Freedom From the Law and Bound to Christ. (Romans 7: 1–6)

🎙️ Welcome  back to The Bible Project Daily Podcast. 

Today, we're diving into Romans 7:1–6 in an episode titled “Freedom From the Law and Bound to Christ.” We’re exploring what it really means for the believer to be set free from the law—not just civil or ceremonial parts, but the whole system—and what it looks like to now be joined to Christ. If you’ve ever wrestled with what it means to live under grace and not the law, this one’s for you.

📄 Episode Notes

Episode Title: Freedom From the Law and Bound to Christ
Passage: Romans 7:1–6

Summary:
In today’s episode, we unpack the idea that those who belong to Jesus Christ have died to the law—not just parts of it, but the whole system. Through a powerful metaphor of marriage, Paul shows that just as death ends a legal covenant, so our death with Christ ends our obligation to the law. We are now spiritually united to Christ in a new relationship that produces fruit for God—not by striving in our own strength, but through the Spirit.

Key Themes:

• The law has dominion only while a person lives (v.1)
• Death with Christ frees us from the law (v.4)
• We now serve in the new way of the Spirit, not the old written code (v.6)
• This freedom is not lawlessness—it is a new life under the law of Christ, which is love

Main Takeaway:
The Christian life is not about rule-keeping, but about relationship—being joined to Jesus so that we bear spiritual fruit through the Spirit.

Related Scriptures:

• Romans 6:14–15
• Galatians 3:24–25
• Colossians 2:13–14
• Ephesians 2:15
• John 15:1–8

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Chapters

• 23:55 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 24:43 (Cont.) Freedom From the Law and Bound to Christ. (Romans 7: 1–6)

Transcript

Freedom From the Law and Bound to Christ. (Romans 7:1–6)

Transcript: 

The New Testament makes a bold and, at times, startling declaration: the believer in Jesus Christ is not under the law.

However, there are several ways people try to approach that statement. 

Some divide the Old Testament law into three categories: civil, ceremonial, and moral. From there, they conclude that when the New Testament says we're not under the law, it must mean we're no longer bound to the civil and ceremonial laws—but we’re still under the moral law.

That explanation seems neat and  tidy—until you remember that one of the moral laws is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” 

Some then argue that if we're still under the moral law, then we are obligated to keep the Sabbath on Saturday, not Sunday. Things get complicated fast.

Others take a different approach and say, “We’re not under the condemnation of the law. because Romans 6:14 says we're “not under law but under grace.” Some bible teacher and preachers then reason that grace means freedom from condemnation—so being under the law must means not being under its condemnation.

But then there's a third possible answer: maybe the Bible means exactly what it says. That we're not under the Mosaic law at all. Not under its civil regulations, its ceremonial system, or even its moral requirements as a code to follow in our own strength.

So how do we know which of these answers is right? 

That’s where Romans 7 comes in. In the first six verses, Paul unpacks what it really means for the believer to no longer be under the law—and in doing so, he helps us understand not only our relationship to the law, but also the deeper work of grace in our lives….

Let’s begin by reading the passage:

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.”

( Romans 7:1–6)

Before I say anything at all about this passage. I want to impress that Paul is not primarily teaching on marriage here, rather he is using marriage as an illustration a metaphor for our relationship with the law. He will teach on marriage itself on many other occasions.

To really grasp what Paul is doing in these verses, we need to take a step back and remember what he said at the end of chapter 6—specifically, verse 14:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

That statement sets the stage for everything that follows in this chapter. In fact, Paul spent the rest of chapter 6 and now the first part of chapter 7 unpacking and defending that declaration. 

But right after saying we're not under the law; Paul immediately anticipates the pushback and asks in 6:15:

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”

From there, Paul goes on to gives two answers to that question—each introduced by a familiar phrase:

In 6:16 – “Do you not know”… in 6: 16 onwards which we looked at yesterday

And again in 7:1 – “Do you not know, brethren…”

So, the first answer ran from 6:15 to the end of chapter 6. And his argument was: We’ve become slaves of righteousness. Just like we once gave ourselves to sin and became its slave, now in Christ we give ourselves to righteousness—and that leads to holiness and life.

That was yesterday.

Now, in chapter 7:1–6, Paul gives his second answer using a new illustration: a legal principle from marriage and his point is this:

Law only rules over a person while they are alive.

That’s it. That’s the core principle of Romans 7:1–6. You can see it right in verse 1:

“The law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.”

This is an obvious truth, but one with huge spiritual implications.

Think of it like this: As long as I’m alive, I have to obey the laws of the land.  I have to drive on the right side of the road, (Left) pay taxes, obey civil codes. But if I die, I’m no longer under those laws. 

You don’t see a police officer writing a speeding ticket for the guy in the casket of a hearse, he tickets the driver. The dead aren’t under law—they’re beyond its reach.

Paul then uses a marriage illustration to show how death releases someone from a legal obligation. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if he dies, she’s free. She's no longer under that legal contract.

Likewise, Paul says, we have died to the law by being alive in the body of Christ. We are no longer bound to any old relationship.

And now, we are “spiritually joined, married to another”—Jesus Christ—so that we might bear fruit to God.

Paul is saying that just like death ends a marriage covenant, in the death of Christ, and our new birth in him and our union with Him has ended our old relationship to the law.

We’re no longer under it. We don’t serve God by the old written code, but by the new way of the Spirit.

Marriage is Paul’s chosen method to illustrate this and to apply it.

Paul makes the application at that beginning in verse 4 — and this is where everything he’s said so far comes together.

“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.”

That verse is the main point of all the verses we are looking at today. 

The principle was: The Law only has authority over someone if they are alive. The illustration being: a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. Now here comes the spiritual application. Paul says, you also have died to the law. That’s the point.

There are several critical truths in this single verse.

First, notice how we have died to the law: “through the body of Christ.” That’s a reference to Christ’s death on the cross. When He died, He died as our representative. And just as we were united with Him in His death— and so we died to the law as a system of obligation and as a force to place us under condemnation.

Second, Paul says we have died to the law so that we might be “married to another.” This is where the marriage metaphor from verses 2 and 3 comes full circle. You were once “married” to the law — bound to it. But through your death with Christ, that relationship is over. It’s not that the law itself died, it’s that you died in your relationship to it. 

And having died, you are now free to belong to another — and that “Other” is Christ, the risen Lord.

This is stunning. The Christian life is no longer about rule-keeping under the law. It’s not about trying harder or doing more or living under constant condemnation. No — it’s about a new relationship, a living union with Jesus Christ. You are married to Him.

And this new relationship has a purpose: “That we should bear fruit to God.”

This is the spiritual harvest of our new life in Christ. When we were bound by the law, what did we produce? Nothing but frustration and failure. The law could tell us what was right, but it could never empower us to be right. But now, in this new marriage, in this new union with Christ, we can bear fruit to God.

This isn’t about external conformity. It’s about an internal transformation — the life of Jesus producing the fruit of righteousness in and through us.

That’s the beauty of the gospel. That’s the power of grace.

Paul then continues by making a contrast. If verse 4 tells us what’s true now, verses 5 and 6 remind us of what was true before:

“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.”

This is a description of life under the law. “In the flesh” here refers to our pre-Christian state — life lived apart from the Spirit of God. And in that state, what did the law do? It didn’t restrain sin — in fact, Paul says, it sometimes did the opposite it aroused it.

That’s a shocking statement, isn’t it? The law is holy, just, and good — but because of our sinful nature, the law sometimes actually stirred up sinful desires. It pointed out what was wrong, but instead of helping us avoid it, our response is to be seduced by the possibility of it and move toward it. The result? Fruit unto death.

But now — and thank God for this transition in verse 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.”

This is the contrast. We are no longer held in bondage to sin, trying to obey in our own strength, but failing. We now serve in the newness of the Spirit.

That’s the key to the Christian life — not law, but life. Not obligation, not the oldness of the letter, but the power and presence of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

So, this is more that just about our relationship with the law, the question , the deeper question is: “Are you living in the Spirit?” Have you truly died with Christ, and are you now alive to Him?

Because when that’s true, you’ll bear fruit — not by trying harder, but by living and resting in Him.

Now here’s something interesting: I would expect Paul to say the law died, but he never says that, he says that I/we died to the law.

That’s an important distinction. His point is that we died to the law through the body of Christ.

When Paul uses the term “Body of Christ” here I believe Paul he is primarily talking about the physical body of Jesus and His literal death on the cross.

When Jesus died, He died to sin, to the law, to the entire old religious system. And because I’ve been united/joined with Him—placed into Him by the Holy Spirit—I died with Him.

I died when He died, and I rose when He rose.

Now as I said, some divide the law into those categories, but Scripture never does. Paul just says, “the law”—and then in verse 7 he illustrates it with “You shall not covet,” which again is another one of the Ten Commandments, part of the moral law.

So, it’s clear: when Paul says we died to the law, he includes the whole thing—civil, ceremonial, and moral.

And that’s not just here in Romans. In Galatians 3:24–25, Paul also says the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ—but now that faith has come, we are no longer under that tutelage.

In Colossians 2, he says the “handwriting of requirements”—that law—was nailed to the cross.

Also in Ephesians 2:15 says Christ “abolished in His flesh the law of commandments”—again tying it to His physical death.

So, here’s the point: we are not under the Mosaic law—not the civil, ceremonial, or the moral law. But that doesn’t mean we’re meant to live in a lawless way.

Because we are under a new law—the law of Christ. And that is the law of love.

Paul will say later in Romans 13 that love fulfills the law—because love does no harm to a neighbor. So, in following Christ, we don’t ignore God’s standards—we fulfill them by living out a live of love, like he did.

Now we belong to Jesus that new relationship can leads to something beautiful: Paul says we’re united to Christ so that “we should bear fruit to God.”

What kind of fruit? I think of John 15, where Jesus says that fruit is the fruit of the Spirit, including bringing others to Christ.

Then Paul expands the idea in verse 5 and adds that before we were saved—when we were “in the flesh”—our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in us, producing fruit too—but it was fruit unto death.

That’s an interesting concept: he says the law actually aroused sin in us. 

Any parent gets this. The moment you tell a child “Don’t touch that,” what do they want to do? Touch it. There’s something in our fallen nature that pushes back against the rules.

Some people think the Christian live is just a series of “no, no, no’s—rules, guilt, law—and that kind of thinking can actually provoke people to sin more, not less. Because it misses the grace of the New Covenant.

There is a story about a hotel in Galveston, Texas, I’ll name it, ‘The Flagship Hotel’, it was built at the edge of a river right flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. (America). Every room had a balcony with a sign that said, “No fishing from the balcony.” You can guess what happened. People fished, and they broke windows below with their lead weights swinging as they hauling their fish back up to their balconies.  Eventually, the hotel just took the signs down. Problem solved. No more broken windows.

That’s Paul’s point: the law, by itself, only stirs up sin. It tells us what’s wrong, but it doesn’t fix what’s wrong inside of us.

But then comes the contrast—Romans 7:6: “Now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what held us, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

We’re not under the old way anymore—the law that condemns. We’re under the Spirit, who empowers. 

Not obedience by sheer effort, but obedience that flows from a new heart—and a love, made alive in Christ.

Now, what Paul’s just said here is really a preview of where he’s going in chapter 8.

This is the first time in this part of Romans he mentions the Holy Spirit—and that’s going to become a major theme in the next chapter. But now, already he’s already starting to show that we’re meant to live by the Spirit, not by the old written code, the letter of the law.

Verse 6 gives us some key contrasts to help us grasp this shift. First, there’s the contrast between old and new: the “oldness of the letter” refers to the Mosaic law, and the “newness of the Spirit” points to life in the Holy Spirit.

Then there’s the contrast between law and Spirit—one is about external control, and the other is about internal transformation. And that leads to the third contrast: external versus internal. 

Now all of this is a hard truth to swallow for some people, and it makes some people nervous, like grace is too loose, too unstructured. But if that’s your reaction, then you haven’t really understood the grace of God.

You see, grace doesn’t lead to careless living—it leads to a deeper relationship with Christ. When you’re free from focusing on the law, you’re meant to focus more on Jesus, and grow in relationship with Him, and bear fruit that flows from that relationship. 

Yes, it’s deep. Yes, it’s scary sometimes, it’s like an inexperienced swimmer being told that they can step into deep water for the first time. But once you stop panicking and trust the buoyancy of the water to support you, you discover grace carries you. 

Romans Chapter 7: it’s like learning to float in God’s grace instead of trying to swim upstream in your own strength. You discover that grace sustains you, and supports you.

That’s what Romans 7 is meant to do: It is meant to teach the believer to fully throw themselves into the arms of God’s grace.

It’s not about working harder to please God—it’s about being united to Christ and drawing your strength from Him.

So, what do we put in the law’s place? What do we live by instead?

Here’s the answer: you’re married to someone new. You’re united with Christ. Forget about the old marriage, it’s over. You’ve entered into a new relationship.

So, what’s your job now? Get to know Jesus. Spend time with Him. Talk to Him. Abide in Him. Because as you grow closer to Him, you’ll bear fruit, real fruit, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

And it won’t be fake, plastic fruit either, it’ll be the real thing.

As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Living the Christian life is about making a confidant of the Lord Jesus. Tell Him everything—like a good wife and husband, confide in each other, hold nothing back. Share your trials, your struggles and the joys of your heart. 

And when you do that with God His grace will refresh you and His life will empower you, never condemn you.