THE reasoning of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans shows very clearly the relation between the law and the Gospel; and in no part of the book is this shown more forcibly than in the seventh chapter. The first half of the chapter will be briefly studied in this article, and as has been suggested in former articles, it is to be hoped that the reader will go much beyond anything that can be brought out in the space here allotted to us. The book of Romans furnishes a most fascinating field for study, and the more we study it, the more we see in it, and the more we enjoy the study. Let us now with thoughtful consideration turn to the words of the sacred text:
“Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth? For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, tho she be joined to another man.
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law thru the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were thru the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except thru the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me thru the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead. And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death: for sin, finding occasion, thru the commandment beguiled me, and thru it slew me. So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.” Rom. 7:1-12.
There are some people who use the foregoing scripture to try to prove that the law of God is abolished. But the most casual reading should lead any one to see that the summing up of the apostle’s reasoning shows that he had no such idea in mind. His conclusion is reached in verse 12, which says: “So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.” Then we are to see that the whole line of reasoning in the first eleven verses of the chapter is to show that God’s law is holy, and righteous, and good.
It is always possible for a quibbler so to turn the plainest statements as to cause them to appear in a different light from that which is intended. But he who would enjoy the rich benefits of a correct knowledge of God’s truth must not quibble. He must seek for the plain meaning of the text so that he may be led into the fulness of its spiritual power. And when the inspired writer tells us in his conclusion that the law is holy, righteous, and good, we are certainly going very wide of the mark to say that the meaning of such language is the abolition of the law.
Not only does the apostle give us the conclusion of the twelfth verse to show that he is teaching the binding claims of the law, but he also makes other statements, in connection with his reasoning, that are equally strong in proving the living necessity of the commandments of God. To provide against the possibility that some might think from his logic that he would have the law abolished, he asks, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin?” To this direct question he makes the plainest and the most unequivocal answer: “God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except thru the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Verse 7.
Paul clearly states, then, that the only means he had of knowing sin was “thru the law.” And it should be evident to any one that wrong-doing can not be pointed out in any other way.
The law must reveal the depths of a person’s iniquity before that individual can feel the need of a Saviour. And there can be no mistaking the law that Paul has under consideration. The law of Ten Commandments is the only one that contains the precept, “Thou shalt not covet.” Therefore the whole argument of the seventh of Romans shows that the Ten Commandments are the living statutes of Jehovah, and absolutely essential in showing us our sins, and our consequent need of the salvation offered thru the Gospel. Passing to the fourth verse we read:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law thru the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.”
This text states what is “made dead.” It is not the law that is dead, but the sinner who repents and comes to Christ is “made dead to the law.” And the purpose for which the sinner is made dead to the law is plainly stated also. It is in order that he may be legally and consistently united to Christ.
The figure of the law binding the wife to the husband is used in the first part of the chapter. While both the husband and the wife live, it would be unlawful for either of them to be married to another. But should the husband die, then is it lawful for the woman to be married to another husband, for she has been released from the law that bound her to the first husband. The law remains alive, however, all the time. It is the law that binds her to the first husband. When the husband dies, the law still lives on; and when she marries again, it is the same law that comes in to unite and also to bind her to the second husband. This is the plain logic of the apostle’s reasoning, and the figure is a beautiful and strong one, as well as an exceedingly plain one. It is hard to see how a person could get wrong ideas from such plain teaching.
Among barbarous tribes a woman might not sense the binding obligation of law in joining her to her husband. But in lands where law has been brought into the life of the citizen, it is not permitted for a woman to leave one man and go to another, unless the first husband be dead. And in like manner the sinner is wedded to his sins, and can not be freed from them except as those sins are made to die out of his nature thru the power of the blood of Christ; then he is freed from those sins, and married to Christ. And having thus been united with Christ, he should look with loathing upon the thought of going back to the old body of sin, by forsaking the enjoyable companionship of his new Husband and Master.