The scripture for today, July 4 (7/4) is Romans 7:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”
This is not talking about just any law. It is talking about the law, a specific law ~ the Law of Moses.
Have you ever tried wading through Leviticus, the third book of the Bible? It’s full of all those laws in the Law of Moses (over 600 of them). Thank God Jesus nailed them to the cross and we are no longer bound by killing animals, stoning people for adultery, tithing, having priests, burning incense, going to the temple 3 times a year, only traveling 1/3 of a mile on the Sabbath, paying for traveling mercies, and on and on.
How did “we” in today’s scripture die to the law? He said in the previous chapter (6:4) “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” and in Colossians 2:14 where Christ “having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” and in Hebrews 9:13, 10:1 “By calling this covenant ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear….The law was only a shadow of the good things that are coming.”
God now freely gives us His gifts through Jesus Christ our Lord. How amazing. How blessed.
Thanks, Kathryn for a concise and accurate description of the Christian’s relationship to the law through the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Charles
Some people think the scriptures are just talking about legalism, but that did not exist in the church when these scriptures were written. What did exist was Jewish converts wanting to require keeping the Law of Moses in addition to Jesus’ law of grace. The two are incompatible. Thanks for the thanks.