I have been reading through the Book of Romans and have gone back to Romans chapters six, seven, and eight. These are wonderful and packed full of meat for us, not to say the rest of God’s love letters {BIBLE} to us aren’t packed full of meat.
We skimmed chapter six in the last article so I would like to look into Romans chapter seven and see what we can glean from it.
All too often we use words like “I must love the Lord and others; I must maintain my testimony; I must witness and work for Him; I must resist myself: I must stop sinning. The feeling of constraint expressed in “I must” sets one up for defeat in Romans 7.
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. The purpose of God’s law, both in command and principle, is to bring light and cause us to face up to the fact that we are sinful. Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
I have come to see over the years of my conversion, what we seek to do, or keep from doing, in our own strength brings us under legal bondage. The principle of law applies to self-life and can produce nothing but self-righteousness. Thus, the law convicts us of our need for Christ.
The years of struggle and failure we experience are not only to prepare us for liberation from the principle of sin, but the bondage of the principle of law. We are brought not only to the release of Romans 6, but to the deliverance of Romans 7. We exchange the law of sin and death for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
We have been given the key to the problem of law at the very beginning of Romans 7. Romans 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? EXACTLY! All through the years of defeat we have been slowly learning that the harder we tried to live a Christian life, the deeper we came under the dominion of the law of sin. We tried to “be,” we tried to “do,” and there was nothing but failure year in and year out.
Romans 7:5 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. As long as we depend on our own strength and resources, all we produced was sin. We hungered for life and brought forth death.
Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Our Father was teaching us what we had to know for our freedom in Christ– and self is our greatest enemy. Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Along with Paul, we come to recognize an internal law; Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. All this has been specifically designed by the Spirit to bring us, to the blessed condition of defeat–where we cry from our hearts Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
We must first learn that our having died in Christ on the Cross gives us our foundation for freedom from the power of sin. But unless we learn the answer to the bondage of the principle of law, we will be right back in the defeat of Romans 7, no matter how hard we strive. Law reveals sin and produces bondage. The answer to the principle of sin prepares us for the answer to the principle of law. Reckoning is the key to both, and both have to do with the death of the Cross and our life in Christ. Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in the newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. As Paul tells us in verse 1, as long as we lived and walked in self-life, we were under the principle and dominion of law.
Thanks be to God, we not only died to the principle of sin in Christ on the Cross, but there we also died to, out from the dominion of-the principle of law! We were not only freed from the “oldness of the letter”, but were joined into the “newness of the spirit.”
Now we are able to understand that “I, through the law, died unto the law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I {self} that live, but Christ {my new life} lives in me {new creation} Galatians 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
As the Holy Spirit progressively carries out the will of the Father in our life. His perfect will becomes a delight to us–not a duty. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Hebrews 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You may have been wondering, what was he talking about here? The law is still in effect, and we are still commanded to observe it.
The Spirit of truth is not only explicit and thorough in presenting the truth, but He is also exact and pains taking in preparing our hungry hearts for the ability to absorb His truth. Most of His Spiritual work He accomplishes in our lives through natural means, such as prayer, our careful dependance on His Word, meditation, and the sudden changes or alterations in our everyday life. The bondage of the principle of law finally brings us to its goal–the death of the Cross.
Your brother in Christ,
Ron
We Belong to Christ (Romans Seven) – Ron Volk
May 12, 2025 by Shirley Gohner • Uncategorized • 0 Comments
I have been reading through the Book of Romans and have gone back to Romans chapters six, seven, and eight. These are wonderful and packed full of meat for us, not to say the rest of God’s love letters {BIBLE} to us aren’t packed full of meat.
We skimmed chapter six in the last article so I would like to look into Romans chapter seven and see what we can glean from it.
All too often we use words like “I must love the Lord and others; I must maintain my testimony; I must witness and work for Him; I must resist myself: I must stop sinning. The feeling of constraint expressed in “I must” sets one up for defeat in Romans 7.
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. The purpose of God’s law, both in command and principle, is to bring light and cause us to face up to the fact that we are sinful. Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
I have come to see over the years of my conversion, what we seek to do, or keep from doing, in our own strength brings us under legal bondage. The principle of law applies to self-life and can produce nothing but self-righteousness. Thus, the law convicts us of our need for Christ.
The years of struggle and failure we experience are not only to prepare us for liberation from the principle of sin, but the bondage of the principle of law. We are brought not only to the release of Romans 6, but to the deliverance of Romans 7. We exchange the law of sin and death for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
We have been given the key to the problem of law at the very beginning of Romans 7. Romans 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? EXACTLY! All through the years of defeat we have been slowly learning that the harder we tried to live a Christian life, the deeper we came under the dominion of the law of sin. We tried to “be,” we tried to “do,” and there was nothing but failure year in and year out.
Romans 7:5 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. As long as we depend on our own strength and resources, all we produced was sin. We hungered for life and brought forth death.
Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Our Father was teaching us what we had to know for our freedom in Christ– and self is our greatest enemy. Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Along with Paul, we come to recognize an internal law; Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. All this has been specifically designed by the Spirit to bring us, to the blessed condition of defeat–where we cry from our hearts Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
We must first learn that our having died in Christ on the Cross gives us our foundation for freedom from the power of sin. But unless we learn the answer to the bondage of the principle of law, we will be right back in the defeat of Romans 7, no matter how hard we strive. Law reveals sin and produces bondage. The answer to the principle of sin prepares us for the answer to the principle of law. Reckoning is the key to both, and both have to do with the death of the Cross and our life in Christ. Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in the newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. As Paul tells us in verse 1, as long as we lived and walked in self-life, we were under the principle and dominion of law.
Thanks be to God, we not only died to the principle of sin in Christ on the Cross, but there we also died to, out from the dominion of-the principle of law! We were not only freed from the “oldness of the letter”, but were joined into the “newness of the spirit.”
Now we are able to understand that “I, through the law, died unto the law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I {self} that live, but Christ {my new life} lives in me {new creation} Galatians 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
As the Holy Spirit progressively carries out the will of the Father in our life. His perfect will becomes a delight to us–not a duty. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Hebrews 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You may have been wondering, what was he talking about here? The law is still in effect, and we are still commanded to observe it.
The Spirit of truth is not only explicit and thorough in presenting the truth, but He is also exact and pains taking in preparing our hungry hearts for the ability to absorb His truth. Most of His Spiritual work He accomplishes in our lives through natural means, such as prayer, our careful dependance on His Word, meditation, and the sudden changes or alterations in our everyday life. The bondage of the principle of law finally brings us to its goal–the death of the Cross.
Your brother in Christ,
Ron