“Delivered From The Law”

Romans 7:5-8

5) For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

6) But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

8) But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

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his is a message that is difficult for many to understand. Too many professing to know the truth have limited knowledge concerning how salvation and the Law work together.

One of the greatest fallacies active in the church world, today, is that one can be saved by keeping only parts of the Law. If this were, indeed, the case the sacrifice of Jesus would not have been necessary. For, you see, the Law can only be kept by one with the power of the Holy Spirit on the inside. This means that the Law cannot be kept by the individual without him being “born again.”

You will find that those who are unable to keep the Law make excuses for themselves. However, excuses will not allow one to escape God’s judgment. Only salvation can do this.

Because the Law was instituted for the lawless, not saints, many saints take their deliverance from the Law for granted. As saints we are not subject to penalties provided under the Law, for one under the direction of the Holy Spirit does not break it.

The “motions” of sins (spoken of in verse 5, which “…bring forth fruit unto death”) are passions which operate by the Law. The fact that before salvation we committed all manner of sin and were condemned by the Law illustrates God’s point to us that we were hopeless.

Even now, man tries to look for that which will allow him to do as he pleases (i.e. live in sin). Unfortunately, this applies to those with, as well as without, the Holy Spirit, for if one is saved and then lives fleshly, he will produce only fleshly fruit.

We seem to bear so little responsibility for what we do because we believe that what we do affects only us. Therefore, we try to operate independently—of God and others. Whether we like it or not, when we could into salvation, we have a familial relationship. Not only are we responsible to one anther because of our common bond, our lives will be scrutinized by others who will use what they see to judge our salvation.

Our conduct will undoubtedly determine our progeny. When we conduct ourselves fleshly, we will “breed” fleshly “children.” In this, too, we have a responsibility to our common family.

In that being saved requires a complete transformation of mind and boy (an all accompanying factors), it is impossible to be successful without ridding oneself of sin. However, many to try to attend church and be “saved” while yoked to the same old sinful “husband” (that is, the flesh). No one has yet, or ever will succeed in being saved this way. Unequivocally, man always follows his first nature. If that nature is not committed to God and His precepts, he will sin.

What each of us must accept is that when we approached God and acknowledged that we want to be saved, we acknowledged that we are willing to stop committing sin. Living to “the best of (one’s) ability” is not necessarily being saved. One “in Christ” lives to the best of his ability when he is living a saved and holy life.

Our scriptures today are meant to remove the excuse of many who would try to place the blame for their sin on the Law (that is, “what I do would not be sin if it were not for the Law calling it “). Well, by way of explanation, it is only the knowledge of sin which came through the Law. The act of sin came through the flesh—which has always been a force.

Though we escape the bondage of the Law only when we do not sin, it is amazing the influence we allow flesh to have. That flesh that we listen to which tells us that it is too early to come to church will tell us that it is all right to fish on Sunday. That same flesh which tells us that church lasts too long is the same flesh that will have us partying or bar-hopping until two or three a.m. How blessed we are when we reach the point where we will give the Lord the same time as we gave the devil!

We can help ourselves maintain our deliverance. Let’s put “our money where our mouth is” and show others the profession we speak with our lips. If we are going to say that we love to pray, we need to be in the sanctuary during prayer, not the vestibule. If we say we serve a Deliverer, than we’d better look to Jesus in times of trouble. If we say we serve a Waymaker, then we’d better look to Him to solve our problems. If we would convince a dead and dying world of its need, then we’d better learn to call on Jesus!