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sin"--he uses in verse 6 the word which means to "destroy", nullify", render
"inoperative". The cross of Christ "rendered sin inoperative"; the bonds were broken,
the fetters snapped, the dominion overthrown:--
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be
rendered inoperative, that henceforth we should not serve sin . . . . . we died . . . . . we
shall live . . . . . being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness"
(Rom. 6: 6-18).
In chapter 7: the cross is not in view, neither does it speak of crucifixion with Him.
In the matter of sin and its dominion it is the cross that is prominent; but with regard to
the law and its dominion we read, "We are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ".
In Rom. 8: it is neither the cross of Christ as in Rom. 6:, nor the death of Christ
as in Rom. 7:, but:--
"If the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in
you . . . . . ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear . . . . . the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of
the children of God" (Rom. 8: 11-21).
While there is this progress to be noted, we must not, on the other hand, fail to notice
that resurrection is prominent in each of the three chapters (6:, 7:, 8:). The
crucifixion of the old man nullifies the power of the body of sin, but the positive power
for the emancipated believer is "newness of life". We are not only to reckon ourselves
dead to sin, but also alive unto God (Rom. 6: 11). This double reckoning is vital. We
too often meet with those who continually "reckon" themselves dead, but forget to
"reckon" themselves also alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Resurrection
follows the nullifying of the dominion of law in Rom. 7:; the death of the husband is
followed by a union with "Him Who is raised from the dead". The new conditions can be
expressed in Rom. 6: by the word "newness of life"; and in Rom. 7: by the words
"newness of spirit".
We must now turn our attention to Rom. 7: 6, which is the doctrinal sequel to the
analogy that has occupied the earlier verses. We give the R.V. of the verse:--
"But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were
holden: so that we serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter."
The change from the A.V. which reads: "That being dead wherein we were held", is
important. The complete fact, however, is only realized if we remember that both
versions present the truth. If the law dies to me, I am dead to it. If a woman's husband
dies, she, as a wife, dies at the same moment. There is only one way in which the sinner
can be discharged and delivered from the law. He cannot escape it by his prayers or his
promises. He is utterly unable to keep it. There is but one way of escape. He must die to
it. The law ceases to have any jurisdiction the moment a man is dead. But this in itself is