Roman 7 - 8

Freedom From The Law

Paul continues his theme of contrasting the law with grace with a beautiful example at the beginning of chapter 7 discussing the legal binding of marriage.  If a person is married they cannot remarry or they commit adultery. They are only free from the bonds of marriage when the partner dies.  In the same way, we are free from the bondage of sin and the law, because we died in Christ and are risen again to new life married to Him.  We now are slaves to Christ and allow him to control our thoughts and actions.

Paul ends chapter 7 with a explanation of how the spirit of man is at odds with the spirit of God. He goes into the "I" sermon in 7:14 to 7:25 of how I want to do good, but I do evil. I want to shun evil, but find myself doing it. Then in chapter 8, he states, "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."  So even though the "I" of our existence wants control, it is subjugated to His will through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.  In 8:2 he states,"And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death."  The "I" spirit is freed from us and we now live with His spirit.

Once we are filled with His spirit we are his children and not fearful slaves. Our spirit resonates with His spirit and we cry, "Abba Father!" Our Daddy, our papa.  We are not just sons, but also heirs to all the good things of His kingdom.  And nothing separates us from that love and position in Him.