Romans 7:6
The Affirmation
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (7:6)
The transitional phrase but now introduces the heart of this brief passage, which presents a radical contrast to the description just given (v. 5) of the unregenerate man. We, that is, believers in Jesus Christ (see v. 4), have been released from our old bondage to the Law, having died to that by which we were formerly bound in the flesh.
As Paul has just pointed out, “the law has jurisdiction over a person [only] as long as he lives” (v. 1). Therefore, when a person dies, he is discharged of all legal liabilities and penalties. Because we, as believers, died in Jesus Christ when He paid our sin debt on Calvary, we were thereby released from our moral and spiritual liabilities and penalties under God’s Law. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ ” (Gal. 3:13).
Paul has already declared as forcefully and unambiguously as possible that freedom from the law’s bondage does not mean freedom to do what the law forbids (6:1, 15; cf. 3:31). Freedom from the law does not bring freedom to sin but just the opposite-freedom for the first time to do what is righteous, a freedom the unregenerate person does not and cannot have.
Paul’s point is not simply that the redeemed person is able to do what is right but that he will do what is right. In response to their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, God releases men from their bondage to the law so that they will serve. Many English renderings of douleuō (serve) are somewhat ambiguous and do not carry the full force of the Greek term. This verb does not describe the voluntary service of a hired worker, who is able to refuse an order and look for another employer if he so desires. It refers exclusively to the service of a bond-slave, whose sole purpose for existence is to obey the will of his master.
Kenneth Wuest gives this accurate and beautiful rendering of verse 6:
“But now, we were discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were constantly held down, insomuch that we are rendering habitually a bond-slave’s obedience”
Service to the Lord in newness of the Spirit rather than in oldness of the letter is the necessary fruit of redemption, not an option. As already noted, a fruitless Christian is not a genuine Christian and has no part in God’s kingdom. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit,” Jesus said, My Father “takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1–2).
The person who is justified by faith through the grace of Jesus Christ is secure (Romans 5), holy (chap. 6), free, fruitful, and serving (chap. 7). And the last four of those characteristics of the true believer are no more optional or conditional than the first. Although none of those divine marks of regeneration is ever perfect in its human manifestation, all of them are always present in a believer’s life.
The law is still important to the Christian. For the first time, he is able to meet the law’s demands for righteousness (which was God’s desire when He gave it in the first place), because he has a new nature and God’s own Holy Spirit to empower his obedience. And although he is no longer under the law’s bondage or penalty, he is more genuinely eager to live by its godly standards than is the most zealous legalist. With full sincerity and joy, he can say with the psalmist, “O how I love Thy law!” (Ps. 119:97).
As believers, we are dead to the law as far as its demands and condemnation are concerned, but because we now live in newness of the Spirit, we love and serve God’s law with a full and joyous heart. And we know that to obey His law is to do His will and that to do His will is to give Him glory.
Recap
• For the first time in a new believers life, to do what is righteous is a freedom that they have but the unregenerate person does not and cannot have.
• The redeemed person is not just able to do what is right but that he will do what is right. Not always and not in every situation but he will be characterized by doing what is right naturally.
• The sole purpose of a bond-slave and the reason for his existence is to obey the will of his master. We are fundamentally Bond-slaves first – who have the privileges of son ship.
• The grace of Jesus Christ represents itself as being secure (Romans 5), holy (chap. 6), free, fruitful, and serving. (chap. 7) These are always present in a believers life in some form of maturing. If not, then there is reason to believe that person is not saved.
• For the first time, when we accept Christ as our Savior, he is able to meet the law’s demands for righteousness (which was God’s desire when He gave it in the first place), because he has a new nature and God’s own Holy Spirit to empower his obedience.