Romans 7:4

DISCOURSE: 1851
DEADNESS TO THE LAW, AND UNION WITH CHRIST

Romans 7:4. My brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

THAT the Gospel is hostile to the interests of morality, is an objection that has been raised against it, from the first promulgation of it by the Apostles, even to the present age. That the Gospel is a most wonderful display of grace and mercy, must be acknowledged: but it does not therefore encourage any man to live in sin: on the contrary, it teaches men, and binds them by every possible tie, to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” To this effect the Apostle speaks throughout the whole preceding chapter. He begins with stating the objection urged against the Gospel; “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And then he answers it at large; and affirms, that the covenant of grace, so far from invalidating our obligation to good works, absolutely secures the performance of them [Note: Romans 6:14.]. In the chapter before us he is continuing the same argument, and putting it in a new light: he represents men as by nature married to the law, and bringing forth fruit to sin and death; but afterwards, as separated from the law, and married to Christ, in order to their bringing forth the fruits of holiness to the praise and glory of God.

His words will naturally lead us to consider,

I. The state to which we are brought by the death of Christ—

We are all by nature bound to the law—
[God gave his law to Adam as a covenant, promising life to him if he were obedient, and denouncing death against him as the penalty of disobedience. Under that covenant we all are born: and on the terms prescribed by it we look for happiness or misery in the future world. The connexion between us and it is indissoluble; like that of an husband; our obligations to whom nothing but death can dissolve.]
But by the death of Christ we are liberated from it—
[Christ, our incarnate Lord, has fulfilled every part of God’s law; enduring its penalties, as well as executing its commands: and this he has done, as our Surety: so that, if we believe in him, we may plead his obedience unto death in bar of all the punishment it denounces against us; and may even plead it also as having procured for us a title to all its promised blessings. Our blessed Lord, in fulfilling the law, has abrogated it as a covenant; and has obtained for us a new and better covenant, of which he himself is the Surety [Note: Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 8:8; Hebrews 8:13.]. As a rule of conduct, the law does, and ever must, continue in force; because it is the transcript of the mind and will of God, and contains a perfect rule for the conduct of his creatures [Note: 1 Corinthians 9:21.]: but as a, covenant it is dissolved; and is, in respect of us, dead; so that we have no more connexion with it than a woman has with her deceased husband: our obligations to it, and our expectations from it, have ceased for ever [Note: Galatians 2:19.]. This is a just and beautiful representation of the believer’s state: perhaps there is not in all the Scriptures another image that conveys a complete idea of our state, in so clear, and so intelligible a way as this. We all see in a moment the bonds by which a woman is tied to her husband during his life, and the total dissolution of them all by his death: we see that the deceased husband has no longer any authority over her, nor can any longer be to her a source either of good or evil. Now if we transfer this idea to the law, and think of the law as a husband that is dead, or as a covenant that is annulled, then we shall have a just view of a believer’s state respecting it. Throughout the whole context, St. Paul expatiates so fully upon this point, and explains himself so clearly, that we cannot possibly mistake his meaning [Note: ver. 1–6.]. The only doubt that can arise is, what law he refers to? But this doubt is dissipated in a moment: for he speaks of that law which prohibits inordinate desire; and consequently it is, and must be, the moral law [Note: ver. 7.]

Such being the liberty which Christ has procured for us, let us consider,

II.

The improvement we should make of it—

Our blessed Lord offers himself to us as an husband—
[Under this idea he is frequently spoken of in the Old Testament [Note: Isaiah 54:5; Isaiah 62:5.Psalms 45:10, is, as it were, a celebration of the heavenly nuptials.] — — — The same is also frequently applied to him in the New Testament [Note: John 3:19; Ephesians 5:25.] — — — In some sense indeed it is the espousal only that takes place in this world [Note: Hosea 2:19; 2 Corinthians 11:2.] — — — The consummation is deferred till our arrival in the world above [Note: Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:9.] — — —]

In this relation we should cordially receive him—
[Our former husband being dead, we are at liberty to be married to another. And where shall we find one who is more worthy of all our love and obedience? If Jesus so loved us when enemies, as to lay down his own life for us, what will he not do for us, when we become bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; yea, when we become “one spirit with him [Note: Ephesians 5:30; 1 Corinthians 6:17.]?” To him then let us unite ourselves by faith, and devote ourselves to him as wholly and exclusively, as the most faithful and affectionate of women does to her newly-acquired lord.]

We shall then have the honour and happiness of bringing forth fruit unto God—
[By our connexion with the law, we have brought forth fruit only unto sin and death: but by the mighty operation of divine grace, we shall be enabled to bring forth fruit unto God, and holiness, and life [Note: Compare Romans 6:21. with our text and context.]. We shall no longer live under the influence of a slavish spirit, aiming only at the mere letter of the commandment, and regarding even that as an irksome service; but we shall aspire after the utmost spirit of the commandment, and strive with holy ardour to make the highest possible attainments, longing, if possible, to be “holy as God is holy,” and to be “perfect as God is perfect.” Our services will resemble those of the heavenly choir, who look, and watch, and pant, as it were, for an opportunity to testify their love to God, and to execute, in all its extent, his holy will.

How should the prospect of such fruit stimulate our desires after Christ! Let us bear in mind, that the bringing of us to such a state was the great object which he sought in giving up himself for us [Note: 1 Peter 2:24.]; and let it be also the great object of our solicitude in devoting ourselves to him [Note: Romans 14:7.]

From hence then it appears,
1.

How concerned we are to know the law—

[It was “to those only who knew the law,” that the Apostle addressed himself in our text [Note: ver. 1.]: others could not have understood his meaning, but would have accounted all his representations “foolishness [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:14.].” Thus shall we also be incapable of entering into the sublime import of this passage, if we do not understand the nature of the law, the extent of its requirements, the awfulness of its penalties, and the hopeless condition of all who are yet under it as a covenant of life and death. But if we have just views of the law, then shall we be prepared for the Gospel, and be determined, through grace, that we will not give sleep to our eyes, or slumber to our eye-lids, till we have obtained an interest in Christ, and been received into a covenant of grace with him, as our Husband, our Saviour, and our all.]

2. How interested we are in embracing the Gospel—

[By this we are brought into a new state: we have new relations, both to God and man: our spirit is altogether new, as our attainments also are: our hopes and prospects also are new: “A beggar taken from a dunghill, and united to the greatest of earthly princes [Note: 1 Samuel 2:8.],” would experience a very small change in comparison of that which we experience, when we enter into the marriage covenant with Christ. O let us consent to his gracious proposals, and give up ourselves wholly unto him; then shall we “know the blessedness of his chosen,” and comprehend, as far as such imperfect beings can, the incomprehensible wonders of his love; and after bringing forth fruit to his glory here, we shall be partakers of his kingdom in the world above.]