Message from August 31, “Laying Down the Law”
Law is generally a good thing. We would not want to live in a society without it. But law is generally made by humans, and thus will be imperfect and in some cases actually bad. There is a law that that is entirely good. It comes from our creator, who is the definition of good by nature.
If God’s law is good, why do we speak of being free from it? Paul has told us that we are not under law but under grace. In our passage this week, Romans 7:1-6, he uses the example of a woman bound to her husband by marriage. Under the law of Moses, only the man could initiate divorce. Jesus made it clear in Mark10 that even this was a concession to hard-hearted humanity that God never favored, but it serves here to illustrate Paul’s point.
We were bound to the law, with it’s ultimate consequence. We could not avoid breaking it and suffering the judgment that must result. Jesus provided us with a solution. We are no longer under the law and no longer slaves to sin. In the next couple of episodes, we’ll explore more fully the role that the law plays. Paul contrasts life in the flesh with life in the Spirit. We have not been set free to sin, but we have been set free from sin. A life lived in communion with the Holy Spirit changes our perspective. We no longer look to the rules for salvation. That never worked and never will. We now rest in our relationship with Him, and choose righteousness because we love Him.
