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Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters, for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, 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 for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

 

These verses are grounded in the reality of faith. If I pledge my life to faith in Jesus, I am not bonded to the law, but I am bonded to Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t mean that I should break the laws and ignore the practically of living as justly as I can. What it means is that if I fall into sin, God understands that if I ask for forgiveness and repent that I am growing in my life in Christ.

That recognition frees us from self-doubt, recognizes our human frailty and allows us to correct the course of our life. For, if I am alive in faith, I can be a positive influence for myself, my family and all the people I meet because I will be a part of God’s plan for all of us. The law is useful and has always been useful because it gives us guidelines on how to act and react in our world. It however will not save us because we can’t be perfect. The only perfect one was Jesus, and he gave up his life to save us through his sacrifice.

Let us pray: Father help us to feel your love and guidance as we live our lives here on earth. Thank-you for your love by sending Jesus to save us. Help us to realize the fullness of this gift. Amen.

Robert Carrothers robert.carrothers@gmail.com