Today’s passage: Romans 7:1-6
Helpful thoughts:
- Romans 6:8 teaches us the “old man” died with Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24)
- Paul is comparing anyone’s obligation to the Old Covenant (Or the Mosaic Covenant) having ended through death to the idea of a widow being free to marry again. We are now under the New Covenant in Christ.
- There is an aspect to this illustration where two things came to an end.
- On the one hand, when Christ died, we died with him.
- On the other, Christ fulfilled the Law (The Old Covenant) on our behalf. The purpose for which it was given has been served and so we are free to live under the New Covenant.
Questions to consider:
- What kind of a “marriage” was that of the Law and Israel? In what ways was it a terrible relationship? In what way did it do exactly what God intended?
- If a person were to think we were still supposed to keep all the Old Testament laws today, how would this passage help to answer that concern?
- When a person did what was right under the law, what did that accomplish? What motives may have been mixed together in their actions? How is the “new way of the Spirit” different? Are we trying to earn anything? Are we fearful of judgment? What has gone given to us that now motivates us to live according to the Spirit?