Five Key Lessons from Romans 7 on Law vs. Grace.

Law vs. Grace.

We can learn a lot from simply reading the Bible. Romans, the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome, contains lots of valuable ideas (called theology). In chapter 7 we read Paul ripping the cover off our view of ourselves and revealing the truth of who we really are. But, thanks to Jesus, it ends well. This is the story of Law vs Grace.

One: 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. Romans 7:5

Paul talks a lot about “the law”. What he means, in general, is a way of acting that was mandated by the religious authorities of the day. This controlled everything the people did, and there were many times someone would mistakenly miss something. Have you ever felt the weight of someone’s expectations on you that you knew you could never satisfy? That was the law, and Jesus freed the people from it, and replaced it with grace. This is God doing what the law could not do. This is the difference between law and grace.

Two: 6  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:6

Paul uses marriage, the “till death do us part” piece, to illustrate what is happening.  When we die, we are no longer bound by the law. When we die to ourselves, when we follow Jesus, we die to our sinful flesh through what He did on the cross-we are freed from the law. No, we cannot sin wantonly and then say, “I’m sorry”, but we now seek to follow Jesus as our example, imitating His life and putting other people before ourselves (Phil 2:3-4).

Three: 18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Romans 7:18

One of the problems with “the law” as a guide to how to act in everything every day, is that it ignores the fact that I am a sinner. Our modern ears don’t like to hear this. Our actions, without a change deep down, a “heart change” as we like to say, can’t fix this. But how do we change our heart? We cannot, we need the grace of God to do that!

 Four: 19  For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Romans 7:19

This is what Paul is trying to tell us. Following a few procedures will not fix the problem he sees in himself, and we should see in ourselves too. If we simply do as we are told, nothing changes. To see what was going on, read John 5:8-16. Even though the man was healed and then saved, carrying his mat was still wrong in the eyes of the religious authorities. They missed the point.

Five: 24  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from  the body of this death? 25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25

Paul brings it all together here. He knows he cannot change his own nature, no matter how hard he tries to follow the demands of the law of his day. But he also knows, and this overcomes all his objections, that living by faith-following Jesus-he is changed. This change is made deep down and is caused by grace, that is, by Jesus Himself. If Paul can do it, I can do it, and you can too!

This is not an in-depth study of Romans 7, but it is what I learned from reading it.  We are saved and changed by what Jesus has done, by what He offers to us. Following law, which only changes what we do in front of people, does not change us. Only God, by His grace, can do that. If we accept His gift, if we stop relying on our ability to follow a set of fixed rules, we will be changed and saved by Jesus. Nothing else will do. And that is good news!