THE BELIEVER’S FREEDOM FROM THE LAW

Rom. 8:2

Morning Meditation 12/31/16

Verse 2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The freedom from the law is not a freedom to do wrong. It is freedom to allow another to possess our lives and to live out His righteous life through us. Because man has the compelling desire to be a success, it is his way to be justified before God in his own strength by meeting God’s demands as expressed in the Ten Commandments, The Sermon on The Mount, etc. This is the reason that when a preacher or denomination comes along and teaches that one gets to heaven by keeping rules, he gets a following immediately. If one thinks he will obtain heaven’s approval by keeping the law, he evidently thinks he can keep the law. If he thinks he is keeping the law, then he is satisfied that God approves of the life that he is living, and therefore, he is very proud of the life he is living.

If you are saved by keeping law, you have every right to be proud of yourself. The reason is stated in Philippians 3:9: “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” The Word of God could not be more clear than it is here. Paul said that his own righteousness is produced by keeping the law. He contrasts man’s righteousness which is of the law to the righteousness of God which is BY FAITH.

In this meditation, I want us to look at FREEDOM FROM THE LAW. What does it mean? And how do we function in that freedom? And is it possible for the Christian to lose that freedom?

First of all, FREEDOM FROM THE LAW IS THROUGH THE DEATH OF JESUS. Roman 7:4 says, “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ . . .” He has just given an illustration of the woman who is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is “loosed from the law of her husband.” The word “loosed” (Rom. 7:2) translates “katargeo” and means, “to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, to be inoperative.” This is a verb and is a perfect passive indicative. The perfect tense is completed action in the past with the result that it remains complete in the present. The passive voice means that the subject (the woman whose husband died) is set free, not by her own effort (unless she killed him!), but by his death. His death released us from the law. The law loses its employee through the death of her husband. She is out of the jurisdiction of the law yet operating within the law to marry another.

We as believers are identified with Him in His death so that His death is reckoned as our death and thereby setting us free from the law. We are no longer under its jurisdiction. “We are dead to the law by the body of Christ,” Paul says in verse four.

Paul dealt with this extensively in Romans six. Baptism is a picture of it (vss. 3-4). We are buried showing His death and we are raised from the grave of baptism showing that we share His resurrection life and are to walk in the newness of life. He says by way of explanation in verse six, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” The words “is crucified” translate “sustauroo.” It is made up of two words “with” and “crucify” and means, “to crucify along with.” It therefore means that the believer was crucified along with Jesus when He died on the cross. “Sustauroo” is an aorist passive indicative verb. The aorist tense in the indicative mood refers to an act at a point of time in the past. It is a once-for-all act. The passive voice means that we as believer are the recipients of the act of His crucifixion, i.e., we do not crucify ourselves. Rather His crucifixion is ours. We are to reckon ourselves “ . . . to be dead indeed unto sin . .. .” and alive to God in His new life back from the grave. This is ours to enjoy by FAITH.

FREEDOM FROM THE LAW IS ACCEPTING OUR DEATH WITH HIM. This is clearly brought out in Romans 7:4: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ . . .” We do not need to die. The death of which this verse speaks is a death that becomes applicable in every Christian life at the moment of salvation. Our faith does not make this true. It is true whether we believe it or not. The truth of this truth is not true because of man’s faith in it. But the truth of it cannot be experienced in the sanctification of the life apart from faith. If we believe that His death is ours, then we are dead to our past, the debt of sin has been paid, and we are finished with it. If we believe that His death is ours, then we are dead to the things of this world that belong to the “lusts of the flesh.” We no longer live after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4). Though we still have an old sin nature, we do not feed it, it is no longer the life we are living, and therefore, we are no longer entertaining it. Does the believer every entertain it? Oh yes, but then he is called a carnal Christian.

FREEDOM FROM THE LAW IS THE SPHERE OF CHRIST’S EFFECTIVENESS. This is brought out in Galatians 5:4: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” The words “is become of no effect” translated “apo” which is a preposition that speaks of separation from the source. Here Jesus is the Source. The word “katargeo” is translated and means, “to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative.” It is also an aorist passive indicative verb. This means that Christ has been rendered idle, he is unemployed and inactive, and inoperative in the life of the one of whom Paul speaks. Can Christ be in the life and be completely unemployed? I think every saved person knows the answer to that question. The passive voice means the subject (the believer) is acted upon. What acts on the believer in this case to make Christ inoperative in the life? It is the law. “. . . Whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” The words “ye are fallen” translate, “ekpipto” meaning, “to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off.” It is also an aorist active indicative verb. This means that anyone who claimed to be justified by the law had already fallen from grace at the point in time where they began to depend on their own righteousness by keeping the law. Paul had already taught in this epistle that no one would be justified by keeping the law (2:16). So he is not suggesting that one can be justified by the law. He is talking about an ATTEMPT to be justified by the law. Those who are attempting to be justified by law have fallen from the whole concept of grace. When a Christian does this, Christ becomes inoperative in his life. Christ will not empower your attempts of self righteousness to obtain God’s favor. Freedom from the law through His death is the sphere of Christ’s effectiveness in our lives. Can Christ be in the life (in salvation) but inoperative in living out His life through us? Absolutely. The power of God to live holy comes by faith (Gal. 3:14).

FREEDOM FROM THE LAW IS WHAT JOINS US TO JESUS IN MARRIAGE. This is brought out in Romans 7:4: “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 is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” The words “should be married” translates, “ginomai” meaning, “to become, i.e.., to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.” The possibility of marriage to Jesus was not there until freedom from the law through death was realized. This verb form is an aorist middle infinitive. This means that our marriage to the ADAMIC MAN ended in His death, and being set free from the law (which applies to the flesh), I am free to be married to another, even Jesus. The middle voice is where the subject participates in the act and the result of the action. Thank the Lord, we accepted the proposal of Jesus (middle voice and were benefitted by that act) and stood up with Him as the Father in Heaven preformed the ceremony! Someone hold my mules!!! We have said, “I do” to Jesus and are His bride.

The believer’s freedom from the law. We are not under rules, we are married to the RULER!

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White