of you Gentile Christians, you need to get circumcised so that you can get closer to God.”

And Paul says, “Oh yeah, then if that makes you closer to God, why don’t you just go ahead and mutilate yourselves altogether?” Because they had died to the law, but it was hard to leave that. And Paul is clear here: Just as a woman is free from marriage when death happens, so you’re free from the law. Since now you have a new husband, Christ, we are in that particular state.

Now, we don’t feel the weight of this passage so much because none of us are Jewish. We don’t really come from a Jewish background, but they were struggling with this.

Three Possible Relationships with God’s Law

Now, I want you to understand something here. Indirectly, what Paul is trying to emphasize is our relationship with the law now. It’s not just the law of Moses, it can be any of the law of God. It can be the commandments that God reveals to us in the New Testament. So God’s law is revealed in different ways. He put it in our heart—all of us know instantly what good and evil is. Then He gave us the law of Moses, which when Paul speaks of the law, that’s the majority of the times he refers to the law of Moses. But it can also be the law of God revealed in the Scriptures for us in the New Testament as well—anything that has to do with God’s commandments.

There are three ways in which you can relate to the law of God. Let me show you those three ways.

1. Antinomianism (Against the Law)

Antinomianism comes from two words: anti, meaning “against” in Greek, and nomos, meaning “law.” So the word antinomianism means “against the law”—a person that wants no law. Actually, antinomianism characterizes all unbelievers. Whether it was Gentiles during Judaism or people today, without Christ, you’re an antinomian.

Although some Christians can act as antinomians—they live like antinomians. They may not say they don’t want God’s laws or they may not reject the law of God, but they do live like it. There are Christians that seem to live as if there is no law of God, as if God had not revealed His commandments and His will for them in the Scriptures.

These believers—let me see if this describes you. I think it describes us all at some point. They are difficult. They are immature. They don’t obey the Scriptures. They get offended very easily, especially when you confront them. And they have to be constantly pushed to obey Jesus. They might not be unbelievers and they might not say, “Oh, I hate God and I hate His law and I reject His law.” But in practice, some Christians at times act like antinomians, as if there was no law from God.

They think that obedience to God’s commandments undermines grace. They think they have been freed by Christ, so “I’ll live it up!” And remember what we said last week? It is not freedom to sin. It is freedom from sin, from the slavery to sin. You cannot live again as an antinomian, as if there is no law.

They say, “I don’t want to be a Pharisee, so I am free.” Like the Corinthians—remember the Corinthians? “Everything is lawful to me. Everything is love. I can do things. I’m free in Christ. I can go to the temple and partake of the worship of idols and eat meat because I know they’re not real gods. I have freedom in Christ.”

You ever heard a Christian say, “What’s wrong with that?” Anytime a Christian says, “What’s wrong with it?” with a defiant attitude, there’s something wrong in his heart. Now, there’s a time maybe when you can say it when somebody’s condemning you legalistically, but just saying “What’s wrong with it?”

Look, I’m not going to condemn you because you smoke. But if your attitude is, “What’s wrong with it?” then that’s a different thing. Cigarettes don’t sin. They don’t have a soul. Seriously, people, when they create lists of sins, one of the things is smoking. And if you smoke, “Oh, you’re the worst of sinners.” No, that’s not it. But what matters is your attitude, your heart.

We talked about tattoos last time. You see somebody with a tattoo, “No, no, that one, that one is a sinner.” Christians talk—”What’s wrong with it?” That shouldn’t be your attitude. I’m not saying they’re wrong. I’m also not saying go put on one. But you get the point.

It is defiance that we have in our hearts. “What’s wrong with me growing my hair? What’s wrong with me doing this? What’s wrong with me? The Bible doesn’t say that I can’t do it. The Bible doesn’t say this.”

No, the Bible doesn’t say that, but do you love your brothers and sisters? And again, don’t take it as a condemnation. Don’t be an antinomian.

How about those people that say, “I don’t feel like going to church today, so I won’t go.” “But you should go.” “No, no, no, because if I go, then I will be a hypocrite because I don’t really want to be there. I don’t want to be a hypocrite.” You should go. Let the Lord work in your heart because you obey God’s law and you love Him.

So that’s antinomianism—against the law.

2. Legalism (Wanting More Law)

Legalism is when a person wants more law. What God has said is not enough. I have to add more. Are we together?

Here’s a definition of legalism I wrote last night: The conviction that we are accepted by God because of our strict obedience to the law and not because of the merits of Christ.

Look, you need to obey God’s law. But if you say, “I am accepted by God because I do everything right—I don’t do this, I don’t do that, I don’t steal, I don’t cheat”—and then you add your own: “I don’t put on tattoos, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I dress like this, I don’t have long hair, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah”—you want more law? It’s not enough what God has revealed.

Then not only that, but even if you obey what God has revealed, you do it because you want to be accepted by Jesus or by God, not because of Jesus, but because of your own efforts. A legalist is a person who lives in bondage to the law. He imagines that his acceptance with God is dependent on his own efforts and obedience rather than the work of Christ and the grace of God.

His motivation for obeying the law is fear. They’re afraid because they fear that God won’t accept them if they don’t do all this—if they don’t do 1, 2, 3, 4, if they don’t do it this way. And they don’t do it out of a heart that loves Jesus. They’re doing it out of a fear that they won’t be accepted and that their efforts won’t be enough.

Another motivation for the legalist is pride. “I do it, so I’m better because I’m doing it. You don’t follow those commandments. Me, I’m good.” You feel indirectly that you’re better because you’re able to follow not only God’s commandments but those others that you have added on to it.

The legalist knows that Christ died for him, but he still feels like he needs to do something about it. He still feels like he needs to help God. He needs to do his own thing. He’s quick to impose on others his view of the law, and it feels like he has to do it—it feels like it is a condition for their approval and acceptance with God. He ignores what Christ has done for us and instead attempts to earn his own righteousness outside of Christ, whether unto salvation or unto sanctification.

If you’re a Christian that struggles with legalism, in verse 1 Paul calls them “brothers,” which means these are believers that were acting as legalists.

How Do You Know If You Are Acting as a Legalist?

Let’s get very practical. How do you know if you’re acting as a legalist? And you can be one without sometimes realizing you are.

You add more commandments to what God has simply already commanded. I’ve been asked many times by Christians outside this church, “Pastor, why do you allow some members of your church to come in shorts? I’ve seen some people coming in shorts to church. That’s wrong. Doesn’t look good.” I’ve been asked that several times. I mean, if I could, I’d preach in shorts and sandals and a t-shirt, but I don’t want to scare some of you. I have preached in sandals before. But some people on Wednesdays, we have several that come to Bible study in shorts. Who cares? But we add—are you adding to what God has revealed? And then you make that the basis of judgment and judging everybody else’s holiness and Christianity.

“Ah, Pastor, in our churches in Zambia we don’t allow women to wear trousers in church because that’s a step into immodesty. So we don’t allow it. Why do you? Even women sing in trousers. No, Pastor, are you serious?” I had people ask me that. You add more commandments to what God has already revealed.

You condemn yourself often. Look, how many of you sin and you feel so dirty? You feel so guilty. You don’t even feel like coming to Jesus. I think all of us have gone through that. I told that to the Lord this week as I prayed before Him. “Lord, I don’t feel like it. I don’t even feel forgiven. But I’m coming to You,” I said, “in the merits of Christ because I feel tempted to condemn myself.”

The Bible says, “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). There is no condemnation. So what do we do when we sin? We put condemnation on ourselves when Jesus says there is no condemnation on you. What must you do? All you do is fall on your knees, say, “God, forgive me and help me grow in holiness in this area,” and God forgives. But then many Christians stay discouraged for so long because they keep condemning themselves. They keep reminding themselves of the sin. You know who does it? You know whose job that is? The devil’s job. That’s not your job. Just like it isn’t your job to condemn other Christians.

Maybe one of you right now has had a sin for a while. You need help from a good, mature Christian that can help you defeat it. And you need to repent, but you don’t need to condemn yourself. Because condemnation keeps you from serving and loving Jesus.

Maybe there’s a lady here, somebody watching us, that has committed abortion and that has weighed heavily. Maybe some of you still feel condemnation about some things you did before coming to Christ. If you have repented, Jesus has forgiven you and there is no condemnation. In fact, listen to me: You committed a greater sin than whatever you have actually thought of. You know what the greatest sin is that you committed? You put the Son of God on the cross. And if God forgave you that, you don’t think He can forgive everything else?

How many parents here may feel guilty about the way they raised their children? Maybe you still have time. Maybe you still have a child that you can raise. And maybe the child has grown, but you can still advise him. Ask forgiveness and start teaching him the right thing. Don’t condemn yourself, but find freedom in Christ. Because self-condemnation is a mark of legalism.

You make your own opinions of the law of God for everybody else. The Bible says, “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world.” That was a passage I heard growing up a lot in a legalistic church. That’s what the Bible says, but then they added so many things on that. I remember pastors telling me how I was supposed to comb my hair. It had to be sideways this way—from the left to the right was the best. Seriously, I was told how to comb my hair.

We were told by some pastors that a man should not wear a pink shirt because in the Western culture, pink is for girls and blue is for boys. So a man should never wear a pink shirt. I remember a pastor saying from the pulpit, “Why are you wearing a pink shirt?” And then the one next to him, his friend was also wearing a pink shirt. He said, “Maybe that’s why you’re sitting together. Maybe you’re a couple.”

They made—the Bible says “don’t love the world,” but then they added a million things on top of that. What it means to not love the world. “This music is okay, but this music is not okay.” I remember a pastor saying, “When you’re singing it should just be you and God. You should be focused. If the music you’re singing makes you move your foot like this, then that’s music of the world. You shouldn’t sing it,” even if it’s a good song of praise. “But if you’re doing this, no, no, no, that’s of the devil.”

And they made their opinions a law for everyone. It was very hard to keep. Believe me, I didn’t keep anything. I looked very nice when I came to church, but outside, I was as bad as it gets. It was just a show.

You care more about your image than you care about your heart. I think that’s one of the biggest sins in the culture in which we live—that people are so worried about how people see them. The fear of man is a big master for some of you. You care so much about what people say, about what your relatives say.

You’re saving money to give to the Lord, but here comes your uncle who is a drunkard. But because he’s asking for the money, you’ve got to give it to him. “Oh, because he’s going to tell the family how you’re very selfish and you don’t love the family. No, I can’t do that, because then what’s the family going to say about me?” You’re going to empower sin. And you were saving that to give to the Lord. But you care much more.

I know you might say, “Ah, you don’t understand our ways, Pastor.” Well, I don’t have to understand ways. I need to understand God’s ways. And He needs to change our ways.

But for some of you, the fear of man is a big deal. And that’s legalism—when you’re doing things so that others may see you and think of you as a good person, as a good Zambian, as a good Christian.

Legalism is when you begin doing things before you repent and look unto Christ. “I sinned. Oh, I’m going to read the Bible more,” instead of saying, “God, forgive me in Christ.” You start doing it yourself.

A legalist loves the law more than he loves the Lawgiver.

3. Biblical Relationship with the Law

What is another relationship with the law? A biblical relationship—when a person loves and obeys God’s law. If you love it, you’re going to obey it out of love, not out of commitment. This person understands what the Scripture says and acknowledges that whereas the law cannot save us, it’s still good and holy. There’s much knowledge. Look, we don’t have to obey the Mosaic law, but there’s much knowledge and many timeless principles that we can draw from it.

But when we consider God’s law in the rest of the Bible, we obey it joyfully for God’s glory. Brothers and sisters, the problem is not with the law. It is with our sinful heart. The law isn’t deficient. We are. So the biblical Christian loves and delights in God’s law as an expression of His will and seeks to obey it out of God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Point Two: The Point of Comparison (Verse 4)

So Paul gives us an analogy in verses 1 through 3. The analogy is we’re dead to the law—it’s not binding on us anymore. Now we’re alive in Christ and we serve Christ out of love. Now, the point of comparison. Look at verse 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.”

What is the point of comparison? That just as death terminates our responsibilities to marriage, our union to Christ in His death terminates our bondage to the law. That’s the point of comparison.

Paul applies the analogy that he presented in verses 2 and 3—that in Christ we die to the law. But I want you to understand what it means to die to the law.

What It Means to Die to the Law

The law of God has always required perfect obedience so that we may be saved. Watch this, follow me here. God creates Adam, and He puts a law in his heart, then He gives the law to Moses. So God basically could reckon you saved if you obeyed the law perfectly. What’s the problem? We’re all in Adam. Who of you can obey the law perfectly? No one. So the law stood as a condemnation, as a penalty for sin. The law condemned us.

If the Jews or if we obeyed the law perfectly, we would be saved in a sense because we would have accomplished the perfect righteousness that God requires for you to be in good terms with Him. However, the law showed us that we couldn’t obey it perfectly, that we are condemned because we have disobeyed the law. Then the Jews started worshiping the law and they thought they could be saved by just obeying at least some of it or most of it.

But we died to the law. The law reveals that we’re sinful, that we are condemned, but our relationship with the law cannot save us. We need a new relationship. That is why we need Jesus. We need Christ who can free us from the law.

He lived the law for us. He obeyed the law for us. He accomplished the law for us. And we don’t need the law anymore because the law has been obeyed in our place by Jesus Christ. When Jesus died for us, God considers us dead to the law because the law has now been accomplished and obeyed perfectly. We’re no longer in bondage to the law as far as its condemning power. So the law cannot condemn us in that way. We have died to the law because Jesus accomplished the law.

The believer has a new husband. The believer is now with Christ. You have died to the law and have been raised to Christ. That is the point of comparison. Just as a woman is free when her husband dies, you are free because you’ve died. Now you’ve died to the law. So you’re free now. You have a new husband. In the previous section in chapter 6, you had a new master. Now you have a new husband or a new relationship, not of the law, but of the Spirit with Christ.

Point Three: The Purpose (Verse 4b)

Why have we died to the law? Paul is repeating verse 21 from chapter 6. Why have we died to the law? In order to bear much fruit. Look at verse 4, the end of verse 4: “In order that we may bear fruit for God.”

Just like in many other passages in his letters, Paul tells us the reason why God saved us from the penalty of the law, why we died to the law. He wants us to bear fruit. He created us to bear fruit, to be holy.

Listen to what Paul says in Galatians 2:19-21:

“For through the law I died to the law, so that I may live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

So we now have Christ.

God Cares About Your Life

One implication: What does it mean to bear fruit? Brethren, God cares about your life as a Christian. Your life matters to God because He saved you ultimately to bear fruit. Yes, you will be in heaven someday, but He wants you to be holy—holy in this life and perfectly holy in eternity when you’re with Him. He wants you to bear fruit because He wants others right now in this life to see Christ in you.

Listen, many of us, most of us right here, most of us will never be known in State House or in the British Parliament. Most of us will never be as famous as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi or somebody else. Who doesn’t know those guys? Even if you don’t watch football, I’m sure you know those names. Most of us will never be known. Most of us will have a very, very small circle of influence—maybe just a few relatives, family, kids. Maybe just your family, direct family. Maybe just your church and a few friends.

In fact, when Paul writes this, the majority—99% of the people back then—did not travel ever in their lives more than 100 kilometers. 100 kilometers is maybe from here to Kafue or between Ndola and Kapiri. You needed to get there walking. Most people could not take 10 days of their lives to go and come back because they were living by the day.

So maybe most of us won’t have a big influence. Most of us will not influence the whole world. But your life—what you think is your little life that doesn’t matter—it matters to God. God knows you and He cares for you and He cares how you live because that little influence you may have, maybe only three or four people, but He wants you to bear fruit for His glory. And that’s why He saved you.

I assure you, your life will have a massive, significant impact when you bear fruit. If you were to be gone today, if right now as we’re meeting, if this service right now was your memorial service—what could we be saying? Could we say, “Well, God took him because he was being shameful for the name of Christ”? Or could we say, “What a great life lived for Jesus, bore much fruit for the Lord”?

Legalism Bears No Real Fruit

Now, getting back to the text, Paul wants you to understand that fruit is a logical conclusion of having died to the law. What Paul affirms in 7:4 is that his law-free gospel is not promoting immorality as legalists may think. Rather, it actually enables us to bear fruit for God. That is why—listen, that is why you must forsake legalism. And we must turn to Christ in everything you do. You must depend on the grace of God.

Legalism bears no real fruit. It looks like fruit, but it isn’t fruit. Legalism looks like holiness, but it isn’t holiness. Legalism looks like it’s growing, but it is not growing. It’s actually going down. Legalism keeps you away from God.

Let me explain it to you. A woman that says, “Oh, wearing trousers is a sin, so I only wear skirts”—she may seem very modest, but she’s full of pride. And God condemns pride.

Or a man says—I remember in college, one of my friends said, illegally said, “These lips have never touched a cigarette.” But he didn’t follow Jesus after that. I remember they used to tell us going into a movie theater was a sin. He said to me, “These lips have never touched a cigarette, these feet have never entered a movie theater.” And you feel very proud of yourself.

A man that has never had long hair, but he may do other things to draw attention to himself and show his pride at the same time.

A woman who wears a veil—”Oh no, a woman should have a head covering coming into church.” You know how many churches make them do that? And you’ve got women at the door handing out head coverings so that those women that come who don’t have one can have one as they enter church. They may wear a big head covering, but they don’t respect their husband. They don’t submit to their husband’s leadership. “Oh yeah, but I wear a veil. I don’t wear trousers, I wear long skirts.” You may be dragging a Persian rug or a big curtain, but if your heart is not with Jesus, it doesn’t matter.

Legalism looks like fruit, but it isn’t fruit. Friends, you cannot bear real fruit when you’re a legalist. You can’t just change the outside of the plate and the inside be dirty.

That’s why—listen, that’s why I don’t believe Christians should go to a psychologist. I don’t think a psychologist helps you, ultimately. Maybe a psychiatrist that prescribes medicine if in some extreme rare occasion you need it for your body to stabilize, maybe. I don’t think a psychologist can help you because the psychologist starts doing regression. “Oh, maybe we need to change your environment.” What you need is repentance and you need the people of God and the Word of God to help you grow.

A psychologist helps you change behavior, but the Word of God changes your heart and in turn your behavior. I would rather have you go with a mature believer that would help you grow in Christ and will attack the heart root issue. Not with a psychologist that helps you be emotionally stable and change your behavior. And then you just became a Pharisee. “Did you stop stealing?” “Yeah, the psychologist helped me to stop stealing.” Or you’re just a pathological liar and thief. “No, no, the psychologist helped me get over it,” but you might still be going to hell, or you might still in your heart desire that. Are we together?

Legalist practices appear godly but they’re not godly.

The Danger of Superficial Christianity

Some of you—listen, some of you have a lot to repent of today, right now. Some of you are living a superficial Christian life. How many times have you said to yourself, “Okay, I’m going to get serious. That’s enough. I’ve been superficial. I haven’t been serving Jesus. I’ve got to get serious with Jesus”? How many of you have said that? Many of you hear the sermon, you’re convicted and say, “I need to get serious in my faith. I need to attend church activities regularly. I need to be faithful. I need to be faithful in my giving. I need to read the Word more. I need to spend more time in prayer. I need to lead my family well. I need to be better with my husband. I need to get involved in church,” and so on and so on and so on.

How many of you have said, “Okay, it’s enough, Lord. I’m going to get serious today”? And then what happens? You begin doing those things for a season. And then you go back to the same thing. You know why? Because you haven’t repented. You haven’t gone to Christ and said, “Jesus, forgive me. I need Your grace. I have sinned against You. I need Your forgiveness. I need Your grace to do this.” Then you repent truly, find some good Christians that will help you grow instead of doing it on your own. And then you start growing by the grace of God.

No, but instead you say, “I’m going to get serious.” So then you start reading your Bible, you start reading more chapters, you start coming to church, but you haven’t dealt with the core issue. You know what that is? That’s legalism. Because you’re doing it before you have the grace of God enabling you. You’re doing it yourself on your own efforts and not by the grace of Christ. And not trusting in the sacrifice of Christ.

It is like a wife—and this is an everlasting sin for many wives. So I’m speaking generally, okay, so let the Holy Spirit apply it however He wants. But many women suffer from this temptation. They offend the husband, but they find it very hard to say, “Forgive me, my husband. Forgive me, Lord, and forgive me, my husband.” You know what they start doing? They start acting nicely. They cook him a nice meal. They treat him nicely. That may even be the time when they have sexual intercourse. They just begin acting nicely to the husband, but they haven’t asked the Lord for forgiveness and they haven’t said to the husband, “Forgive me, I sinned against you.” You know what I’m talking about, right? Wives, husbands.

Well, that’s legalism. That’s exactly what we do with Christ. Legalism. He doesn’t want you to start being nice. He doesn’t want you to start reading your Bible. He doesn’t want you to get serious. He wants you first to deal with the heart issue and the power of the Spirit and by the grace of God and by the merits of Christ. Then He will bring out the fruit after that. And you’ll continue trusting in God’s grace.

So today, maybe right now, if you have sinned, it is time for you to repent—to say, “God, by Your grace, help me.” Then He will help you read the Scriptures joyfully. Then He will help you get involved and gather all the Christians around you. Don’t do it alone. It’s not going to get anywhere if you do it alone. Are you following me? That’s how you bear much fruit.

Point Four: The Contrast (Verses 5-6)

The last two verses. Paul presents a contrast here. First, the contrast is between our previous life and our new life.

Our Previous Life

What is our previous life like? Look at verse 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.”

We lived in the flesh, our sinful nature. We were dominated by our sinful nature. Then we were dominated by sinful passions. Passions are things that we do, the impulses. We were acting in the moment. Because we were sinful, the impulses were sinful as well, and we were dominated by them. The spontaneous response was one of sin.

By the way, a Christian spontaneously responds in holiness. You ever seen a Christian, you know, hits his little toe against the chair or something, he doesn’t say a bad word. He just says, “Ah!” He doesn’t start swearing—unless you’ve been practicing that a lot. Because our impulses are holy. The impulses of an unbeliever are not.

They were aroused by the law. What does it mean? That the law presented itself as a mirror before you and it said, “You are sinful.” And you say, “Oh, I hate that.” So it aroused more passions, more hatred towards the law. And then finally, it bore fruit to death. That is what we said last week. Remember the passage, verse 21 of chapter 6? We were living in the flesh and then we bore the fruit of death.

Our New Life

But Christ came. Look at verse 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.”

Here it is—what happened in our new life now: released from the law by death. Christ released us. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree.”

And then we serve in a new way. The end of the verse says in verse 6, “So that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

I find this phrase inspiring. It emphasizes everything he’s been saying. Freedom from the law is not license to sin. Freedom from the law is so that we serve in a new way, empowered by the Spirit.

Like a woman whose husband died is free to marry another, now we are married to Christ as it were, and we serve a new husband. And we serve a new husband in a new way—a way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Brethren, the law is still important, but now we seek to obey it for God’s glory. What we died to was the penalty of the law, which was death. So now we serve it for God’s glory. We serve God for His glory, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Application and Conclusion

So this morning, there might be a legalist here who hasn’t died to the law. There might be a person right now—maybe it’s you—who has never trusted in Christ and you’re still trying to obey God so that you earn your way to heaven. You don’t know if you die right now you’ll go to heaven because you don’t know if you’ve obeyed the law enough. You cannot. It’s never going to be enough. The law reflects your heart and the law says “condemned.” But today in Christ you can die to the law and the penalty of the law so that you serve Him as your new husband, so that you serve Him as your new master.

And Christian, you’ve been living a legalist life. Maybe today’s the time that instead of beginning to do more and more and more and acting as a legalist, you begin by repentance, trusting in the merits of Christ, and being empowered by His grace and with the help of other believers to live a holy life.

I pray this goes with us and that we will be blessed by God’s Word today. Let’s pray.

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Closing Prayer

Father, may You speak to us this morning from Your Word. May You quiet our hearts and hear what You want to say to us. Why don’t you take a moment and pray in your place? If there’s something you need to repent of, something you need to give to the Lord, do so there quietly in your place. Let’s pray for a moment, for a few moments.

Father, may our lives be for Your glory, that we serve You out of a life empowered by the Spirit, by the grace of God. We’ll do this for Your glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.