July 14 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

We are free from the power of sin, as Paul teaches in chapter 6. We are also free from the power of the law, as he goes on to tell us in chapter 7.

Paul begins with an example from the field of law. He picks his example very carefully, because he wants to bring out two points: that we are set free from a law relationship and that we are free to enter into a new relationship.

This is how his argument goes:

Law can apply only to people when they are alive (v. 1).

The law for marriage ceases to be in force when one of the marriage partners has died (v. 2).

As long as your spouse is living, you break the law when you give yourself to another; but after the death of your partner, this law no longer applies (v. 3).

With our death "through the body of Christ," we are no longer under the law but ready for a new relationship (v. 4). We are going to be married to Christ by his Spirit. This is the new covenant.

This seems an elaborate way of making a point. And it raises questions about widows and widowers (it doesn't seem very nice to say that they are freed from the old law of marriage). But Paul isn't really concerned with marriage. He has his mind on what God did in Jesus Christ.

Paul is telling us that "under the law" our lives are unfruitful. We cannot obey even one of the commandments. But when "you have died to the law" in Christ, you can enter a new life of fruit-bearing for Jesus.

Nearly every day we meet people who were brought up in Christian homes, who know what's right and what's wrong and what they should do. But they don't do it. They know the law, but they don't know Christ. It is only in the new relationship, by the blood and the Spirit of Christ, that we can bear fruit.

REFLECTIONS

What would your life be like if were you were still living "under the law"? How would you describe your life under your new relationship to Christ?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.