What place does the Law have in the life of the Christian? The Bible is very clear that you cannot use obedience to the Law as a means of salvation. No one can keep the Law, and it is foolish to try and meet the Law’s standard to earn favor with God. But does that mean that the Law is useless now? Has it been done away with? In Romans 7 Paul begins to teach about the place of the Law. In this first section, he shows that the believer is no longer bound to the Law in the same way that he was before salvation by grace. This does not mean that the Law is done away with – but we must understand that the Law takes its place in a new relationship with the believer as a result of the work of Christ. The is the next thing we need to know about “The New Life 3: Freedom from the Law” (Romans 7:1-6).

I. A Previous Bondage
A. What Does it Mean to be Under the Law?
B. An Illustration of that Authority

II. A New Freedom
A. Freed by Death
B. Freed to Bear Fruit

III. How to Know the Difference
A. Living in the Flesh
B. Living in the Spirit

Questions for consideration: (1) Why do you think Paul uses the illustration of a marriage? What about the illustration is difficult to understand? (2) Why do you think Paul emphasizes the resurrected Christ instead of the resurrection of Christ in this passage? (3) How should the statement in verse 6 affect how you live? What does it mean to “serve in the new way of the Spirit?”