Please turn to Romans 6. We will read one verse in Romans 6:14, and then the first six verses of Romans 7 as we go to chapter 7 this morning.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.
That is the title of the message: “Not Under Law, but Under Grace.”
Now turn to Romans 7.
Are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?
For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we come to You again, so thankful this morning to be with the brothers and sisters, to join this glorious worship in the heavens—this ongoing, endless adoration and exaltation.
How we pray today that we would continue in that same heavenly spirit. We are grateful that You have gathered us together. We are grateful that we could remember our blessed Lord Jesus until He comes. We are grateful for this day.
We ask You to take these words, which no man can explain. Only the Holy Spirit can interpret to us what they really mean. Only You have the words of eternal life. There is no one else we can go to.
We are asking You, Lord, to breathe upon those words and make them live. May the Holy Spirit give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. This we ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Well, again, good morning. So grateful to be here with you, brothers and sisters. Isn’t it a delight to remember the Lord? Just think about the way we start our week.
On the first day of the week, they gathered to break bread and remember the Lord. What a beginning. How precious that is. We should treasure it. We should long for it. We should come with hearts overflowing to give Him all the glory, all the honor, all the worship, and all the adoration that He alone deserves.
Well, my subject today, as you know, is from Romans 7, and we are going to look at only six verses. I had a brother say to me—and I will not mention anybody—“How long are you going to take to do Romans 7, since you are only doing six verses?”
So I told him, “Twice.” We will see how we do Romans 7:7–25 in the remainder, but we will do it, I promise you. Today, let us look at these first six verses.
We have said before that we are looking at sanctification when we come to Romans 6, 7, and 8. There is a major change in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. You need to understand that the first five chapters are wholly to do with man’s condition and justification. These three chapters have to do with sanctification.
Sanctification is our living in Christ. That is what it means. We are living in Christ. We are being made holy. We are no longer in bondage; we have been set free.
We have been given a resource—an unexplainable and marvelous resource—to allow the Holy Spirit to do that sanctifying work in us. It is a marvelous thing as we go into sanctification.
Justification is our standing in Christ. You have to understand this: it is not our own righteousness. God sees us in Christ, and He declares, “You are righteous.” So righteousness is not your own. You will begin to understand that the same principle applies to sanctification as we go further in these three chapters.
Sanctification, I think, if you look at Romans 6:4, is to walk in newness of life. That is what it means. We are now able, somehow, due to the mighty provision of God, to walk in newness of life. Before, it was impossible, but now it is made possible.
Sanctification in Romans 6, if you look at verse 18, includes having gotten your freedom from sin. That is the first freedom we see.
Now, when we come to Romans 7, we begin to see a second freedom: freedom from the law. You have to understand the importance of this. This is Paul’s whole point. What he is bringing to you is this: you need to be free from sin, but you have to be free from something else, and that is the law.
Living by rules—even divine rules—is not the Christian life. You cannot live by rules. You will never arrive. You will never achieve. You will never be sanctified. You have to understand it.
So this whole chapter deals with being made free from the law. Now, I know the longer part, Romans 7:7–25. You have to read that. It is a very animated section. Paul is in agony if you read that section. It is the terror of living under the law.
If you do not think it is a terror to live under the law, you should read Romans 7:7–25 and meditate on them. Paul said, “The commandment came in, and it slew me.” It could not be any more graphic.
You remember how he ends that chapter:
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
Those were his words. He said, “I wanted to do the right thing, but I found in me I could not do the right thing. I tried to live by this law. I tried to come into holiness and sanctification through this, and I found it was not only impossible; it was fruitless.”
So that is just a little bit of what is later in that chapter. May the Lord help us.
I think one thing I like that William Newell said is very clear when you look at this whole chapter, but particularly the first six verses. He said, “The great lesson”—always pay attention when someone who really understood a book says that—“the great lesson, whether Jew or Gentile, is that we are not under law as a principle, but under grace.”
You may think the law has nothing to do with you because you are a Gentile, but it is not so here. Whether Jew or Gentile, we are not under law as a principle, but under grace.
Newell went on to define this grace. He told how marvelous it was. He said, “Full, accomplished divine favor.” That is his definition of grace: full, accomplished divine favor.
Then he went on to say something else: “That favor shown by God to Christ.” Now, I had to go back and read that several times, because I thought he meant favor shown by God in Christ. No, no, no, no.
Brothers and sisters, this grace is so great. This favor is so tremendous. It is the favor God has shown to His beloved Son, and that favor has been transferred to us who are to be the sanctified ones. Do you get it? I think that is so marvelous.
This is the principle as we look at these chapters. Now, there are four things I want us to look at. Those of you who read, and those of you who saw the email, probably already know this. There are four things concerning bondage under law.
We have to see the depth of bondage that the law is if we are ever going to be free. Romans 7:1–6 comes before Romans 7:7–25, and Paul discovered a freedom finally where he could walk in the Lord—a union with the Lord, with the Lord’s life—not based upon rules.
I would call this first part “Bound Under Law.” The second thing: you need to understand the miracle of being dead to the law. This whole thing is about dying. Someone has to die for you to be free from the law.
The third part, the most glorious part, by the way, is “Married to Another.” That is God’s answer. That is how we come out from the bondage of the law: married to another.
Finally, the last few verses are “Cleared From the Law.” There is a complete, clean break. There is a new beginning. We are no longer under the law. We cannot live by the law. Paul makes it abundantly clear that we are cleared of the law. How wonderful that is.
So that is where we are going. I hope that makes sense. It probably will give you some guidance in these first six verses.
The first thing you see in these verses is the unyielding bondage of the law. Now, I use that adjective on purpose: it is unyielding.
The law has a vice grip on us. That is utter and absolute bondage. You cannot live by it. You can never satisfy it. You can never do it. It is impossible. There must be another way, and there is another way. That other way is grace—all the grace of God that makes it possible.
The reason Paul wrote this specifically was, of course, his experience. This is his most detailed and intimate explanation of his experience in dealing with the law. But there were many Jews in the church in Rome that he had never visited—many Jews.
Not only were there many Jews in the church at Rome; there were many proselytes. Now, a proselyte means somebody who is a Gentile, who believes in and takes on the law as their way to know God. That is why he wrote what he did.
They were not Jews. They were not technically under the law. The law was not given to them, but they took it on as a proselyte, believing it to be the way they followed God. This is the error that Paul is dealing with.
Verse 1 says, “Are ye ignorant?” Now you understand why he said that. He did not just like calling people stupid, you know.
I have a person that I know quite well—not a believer, by the way—and she is always telling me, “They are stupid. They are stupid. They are stupid.” I thought, well, let us leave it at that. I thought of telling her, “Please do not call everybody stupid. That includes all of us.”
But he said, “Are ye ignorant?” At least ignorance is not necessarily stupidity. You can be informed.
“Brethren, for I speak to those knowing the law, that the law rules over a man as long as he lives.” Listen to that phrase: “rules over a man.” He was explicit.
It literally means to have dominion—complete control. You are under its vice. You are in its vice. You are under its bondage. That was the point he made.
He used the illustration of marriage. In a moment, I think you will appreciate why, out of all the ways Paul could have taught on being not under law but under grace, he used the illustration of marriage. Why did he do it? It was very deliberate.
In the end, it is very precious, because we see how enormous His grace is through this single illustration of marriage.
You know Martin Luther—not Martin Luther King. Young people, have you ever heard of Martin Luther? This German monk, as they called him in Miller’s Church History, said something about marriage.
Martin Luther said, “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” That is a pretty strong statement, do you not think? I think it is very clear.
So Paul is talking about a bad marriage here in the law, and a good marriage in Christ. What we need to see is how bad the bad marriage is. Then we need to see, by revelation and by the grace of God, how good the good marriage is.
It is communion. It is lovely. It is wonderful. Now, we are not just talking about human marriage here. I hope you get that. We are talking about something much more fantastic than that: divine marriage, a divine union where every grace is provided.
When one talks about the bondage that the law has over a person as long as he lives, I remember what H. C. G. Moule said—Bishop Moule. I would suggest you read some of his stuff. I think it is fantastic.
Moule described it this way: “Proves her his.” Do you understand what that means? That means the woman is totally subject to this husband. Paul made the point: as long as he lives.
He brings up the only hope for this woman under the bondage of law: her husband would die. I do not know how many wives are praying for that. I would not suggest it, being a husband. I do not know if Linda is doing that, but you understand.
That was what he said. She is under his domination—which is an illustration of the law—until he dies. That is the only relief she will ever have. How strong those words are when you think about it. How vastly strong.
You can see that the law is a ruthless husband. Now, do not ask Linda; I am afraid of what she will tell you. Ask somebody else, please.
But you understand that the law is ruthless. The law is domineering. The law is overbearing. The law tells you what to do and gives you no excuses when you fail. It utterly condemns, and it never sets free. That is the bondage of the law—such supreme bondage.
You have to see it. It is an overbearing and tyrannical husband. Now, how would you like to be married to someone like that? “Get this. Get that. Do this. You did not do it right. Throws your food in the floor. Do it again. Maybe you will get it right sooner or later.”
That is the law. That is married to the law. Do you want that? I do not want that.
When Peter talked about the council in Jerusalem, the whole issue of the council in Jerusalem in Acts 15 was to determine whether the Gentiles, once they were saved, were subjected to keeping the law. Did they have to keep the law? Was it a requirement that they keep the law?
The conclusion of that council in Jerusalem is so tremendous. Peter, a devout Jew, stood up and said:
Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
That is the bondage of the law. That is how extreme it is.
In this illustration of marriage that Paul used, the wife is the believer. The wife is the Christian. Make sure you understand that. Do not get them reversed. The husband is the law.
That is what he is trying to portray: this woman is under his absolute and tyrannical control until he dies. How bleak this story starts out. I hope your marriage is not like that, just to make a point.
The law is a yoke of bondage. That is what it says in Galatians: “Be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.” That is what the law is.
In the previous chapters of Romans, Paul talked about the shortcomings of the law in regard to justification. He made it very clear. Let me give you just a few examples.
In Romans 3:20–22, we read:
Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.
But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction.
Or think of Romans 4:13, 15:
For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.
For the law worketh wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
Let me give you another example, so you will appreciate why Paul calls it bondage. In Romans 5:20, it says, “But law came in besides, that the trespass might abound.”
Now, what does that mean? I always wondered what that means. Why, if the law was such bondage, did God Himself write the law with the finger of God on those tablets that were cast down from the mountain by Moses?
Brother Darby makes such a wonderful explanation. He says “came in besides” is a side path. That is what it literally means. It came in as a side path.
Law and grace are totally opposite. They only diverge; they never converge. Do you understand? They are totally opposite in character, in nature, and in enabling.
The law is not the way we should go. But this sad way was to prove to the children of Israel and the whole world that it was impossible for us to live under the law.
If you understand Galatians, it was a hard schoolmaster—a tough teacher. Have any of you had any of those tough teachers? Stuart is shaking his head. I would like to know that story.
I often think of all these comedians who have made a lifetime out of talking about going to Catholic school and being under hard schoolmasters. The law is much harder. How impossible it is.
This is what the Apostle Paul is trying to get us to see. These are the shortcomings of the law. We can never be justified by it.
But, brothers and sisters, there is something else we need to see: you can never be sanctified by it. Justification is the beginning. Sanctification is the process of being made holy and walking in newness of life until you are with the Lord.
Just as it was impossible through the law to be justified, the Word of God clearly teaches that it is impossible to be sanctified by the law. That is a relief. That is a blessing. That is grace.
That is what the whole Word of God tries to prove. I am trying to remember a verse—I think it is in Isaiah; my memory does not always work, as you can tell. It talks about God speaking to the children of Israel, saying, “I am the Lord your righteousness.”
You understand that? He is ours. He is everything. We are nothing. He does what we cannot do. This is what Paul wants us to see: grace.
He died for us. He was made sin for us. He took away the penalty of sin. He reckoned us righteous in Another. That is justification. This is the grace by which you were saved.
Now we turn to see more fully the grace by which you are sanctified. Do not ever think, “I am saved. Now it is possible for me to live the Christian life.”
That was what Paul was illustrating so graphically in Romans 7:7–25. If anybody could live to God’s standard, this Pharisee of Pharisees could do it. He tells you the absolute terror of it. He brings you to that point.
Grace is the secret of justification, and grace is the secret of sanctification. How we need to understand it.
You remember when John wrote his Gospel. You remember the introduction, the wonderful first part of the first chapter. He said in John 1:16–17:
For of His fullness we all received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Not just grace. I love the way he wrote that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was not just that we received grace. We received, as one brother put it, grace piled on grace, piled on grace—an enormous mountain of grace.
Then he said something else: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” This is Romans 7:1–6.
I hope you get it. You can try to live the Christian life by the law. You will discover that you will never be able to do it.
Romans 7:11 says:
For sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.
How strong those words are, and how we need to understand that.
Verse 3 explains, in this marriage situation, the bondage of the law. Let me read that verse to you again:
So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.
The very thing this wife wants to be free of condemns her. Even if she desires that freedom, and she thinks of another man, it accuses her of being an adulteress and condemns her.
The very thing from which she seeks liberty, she cannot get liberty from. You should read these first few verses and wonder at how deep this bondage is. There is no hope for this woman. It appears hopeless—utterly hopeless.
But we find out something marvelous when we discover the full grace of God. What a predicament she is in.
You remember that woman in John 8:3–11, the woman caught in adultery. She was rightly condemned. Let me just say that. You may think she was wrongly condemned. She was not wrongly condemned. By the law, she was rightly condemned.
Those Pharisees and Sadducees brought her before the Lord and said, according to Moses’ law, she should be stoned to death. They were poised with their stones in hand, ready to execute what they thought was the righteous judgment of the law upon this woman.
The Lord, you know the story, knelt down and began to write in the sand. I would love to know what He wrote in the sand.
He lifted Himself up, it says, and He looked upon them and said:
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
What brilliance. What brilliance. Because, you see, the law condemns everyone equally.
Those who had lived the longest—please read the story—from the oldest to the youngest, dropped their stones and went away because they knew they should be stoned. Do you get it?
That woman was in shock, in disbelief. Her accusers were gone. There was only the Lord standing there. The Lord said to her, “Woman, where are your accusers?”
She was mystified. She knew it was the right judgment. She knew she should die. Then they were gone.
He said, “Woman, there is no one here to accuse you. Go, and sin no more.” How beautiful a story that is.
How clear it is: the law condemns us all, and we should all be stoned to death if we live according to the law. Not one of us is innocent.
What a dire situation. Now let us look at the marvelous grace of God.
Something happens, remember? Remember what Paul said in this illustration that he purposely chose for a reason? He said, “Well, that husband must die.” That seems like a possible solution. Maybe she married an old guy; he will kick the bucket, and then she will be free.
But the husband represents the law. This is not a human thing. The law can never die. You remember what the Lord said in Matthew 5:18:
Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.
You can think this is just an Old Testament thing. You can think back to that exhortation in Leviticus—perhaps Leviticus 20:26—where it says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy, saith the Lord.”
That was the command of the Old Testament under the law. Can you imagine? “Be ye holy, as I am holy, saith the Lord.”
You can think, “Oh, I am so glad I did not live in that period under Moses’ law.” But when you come to Peter’s epistle—1 Peter 1:16—he quotes that same thing:
Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
The law can never die. It can never die. It can never be put away, in that sense. It is of God. It was to show the righteous requirement of God and to convince us of our need of another way—and not that way.
The New Testament says in 1 Thessalonians 4:7, “For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.” It says in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.”
Remember, I told you it is the same word: holiness or sanctification. Without sanctification, no man will see the Lord. This is marvelous.
It reveals that supreme bondage, and it indicates that the way out is death—the only way.
Now, when you look at this, you begin to understand what happens. Look at Romans 7:4.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
Notice what happens. This is totally different from what Paul had said in the first three verses. In the illustration, it was the husband who was to die. But the application reveals that it is not the husband who dies—he cannot die. It is the wife who dies.
Do you get that? I know it seems like bait and switch a little bit, but this is God’s wisdom and grace. The husband cannot die. We are hopeless. There is no way out. There is no rescue from the bondage of the law.
But something happened: the wife died. Now, when did the wife die? That is what Romans 6 is all about.
Do you not know that when Christ was crucified, you were crucified with Christ? You were identified in death with Christ. This was your way out.
Do not think this is so depressing. Think of this as the good news of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the thing that had to happen happened. One died. But it was not the man; it was the woman.
You died in Christ. That is what Romans 6:3 says. That is what Romans 6:6 says. You died in Christ, and now, because you died in Christ, you are free from the law. The law has no more hold on you.
You can stop praying that your husband would die. You are free. How marvelous this solution of grace is. It is the only solution.
We have not only died in Christ, but the wonder of Romans 6 is that it says we have been raised in newness of life. He did not just leave us in the grave. We were raised in newness of life.
So we now have this miracle of grace: we died. You think that was terrible. “How do I tell my family I died?” You died. It is a fact. It is not something that is made up.
The Word says, just as Christ died on the cross, all of Adam’s race was put into Christ, and in that federal Head, they all died.
Those who believe in the Lord, those who come to the Lord, and those who know the Lord now experience a second miracle. That miracle is that they are raised in newness of life. Now they can walk in newness of life.
This is what Romans 7:4 is talking about. You have become dead to the law by the body of Christ. This was the miracle of justification. This is the miracle of sanctification. This is the marvel that extends to us.
We are like that married woman. We are married to this man we can never please. Yet we, like that married woman, in Christ were able to get our liberty from that law of bondage.
I hope you understand that. If you do not understand that, you cannot understand the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot understand the marvelous ways of God.
Why could He not just come to the earth and say, “None of you are subject to the law. None of you have any responsibility to the law”? He never said that.
The law will never pass away—not one jot or tittle until it was fulfilled. It was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Himself. It is not that it was put away from us; it is that we died to it. That is the miracle.
Romans 6:5 says:
For if we have become united with Him by the likeness of His death, we shall be also by the likeness of His resurrection.
“United with Him” means planted together. If we have been planted together, united together, in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
How marvelous. Death was not our end. Death was our liberty. And life is our end—life in Another, life through Another, life by Another, not by the law.
One brother said it this way, and I love what he said: “In Romans 6, we have set forth union with Christ, whereby the Christian has become dead to sin and made alive to God.”
“In Romans 6:14, which we read at the beginning, ‘Ye are not under law, but under grace,’ we have the method of this holy life.” This is the method. This is God’s way of liberating us, and the secret of sin having no dominion over us.
You have died with Christ, and you are made alive in Christ. That is the great secret that we read in these verses. How beautiful. What a marvel this is.
This is not a metaphor. I think some people read things like this and think it is a metaphor, a simile, or like something. It is not like something. This is absolute truth. This happened to you. This is the way you were delivered from the bondage of the law.
But the best news comes in what follows: we are married to another.
If you look at Romans 7:3, it says twice, “to another man.” This law condemns her. It says in the middle of the verse that she is called an adulteress if she is joined to another man. That is what it says. The law condemns her.
At the end of the verse, it says, “so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.” You have to notice that phrase. “Joined to another man” is the secret of grace.
Then if you look at verse 4, it says, “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.”
How beautiful this is. Brothers and sisters, I am a fan of Darby, and I have been reading to you from Darby, but I do not like Darby in these verses. I will never admit I said that in public unless you can produce the tape, but I much prefer the King James Version here.
It does not say merely “be to another.” It says she is married to another. How beautiful.
At the end of verse 3: “Though she be married to another.” In verse 4: “That she should be married to another.” This is God’s way.
Brothers and sisters, we are married to Christ. Do you understand that? Do you understand what union with Christ is?
I hear a lot of people talk about union with Christ: “Union with Christ, union with Christ, union with Christ.” I wonder, what do you mean by union with Christ? Union with Christ is the highest union that is possible.
We are married to this Other One. We have been set free from the bondage of the law, and now we are married to Christ.
That is the whole story of the Bible. I will never forget years ago, Brother Lance Lambert. We were all just novices. We hardly understood the Word. Many of us were newly saved.
Lance stood before us and said, “The Bible is all about marriage.” I have never forgotten it.
In his wonderful Queen’s English, he made it so clear that in the beginning of the Bible, in the opening scene, it is all about marriage. You remember that: Adam and Eve.
Adam was created, and then Eve. Adam was put to sleep. By the way, that is an illustration of the death on the cross. Our Lord was put to sleep.
Out of Him, something came. You remember, His side was pierced by that lance, and out of His side flowed blood and water. Out of that, the church was born.
The greatest news that I can leave for you today is this: we are married to Christ. Can you imagine that?
I do not understand such grace. He did not just save you. Some Christians, their only understanding of the Christian life is, “I have been forgiven of my sins, I have been saved, and I am waiting to be with Him in all eternity.”
That is not Paul’s definition. Paul’s definition is that God did something extraordinary. He made us the beloved of Christ, the eternal helpmate, the eternal companion.
I often think, when God thought in His counsels, “What do I give My beloved Son?” He always thinks that way, because He is Son-centric.
The Father thought of a number of things, but in the end—and it dominates the Scriptures—He thought, “I will give My Son a bride.” We are married to Christ.
Do you not think that marriage is different from the marriage under the law that we were talking about a few verses ago? What a difference.
In Christ, everything is provided. In Christ, everything is made available. In Christ, He is our portion. In Christ, He is our life. In Christ, there is mercy and grace. In Christ, everything is made available.
This is the glory of this story. Now you know why Paul chose this single application to explain Romans 7. That is the solution: you are joined to Christ. You are married to Christ, whether you are single or not. You are married to Christ.
There could not be a higher union. There could not be greater grace. There could not be more that God could do when He joins you for eternity with His Son.
You see it through the Word of God. You see it in Isaiah 54:5, when the Lord was speaking to the children of Israel: “For thy Maker is thy husband.”
You see it again in Isaiah 62:3–5. It says, “Thou shalt be called Beulah.” That is what He says to the children of Israel.
I like the way it is in the King James Version. It says, “Thou shalt be called Beulah,” like our dear sister over here, Beulah. Now, Beulah in Hebrew means married—married to a husband.
Then, in the great conclusion—I will never forget Lance; I will never forget those stories. They are burned and etched in my memory—he said, “You come to the close of the Bible, and there at the close of the Bible we see the ultimate wedding.”
In Revelation 19:7, we see the marriage supper has come:
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
A thousand-year wedding celebration. I have never seen anything like that—a thousand years.
I know the Hebrews used to have weddings that went on for days. I think that was the problem at Cana of Galilee when that first miracle was done. They got a little bit into the days, and all of a sudden, the wine ran out.
What a disaster in a Jewish wedding. Usually, those Jewish people—they are smart people, let me tell you—bring out the worst wine later, because they figure that if you have endured this wedding celebration for a few days, by that point you may be a little bit tipsy and will not be able to tell the difference between the good wine and the bad wine.
Then His mother comes to Him and intervenes and says, “They are out of wine.” What a disaster.
After He takes those water pots and turns the water into wine, the feastmaster dips into the water pot and brings it out. The word was, “Thou hast kept the good wine until now.”
Brothers and sisters, God has saved the best to last. We are the bride of Christ.
Do you think there is a reason the Lord did this first sign, this first miracle, at a wedding? Do you think there was a reason? It goes along with that wonderful broad picture from Genesis to Revelation: everything is about a wedding.
That is what it is all about. You have been joined to another man. That is the secret of the Christian life. That is the secret of grace.
When you look at Ephesians 1:7, where it is talking about our salvation and forgiveness of sins, it uses the phrase, “the riches of His grace.”
But when it talks in Ephesians 2:7 about eternity, it talks about “the exceeding riches of His grace,” which He will display in us for all eternity as His one and only bride.
I hope you see that God’s solution of grace is tremendous.
Now let me end with this: cleared from the law. Brothers and sisters, it is not that the law was put away. You are dead to it, and you have been made alive in Christ. Now you are legally married to another. The law has no hold on you.
The law will not hold you any longer. Let me go back to Romans 7, the last two verses:
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
What a glorious answer grace is. What a glorious solution grace is.
You who were under such extreme bondage have been set free when you died in Christ and were raised in newness of life.
You who had no chance of becoming holy in yourself have been joined to another in marriage. This One takes all the responsibility of sanctifying you and sends the indwelling Holy Spirit to conform you to the very image of the Lord Jesus.
How beautiful. What grace is that. We have a whole new beginning. We are clear. We are set free.
We are now wedded to this One Who takes the responsibility of doing everything we could not do.
H. A. Ironside said, “Therefore, we died not only to sin, but we died to the rule of law, and now we are married to another.” This is ultimate grace.
I hope you understand that. This plan of God is so divinely brilliant: that we would be shut up to Christ and wedded to Christ, and in Him everything made available.
Not only are we justified to be saved, but we can be sanctified. Those verses Linda read at the end of the meeting, in Ephesians 5, say that He will sanctify us by the washing of water with the Word.
He will cleanse us, and He will remove every spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. At the end, He will present us to Himself a bride—glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
How marvelous this grace is that He has made available to us.
We no longer serve in oldness of letter. This verse tells us that we serve in newness of spirit. Oldness of letter is the law. Newness of spirit is by the indwelling Spirit of God. He can do that sanctifying process.
Think of 2 Corinthians 3. I will read these verses. Turn to 2 Corinthians 3:5–6:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
How marvelous.
If you read the rest of Romans 7 and Romans 8, you will begin to understand these two tremendous contrasts. There is one trying to live under the law in the flesh and failing terribly.
Then there is one who begins, if you look at Romans 8, to live under the Spirit—the control of the Spirit—and they become sons of God. In the end, they are glorified.
There are only two paths. Which path will you choose? What way will you go?
Grace. I would rather go the way of grace. I would rather be free. Thank God, I am free—free at last from the bondage of the law, to live by His grace. What a discovery this is.
I think of that old hymn, “Marvelous Grace,” Julia H. Johnston’s hymn. It begins:
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.
It ends in verse 4. It tells the measure of this grace. It is immeasurable:
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
Can you get any higher than that? This is what it means: you are no longer under law, but you are under grace. You are not just under some grace.
You are under marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. Free grace—the highest grace—absolutely free.
This is the marvel of Romans 7:1–6. This is grace upon grace. This is unspeakable grace. This is grace that can deliver you from the utter bondage and complete tyranny of the law.
In the end, this is grace that can make you wholly sanctified and blameless, because you are married to the One Who is doing that work. May the Lord help us.
Lord, we confess it is difficult to explain these things. I ask the blood to cleanse us for not being able to do it adequately.
But Lord, we just pray in the name of Jesus that You would open our eyes to see the greatness of grace.
Lord, how long have we suffered under performance? How long have we suffered under bondage, thinking, “This is what we have to do?”
And You had a whole other plan—a plan that is way beyond what we could ask or even imagine. Your plan was that we would be joined to Yourself, and You would do all that we cannot do.
Thank You for great grace. Thank You for that phrase in Acts: “Great grace was upon them all.”
May we this day understand great grace. In Your precious name, amen.