Unashamed Reading Plan
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 6 | Day 3
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Pray that God would open your eyes to wonderful things from His word today.
Bible Reading: Romans 7:1-6
Read these verses three times slowly.
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Reflection & Questions
In today’s verses, Paul uses the simple example of marriage to help us understand what has happened in our relation to the Law. The Law, God’s high standard of holy living, held power over us – condemning us because we could never live up to it. We are never good enough. But it only has power over us as long as we are alive.
Just like a person is married while their spouse is alive – and to be with someone else would be adultery (Paul is ignoring divorce here). When their spouse has passed away, they are now free to marry another.
In Christ, we “died to the law ….that you might belong to another.” As far as the Law is concerned we have passed away – we have died with Jesus. And now we are free to be with another. That is Jesus. Spiritually we have a new ‘spouse’ and we can “serve in the new way of the Spirit.” We are free to live for Jesus, without fear of condemnation.
- How does Paul’s illustration of marriage help the understanding of our relationship to the Law?
- What do you think it means to “serve in the new way of the Spirit”?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 7:1-2, 3-6
Read these verses three times slowly.
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Reflection & Questions
Back in Paul’s time, it was believed that obeying the law was the only way that you could earn your way to heaven. There were so many laws, it seems almost impossible to be able to follow them all!
Paul is trying to get the Roman people to understand that those laws will not get a person into heaven. There is no way to perfectly live by them all. But it seems as though this idea of ignoring the laws might be tough for the Romans to understand.
He explains it like a marriage. When a person is married, they stay married to that person until they die. Then they are free to marry someone else. It’s the same with the law – once the people decided that the law was not the way to achieve righteousness, they would let that idea “die away” and then they were free to live for Jesus.
When you live by trying to obey all the rules and laws to perfection, you realize that you just can’t do it. But when you choose to follow Jesus and accept His gift of salvation, it is freeing!
- Have you tried to live perfectly? It’s tough, isn’t it?
Pray
Thank Jesus for His gift of salvation! Ask Him how you can follow Him more closely.
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
