Romans 7:1-3
Scripture (Romans 7:1-3 ESV): “Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is freed from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.”
Devotion:
I don’t know about you, but I don’t often think about my relationship to the Law of God like a marriage. But that is the picture Paul uses here, not to give us marriage advice, but to help us understand our relationship to the law and to Christ. Imagine being in a marriage that is strictly ruled by contracts, obligations, and penalties for every mistake. It’s stifling, right? This is how Paul describes our relationship to the Law before Christ. It’s a relationship based on rules that because of the sin that lives in our hearts, we could never perfectly uphold. The point is not so much that the law is bad, it’s not. Rather it is that the law holds up this perfect standard we can never reach, not in our own strength, and therefore shows us how much we need a saviour.
The reason Paul chooses the marriage illustration is because marriage vows end in that very specific phrase “until death do us part”. Once your spouse dies, you are set free from your obligations to them. The surviving partner is free to remarry without being considered an adulterer. But here is the thing: as Christians, we have passed through the veil of death. Since we are joined to Jesus, we share in both his death and his resurrection. But sharing in his death means that we are free from the binding contract of needing to perfectly obey the Law. It’s not that we are now law less, but rather that we have entered into a new covenantal contract. We are bound by the terms and conditions of the new covenant, and these terms are based on the grace we receive by faith. We are no longer judged on the basis of our adherence to the law, but rather on the works of Jesus, in whom we now find ourselves.
And that means that if we are true believers, our salvation can never be taken away from us. It doesn’t depend on us. It depends entirely on the perfect life Jesus already lived, which we only gratefully accept as a free gift.
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Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for freeing me from the impossible demands of the law and welcoming me into a relationship of grace through Jesus Christ. Help me to understand the depth of this freedom and the new life You’ve called me to. Let me live not out of obligation but out of love for You, embracing the life-giving Spirit You’ve given me. Teach me to walk in this new way, under Your grace, every day. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge for the Day:
Reflect on any areas of your life where you might still be trying to “earn” God’s love or approval through your actions, as if under the old law. Consider how you can shift from living out of obligation to living out of gratitude for the grace you’ve been given. Choose one specific action today that reflects this shift in perspective, perhaps reaching out to someone in need, not because you ought to, but because you’re moved by the love and grace you’ve received from Christ.