“So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Romans 7:4 NIV
We see in this passage that all who look to the cross and put their faith and hope in it have died to the law through the body of Christ by His death on the cross. And if we’ve died to the law then we belong to another, both husband and wife together are part of the body of Christ and bound to each other through the gospel. We belong to the One who was raised from the dead on the third day that we might bear fruit for God. This is such a powerful verse showing how we are crucified with Christ in order to belong to Christ. That we die and rise with Christ in order to be bound to Him and therefore bound to each other with power in our marital union. When we believe the message of the cross we receive the Spirit whereby we begin to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
“For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.” Romans 7:5 NIV
Erick wrote; "Friend, I broke the ‘law of marriage’ by sinning with another who was not my precious wife, Sylvia. Sylvia was still living so I was not released from my marital covenant. As a result of my sin I was living in condemnation, guilt, shame and believing the lies that I would be better off dead. I had lost my love for Sylvia and thought without a doubt divorce was imminent. But God in His great love for me full of mercy and grace, restored the years the locust had eaten. All through the death of His precious Son whose blood drew me near, cleansed me completely, forgave me thoroughly and washed me deeply from every sin and removed my every stain."
Sylvia wrote; "Ladies, I feel I need to say this in addition to Verse 7:3. If this is you, you are not alone. We have had adultery in our marriage, we had to die with Christ to self in all humility, which brought us back together as ‘One’ and seek Christ to find forgiveness and healing so we could move forward in our freedom. Are these wasted times in our marriages? Of course not, we use them as opportunities to grow, build upon and learn from. So, don’t let this be a stone throwing opportunity to set you back. We are all under an amazing love called Grace, that only Christ can and has freely given us through His horrible blood shed at the beautiful cross."
Question 4. According to Romans 7:5 what kind of fruit did you bear when the law aroused your sinful flesh? Please share.
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The law aroused our flesh and it’s sinful desires so we could only ‘bear fruit’ for death. As we can see from this passage walking in the flesh would be fatally detrimental to our marital union. Our marriage itself would bear fruit for death rather than being united at the cross bearing fruit for life, the fruit of the Spirit. The more we are told we cannot do something the more our flesh desires to rebel. This represents our old lives before we were cut to the heart and crucified with Christ. Walking in the flesh we have no power to do anything because in the flesh the law had power over us. Therefore in our old nature, our former lives, being born under the curse of the law we had to be crucified so we could die to what once bound us.
“But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” Romans 7:6 NIV
Erick wrote; "I used to try so hard, working to love my spouse and doing so in the passions of my flesh that were ‘laboring in me’. I saw my marriage never rise with power. Therefore my flesh was only bearing fruit for death. So if your marriage is only bearing fruit for death, what will be the outcome of it?"
Question 6. How can you apply the gospel to your marriage to be released from the law and bound to one another in Christ? Please share.
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