"Released from the Law"

[Richard Holbrook]

I think you're right about that.

Originally Posted By: Richard Holbrook

Akintunde, You must type really fast!

lOL, I already had the document ready, It seems that Romans truly is and might remain the most debated book in the Bible. perhaps i put some more material on here, for the sake of discussion and adding to what i have previously studied...

I think you're right about that.

[Robert]

Stan had this to say in another thread:

Think about this.

A person becomes a Citizen of Heaven... now he is no longer bound by laws

A 'Illegal' becomes a US Citizen.... now he is no longer bound by the laws.

Anyone see weirdness or truth in that?

You can't compare....E.G., it's not a crime to covet under man's laws, but under God's law it is....Further more God's law demands that even our motives (why we do what we do) be selfless....So there's no comparison....Just because someone keeps the law of the land isn't the same as keeping God's law.

[Robert]

In other words, Jesus created a new race.

[Maschil]

aren't there other people who won't be ressurrected becasue the mercy of God also?

[Richard Holbrook]

Says your mailbox is full Akintunde

[Maschil]

ah i may not be able to receive pm's now that i think about it, i forgot who to talk about the membership because i am a college student..

[Richard Holbrook]

oh

[Richard Holbrook]

aren't there other people who won't be ressurrected becasue the mercy of God also?

Yes there are.

[Woody]

[Musicman1228]

I find it interesting, Robert, that you base your theology (the study of God) primarily on Paul and not on Jesus Christ.

[Richard Holbrook]

Anything but Paul right?

[Robert]

I find it interesting, Robert, that you base your theology (the study of God) primarily on Paul and not on Jesus Christ.

Funny, I can't find the book of Jesus, but I do find men who wrote of Christ....Paul is the main theologian of the NT....

[Dr. Rich]

Robert, I find it sad you think this is all "funny". Please read John 14:26 and 17:17-21 and you will find the answer--that is if you really want an answer.

[Gerr]

To all,

I notice that so far no one has bothered to look at the actual passage and the context. So let's look at it to see how a sinner is released and what a person is released from.

" 1 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?

2 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.

3 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 free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Rom 7:1-6 ESV.

One spouse has to die in order to be released from the law of marriage. To marry someone else while one is still alive is to commit adultery. Because of transgression, i.e. sin, we were married as it were to the law. The law has a claim on us because of it. Without sin/transgression, it would have no hold/claim on us whatsoever. In order to be released from the claims of the law, one of the partners has to die before he/she can marry another.

It is obvious the law cannot die. It is the sinner that must die. This the believer does when he/she symbolically dies with Christ when he/she believes and is baptized. See Rom 6:1-11. If one CONTINUES TO LIVE IN SIN, that means he/she has not died after all, and therefore the law still has its a rightful claim. That is why Paul says, " 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." Rom 6:12 ESV. Why? Because he says that you become a slave to whomever you submit to obey! Obey sin, you become a slave to sin. Obey Christ and you become a slave of Christ.

[Richard Holbrook]

Why is that so hard to understand? Pretty plain to me.

[Dr. Rich]

RH, Ya, that's real simple--so since I have been baptized I am no longer under the law? Hmmmm, but if those people who are found in Rev. 12:17 are keeping ALL of the commandments and have the TESTIMONY (not the faith) of Jesus, then --darn it all--just who is it I am suppose to follow--Jesus or Paul?

[Richard Holbrook]

As usual dr you read what isn't there. tch tch tch

[Dr. Rich]

Which is??????

[Richard Holbrook]

He dosn't do away with the law.

[Richard Holbrook]

Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? [is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

[wayfinder]

GC

That which held us captive was the law (written code).

Married as it were to the Law? or married to God.

Romans 4:14-16 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Those who are of the Law are the Jews (Circumcision), those who are of the faith are the Gentile christians (Uncircumsised).

So we were married to the Law then Christ died to end this covenant of marriage so we could be married to the One who came from the tomb. Then why if we are already married to Christ is He coming back as a Bridegroom? If He is already married he could not come as One who is not.

[Robert]

Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Read

Sample:

I would like to confess that this is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. I have heard lots of talks, I have read a lot of material on this verse, but I am afraid I have to disagree with all of them. Let me give you a typical interpretation of verse 31 that you often read and hear:

“Do we then make void the law through faith? No! By faith God gives us His Spirit. He gives us power. And we are able to keep the law by God’s power, and by keeping the law, we are establishing the law.”

That is a typical interpretation of verse 31. I would like to suggest that this is far from what Paul is talking about. I’ll give you three reasons:

1. It does not agree with the context.

2. It does not agree historically.

3. It does not agree with the grammar.

We need to be honest with every text that we read. Paul is not saying here that by faith we keep the law through the grace of God, through the power of God, and that way we establish the law. Let me explain each one of them.

First of all, contextually. Paul is not dealing in this passage which we have covered with the doctrine of Sanctification. He is dealing with the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Yes, Paul has much to say in Romans on this doctrine of Sanctification, in chapters 6, 7, and 8. And Paul has much to say on the issue of Christian living, which must be in harmony with the law, in chapter 12 up to chapter 16. But here, in this passage, he is not dealing with the subjective experience of the Christian. He is dealing with the truth of the righteousness of God which justifies us apart from the works of the law. So the context won’t allow you to give you that interpretation.

Let us look at the second problem, historically. What do I mean that this interpretation disagrees historically? Well, it is impossible. I am going to make a statement first, and I will explain it, because I know that many will misunderstand me just making the statement: “It is impossible for you and me to establish the law.”

Now I do not mean by that it is impossible for you and me, by the grace of God, to keep the law. I am not discussing that. We will come to that when we come to the sections on sanctification and the sections on Christian living. What I am saying here, and what Paul is saying here, is that it’s impossible for you and me, and it has never happened in the history of the human race, or in the history of the Christian church, where any believer has established the law.

Now to explain that. What do I mean? What does Paul mean when he uses the word establish? It means that the law is totally and fully satisfied with you. When every demand of the law on you has been satisfied, then and then only you have established the law. And that is impossible. I’ll tell you why folks. The law demands two things from you and me. Not one, but two things:

1. The law demands perfect righteousness from you and me.

2. Because we are sinners, the law demands from you and me justice. Now it is true, Paul says in Romans 8:4 that [beginning at the end of verse 3]:

And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

If we walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled in us. But the righteousness of the law is not the justice of the law. The justice of the law is that [Eze. 18:4 & 20]:

The soul who sins is the one who will die.

And the death that the law demands from you and me as sinners is not the first death, it’s good-bye to life forever. Therefore, it is impossible to meet the justice of the law and still live because, when you die the second death, that’s the end of you.

So there are two requirements that the law demands from each one of us. If you fail to fulfil those two requirements, you cannot establish the law, the law will condemn you, you’re still under the curse. But in Christ the law has been established. Christ met on behalf of all people the two demands. By His perfect life, He has met the positive demand of the law, which the Bible calls the righteousness of the law. And, by His death, He has met the justice of the law, so that, in the doing and the dying of Christ, the law has been established. That is what Paul is saying in verse 31.

[Robert]

Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

[Romans 3:21]: For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

[Robert]

One spouse has to die in order to be released from the law of marriage.

[olger]

Being "under the Law" mean that which we look to for salvation doesn't it? We are not looking to the Law for salvation, but rather to Jesus. And according to Jesus, we do not make void or destroy the Law.

According to Jeremiah, a distinguishing feature of the New Covenant is the writing of the Law upon the hearts of His followers, making the Law much more intimate within the believer.

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