“The Law: Dead or Alive?”

(Romans 7:1-13)

Series: Romans – United in the Gospel [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

May 1, 2022

Introductory Comments:

Very often at weddings, [show picture on screen] you hear these words as part of the vows, “Till death do us part.” You see, there are some things that are designed to be bound for life, marriage being one of them. There are other things that last a lifetime. For example, think of someone who serves as a United States President. For the rest of their life, they are known as “Mr. President,” even after their time expires in office. I still refer to my childhood pastor, Jay Brinson, as “Pastor;” he will always be my pastor, even though he retired years ago. Some things are only separated by death. 

Well, in today’s passage, Paul is continuing a discussion about sin, the law, grace, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As he does so, he talks about being dead to the law and being alive to Jesus. Today’s sermon is entitled, “The Law: Dead or Alive?” [on screen]

Before we go any further, let’s ask God to pray for us as we study His Word. Let’s pray together.

(prayer)

So, here we are in Romans 7. We’re going to talk about three different types of death in this passage as Paul continues his discourse on grace and sin, death and life, and the law and grace. 

First, let us hear about . . .

I. The death of a husband (1-3) [on screen]

Now, as we get into this first point, I certainly don’t want to be insensitive to those who have lost loved ones. I’ve seen many of you lose loved ones and I know that it is very hard. However, if we listen to what Paul is saying in this passage, we can see that he is merely trying to make a point using the illustration of the death of a husband. 

Let’s see what he has to say. Look at verses 1-3:

1 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

Ok, so we see in verse 1 why Paul chose to speak about a husband-wife relationship. He says, “Since I am speaking to those who know the law . . .”

Paul knows that his audience understands the law of marriage. He knows that they understand that according to their law, generally speaking, a marriage is legally binding until death. 

By the way, it’s helpful to point out here that although there is something we can learn about marriage in this passage, marriage is not Paul’s main concern. Paul and Jesus both speak about marriage elsewhere but that’s not Paul’s main concern here. 

Paul’s main point is to point out that death separates someone from a legal obligation. 

For example, if you have traffic court next week, and you die tomorrow, you don’t have to worry about showing up to traffic court. 

So also, Paul says that a woman whose husband has passed away is not obligated to stay married to him any longer because he is no longer living and their marital vows are no longer binding. 

To make it personal, today at this moment, I am alive. If my wife decided to go marry another man, that is not ok; we might have some issues. My wife is bound to me and I am bound to her. For either of us to break that bond while we are still married would be to commit adultery. However, if I die or if she dies, we are free to remarry. 

Paul is trying to help us see that death nullifies the bonding agent that binds this legal relationship together. Paul is setting us up for a greater understanding of what he will say next. Pay attention to what he says in verse 3: “ . . . if