If you wish to follow along in
our Bible lesson this morning turn to Romans chapter 7 Romans chapter 7 What I want to do for our Bible
lesson I will read the first six verses of Romans chapter
seven. This is to me, an astounding
passage. Of course, all the scripture
is astounding, but this is one of those passages that the Lord
has been pleased to put in the forefront of my mind to guide
my mind in the truth of the gospel of free reigning grace. And Paul
is continuing, of course, but in Romans seven, Verses one through
six, we read these words. Know ye not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if
the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in
the flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Now, if you want to call it a
title or a subject for our Bible lesson this morning, I would
put it this way, just taken directly from the text, married to another. Now, if you look at the first
three verses, and I'll not go back and read it again, but other,
but to say this, When a man and woman are married, under God's
law, they are so joined together in vital union that that union
legally cannot be separated except by death. If the woman is divorced
by her husband or divorces her husband, and marries another
man while her first husband lives. According to law, she is an adulteress. This is the law of God. But if
her first husband is dead, she is freed, freed to marry another,
and she cannot be caught. She cannot, even by Mosaic law,
Even by those thunderings that issued forth from Sinai, she
cannot be called an adulteress. Consider this, remarriage in
such a case where this death has occurred is never, ever sinful. So death, according to even the
law, so death severs the first union and frees one to enter
into another union, a totally free union. And then Paul writes,
wherefore, do you see that? Wherefore, he then introduces
his actual intent. Paul's intent here was not simply
to explain the nuance of the law, but he's saying that even
under the Mosaic law, provision was made to free one to another
union, to another marriage, when death has occurred. So Paul now
begins to introduce his actual intent, wherefore. In other words,
we could say, in light of even this legal principle, this legal
fact about death, Paul then engages the gospel truth. That is, there
is a union-stevering death has occurred. We, wherefore, my brethren,
let me just read what he wrote. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law, dead to the law by the body of Christ,
that You should be married to another. The law allowed the
widow to marry another. Grace demands those widowed from
the law must marry Christ. You see what it says there? They
must marry Christ. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should
be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead,
which lets us know when he talks about the body of Christ, he's
talking about Christ's actual bodily death. So again, Paul
engages the gospel truth that a union severing death has occurred. With the full intent of God's
sovereign purpose, that a totally different union be established. And this totally different union
is established with totally different motivating factors. Let's read
it again, verse four. Wherefore, my brethren, Ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God, something we never
could do under the law. Under the law, all that was brought
forth was death. Death. The more we may have even
tried to keep the law, the more death was exposed in here. Look, for when we were in the
flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law, don't let this
religious world confound you. May God help me not to let this
religious world confound me. The law of God, the law that
issued forth from Sinai, specifically declared in Ten Commandments,
that law deals with the flesh. It never deals with the new man
in Christ. The law was given to manifest
what seeing is, and it dealt with the flesh. Therefore, if
I resort back to the law, I am saying, in effect, my flesh can
honor God. And it is never so. Why? For when we were in the
flesh, The motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death, and that's all it
could ever bring forth. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were hailed, do you see it?
Hailed that we should serve, how? See the new motivation?
In newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Let me give you just five things, I'll try to be very brief. Number
one, Christ's bodily death severed the first legal union, or the
law union. Romans 8, two and three, look
what Paul said. Romans 8, two, for the law, the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that is life from him, life in
Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, Why? Why even this statement
about the law? It's not Paul throwing off on
the law, but look what he says. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. Ephesians chapter two. Listen
to what Paul wrote to our brothers and sisters at Ephesus. Ephesians
chapter two, just a couple of verses. Verse 15, having abolished
in his flesh, do you see it? Having abolished in his flesh,
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. For to make in himself of twain,
that is Jew or Gentile, of the two one new man, so making peace,
and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby. So again, a death has occurred,
but it wasn't my death. And it wasn't the law's death.
It was the death of Christ. It was the death of Christ. But how could that possibly apply
to me? Well, I'm here to declare this
morning that according to the truth of the gospel of free reigning
grace, before this new marriage, this second union took place,
before we ever joined ourselves to Christ in union, In eternity,
he joined himself to us. We didn't even exist, but he
joined himself to us, so that when he died on that tree, when
that union-severing death occurred in him, it's accounted mine. It's accounted yours. Because
he had so joined himself to us that when he died, we died. And that's exactly what Paul
is telling us in Romans chapter seven. Wherefore, read it again.
Paul's words are far better than any explanation I can give. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, but not through
any act of our own. No act of our own. How are we
dead to the law? By the body of Christ. That ye should be what? Married
to another. Not to two at the same time,
but to another, he said. Even, so that there is no question
here, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. Secondly, the purpose of God
was to establish a totally different kind of union. But now, verse
six, but now we are delivered from the law. How? By a union
severing death. The law is never dishonored,
but a death has occurred. And even the law says when a
death occurs, that person is free to marry another. Yes or no? Is that what even
the law says? Well, grace goes much further. It didn't just
free us so that we could be married to another, but it freed us so
that we would be married to another because the intent of God and
sovereign purpose was never the original legal union. It was
our union to God in Christ. That's why it tells us even in
Ephesians, Paul writes that God chose us in Christ before the
world began. So God established this union
before we ever knew anything about it. Number three, our union
is not to a dead Christ. It's to a living, reigning Lord. You see that? To a living, reigning
Lord. Number four, because four and
five is what I want to try to concentrate on. Number four,
the first union that was the legal union, the law union. It
had its motivation. And we just read some of them
here. Flesh. That was included in this first
union, this legal union. Fletch, it was sinful. It was sinful. It was, as the
word motions here, it was painful influences of corruption. What
it was. That's what this first union
was. But the problem wasn't with our first husband. The law. Who was the problem? Right in
here. That's where the problem was.
That's where the problem was. Flesh, sinful, painful, corrupt
influences. Spiritual death was the fruit.
Remember what Paul told the Corinthians? I think it was his second letter.
The law is a glorious condemnation of death. And yet men and women
in religion, once they say God has saved them, where do they
want to run back to? What they claim to have been
their first husband. We don't live according to our
first husband's rules. We live according to our second
husband's rules. And he enforces those rules,
not through some outward influence like the law, but in here. In here. If he can call me from
the dead, he can make me walk right. If he's raised from the dead,
he's got power over what? Death. He said, I have the keys
of what? Death. We've been united to a living,
reigning Lord, and it's not according to the motivation of the first
legal union. Spiritual death was the fruit
of that, and nothing more. The law never exposed any life
down in here. It always exposed nothing but
death down in here. It wasn't just that it was too
much death that overpowered the life, there was no life. The
fruit was under that first union, what? Death, that's it. And yet my flesh says, well,
let's crawl back to the first husband. What an insult to the
second husband. I'll God willing illustrate that
in a moment, but we're not done yet. Paul says, spiritual death
was the fruit, which were by the law. Not because the law's
bad, but because we are bad. Remember, what the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh, through the flesh. Another thing, it's not in the
oldness of the letter. Now compare this, here's number
five, the second union. This is the grace of God in Christ. the grace of God in Christ. A
little illustration of this. Remember in, I think it's the
book of Hebrews, Hebrews talks of a first covenant and a second
covenant. The first covenant was manifested
openly at Sinai first, but the second covenant existed before
the first covenant ever did. The second covenant was ordained
by God in the person of the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit,
when the triune God determined to save a people. The second
union, that is the grace of God in Christ, has this motivation,
married to Christ. Married to Christ. Married to
another He widowed me by his own death. He accomplished that union-severing
death, married to Christ, yea, even more importantly, the risen
Christ. Hebrews, again, states it this
way, that a covenant, a will, is only enforced after what? death, right? You go out, any
one of you, some of you may already have wheels, you go to the lawyer
and you pay your fees and you pretty much divvy up what everybody
gets when you're gone. But it's only when you're gone. That's what these death covenants
are all about. Only when you're gone. But the problem is amongst mankind
that even when you're gone, Those that are in that wheel, and maybe
even some that you never even put in that wheel while you were
alive, you're no longer alive. They may take individuals to
court, try to get the wheel changed, right? But what if you suppose
this person who established the wheel by his death, But now he's
alive. He's risen to make sure that
everybody knows this was my original intent. It will not change. No lawyer, no unbeliever, no
faulty believer, Nothing can change the will of God because
Christ died to ratify that will, and he lives to see that it's
carried out. But now we are delivered from
the law that being dead wherein we were hailed bondage, that
we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness
of the letter. Again, married to Christ, the
risen Christ. In this second union, in this
second relationship, actual fruit unto God is accomplished. There's no legal do's and don'ts.
Look at it. If you wish to turn to turn to
Philippians, this is nothing new. How do I put this? And I know
it's probably a better way to say it. The gospel is as old
as God himself. That's eternal. That's eternal. Listen to what Paul wrote in
Philippians chapter two. And let's just begin in for the
sake of time, verse 12. Listen to what he wrote to our
brothers and sisters at Philippi. And this applies to us as well,
if we are united to Christ. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. But what's the motivation of
this, right? Well, then we start making rules
and regulations and you do this or you don't do that. Is that
the motivation? No, sir. For it is God. which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. You see that? See, if God can
create a universe, he can control this little puny peon right here. If he can create all this that's
out there simply by saying, Let it be. He can control me. And you know what sometimes he
does though with that control? Now listen to me. Sometimes he'll
lift his restraint of that control just a little. Just a little. Oh, he still has us. But he'll
lift that restraint just a little. And we will start to spiral.
in spiral, in spiral. And he may lift that restraint
just enough to where we hit what we call rock bottom. And you
know what that does? It doesn't force me to run back
to my first husband. It forces me to cry out for mercy
from my second husband. Oh God, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Because anytime I've tried to run back to my first
husband, all I still see is D-E-A-T-H. Death. Its overall motivating
principle is God working in us, both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. But then Paul gives us a little
more Let me put it, he gives us more particulars of this principle. Turn to Galatians chapter five,
Galatians chapter five. Again, for the sake of time,
you check the context, make sure I'm not taking something out
of context here. Galatians chapter five, and let's
begin in verse 13 to get somewhat of the context. Verse 13, Galatians
five, for brethren, You have been called unto liberty. Now,
liberty from what? Not liberty from God. He didn't
call us to liberate us from himself. He wasn't the problem. We were
the problem. What's this liberty from? The
law. Look at the context. The law. For brethren, you've been called
unto liberty. Well, if that's so, then I can
just be a lawbreaker. You already are. I already am. I dishonored my first husband
all the time. Even when I was under his union,
I was still under his law. And I dishonored him, and I dishonored
him. And the more I tried to not dishonor
him, the more I found out I dishonored him. So does that mean we're
just free to self, free to sin? No. For brethren, you've been
called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh. preacher. It can't be that simple.
It's that simple and that's so profound at the same time. Look, only use not liberty for
an occasion to the flesh, but by love, do what? Serve one another. Forget about self. It's about
everybody else. Look, for all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as if
your neighbor was you. That's what that law actually
says. Not just love your neighbor like you love yourself, but love
your neighbor like your neighbor is actually you. Religion loves
to say, well, love your neighbor as you love yourself. And then
if you get mad at yourself, well, I got the right to be mad at
my neighbor. That ain't what the law says. is love your neighbor
as if your neighbor was you. But Paul notes that under grace,
it's simply just loving one another, serving one another, correct?
Isn't that what he says? But by love, serve one another
for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.
Don't abuse your liberty. It will only be to your harm.
This I say then, walk in the Spirit. Look at this, this is
an astounding statement. And ye shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh. Notice the clear indication.
The lust of the flesh is still down in here. It's not walk in
the spirit and you won't have any lust of the flesh, no. Walk in the spirit and ye shall
not feel the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary,
the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that
you would. I will paraphrase. In the flesh,
I would be totally towards self and me and ego. In the spirit,
I'll be totally for you. But neither is absolutely possible
because I am both flesh and spirit. But see that, isn't that a most
glorious word? But if you be led of the spirit,
notice he doesn't say you won't have the flesh. You're not under
law. A union severing death has occurred.
You're freed to be married to Christ. And yes, you will fail
him. You will fail him, but he is
loving and compassionate and merciful. He loved us even when
we did not love him. We were like Gobers. Anybody
know the account of Hosea and Gober? We were like Gobers. Christ is like Hosea. Brothers
and sisters, he was taking care of me even when I had my fist
in his face. Before I was ever united to Christ
by faith, I was shaking my fist to God. I'll have my own way. I will not have this man reign
over me. But thank God he was anyway.
And he protected me, and he took care of me in spite of myself. And one day he said, enough's
enough. You will go no further in this
mad race to ruin. I am going to allure you into
the wilderness. And that time will be the time
of love. Let's go on. But if you be led of the spirit,
you're not under the law. Well, preacher, how do we know
the difference? Now the works of the flesh are
manifest. This is not some kind of secret
thing. You got to study the Bible real hard. What's really right?
What's really wrong? Oh, the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies. I'm like, Paul, give me a break. But there is no break in the
flesh. There's not even an inkling of goodness there, you see? Envies,
murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Anything else
that's of that sort, you see? And such like, of the which I
tell you before, as I've told you in time past, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit
of the Spirit is. Not ought to be, it is. And it's the fruit of the Spirit,
it's not my fruit, It's the fruit of the spirit. Where? In me. Look at it. Love, joy, peace,
long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Look at this astounding thing.
Against such, there is no law. You're not going wrong in the
fruit of the spirit. because it's God working in you
both the will and the due of His good pleasure. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be
desirous, here it is, of vain or empty glory. There's the main
difference between the Spirit of God and the fallen corrupt
flesh of me. The Spirit of God always honors
the personal work of Jesus Christ. The flesh always seeks my honor. Now, if I ever find myself seeking
my honor, I know what that is. Flesh. Flesh. So again, see, the overall motivating
principle is what? God works in us both the will
and the do of his good pleasure, and he shows us exactly what
some of these things are. And this is not boasting because
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing,
but God's spirit dwells in me. And he bought this, even this
body with a price and Ray, by his grace, I can see a few of
those things down in me. I can see a few of those things
down in there that could only be the spirit of God. the spirit
of God. Now, let me try to illustrate
this. You have a widow. She's married to a man. He dies,
so she's now a widow. She remarries. She remarries
a good man. I mean a good man. There's not
a one of us men here that can compare to this one I'm talking
about. This is a man who takes care of her, as we say, lot,
stock, and barrel. She don't even really have to
lift a finger unless she just really wants to. He pays for everything. She gets
sick, takes her to the doctor. She's a widow. She marries the
second man, a good husband. Usually, he works five days a
week, sometimes maybe six or seven days a week, whatever it
takes. Whatever it takes to get by. Every evening when he gets
home from work, she always has her two plates set out and the
food prepared. And here it is. She does this,
why? Because he says, you better have
me food prepared. She loves him. She's happy to do this for him. He's such a good husband. The
one evening that comes home, Mel's the food. That's good. He goes into the
dinner table, and of course, she always has the plates set
out and utensils set out. But he goes in this day, and
there's a third plate. Three dinner spots set out. So
he thought, OK, this is a little odd. But he sits down to meal,
and she begins, did you want some of this? Yeah, she gets
her a little, but then she starts to spoon the food over into the
third plate. He says, honey, what's all this
about? She said, well, this third plate's
my first husband. Hm? Hm? Do you not think that's a little
bit of an insult to the second husband? Now he brushes this
off, well, emotions, you know? And we all got them, don't we? We all got them. But then another
evening he comes home and things seem to be back to normal, and
there's the two plates, and they have the meal together. Maybe
they watch a little TV or whatever and get ready to go to bed, because
she always has his bed closed like that. and has her bedclothes
laid out. He walks in the bedroom, ready
to retire with her, and there's three sets of bedclothes. Honey,
what's wrong? Well, this is for my first husband. You think he starts saying, I
think she's going a little nuts? My brothers and sisters, that's
what it is when we run back to the first husband. It's an insult
to the second husband. We have a new rule of life now.
It's not circumcision or uncircumcision. It's neither one. It's a new
creature in Christ. And who do I have to depend upon
to get that done? only my second husband, that
I have been freed to marry and serve and bring forth fruit unto
by the power and grace of God. And so far, he's always held
up his end of the bargain. Although I have often miserably
failed, and I didn't even make a bargain. All the bargaining
was on his side, because he said, I chose you. I loved you. I came, was made flesh for you.
I lived for you. I died for you. I was raised
for you. I was exalted for you. And I
now sit at the right hand of God, making intercession for
you. All of the glory goes to Christ. Heavenly Father, encourage
us in that truth. We are so prone to run to the
flesh. Oh God, hold on to us, guide
us, lead us and direct us in Christ's name. Amen. All right.