In this chapter the Christian’s deliverance from law is described. “I speak to them that know law” (that is as a principle), says the apostle; “That the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth.” The Jewish nation was dispensational under the law. It was needful then specially for the Jewish believer to know his relation to the law now he had become Christ’s. He was under it as a husband, to raise the question of righteousness after man had become a slave of sin. The apostle uses the illustration of a: woman married to a husband. She was bound by law to her husband as long as he lived, but if he died she was loosed from the law of her husband, so then if while her husband lived she was married to another man, she should be called an adulteress; but if the husband should die, she was free to be married to another man. Then applying the double illustration, the apostle says, “Ye therefore, my brethren, are become dead to the law by the body of the Anointed One, that ye should be married to another, even to Him who has been raised from the dead, that ye might bring forth fruit unto God.” The law and Christ are here therefore compared to two husbands, the law applying to the condition the Jew was in as a child of Adam, only put into relationship with Jehovah on that ground. As long as he lived in that relationship he was under law’s dominion, and law’s rule, but having accepted Christ, as seen in His death, he became dead to the law. Death dissolved the relationship, and resurrection introducing him into a new place, he was married to another, even to Him whom God raised from the dead, now to bear fruit to God. Thus he became connected with God’s Anointed as to a new husband, and came under a new rule, the rule of God’s Christ, instead of the law.
It was like a wild briar in its original earth, that produced plentifully the briars and thorns, and as we see at the end of the chapter, the new bud of the good rose put in only seemed to languish as long as the tree remained in the barren earth, but now it is cut down and taken out by the skilful gardener from its original place in the rocky, barren soil, and transplanted into God’s new ground in Christ; where the new bud, unhindered by the growth of the old briar, and fed by the good new soil, brings forth beautiful roses to God’s glory. In the end of the chapter we see the struggles of the new life to bear fruit before it is transplanted, but in Romans 8 we see the new plant in the new place bearing fruit to God.
Thus the law of Moses can never produce fruit for God. “When we were in the flesh,” says the apostle, “the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.” The old saplings of the briar would seem to shoot out with all their native strength; and the digging and dunging all made it worse, the earth was such that only produced briars and thorns. But now we are delivered from the law, having died to that wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Thus all Christians stand before God as having died to the old husband, law. All Christians stand as related to the new, the Christ! and Him raised from the dead. And as no woman can be married to two husbands at one time without being guilty of adultery, so no Christian can be under the law and under Christ too at one time without being guilty of spiritual adultery.
This at once clearly explains the truth of the doctrine at the end of this chapter. The Holy Spirit could not possibly teach the sin of spiritual adultery; but if the experience at the end of the chapter is that of a man who has the Holy Spirit, then He would be teaching it, for it is nothing but the experience of a man under the old husband, law; and therefore of a man still as to his experience on the ground of the flesh; whereas a man who has got the Holy Spirit is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, and therefore not under the law, but under grace.
The chapter might be divided into three parts.
1st, Romans 7:1-61Know 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? 2For 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. 3So 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. 4Wherefore, 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. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:1‑6) the deliverance from the law is stated.
2nd, Romans 7:7-137What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. (Romans 7:7‑13) man’s former state in the flesh having been alluded to (Rom. 7:55For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. (Romans 7:5)), the law’s action upon it as giving the knowledge of sin, and condemning him to death who gave way to its first motions is shown. The law is holy then, sin exceeding sinful.
3rd, Romans 7:14-2514For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:14‑25) sin’s working death in the man through the law, is shown, as also the struggles of an awakened, quickened soul, to get righteousness and life through the law; but then the man finds his mistake, comes to the knowledge of sin, as a distinct evil principle in himself, but not himself, and his captivity to it; and learning that it only works death in him, he looks away to Christ for deliverance, and finds it in God through Christ.
But without this needful experience and knowledge of sin, a superficial hearer would say, returning to Romans 7:77What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (Romans 7:7), Is the law sin, for you teach, Paul, that a man must become dead to the law, as well as to sin? “God forbid,” says the apostle, the law made me, as an unsaved man, know sin. I would not have known sin, unless the law had said, “Thou shalt not lust; but sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of lust.” Apart from law, sin was dead, lay dormant in the man; the school-boy cut the table, ignorant that there was his evil will inside him, causing him to do the mischief, but now the schoolmaster issues a command that the boys are not to cut the table. This immediately fills the boys with an evil desire to do it; perhaps some had never thought of doing it before the command was issued. This is lust! The law not only forbids the evil act, but the desire to do it. Now if the boy is attentive to the lessons of the schoolmaster, he will come to the knowledge of the naughty will inside him, that makes him desire to cut the table. And this is what happens when the soul is awakened! but unawakened the man follows his own lusts, and the end is death-awakened he comes to the knowledge of sin, finds he is under sentence of death, forgiving way to its first motions, and accepts the sentence, coming to repentance.
Thus it was with Paul; he says, “I was alive without law once, but the commandment having come, sin revived, and I died.” He accepted the sentence of death on himself when awakened. The law then is nothing but a ministry of death to man, for it forbids lust, under the penalty of death, but every man lusts, and thus the sentence of death is written on him The commandment which was unto life, Paul found to be unto death, for sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. Behold people today going Sunday after Sunday, and hearing the ten commandments read in so called churches. Sin deceives them, makes them think that the law is the way of justification and life. Sin thus deceives them, and uses the holy law of God to kill them. Alas, with the majority it is not like with the apostle, a learning of sin’s deceptions now, and its cruel and terrible nature now to slay him; but they go on sleeping under the venom of the serpent, and die, without rousing out of their sleep of death. And oh, terrible thought, only to wake up to these deceptions in hell!
From Romans 7:14-2514For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:14‑25) the apostle in answer to the question, “Was then that which is good made death unto me,” still further brings out the horrible nature of sin, and shows the fruitless struggles of an awakened soul under the law to free itself from its dominion, till it looks away to the Saviour God through Christ for deliverance. Sin is thus looked at as a monster that has laid hold of its victim, using the good holy law of God to deceive its victim, who vainly thinks that that is the way of righteousness and life; it stirs up its very motions by the law, and then uses the law to sentence its victim to death. Paul discovered all this when light from the glory began to shine into his soul The law cannot work life in the soul of such a man, sin works death in him by that which is good, that is, the law.
We come now to the struggles, and progress in knowledge of an awakened soul, measuring itself by this spiritual measure, the law, and finding all its efforts to come up to this spiritual standard fruitless. There is no mention of Christ or the Holy Spirit in the whole passage. It is the experience of a quickened soul, born again, turned to God, but still without deliverance and salvation, still under the captivity of sin, and measuring itself alone by law standard. We know that the law is spiritual. This is Christian knowledge, but I am carnal, sold under sin; he supposes the case of a man not yet a Christian, still under law. For that which I do, my conscience does not allow, but what I would that do I not, but what I hate that do I. But then if this is so, the will and affections are right, and the man consents to the law that it is good. And again if the will is right, he is renewed, for naturally the will is on the wrong side, and if so, it is no more he that does the evil, but sin that dwells in him. This is progress in the awakened soul. Now there is the knowledge that the evil principle of sin is distinct from the new I, that wills to do right. In the flesh, that is, the Adam nature, on the contrary, dwells no good thing.
Here there is a decided advance in knowledge. In Romans 7:1414For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14), there was confusion between the natures; “I am fleshly,” he says there, but in Romans 7:1818For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18) there is the flesh and sin, distinct from the new I. Another thing is found now, that though the will is right, there is no power to perform what is good: he repeats what he had said in Romans 7:1515For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. (Romans 7:15). but there it was to show he was fleshly, here it is, that he has no power to perform what his new I wants to do; for the good he would, he does not, but the evil he would not that he does. Thus a soul if only turned to God and quickened, but not delivered, is still virtually under the power of sin. The Apostle repeats, if my will is right it is no more I, but sin that dwelleth in me. He finds then a law that when he would do good, evil is present with him; but he delights in the law of God after the inward man. Thus he is really born again, but he finds another law, that is, the flesh, warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin that is in his members. This is insupportable! Born again, he desires the good, he must be free, but the very light he has got shows him that his whole Adam nature is sinful, and too strong for him, so that he cries out, “Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death!” The whole natural man is seen sinful and even as quickened he is without strength. He must be delivered. How get deliverance? He looks away from the man here, to God, and finds Him a Deliverer through Christ dead, risen, and glorified. The man up there he finds as his positive righteousness, and God’s gift of eternal life to him; and is justified and free.
In himself he finds no good, and no strength to fulfill the positive righteousness of the law even with his new nature, and its desires after it, but in God he finds a Deliverer who has already opened the path through death for him by Jesus; and this Jesus in glory God gives him as His gift of eternal life, the life that has passed victoriously through death and conquered. He finds a new man in a new place for him in glory, and learns to connect himself as born of God with Him. Yea, Romans 8:1, he finds himself “in Him.” The experience of this chapter has taught him this great lesson that he has two distinct natures now in him. He himself identified with the new nature serves the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. At the same time he has found deliverance from his Adam standing and state through Christ Romans 8. shows the reality and power of the deliverance itself. He is in Christ, in a man to whom no condemnation is attached, and the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set him free from the law of sin and death.
The teaching of Romans 7 must not be confounded with the teaching of the 3rd and 4th chapters. There the law proves guilty, it brings under sentence of death for the things done. Here it shows the wretchedness of the man himself under the power and dominion of sin. By law is the knowledge of sin. In Romans 3-4, he finds in God a justifier from his sins, but here also giving him a new place in Christ (at least in Rom. 8), and delivering him from his Adam condition; and the law that applied to it.
It is to be noted in the types, that the law was given at Mount Sinai to an already typically redeemed people, who had been brought to God. It belonged to the wilderness, not to Egypt. And if we see only in the history of Israel the history of a redeemed people that is the reality of the things typified, we shall get into confusion, and be in danger of misapplying the law, that is of applying it to Christians.
Now the doctrine of the new testament is as clear as noonday on the subject, that the law is not to be applied to Christians, it was not made for a righteous man! How then are we to reconcile the fact that the law was given in the wilderness, and not in Egypt before redemption? The simple answer is that the passage of the Red Sea is not only the picture of full redemption, but also of a typically baptized people brought in to external relationship with God, outside the heathen and Jewish world of which Egypt was the type (see 1 Cor. 10:1-131Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:1‑13); Heb. 2:14; 15:3-414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). By these Scriptures, we see that the Christian profession is in the wilderness, not in Egypt; brought into that place by baptism, which we have introduced as giving an external deliverance from Adam connection in Romans 6:1-51What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Romans 6:1‑5). Now the mass of these Christian professors, as we know, are ungodly people, and it is a lawful use of the law, as 1 Timothy 1 shows, to apply it to such; to test their reality. Real Christians are not under it in any way. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and it is their nature to love., But God allows all this testing to go on amongst His professing people, to know what is in their hearts, and to make them know that grace and Christ are the only ground on which they will ever enter heaven as the rest of God. The sin of profession is, I believe, accepting the law as the ground of entering heaven, just like Israel accepted it, going away from the promises. God allowed it to raise the question of righteousness with them, and so in the lawful use of it today. It is remarkable that before entering Canaan, Israel is brought to the brazen serpent, the type of the judgment of Satan and sin by the cross; showing in type that the way into heaven, and deliverance from perishing by the bite of the serpent is alone through Christ lifted up on the cross, and rising again in eternal life. And this is really only the foundation and beginning of real, vital Christianity according to John 3:1414And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14), and yet the type comes at the very end of the wilderness journey. It is the lesson over again of Romans 7-8. Only I believe Jordan teaches fully death to sin, and to the law, and introduction into the heavenly places in Christ! We are just landed there as to our standing in Romans 8:1-21There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1‑2), but that is all. The general practical life is in the wilderness.