Taken from Waggoner on Romans:
MARRIED TO THE WRONG MAN. Chapter 7. The seventh chapter
of Romans is really all contained in the sixth. He who
understands the sixth chapter will have no difficulty with
the seventh. By Christ's obedience we are made righteous.
This is because his life is now given to us, and he lives
in us. p. 7, Para. 1, [WROM].
This union with Christ we get by being crucified with him.
In that death the body of sin is destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin, or, in other words, that we should
no more transgress the law. So closely are we identified
with sin, it being our very life, that it can not be
destroyed without our dying. But in Christ there is no sin,
so that while we have a resurrection with him, sin remains
dead. So, being raised with him, we live with him, a thing
that was formerly impossible on account of sin; sin can not
dwell with him. p. 7, Para. 2, [WROM].
The Illustration. -- It is a very simple one, and one
which every one can understand. The law of God says of man
and woman, "They two shall be one flesh." It is adultery
for either one to be married to another while the other is
living. The law will not sanction such a union. p. 7,
Para. 4, [WROM].
For reasons that will appear later, the illustration cites
only the case of a woman leaving her husband. The law
unites them. That law holds the woman to the man as long as
he lives. If while her husband lives she shall be united to
another man, she will find herself under the condemnation
of the law. But if her husband dies, she may be united to
another, and be perfectly free from any condemnation. p.
7, Para. 5, [WROM].
The woman is then "free from the law," although the law
has not changed in one particular. Least of all has it been
abolished; for the same law that bound her to the first
husband and which condemned her for uniting with another in
his lifetime, now unites her to another and binds her to
him as closely as it did to the first. If we hold to this
simple illustration, we shall have no difficulty with what
follows. p. 7, Para. 6, [WROM].
The Application. -- As in the illustration there are four
subjects -- the law, the woman, the first husband, and the
second husband -- so also in the application. p. 7, Para.
7, [WROM].
We are represented as the woman. This is clear from the
statement that we are "married to another, even to him who
is raised from the dead," which is Christ. He therefore is
the second husband. The first husband is indicated in verse
5: "When we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which
were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth
fruit unto death." Death is the fruit of sin. The first
husband, therefore, was the flesh, or "the body of sin."
p. 7, Para. 8, [WROM].
"Dead to the Law." -- This is the expression that troubles
so many. There is nothing troublesome in it, if we but keep
in mind the illustration and the nature of the parties to
this transaction. Why are we dead to the law? In order that
we might be married to another. But how is it that we
become dead in order to be married to another? In the
illustration it is the first husband that dies before the
woman may be married to another. Even so it is here, as we
shall see. p. 7, Para. 9, [WROM].
"One Flesh." -- The law of marriage is that the two
parties to it "shall be one flesh." How is it in this case?
The first husband is the flesh, the body of sin. Well, we
were truly one flesh with that. We were by nature perfectly
united to sin. It was our life. It controlled us. Whatever
sin devised, that we did. We might have done it unwillingly
at times, but we did it nevertheless. Sin reigned in our
mortal bodies, so that we obeyed it in the lusts thereof.
Whatever sin wished, was law to us. We were one flesh. p.
7, Para. 10, [WROM].
Seeking a Divorce. -- There comes a time in our experience
when we wish to be free from sin. It is when we see
something of the beauty of holiness. With some people the
desire is only occasional; with others it is more constant.
Whether they recognize the fact or not, it is Christ
appealing to them to forsake sin, and to be joined to him,
to live with him. And so they endeavor to effect a
separation. But sin will not consent. In spite of all that
we can do, it still clings to us. We are "one flesh," and
it is a union for life since it is a union of our life to
sin. There is no divorce in that marriage. p. 7, Para. 11,
[WROM].
Freedom in Death. -- There is no hope of effecting a
separation from sin by any ordinary means. No matter how
much we may desire to be united to Christ, it can not be
done while we are joined to sin; for the law will not
sanction such a union, and Christ will not enter into any
union that is not lawful. p. 7, Para. 12, [WROM].
If we could only get sin to die, we should be free, but it
will not die. There is only one way for us to be freed from
the hateful union, and that is for us to die. If we wish
freedom so much that we are willing [for self] to be
crucified, then it may be done. In death the separation is
effected; for it is by the body of Christ that "we" become
dead. We are crucified with him. The body of sin is also
crucified. But while the body of sin is destroyed, we have
a resurrection in Christ. The same thing that frees us from
the first husband, unites us to the second. p. 7, Para.
13, [WROM].
A New Creature. -- Now we see how it is that we are dead
to the law. We died in Christ, and were raised in him. But
"if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all
things are of God." 2 Cor. 5:17, 18. Now we may be united
to Christ, and the law will witness to the union, and
sanction it. For not only is the first husband dead, but we
also died, so that, although alive, we are not the same
creature that we were before. "I am crucified with Christ;
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
Gal. 2:20. We are one. The same law that formerly declared
us to be sinners now binds us to Christ. p. 7, Para. 14,
[WROM].
A Different Service. -- Now that the union with Christ has
been effected, we serve in newness of spirit and not in the
oldness of the letter. In marriage, the woman is to be
subject to the husband. So when we were united to sin, we
were in all things subject to sin. For a time it was
willing service; but when we saw the Lord, and were drawn
to him, the service became irksome. We tried to keep God's
law, but were bound, and could not. But now we are set
free. Sin no longer restrains us, and our service is
freedom. We gladly render to Christ all the service that
the law requires of us. We render this service because of
the perfect union between us. His life is ours, since we
were raised only by the power of his life. Therefore our
obedience is simply his loyalty and faithfulness in us. p.
7, Para. 15, [WROM].
raying:
