The Beatles were right.

The Beatles were right.

A Marriage (1-6)
A Murder Mystery
(7-13)
A Monologue (14-25)

Outline of chapter 7

1. Verses 1-6: the marriage.

1. Those who were under the Law were released from that bondage by sharing in the death of Christ;

…so that, joined to the Risen Christ, they bear fruit for God.
Rom 7:1-6.

2. Verses 7-13: a murder mystery.

The Law is from God, and is good, but the flesh, faced with this good thing, went from bad to worse!

The flesh revealed itself as the hopeless, wretched thing it really is.

The Law not only cannot make us holy, but also is an obstacle to sanctification.

Sin worked death in me THROUGH THAT which is good, that is, the Law.

Sin did it and made it look like the Law was implicated.

3. Verses 14-25: final argument, and the most convincing one.

The two earlier principles get worked out in an experimental and vivid way.
 

I’ve fought this same battle, and I lost it too - just like he says.
He says it like it is.

He verbalizes what our life would be like, if we were left under the Law to struggle to get holy.

Only through Christ are we delivered from sin’s power, and from the Law that gave it that power.

Rom 7:1-6 repeats for the law the same points Romans 6 made about sin.

In chapter 6,
the believer has died to sin (verse 2), …

and therefore has been freed from it (verses 7,18, and 22)….

…so that it no longer is master over him (verse 14a)

In Rom 7:1-6,
the believer has been made to die to the law (verse 4)

And has been freed from the law (v. 6)
So that it no longer rules (vs. 1, 6)

Death ends a person’s bondage to the law.

One relationship ends with death, and that makes a new relationship possible.

The key verse is verse 4.
 
As we read along in verse 4, we kept asking the question, WHY?

It takes us on a journey, and the destination is –FRUIT!

Dead to Law -> Joined to Christ - > Bear Fruit for God!

Death ends a relationship and sets us free to enter a new relationship –with the Risen Christ.

We died to our place in Adam, called here “in the flesh”. We are in the Last Adam, Christ Risen!

In Christ we are not at all under the principle of law, and this sets us free to delight in Christ,

and to surrender to the promptings of the Holy Spirit within!

So that we might bring forth fruit unto God.

This can only happen with people who are in the Risen Christ and are indwelt by the Spirit!

Gal 5:17-24 is a wonderful companion passage
to Rom 7:1-6.

FRUIT is the KEY...
 
And LOVE is the KEY FRUIT.

Nothing you can do [Law] but you can learn [the truth shall make you free]

you can learn how to be you [your identity in Christ] in time

It's easy [My yoke is easy and My burden is light]

All you need is love