Mar
12
Written by:
Bob Flynn
3/12/2009 7:24 AM
But now we are delivered from the law - We, who have believed in Christ Jesus, are delivered from that yoke by which we were bound, which sentenced every transgressor to perdition, but provided no pardon even for the penitent, and no sanctification for those who are weary of their inbred corruptions. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
Our old man is crucified with Him, so that it is our deliverance to die to the law. It did but condemn us, but its authority ends with the life of him who was under that authority. And being dead in Christ, the law can no longer reach those who had been under it: we belong to the new husband, to Christ risen, in order that we should serve in newness of spirit, the goodwill of grace in our new life, and — as the apostle will afterwards explain, by the Holy Ghost — not in the bondage of the letter. (Dr. John Darby)
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (NASB)
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. (KJV)
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. (NLT)
But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. (NET)
Translation: But now, we were discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were constantly being held down, insomuch that we are rendering habitually a bondslave’s obedience in a sphere new in quality, that of the Spirit, and not in a sphere outworn as to usefulness, in a sphere of that which was written.
Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Ro 7:6). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
We can live and still be free from the demands of the law! The God's law still exists and rules over men. But we ourselves, in Christ, died to its control. We are not lawless, but instead are joined to Him whose name is above all names that we might walk in the newness of life. This life is now motivated to service of the King an not in an old worn out way of the written statutes. So now we are dead unto sin, dean unto the law and free to serve in the Spirit! The phrase "new life" just doesn't give wings to all that we have been given to enjoy in Christ Jesus our Lord.
the Ethiopic version renders it, "we are loosed from the law, and are delivered from the former doctrine"; the doctrine of the legal dispensation. (Dr. John Gill)
By the believer’s death with Christ on the Cross, he was discharged from the law as the woman was discharged from the law which bound her to her husband. The believer is not under the law anymore, nor subject to it. The words “that being dead wherein we were held” could better be rendered, “having died to that in which we were constantly being held down.” That in which the believer was constantly held before he was saved is the evil nature. That is anything but dead. In fact, in the Christian, it is more alive than ever, being the point through which Satan seeks to obtain control over him. The point is, however, as Paul has so clearly shown, that the power of the evil nature has been broken in the believer. Before salvation, he was constantly held down within its grip and control. Paul uses the imperfect tense here to show the absolute control of the evil nature over the unsaved person.
Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Ro 7:6). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Copyright ©2009 Robert Flynn