Apart from the Law, Sin Is Dead

Much like the way a nation's constitution governs its citizens, this passage explains the role God's Law plays in exposing and ruling over human sin. The apostle Paul makes clear that the Law does not give salvation but is a tool that makes us aware of sin only while we are alive, and he teaches that believers who have died with Christ are in a state of grace, no longer under the rule of the Law.

Using marriage as an illustration, it explains that just as the legal bond ends when a spouse dies, believers, whose old self has died with Christ, are cut off from their relationship with the Law and enter a new marriage, under grace. But it points out that many believers are trapped in legalism, boasting of things like early-morning prayer or offerings, or living weighed down by guilt, and so are not enjoying true freedom.

The sermon warns believers not to cut off their relationship with God by binding themselves to rules or devotions of their own making, and reminds them that the purpose of the Law was to expose sin and bring us to Christ. It urges believers to admit their weakness, believe in the grace of Christ, and live lives that bear the fruit of righteousness rather than sinful passions. It asks what believers are holding on to so that they live not as slaves of the Law but as children of grace, enjoying true freedom.