Sermon text: Romans 7
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Amen.
I’m going to start with a little bit of a confession. The sermon this morning isn’t mine. I smoothed some of the rough edges of it, but it’s actually written by a pastor in Oklahoma by the name of Jay Hopson. Now, the reason I make that announcement is that, as you can tell, the epistle lesson is a little bit of a tongue twister, and it is a rather thick theology to get through. And he does such a nice job — believe it or not, I couldn’t improve on it. So, I thought I’d steal it.
So, have you ever realized that something was good for you only long after you were finished with it? Folks trying to change their health for the better sometimes suffer immensely in the immediate effort to do so. They struggle to change the way they eat and they exercise and the way they go about their business during the day. They go look for new foods and learn how to shop and bake and cook new foods. They examine seasoning to make it taste better. That’s a painful effort. They struggle with exercise and motivation to get off the couch: walking, jogging, weightlifting, pulling on those rubber bands that people use now. All these are important for health and well-being. But the struggle seems real, and it often is intense, and it feels like suffering in the moment. Only weeks or months, sometimes after a person’s done with it all, do they realize that the healthy eating and exercise are truly good.
This morning, through St. Paul, the Holy Spirit sets before us his good law. And as Paul points out, the law of God doesn’t always seem to be good to sinners. As we all see, it’s only after knowing Christ Jesus our Lord and his love for us that we can truly come and confess the faith with joy. Many times it seems like just immense suffering. But the law is good because it’s given to us by God. God wrote the law on our hearts. And the law is the good will of God for our lives. It is what he says is good for man. For human beings were created to live according to the law. As a matter of fact, our conscience bears witness to the goodness of the law, so that we must confess with St. Paul that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
The law is good because it shows us a picture of what humanity is supposed to be. A piece of artwork shows us beauty in a way that is helpful for us to contemplate beauty. When we look at the artwork Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, we pause to contemplate why it captures our attention. The law does the same thing in some respects. The law shows us the picture of man in order that we might contemplate what is good in human nature and what good looks like in a man. But it doesn’t feel that way to sinners. The law is good, but because of our sin, the law doesn’t feel good to sinners, precisely because it’s good and we sinners aren’t. The law always does one of two things, according to St. Paul in the text we just read. One: the law accuses and condemns us in our sin. Paul wrote, “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.'” And the law works in such a way that sin might be shown to be sin. Because the law is good, it always shows us where we fall short. It always points out that we don’t live up to the goodness shown to us in the law. Secondly, the law draws out even more sin. And this is a great mystery. Paul says, “Sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” When the law is pressed upon a man, sinful flesh rebels against the law and produces the very thing that the commandment warns against. Neither one of these makes the law seem good to sinners. The law accuses us of wickedness. That doesn’t feel good, to be accused. The law draws out more sin. It compounds our problem. That’s not a pleasant experience. And it makes the law seem like a great evil instead of a great good. Many, outside and inside the faith, have come to that very conclusion.
Only when we know the love of God in Christ can we truly view the law as good. In Christ, we have died to the law. Since we have died to the law, it can no longer accuse us. Paul says as an illustration, “Or do you not know, brothers? — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives. For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.” Paul then applies the illustration: “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” So, in holy baptism, you were joined to Christ’s death and resurrection. Having died with Christ, the law no longer applies and can no longer accuse. In Christ, we have forgiveness and salvation. In Christ, our sin is forgiven. The blood he shed cleanses us from all our sin. When the law comes to accuse, it finds nothing but the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. In Christ, you have salvation. The blood of Jesus opens the door of eternal life to us. The law would reveal our sin and bar the door to heaven for sinners. But in Christ, the law finds no sin, and eternal life is ours. In Christ, the law no longer feels like it’s against us. Consider, for example, a caged animal — a lion, a tiger, or a bear. They would be terrifying, terrifying if you met them in the wild. The danger to life and limb would be real. Meet the same beast in a zoo, where there’s no longer any terror in your heart as long as the fence or the window stands between you and the animal. The beast seems almost tame, friendly, and you remain thankful for the fence. Shielded from the law’s accusation, the law doesn’t seem against us. Christ has caged the law so it cannot hurt or harm us — we who are in Christ. Its accusations and condemnation come up against the wall of Christ’s atonement and are stopped. And if not exactly tamed, the law now seems to be our best friend, given to us by our best friend, now that we are in Christ. In Christ, the law serves to guide us, set us free in Christ from the law’s accusations. We can see the law for what it is: God’s will for our lives, by God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. We then seek to keep it, not to make war against it. In Christ, we believe and trust that the law is good. Apart from Christ, the law feels only a terror and acts as a tyrant. But in Christ, we are free to see what the law truly is for the Christian: that is truly good. Psalm 1 says of the man of God: his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. How can we delight in the law? Only by clinging to Christ. In Christ, we love the law of the Lord and gladly do what he commands. That’s the Small Catechism’s close of the commandments.
Paul says the law is good, but it doesn’t feel that way to sinners. We can’t escape the law and its judgment until we know the love of God in Christ Jesus and are in Christ Jesus ourselves. We are in Christ when we believe the gospel and trust Christ for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Then and only then can we sing hymns about the law with joy and rejoicing. Then and only then we see the law as good and rejoice in his commandments, because in Christ your sins, produced by the law, are forgiven. Amen.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.