LOOSED FROM THE DEAD LAW AND MARRIED TO THE LIVING LORD – PASTOR DR. KUMUYI
Text: Romans 7:2-4.
“For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Romans 7:2-4). When the husband of a woman is dead, the law that binds the wife to the husband is also dead and the woman is loosed from the dead husband. When we believe in Christ and are united with Christ, we are dead to the law, and the old life, old taskmaster, and the old bondage are also dead. You are loosed from the dead law, and you are married to the living Lord.
1. PERMANENTLY LOOSED FROM THE CONDEMNATION AND CURSE OF THE DEAD LAW
Romans 7:2-3; 8:1-4; Galatians 3:13-14; Proverbs 26:2.
“For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.” (Romans 7:2-3). Once you realise, accept, and believe that the old law of sacrifices, rituals, traditions, and offerings is dead, and you commit yourself to the new Lord, Jesus Christ, the condemnation, and curse that the old law brought is also dead in your life. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4). Those who are in Christ Jesus have believed in the Lord Jesus, are married to Him, committed to Him, and have abandoned all the rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and offerings of the old law. You cannot be dead to the law and not be married to the Lord; you forsake the old and come to be married to the new. We come to life in Christ when we turn away from all those old rituals, old rebellion, and old sinfulness, now to live by what Christ has done. Christ sets us free from the law of sin and death.
What the old law and ceremonies could not do, God sent Christ who lived a perfect, sinless, and spotless life to fulfil those things for us. When you are married to Christ, His righteousness, purity, power, and everything Christ has in heaven are imputed to you and available for you. When we come to Christ, we do not share our life and commitment between the old law and Christ who has now become our husband and Lord. When we stay with Christ, our condemnation will be taken away. When the old law is taken away, we have total freedom from the curse of the dead law. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14). When the law, rituals, and ceremonies died and were buried, and we became married unto Christ, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, and no curse will come on any true believer anymore in Jesus Name. When we are born again, faith unites us with Christ and the old life is dead. When you are married to Christ, there will be no sin in your life because there is no sin in Christ. Sickness, curse, and suffering will be cancelled from your life, and you will have the blessings of Abraham. “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.” (Proverbs 26:2). When you stay in Christ, and you go away from learning about idol worship and speaking the language of idol worshippers, the curse causeless shall not come unto you. I will not do what Jesus never did.
2. PRESENTLY LOVED WITH COMPASSION AND CARE BY OUR DEAR LORD
Romans 7:4; Ephesians 5:1, 25-32; Matthew 14:14; 1 Peter 5:7.
When you get married to Christ, He loves you more than ever before. As you decide to follow Jesus, tonight will be your night in Jesus Name. “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Romans 7:4). You don’t have anything to do with the old law, old rituals, and family traditions anymore; you are dead to them and a new life has come to you now. When we come to Christ, the fruit we have is the fruit of our union, fellowship, and integration with Christ. We no longer have fruits with Satan and his rituals or try to copy the people of the world to have their characters, but we bear our fruits with Christ, unto Christ and in Christ. Our union with Christ, interaction with Christ, and commitment to Christ bring the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of righteousness into our lives. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;” (Ephesians 5:1). Christ is the Son, the exalted and excellent Messiah, and now that we are members of His body, we must be followers of Him. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:25-32).
Christ loves every new creature with heavenly compassion and cares for them. Christ wants us to be physically, morally, and spiritually clean. When we come to Christ, we don’t give excuses for sin anymore, but we are holy and without blemish. Christ cares for us as the husband cares for the wife; when you come to Christ and belong to Him, the care of the Lord goes along with the compassion He has for us. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). You can cast all your cares upon Jesus because you are married unto Him. Christ cares for you, and He will not allow any trial that will swallow you up, any temptation that will make you fall flat, or any terror that will have power and authority upon you. As you are married to Christ, the old voice and old personalities trying to threaten you will not be able to lay any hands upon you in Jesus Name.
3. PERPETUALLY LIVING TO THIS COMPANIONSHIP AND CONTROL OF HIS DIVINE LORDSHIP
Isaiah 26:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 6:8-12; Galatians 2:20.
“O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.” (Isaiah 26:13-14). As you are married to Christ now, only His word ideas, and decisions will have any rule and authority over your life. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Now that we are married to Christ, we love Him and He loves us, He has compassion on us, cares for us, and intercedes for us, and He is all that matters to us now. “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Romans 6:8- 12). If you totally identify with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, everything that is dead by the death of Christ will not have dominion over you. When everything of the past is dead, you come into a new relationship with Christ who so loved you and died for you, therefore, sin must no longer reign in your life. Sin, sickness, and satanic attack will not reign in your life, but Christ the Healer, Saviour, Redeemer, and Deliverer will reign in your life from tonight in Jesus Name. As Christ reigns in your life, you will live a new life in Christ by the strength, grace, and power of Him who has come to change your life. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). Say, The Saviour, Healer, Deliverer liveth in me. Christ is living in you, and as you go, His healing, salvation, and power will continue to live with you. If Christ is not yet living in you, as you open the door to Him tonight, He will come in and live with you.