“Dead to the Law and Alive in Christ"
Romans 7:1-25
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. [Romans 7:4]
Last Sunday we began the section on Sanctification, the process by which God sets a believer apart for His glory. Once justified, sanctification begins, God begins a work by which He molds and shapes us into the image of His Son.
“Justification is an act; sanctification is a work. Justification is for us; sanctification is in us. Justification declares the sinner righteous; sanctification makes the sinner righteous.” [J.V. McGee]
For the Christian, God continues to make him righteous through the work of the Spirit within, and this will go on his entire earthly life as he draws near to the Lord.
There is a battle, however, in the sanctification process and Paul described that battle in Romans 7. “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” [Rom 7:19]
Can you relate? Welcome to the club! Paul, too, like every believer in Christ, struggled in the sanctification process. Why? Because in this world there is temptation; we are constantly faced with trials and temptations to sin. It is in a fallen world that we live. Therefore, until we see Jesus face-to-face, there will be a struggle with our sin nature. While we have a righteous standing before God in Justification, it is a right walk with God that now becomes our call [and challenge] in this life of faith.
But just as grace is the key that unlocks justification; so it is with sanctification. Many throughout church history have mistakenly attempted sanctification by the works of the Law. Reformers like Hus, Luther, and numerous others are examples. Once astute ascetics, they were forever changed by the revelation of God’s grace, particularly exposited in Paul’s Romans and Galatians letters.
Grace trumps Law in that it works. Just as Law cannot justify; it cannot sanctify. Both are a work of God and are received through grace. It is not an “I have to do law,” but an “I desire to do Spirit” that works from within. Spirit-filled makes all the difference.
“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
