June 29, 2017

Scripture: Romans 7:1–13

We are working our way through Romans for most of the Time of the Church this year. As you read Romans, note that the first eight chapters delve into the doctrine of justification and uses various analogies to examine how Jesus has redeemed us and set us right with God. This lesson compares the freeing from sin and restoration to God with a woman who is widowed and remarries. The reading reminds us that we have died in Jesus’ death and our former tie to sin is now dissolved setting us free from sin to follow Christ.

Teaching

The law is only binding on a person as long as he or she lives. This is a very important statement because it builds on the significance of the statement in Romans 6:3-4 that we are baptized into Christ’s death and buried with him. Our situation in relationship to the law has changed. At one time our sin had bound us to break the law and live under its consequences. But now, in Christ, we have died which sets us free from sin’s bondage, so that now the law becomes something we love as it teaches us to bear fruit for God.

The law on its own cannot free us from sin. The gospel that proclaims that we are dead and buried in Christ-crucified is the only thing that can do that important work, making Jesus’ death our death in regard to sin. As it is, in our sinful nature, the law makes demands on us that we cannot keep and drives us to despair of our own ability to appease God’s wrath – that is, unless we so delude ourselves as to think that we actually keep the law. In truth,we need Jesus to keep the law on our behalf, to die on our behalf, and to offer his righteousness on our behalf.

Life

The Scriptures treat sin as a matter of life and death … or better, death and life. When we hear about life and death situations we take notice and recognize the importance, the drama, and the emotion of such moments. Do we do the same when it comes to our sin and salvation? The life of sin leads to our physical death, but since we have also spiritually died in Christ and have a new life in him, our physical death leads to eternal life.

Do you see the matter of sin and grace, of law and gospel, as a matter of life and death? Or is your heart and mind wrapped up in and distracted by the mundane matters of earthly life, the drama of our daily news and doings, and our personal self-interest? Pause for a while today and meditate on how significant it is that you have died to the law through Christ’s death in order to live for him and bear fruit for God.

Prayer


O God, the drama of death and life is a potent image describing our relationship with you. In sin we die, yet since Jesus died for our sin we have a new life. We are given his death so we might live in him and with you. Thank you for this glorious new state of affairs in which we are freed from having to live in the flesh pursuing our sinful passions so that we might bear fruit for you. Forgive us for wandering back to our former way of life when we sin, as though we want to return to our old master. Help us to love your law, O Lord, for revealing our sin to us and for driving us to know our need for our savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. 

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