Romans 7:4 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.
As I get older, as all of us do, I have noticed with ever greater frequency that older people die! I know that this has been the reality since the beginning, but as I approach that day, the reality is hitting me. As far as I know, my death is not imminent, but who knows. I certainly don’t!
But there is a death that we can volunteer for, one which leads to life. Natural death leads to death. We all know this. We have passed enough graveyards to know that people don’t normally get up out of their graves. Once the dirt is tossed, things are over. I actually hope things are over before that point, or that would be really scary. A great movie could be made with this plot. Oops, it already has been.
But a volunteer death, I’m not sure I want to sign up for that one. I like life. But our text tells us of a death that has a positive outcome. We can volunteer for this one.
The death we can participate in has to do with our relationship to the Law. The Old Testament understanding of was this: you keep the Law and you are in good standing with God. If we are good enough, then God must accept us.
But this is not the message of the Old Testament, and the history of Israel proves this. They were nothing but unfaithful toward the LORD, and He was only faithful toward humanity. God’s faithfulness is the message of the Old Testament. No matter the mess they chose, God was always there to rescue them when they turned their hearts back to Him.
It is that turning of the heart that makes all the difference. So if we think keeping the Law is the solution, then we ignore the condition of our heart. We do the right stuff, and God is on the hook for our wish list.
But the LORD just wants our heart. But in order for Him to get our heart, we must break our relationship with the Law. We can’t depend on the Law for things that the Law was never designed to accomplish.
I am a handyman. I know that when you have the correct tool for the job, the job progresses with greater speed and less frustration than if you try to use the wrong tool. I am currently building a workshop in my backyard. I have learned that getting the right tools from my garage out to the site and set up will save me hours of time. Just bringing a handsaw and a hammer would accomplish the task, but it will be much harder than using my power tools.
The problem with trying to gain standing with the LORD through keeping the Law, is that the Law can’t restore our relationship with God. It can’t even get us close. So we must end our fantasy that believes being good will be enough. It has to die.
Jesus’ death put the death nail in the coffin of the Law. His resurrection demonstrates that God’s requirements have been met in Jesus. If we are in Jesus, then the requirements that we have have also been met. Our relationship with God has been restored.
And now that our relationship is restored, because we have killed our relationship with the Law, now we can fulfill our design to bear fruit for God’s Kingdom. That relationship had to end before we could begin a life-giving one with God.
And it is out of this new relationship that we become fruitful. His life flows through us. His life changing us. His life feeding the world.
The Arnold Journey 