The Book of Romans: The Law & Me

The Book of Romans

Introduction:

Well good morning my friends. Good morning church. Good morning to all of you who might be watching online this morning. I am so glad that you have joined us for worship. Whether you are worshipping with us in person or if you are worshipping with us online, we are glad to have you here at Eastern Shore Baptist Church. 

My name is Stuart Davidson and I am the pastor here. 

Let me give you a quick resource. We are a praying church. Maybe you have a big need in your life: a sickness, job loss, maybe you are moving, maybe you are heading back to school soon, we want to be praying for you. We have a very active prayer line. All you have to do is text your prayer request to 251-222-8977. Your prayer request will go to a member of our prayer team and you will be prayed for immediately. In fact, a member of our prayer team will text you back with a prayer. So remember that number. 251-222-8977. 

Now if you are just joining us, we have been working our way through the challenging book of Romans. Written by the Apostle Paul, Romans is one of the most powerful and theologically rich books in the Holy Library that we call The Bible. This morning we find ourselves in Romans 7, started in verses 1 and ending at verse 13. I want to talk to you about something that we often misunderstand, sometimes misuse, and almost always underestimate…that being the law. 

Let me say this when it comes to the law…

“What you believe about the law determines how you relate to God.”

Did you hear that?

“What you believe about the law determines how you relate to God.”

You see, to many of us think that the law is just about rules and regulations. Do this and don’t do that. Sit still. Be nice. Keep your elbows off the table. But Paul is going to prove to us this morning that the law is not the problem. Our biggest problem is sin. 

Friends, today’s message is entitled “The Law and Me”. Today, Paul is going to reveal to all us how the law was not given to save us. It was given to us to open our eyes to sin and show us our need for a Savior. 

Today’s Message:

“The Law and Me”

Friends, the other day I was reading a book about John Wesley. That’s right, that John Wesley. The man who is solely responsible for the founding of modern day Methodism. The book is entitled “The Life of John Wesley” written by Roy Hattersley. 

The story goes that Wesley, before he founded the Methodist Church along with is brother Charles, was actually a missionary to America. Yep, John Wesley, the preacher, writer, cleric, and evangelist was a missionary to America. Specifically, Wesley felt that he had a calling of God to go and reach the people of Georgia. 

I understand this calling as we all know that anyone who is from Georgia and or pulls for their football team desperately needs Jesus. They are heathens, pagans and naredowells. 

Amen?

Just kidding. Just kidding. We are on the cusp of football season and I couldn’t help myself. 

True story. The last time I told an SEC joke, I made a joke about Tennessee football. After the service ended, a very smartly dressed gentleman and his lovely wife came and spoke to me in the foyer. He shook my hand and introduced me to his wife. 

True story. He told me that he didn’t appreciate my joke. He was the former President of the University of Tennessee. 

I gulped hard on that one. We don’t have any current or former Presidents of the University of Georgia here this morning do we?

Good. 

Back to our story. John Wesley felt a call to go and tell the people of the great state of Georgia about Jesus Christ. He set out on October 14th, 1735 with his brother Charles. When he arrived, he began to passionately preach the Gospel to anyone who would listen. Specifically, Wesley felt a burden to preach to the Native Americans living in the State. By all accounts, Wesley’s journey was a failure. Very few people came to the Lord. 

You see friends, the only thing that matched John Wesley’s passion for preaching the Gospel was his zeal for legalism. The colonists and the Native Americans were turned off by all the rules and regulations that Wesley ascribed to. For John Wesley, the Gospel was about rules, not about a relationships. 

Even so, the Gospel did shine through Wesley’s preaching. 

There was one person who did come to Christ through John Wesley’s preaching. A very significant person. A man who would go on to light the fire of a new denomination to the Protestant Christian faith. 

That man would be John Wesley himself. That’s correct, John Wesley evangelized himself. Through his own preaching, John Wesley became convicted of his sin. He realized that he himself was lost, having never truly accepted Jesus Christ. While he was trying to convert Native Americans, he became converted. 

He wrote in his journal: “I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh! who shall convert me?”

You see, Wesley knew the law. He followed the law. He taught the law. But he didn’t know grace. He was shackled by religion and rules, but not yet set free by Jesus.

Do me a favor this morning. Fill in the blanks under “Today’s Thought”. We were shackled by the law, slaves to sin. Jesus set us free and secured our souls.

Today’s Thought:
We Were Shackled By Law, Slaves to Sin. Jesus Set Us Free And Secured Our Souls!

The other day, I was doing a devotion and ran across this great quote by J.C. Ryle. Ryle gives a great commentary about how the law reveals our sin but ultimately shows our need for Christ. 

Today’s Quote:

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. The moment a man lays hold on Christ by faith, he is justified, pardoned, accepted, counted righteous in God’s sight. The claims of the law upon him are satisfied, not by his own works, but by the finished work of the Savior. No longer does he stand condemned by the law; he stands clothed in the righteousness of Christ, secure and free.”

— J.C. Ryle, from “Holiness: It’s Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots”

Background and Context:

Friends, before we dive into the text, let’s take a moment to understand where Paul’s coming from in Romans 7.

Up to this point, Paul has been building the case for salvation by grace through faith. He’s shown us in chapters 1–3 that we’re all sinners. Everyone is a sinner. If you are human, breathing, and alive, you are a sinner. Period. End of story.

In chapters 4 and 5, he points to Abraham and says salvation has always been about faith. It’s not about who you know. Salvation cannot be traded, stolen, or bargained. Salvation is a free gift of God to the sinner. 

Then we get to chapter 6. Paul reminds us that grace doesn’t give us permission to sin, it gives us power to live for Christ. 

And now in chapter 7, Paul takes a deep breath and turns his focus to the law. Why? Because for the Jewish believers in Rome, and let’s be honest, for many of us today, the law still held a tight grip. Paul isn’t bashing the law here. He’s explaining its purpose. He’s showing us that the law can reveal sin, but it can’t remove sin. 

It can expose our hurt that sin causes, but it can’t heal it. Only Jesus can heal. 

The law can define what’s wrong, but it can’t make us right.

It can convict our conscience, but it can’t cleanse our soul.

It can point us to holiness, but it can’t produce holiness in us.

So in this passage, Paul’s not just giving a theology lesson, he’s walking us through the gospel: 

from bondage to breakthrough, 

from slavery to freedom, 

from law to life.

Statement of Faith:

Brothers and sisters, let me remind you that…

“We believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word—completely true, trustworthy, and full of power. It teaches us what’s right, calls out what’s wrong, corrects our path, and helps us grow in godly living. God’s Word brings life, offers peace in hard times, and gives strength when we’re struggling. It’s alive and speaks straight to our hearts. There’s no book like it—so let’s stand together in honor of it.”

Today’s Scripture:
Romans 7:1-13 NLT

Now, dear brothers and sisters-you who are familiar with the law-don't you know that the law applies only while a person is living? [2] For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. [3] So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. [4] So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. [5] When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. [6] But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. [7] Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, "You must not covet." [8] But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. [9] At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, [10] and I died. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. [11] Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. [12] But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. [13] But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes.

Pastor: “This is the Word of the Lord.”

Congregation: “Praise His name. Praise His holy name.”

From Bondage to Breakthrough: The Gospel and the Grip of the Law

I. Released from the Requirement vs. 1–4

So, Paul gives us some help this morning. He doesn’t want us to be bound up in the law. He wants us to experience the breakthrough of grace, of peace, of joy and of mercy. Friends, there is so much to love about the Gospel. One thing that I love is that the Gospel releases us from the grip of the law. 

Do me me a favor this morning and fill in the blanks under Roman numeral one. Released from the requirement. We get this point from verses 1 through 4. 

Specifically, let’s read verse four again this morning. 

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”

So, what exactly is Paul trying to communicate here? If I am being honest with you this morning, I had to read this four or five times and dig into some commentaries to get a full understanding of Paul’s meaning. 

Here’s the point of what Paul is saying…

“Just as death ends a marriage covenant, Christ’s death frees us from the binding grip of the law so we can now belong to Him.”

Paul starts this section with a simple illustration: a married couple. If the husband dies, the wife is no longer bound to him. She’s free to remarry. Why? Because death ends the legal obligation.

Paul’s making a point: we were married to the law. We were tied to it, obligated to it, chained up under it. But when Christ died, and when we died with Him spiritually, those chains broke.

Galatians 2:19 CSB says, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God.”

Let’s be honest, rules can’t redeem you. The law tells you what to do, but not how to do it. It shows you what’s right, but it gives you no power to do what’s right.

You can’t bake a cake by reading the rules of baking. You need the ingredients, the oven, and someone who knows what they’re doing. Jesus is the Baker, and you’re the batter.

You see, the law has no grace, no mercy, and no wiggle room. Break one part, and you break the whole thing. That’s why Paul says we had to die to the law, to be released from the requirement.

If you’re living under a checklist faith, if your Christianity is about performing, achieving, or checking boxes, hear me, friend: that’s not freedom. That’s spiritual slavery.

Let’s be real for a moment, many of us in this room know the right answer. We’ve been taught since Sunday School: “We are saved by grace, not by works.” We’ll amen it, nod our heads, even quote Ephesians 2:8–9 like good little theologians. But deep down, buried in the recesses of our spirit, there’s a tug… a whisper that says, “I still have to prove myself to God.”

And so we get busy. We follow the rules. We keep our noses clean. We show up to church every Sunday, sometimes even early. We tithe. We volunteer in VBS, even if we don’t like glitter or loud music. We bake casseroles for potlucks. We teach a Life Group. We serve on committees. We listen to Christian radio. We vote a certain way. We keep up the image. And we tell ourselves, “This is what good Christians do.”

Now hear me clearly, none of those things are bad. In fact, many of them are beautiful expressions of a faithful life. But here’s the danger: we may never say it out loud, but somewhere in our soul, we believe that God might love us a little more when we do those things. Our actions betray our theology. We start to function like Pharisees, thinking that external obedience earns internal approval. We might say “grace,” but we live like it’s law.

Here’s the truth, church family: Jesus has already met the requirements. The standard has been fulfilled, not by your efforts, but by His finished work. That doesn’t mean obedience doesn’t matter. Quite the opposite. We don’t obey to earn salvation; we obey because we have salvation. Our good works aren’t the cause of our salvation, they’re the evidence of it. They’re the fruit of the Spirit at work in us. Out of love, out of reverence, out of holy fear, we live holy lives not to gain favor, but because we already have it in Christ.

So breathe, Christian. You are not on spiritual probation. You are not on a performance treadmill. You are not being evaluated for eternal life based on your Sunday attendance record. Jesus did not come to make you a better rule follower. He came to set you free. Let that freedom fuel your faith and overflow in obedience, not as obligation, but as joyful worship.

Jesus didn’t die to make you a better rule follower. He died to make you His beloved bride. And when you’re united to Christ, you’re no longer bound by the burden of the law, you’re bound by His love.

From Bondage to Breakthrough: The Gospel and the Grip of the Law

I. Released from the Requirement vs. 1–4

II. Revealed by the Rule vs. 5–8

So, our first point is that we have been released from the requirements of the law. Next, write “revealed by the rule” in Roman numeral two. Revealed by the rule. Go back to verses 5-8 this morning. 

“Now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”

Friends, think of what Paul is saying like this…

“The law doesn’t cause sin, but it reveals and even provokes our sinful nature shining light on what we desire to hide.”

Paul says something almost shocking here. He says that the law actually aroused sinful passions. It didn’t create them…it just exposed what was already there.

Let me put it this way: the speed limit sign didn’t make you want to speed, but the moment you saw “45 MPH,” something in you said, “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

1 Corinthians 15:56 GW says, “Sin gives death its sting, and the law gives sin its power.”

That doesn’t mean the law is bad, it means sin is that bad.

Have you ever tried NOT to think about something? “Don’t think about donuts.” Boom…you’re picturing a warm Krispy Kreme right now.

That’s the nature of our rebellion. The moment a rule is posted, our flesh wants to break it. The law simply shines a flashlight on the roaches in our soul.

Let’s talk about rebellion for just a moment friends. Understand that this is the hard portion, the hard part of this morning’s message. Pull in close because we are going to get a bit fiery and “brimstoney” this morning. Ok, here we go. 

Let’s not sugarcoat it, church, the human heart is far worse than we care to admit. Paul says the law revealed our sin, stirred it up, and exposed the rebellion that was already living inside of us. It didn’t create it, it simply turned on the light. And what it exposed was horrifying.

From the beginning, we’ve been running from God. Adam and Eve were given perfection in the garden. 

Perfect communion. 

Perfect creation. 

Perfect provision. 

And what did they do? 

They rejected God’s Word for Satan’s whisper. They believed the lie that they could be like God. That’s the original sin, and that’s the same lie we’re still buying today.

From there it just snowballs. 

Cain murders Abel. 

Mankind grows so wicked that God sends a flood to wipe the slate clean. The people of Babel build a tower to the heavens saying, “We’ll make a name for ourselves.” God gives His people the law, and before Moses can even get down from the mountain, they’re worshiping a golden cow. The Israelites rebel over and over…grumbling, idolatrous, stiff-necked. 

Judges rise up, kings fall short, prophets are ignored, and the people do what is right in their own eyes.

And church, we are no better.

We shake our fists at God and dare to call it progress. 

We don’t want God’s rule. 

We don’t want His boundaries. 

We don’t want His truth. 

We want to be our own god. 

We want to define what is good and what is evil, and our rebellion is so deep, so total, that we no longer blush when we break His law.

Look at our culture today. We have slaughtered over 60 million unborn children in the name of convenience and called it “choice.” That’s not choice, that’s murder. God formed those children in the womb. He knit them together. And our society has desecrated the image of God under the banner of “rights.”

We have redefined marriage, an institution God Himself created in the garden between one man and one woman, and turned it into whatever makes us feel good. We now say that marriage is fluid, that love has no boundaries, and that the covenant God designed is outdated and oppressive. That is rebellion.

We’ve questioned gender, another design of God. We tell our children they can pick their pronouns like toppings at an ice cream bar, and we pump them full of hormones that forever alter what God intended. That is not love. That is confusion. That is deception. That is evil.

Sexual immorality runs rampant. 

We’ve numbed ourselves with pornography. 

We’ve normalized fornication. 

We’ve made shacking up the standard. 

The hookup culture has replaced holiness. 

Lust is called love. 

Pleasure is prioritized over purity. 

And now even in the church, many are too afraid to say anything because we might offend someone.

Let me tell you something, we ought to be offended. God is offended. Righteousness is mocked. Holiness is laughed at. Truth is labeled as hate. Friends, our culture is not progressing, it is decaying. We’re not moving forward, we’re falling apart. We are not enlightened, we are enslaved.

And you say, “Pastor, that’s hard.” Yes, it is. But I didn’t come to tickle ears this morning. I came to tell the truth. The law has revealed our sin. It has shined a light into the basement of the human soul and shown us that we are not mostly good…we are desperately wicked.

Romans 3:10 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

Romans 3:18 says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”

That’s where we are. That’s what’s been revealed. That’s the depth of our rebellion.

But here’s the good news, and you better hear this: the law may reveal the problem, but it also prepares the heart for the cure. It shows us that we are sick so we’ll run to the Great Physician. The law is a spotlight, and its goal is not to destroy us, but to drive us to the foot of the cross.

Because only Jesus can save us from this mess. Only Jesus can heal the sin-sick soul. Only Jesus can transform rebels into worshipers.

So, friends, don’t run from conviction, run toward Christ. Let the law do its work. Let it expose the sin, so that grace can heal it. Let it break you, so that Jesus can remake you. Let it remind you that you need a Savior every single day.

But don’t misunderstand, Paul’s not anti-law. The law is good. It just can’t save you. It’s like a mirror, it shows you your flaws but has no power to fix them.

You see, the law reveals our need. It exposes our brokenness. But it cannot heal us.

Think of the law like the warning light in your car, it tells you something’s wrong, but it doesn’t pop the hood and fix your engine. For that, you need a good mechanic. You need Jesus.

Again, remember Paul’s words captured in I Corinthians 15…

1 Corinthians 15:56 GW

“Sin gives death its sting, and the law gives sin its power.”

From Bondage to Breakthrough: The Gospel and the Grip of the Law

I. Released from the Requirement vs. 1–4

II. Revealed by the Rule vs. 5–8

III. Ruined by the Rebellion vs. 9–13

Ok, we we have arrived at our last point this morning. Ruined by the rebellion. We see this in verses 9 through 13. 

Listen to verse 13 one last time. 

“Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes.”

Friends…

“Sin took advantage of the law and brought spiritual death, but the law itself remains holy, showing us our need for a Savior.”

Paul’s personal here. He says, “I once lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, it stirred up all kinds of desire inside of me.”

What happened? The law did its job. It awakened his awareness of sin.

Galatians 3:24 NASB says, “Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

The word “guardian” here is παιδαγωγός (paidagōgos), a tutor, a moral supervisor. Someone who walks beside you and teaches you the rules, but ultimately brings you to your real teacher.

That’s what the law does. It leads us to Jesus.

Let me tell you something freeing this morning, if you’ve ever tried to clean up your life before coming to Christ, you’ve got it backwards.

You don’t take a shower before you take a bath. You don’t get healthy before you go to the doctor. And you don’t fix yourself before you run to the Savior.

The law says, “You’re guilty.” 

Grace says, “You’re forgiven.” 

The law says, “You’ve failed.” 

Jesus says, “It is finished.”

The law will break you. Only Jesus can build you.

So, what have we learned today?

We were once shackled by the law, bound to rules we could never fully keep. The law exposed our sin, revealed our rebellion, and sentenced us to death.

Let me explain what that means. The law was perfect, but we were not. It was holy, righteous, and good, but we were sinful, broken, and corrupt. Trying to earn salvation by the law is like trying to climb a mountain with a backpack full of bricks and no oxygen. The higher you go, the more you realize how far you still have to climb. The law never lets you rest. It never says, “Good job, that’s close enough.” It just keeps showing you how far short you fall.

It’s like taking a test in school where the passing grade is 100%, and if you miss even one question, you fail. That’s what the law does. It doesn’t grade on a curve. It doesn’t allow for retakes. It’s either perfection or punishment. And because of that, the law doesn’t just challenge us, it condemns us. It declares us guilty. It slams the gavel down and says, “You are sentenced to die.”

Imagine standing in a courtroom, and the judge reads out a list of every sin you’ve ever committed. Every lie. Every angry thought. Every lustful look. Every selfish act. Every word you’ve spoken in pride. Every time you turned your back on God. And just when you think He’s finished reading…He flips to another page.

That’s what the law does. Go back to the mirror illustration from point number one this morning. The law is a mirror. It is a mirror to our soul and shows us the truth: we are not good people who occasionally do bad things. We are sinners to the core, rebels by nature, and the verdict is death. That’s the wage. That’s the cost.

But praise God, that’s not the end of the story.

Because just when we’re standing there, trembling, awaiting the sentence… Jesus walks into the courtroom. He steps up, not to plead for a lighter sentence, but to take your sentence. He says, “Father, put their punishment on Me. Let My perfection cover their failure. Let My righteousness satisfy the requirement of the law.”

And in that moment, the shackles fall off. The death sentence is canceled. You are no longer condemned, you are declared righteous. That’s grace. That’s the Gospel. That’s why Jesus came, not to relax the law, but to fulfill it in your place.

So friend, stop living like you’re still on trial. The verdict is in. The sentence has been served. The chains are broken. You are free. Not because you kept the law, but because Jesus did.

But Christ came. He fulfilled the law. He broke the chains. He offered grace. And now we are no longer slaves to sin or captives to condemnation. We are free.

Free to love. Free to live. Free to follow Jesus, not out of duty, but out of devotion.

Let me ask you a simple question: Are you living in freedom today?

Or are you still carrying around the heavy burden of religion, performance, guilt, or shame?

Because here’s the truth: You can be religious and still be in chains. You can be moral and still be lost. But the moment you place your trust in Jesus, you are free.

Free indeed.

Friends, my hope is that you will…

Turn This Information Into Your Inspiration!

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Father, thank You for the freedom we have in Jesus. Thank You that we are no longer slaves to sin or bound to the burden of the law. Thank You that we’ve been released, redeemed, and rescued.

We confess that too often, we try to earn Your love. We try to fix ourselves. We try to keep up appearances. But today, we lay that down. We rest in grace. We trust in Christ. We rejoice in the freedom of the Gospel.

Help us live as people who’ve been set free, joyfully, humbly, and fully surrendered to You.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.