DEAD TO THE LAW

"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 an 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 is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:1-4).

Devotion 14 of 17

THE LAW IS NOT SIN

Let no soul imagine that the Law as sinful. Sin belongs to us, not the Law of God! We will have nothing to do with those who despise the holy Law of our God! As it is written, "What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Rom 7:7 KJV).

Truly, the Law was "our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ" (Gal 3:24). It readied us for the Savior of the world by convincing us that we needed one. We had not kept the demands of the Law, and the Law would not compromise those demands, or overlook our violation of them. We were guilty, and the Law could not remove guilt. It informed us of our sin, but made no provision for its removal!

Those with a propensity to "the Law" have not thought about what it "could not do" (Rom 8:3). They imagine they are capable of fulfilling the Law's demands in their own strength, but they are not! The Law is "holy," and they are not! It is "good," and they are not. God's Law is "just," and they are not. The Law is uncompromising and unmerciful. It operates in strict accordance with the facts, and functions according to strict justice. If we do not conform perfectly--100%--to its demands, it will condemn us.

God be praised we have been delivered from the letter of the Law, and can now serve God in the "newness of Spirit." Possessing a "pure heart," "purged conscience," and "faith unfeigned," we serve the Lord as those who have already been "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6). We are not seeking for acceptance, we have received it by faith. That is serving the Lord "in newness of Spirit." That condition confirms we have "died to the Law." We have not lost our interest in the Law, nor do we despise it. In fact, in Christ, God has put the law in our inward parts, and written it upon our hearts (Jer 31:33).

PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus, I thank You for writing Your law upon my heart, and putting it in my inward parts. I love Your law, and confess that it is holy, just, and good.

-- Tomorrow: JUSTIFIED BY FAITH --