Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 7:1-13
June 28, 2026
The Law, the Gospel, and New Obedience. This is what the Epistle from Romans is all about today. The Law, the Gospel, and New Obedience.
Now, I love, probably more than any other book of the Bible, the Book of Romans. I’ve read it, I don’t know how many times, and I’ll hopefully read it many more. This letter is probably the most precise exposition of the mystery of salvation, the crown jewel, and as Luther put it, it is its own Gospel letter and equal to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
However, preaching the book of Romans is another thing altogether. To do it right, one would have to start with chapter 1 and preach to the end, and we’d be here all day. I’ve only got you for maybe 20 minutes, and these days, that’s even pushing it, so I can only preach on a few verses from chapter 7.
Paul is talking about what it means to be people released from the Law of God, and he’s using the illustration of marriage. He says that a woman is bound to her husband for as long as he is alive, and that, should she leave her husband, she is called an adulteress for as long as her husband is alive. Should her husband die, she is free from that obligation, and free to marry if she chooses.
It would be okay to replace the wife with the husband and say that a husband is bound to his wife for as long as she lives, etc., etc.
Despite the fact that Paul is using marriage as an illustration, this text has little to do with marriage. The whole point he’s making is that the death of one can set another free, and in this case, free from the Law.
And concerning the Law, we have a broad and narrow sense which we must consider. Here, Paul is talking about the narrow sense, the requirements of the Commandments of the Lord, and the context sets this up for us. Paul mentions the coveting commandments, for example, and this shows us that he is referring to the commandments and all the various laws that come from the commandments.
Well, what does all this mean? Understand that, in this illustration, Paul is using marriage. Paul has also used slavery as an illustration, though in no way is Paul suggesting that marriage is like slavery – though perhaps sometimes you might think so. But here, Paul is suggesting that at one time we were “married” to the Law of God, and not just people here and there, but all people. Granted, Paul’s letter to the Roman church was addressed to primarily Jewish converts to Christianity, but there were certainly Roman or Greek converts mixed in there as well, so the analogy still stands.
All humanity is born under the law. What does this mean? It means that every person born, from Adam until this moment, is born beholden to the Commandments. Now, they may not believe in the Law of God or know it, but if we know anything about United States law, ignorance isn’t bliss and every child born in this nation is born as subjects of our laws, whether they know it or not.
All humanity, likewise, is born under God’s Law and obligated to keep it, only breaking God’s law does not result in a fine and a slap on the wrist but results in eternal imprisonment in the hell of fire.
And even more disturbing is that no one keeps God’s Law 100% perfectly.
Let’s go back to the illustration of marriage. God’s Law is like a husband (or like a wife if you want to flip the coin and play the equality game). And on its own, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Abiding in or following the law; abiding in or submitting to the husband comes with its own rewards. But here’s the problem….God’s Law is always accusing; God’s law is like that long pointer finger always pointing at the spouse and saying, “You shouldn’t be doing that, you should be better, you’re not living up to your spousal requirements, trouble’s coming!”
God’s Law is always pointing out your sins, both the bad you do and the good you don’t do. And now, put yourself in the smelly shoes of a rebellious teenager. When the mom or dad comes and says, “You shall not,” what does that rebellious child do? He says, “I’m doing it anyway.” When the parent comes and says, “You can’t have that,” the teen says, “It’s my life and I can have what I want.”
That’s human nature. When God’s Law says, “You shall not,” your nature says, “I will and I don’t care.” When God’s Law says, “You shall,” your nature says, “You can’t make me.” God’s Law brings out your worst and shows you to be purely rebellious and, like a teenager with a chip on his shoulder, totally unwilling to fall in line and abide.
As I mentioned earlier, Paul uses the coveting commandments as an example of what this looks like. When he was made aware of what coveting is all about, his nature, the sin within him said, “Let’s covet and see what happens…” When children are made aware of their parents’ rules and told, do not touch those knick-knacks on the mantle, what do children do? They not only touch but they touch and take and make filthy and they break. It’s almost as if you shouldn’t even mention the knick-knacks.
That’s what sin is. It’s rebellion, rebellion against God’s perfect and holy Law. The Law says you can’t have something, and you want it and fight to get it with every waking breath. The Law says, “Do not commit adultery,” and seconds later you look for ways around the law, so that you can commit adultery while still saying you’re keeping the Law. The Law says, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy,” and you find every way you can to pretend you’re honoring the Law while breaking it every way from Sunday. The Law says, do not bear false witness,” and you find ways to gossip and speak ill of your neighbor anyway. The Law says, “You shall have no other gods,” but you prop up idols and false gods throughout your home and life regardless, and you say, “Oh, they’re not idols, they’re just so important and necessary and vital for my life.”
Married to the Law and subject to its demands, you’re always going to find a way to skirt it and say, “No one is going to tell me what to do; it’s my life, I’m in charge; get off my back.”
And the Law, like a naggy husband or naggy wife, all it does is criticize, complain, and point out your flaws.
But here’s what’s different about God’s Law. Unlike your spouse who gets things wrong, who may criticize you without cause, who may not clearly see things as they are and who himself is subject to God’s Law and rebellious in breaking it, the Law of God is always right. When His Law is nagging at your soul, it is perfect, just, and true. The Law is not sin, but it is holy. So, you can’t blame God’s Law for your weaknesses. It’s your fault; YOU are the sinner. God’s Law is absolutely, 100% right, and you are wrong. When God’s Law accuses you, it does so justly, but it is the pride and the arrogance and the sheer stubbornness in you which fights back and insists its own way. You have sinned, and the wages of sin is death.
So, in the end, we all die, and if the wages of sin is death, then our deaths would justly pay for our crimes of breaking God’s Law.
But it’s also possible that the death of another – one who keeps God’s law perfectly – can pay the price for your law breaking.
See, the wages of sin must be paid. This should be clear to everyone who considers the ancient sacrifices of lambs and goats and birds that were brought daily to the temple, whose blood was poured out as payment for the sins of the people. The wages for sin is the lifeblood of the innocent. Only such blood had to be shed continuously because it provided but a small drop in the bucket of payment required for our sins. The only blood that could cover all sins was the blood of God Himself, the righteous for the unrighteous.
In Christ, you have died to the law. His blood was shed; He died for you, and all your sins, your unrighteous thoughts, words, and deeds have been paid for by the shedding of God’s own blood. Therefore, God no longer sees you as a lawbreaker who must pay for your misdeeds, but He sees you as one without spot or blemish, covered in the righteous blood of the innocent. And Jesus also rose again which means that you are no longer a slave to the law and its perfect and just decree of “guilty,” but you are now in Christ and declared, “not guilty” for His sake.
This isn’t a partial dying and rising, as if you partially belong to Christ and partially to the Law, no. But this is a complete death and rebirth whereas the Law of God no longer binds you. It is that old, naggy spouse that never stops telling you you’re wrong which died to you and you to it and, because Christ is risen from the dead, you too have risen in Him, and death no longer reigns over you.
Paul says earlier in Romans that this death and rebirth happened in Baptism where, by water and the Word, you died with Christ and rose with Christ.
Now, being free from the Law, you are free to be with Christ as His holy and perfect bride. And, subjectively, God’s salvation is applied to each of you, but being baptized into His name, you are now objectively, collectively the holy Christian church. You’re not a bunch of individuals living in your own little Jesus bubbles, living for yourselves and your own thing.
And as His holy church, you have died to the Law; its wrath and threat no longer hold any power over you. God’s Law is no longer that naggy spouse who is always right, for there is no accusation against anyone who is in Christ.
But does being free from the Law mean you are free to live a lawless life? Does it mean you can do or say or believe whatever you wish? Does it finally mean that you can show God that you’re the boss of your own life and all of that “having no other gods” or “remembering the sabbath day” or “not murdering” or “not committing adultery” stuff makes no difference? No. For you are the bride of Christ and He is now your Lord and King. You are brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God and are called to a “new obedience,” not one built on threats or accusations, but on brotherly love, divine mercy, and humble service.
Following the Law of God is the bearing of good fruit our Lord so passionately talks about throughout the Gospels. For God has created you, not so that you can live selfish, “me-centered” lives filled with all the pleasures and passions of your flesh met when you want. In such living, you give rise to your old nature of enslavement where God’s wrath and judgment come. But you have died to such living and now live as Christ. You cannot be a faithful follower of Jesus and still, willfully sin any more than a wife can be a faithful spouse while willfully committing adultery.
Intentionally, willfully breaking God’s Law is like saying to Jesus, “I don’t want you; I don’t need you and I’d rather be a slave to sin and judged accordingly” which puts you back under the Law and condemned.
This is why you must repent daily. In other words, you must, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” as Paul says elsewhere and, with the help and guidance of the Spirit of Christ, put to death in you that draw for idol worship, for sabbath breaking, for dishonoring your parents and authorities, for anger, hate, and murder, for lustful passions, for coarse talk and unbridled tongue, and for every other misdeed of the flesh. Do this, not so that you earn salvation. Christ has already earned salvation fully for you. But do this, because you belong to Christ and the kingdom of Christ Jesus is one of love of God and neighbor. Follow His law for your neighbor’s sake, for the Law shall not be your judge anymore.
You have died and been set free; Christ has died for you and set you free. You are no longer a slave to the law but a citizen, a member of His holy Church. And because you are a citizen of the kingdom of grace, you stand free, with sins forgiven and eternal life yours, and the Spirit of Christ producing good works in you, that you should walk in them. Amen.
