Romans 7:4-6
(4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
(5) For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
(6) But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
In these verses Paul applied his illustration of marriage to a believer and the Law. He said, You also died (lit., “you were put to death,” as was true of Jesus) to the Law. Just as a believer “died to sin” (6:2) and so is “set free from sin” (6:18, 22), so he also died to the Law and is separated and set free from it (6:14; cf. Gal. 2:19). As a wife is no longer married to her husband when he dies, so a Christian is no longer under the Law. This separation was through the body of Christ, that is, because of Christ’s death on the cross.
As a result Christians belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead (cf. Rom. 6:4, 9). This One of course is the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense believers are united to Him as His bride (Eph. 5:25). God’s purpose in all this is in order that we might bear fruit to God (cf. Rom. 6:22; Gal. 5:22-23; Phil. 1:11). Only a person who is spiritually alive can bear spiritual fruit, that is, holy living (cf. John 15:4-5). A person who is married to Christ can bear spiritual progeny. Paul moved from the second person plural (you) to the first person plural (we), including himself along with his readers.
The apostle continued, For when we were controlled by the sinful nature (lit., “For when we were in the flesh”; sarx often means sin nature; cf. Rom. 7:18, 25) the sinful passions aroused by the Law were at work in our bodies. This describes a believer before he was saved (cf. 6:19). The Law by its prohibitions aroused sinful passions, as explained in 7:7-13. In that sense unsaved Gentiles were “under” the Law. Consequently their progeny was not “fruit to God” (v. 4) but fruit for death. Sin, Paul repeatedly affirmed, leads to death (5:15, 17, 21; 6:16, 21, 23; 7:10-11, 13; 8:2, 6, 10, 13).
But now, being identified with Christ, believers are dead to the Law. Like a widow released from marital obligations, so believers are released from the Law and its arousal to sin. The purpose of this release “from the Law” is so that they may serve (a better rendering is “be slaves”; cf. “slave[s]” in 6:6, 16 [thrice], 17-18, 20, 22) in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. The word “Spirit” may be “spirit” (lowercase “s”) to contrast with the written document, the Law. The thought then is that believers do not live by the “oldness” of the Law but by the “newness” of a regenerated spirit. Or “Spirit” may refer to the Holy Spirit, the Source of new life. (Cf. comments on “the Spirit” and “the letter,” 2 Cor. 3:6.)
Excerpt from:
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Below are FB comments on the book of Romans (The Bible Knowledge Commentary):
