Dead to the Law by the Body of Christ Romans 7:4

Paul the apostle gave instruction the people in Rome concerning how the “law has dominion over a man as long as he lives”, and he used the example of, “the woman which has an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband”. He added, “So then if, while her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.” In chapter seven and verse four of Romans, Paul told the Romans they also, “are become dead to the law by the body of Christ” where we read:

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

The verse begins, “Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; ” Paul began with the word, “wherefore” which is a conclusion word that means “therefore, then, accordingly and consequently”, “my brethren” which means “Paul's fellow believers who are united to another by the bond of affection”, “you also” or “Paul's readers even so and indeed” “are become dead” or “have been put to death, destroyed and rendered extinct” “to the law” which means “to the rule producing a state approved of God” “by the body” or “through the physical body” “of Christ” which refers to “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”. Paul shared how his readers, like the woman whose husband is dead, have become “dead” to “the law of God” because of the “death” of Jesus Christ.

The verse continues, “that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Paul added the words, “that you should be” or “so Paul's readers might become” “married” which means “wedded and united as one” “to another” or “to a different one”, “even to him” which means “indeed to Jesus” “who is raised” which means “who was resurrected, aroused and arisen” “from the dead” or “from being lifeless, perished and slain”, “that we should bring forth fruit” which means “so that Paul, his companions and his readers might bear and be fertile in deeds” “unto God” which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Since Jesus Christ made Paul's readers “dead” to “the law” through His death, those who believe and trust in the “resurrected” Jesus shall now “be fertile” in their works and deeds before God Almighty.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see how Jesus made people “dead to the law” through His death, and now all who believe and trust in Him shall do works as “to God”. Because “the law” was made “dead” to Paul's readers, they could now be “married” to another which was “God's grace”. All who receive Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” may be “married” to God's grace, and when they are, they may “work” to “bring forth fruit to God”.

Next time we see Paul tell his readers the results, “when we were in the flesh”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.