The Lord Jesus in Romans 7

Rom 7:1-3
(1) Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
(2) For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
(3) So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Paul now uses an illustration of a wife and husband, and a potentially better husband… The husband is the law, and we are the wife. The law is a very demanding husband, and in fact seems to be very mean at times. But this husband is not sinful. He demands perfection. He demands complete perfection, but he does not help us to accomplish it. We are miserable under the law. But, there is a better husband who desires to be married to us. He is just as perfect, but he does not leave us to be perfect on our own. He accomplishes in us what He requires of us. He loves us, and does not want out destruction. Oh, what an amazing husband… but He is not ours! We are bound to our first husband as long as he liveth. Paul tells us that if the husband dies, then we are loosed from the law of our husband.

So you think you know where Paul is going with this illustration. It seems like he is leading into the logical conclusion: our old husband must die so that we can be married to the better husband. But Paul gives us an unpredicted twist in verse 4:

Rom 7:4
(4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

You are the one who dies! The Law is not going to die. The husband will continue to live. The wife is the one who dies. She is now dead and loosed from her husband. Christ has included us in His death; we are dead to the law, dead to our old life.

You become a Christian, and you try to live for God. You know that God has included you in Christ’s death, and you reckon it so. But you continue to fail to live for Him. You sin and try to overcome, but you can’t. You get victory for maybe two weeks, and then you sin again. What is wrong?

You are doing something of yourself. Your attempts at living for God are rooted in your flesh. So often we try to drive our life with willpower or our reasoning. 7:18 – in my flesh dwelleth no good thing! Do you see that in yourself, and not just in Romans 7? Do you see that it is so easy to talk about wordly things, to think selfish thoughts. But when it comes to prayer, your body resists - you get sleepy, etc. Do you see that you are utterly helpless to serve God?

How did you get forgiveness of sins? Praying? Bible reading? Church attendance? No. We looked to Jesus Christ and His work of the cross. And deliverance from sin comes in exactly the same way.

Look how the chapter ends. Thank God… Jesus Christ, says Paul at the end of Rom 7, because it’s not him that does anything. God knows that I am completely sold out to sin. It isn’t until I’m completely finished with my attempts to keep the law and/or live for God, that He can do anything for me.