The Law, the Cross, and Our New Covenant in Christ

Many Christians know the triumphant words of Romans 8:1—"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It’s a verse that brings comfort, assurance, and hope. But have you ever wondered why Paul begins with "therefore"?

What exactly are we being freed from? Why does the struggle with sin still feel so real?

To fully grasp the power of Romans 8, we must first understand Romans 7, where Paul wrestles with the tension between the law, sin, and grace. He confesses that the law is good, yet instead of producing righteousness, it exposes sin and magnifies our failure. He describes the battle within—knowing what is right but being unable to do it, desiring to obey God yet feeling trapped in sin’s grip.

This tension is something every believer has experienced. Even after coming to Christ, we still struggle. We want to honor God, yet we fall short. We long to live righteously, yet temptation pulls at us. This is the reality Paul lays bare in Romans 7—a battle between the flesh and the Spirit, self-reliance and grace.

And this is why Romans 8 is so powerful. The victory it proclaims is not about trying harder or being more disciplined—it’s about what Christ has already accomplished.

But before we celebrate our freedom, we must first understand what we have been freed from. Romans 7 sets the stage, revealing our desperate need for a Savior. Only then can we fully appreciate the life-changing reality of Romans 8.

Let's begin.

The Law’s Dominion: A Matter of Life and Death

Paul opens Romans 7 by addressing those who are well-acquainted with the law, specifically Jewish believers who had been raised in the Torah—the first five books of Moses. These Scriptures shaped their identity, their worship, and their understanding of righteousness. To them, the law wasn’t just a set of guidelines—it was a binding authority over every aspect of life.

This is why Paul’s statement is so striking:

“Do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” (Romans 7:1)

Paul is making a crucial point: the law’s authority is absolute—until death intervenes. His audience understood this principle, but for many modern believers, this concept is more difficult to grasp.

There’s an important lesson here: If we fail to study the Old Testament, we will struggle to fully grasp the New Testament. Jesus Himself declared that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). To truly appreciate what we have been saved to, we must first understand what we have been saved from. As my friend and mentor, Pastor Steve, often says: "It takes a complete Bible to make a complete Christian."

To illustrate his point, Paul uses a familiar analogy—marriage. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if he dies, she is released from that legal obligation. In the same way, Paul will show that our death with Christ releases us from the law’s dominion.

But if Paul were writing today, would he still use marriage as his example? In a world where even the definition of marriage is contested—where some don’t even know what a woman is—his analogy might require some explanation. However, in his time, his audience immediately understood the point.

And the key truth remains: The law’s authority over a person is absolute—but only while they live. Just as death dissolves a marriage covenant, Paul will explain that our death with Christ severs the law’s hold over us. But before we get to that, we need to fully grasp this foundation—because without it, we won’t appreciate the freedom that follows.

Bound by the Law, Freed by Death

Paul continues his argument with a powerful analogy that would have been immediately clear to his audience:

“For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding her husband.” (Romans 7:2)

This simple yet profound illustration reveals the unyielding authority of the law—until death intervenes. A married woman remains legally bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but once he dies, she is no longer under that legal obligation. Paul uses this principle to emphasize a crucial truth: our relationship to the law is not something we can escape through effort or reform. The law holds authority over us until death severs its claim.

Here, we see the poetry and completeness of Scripture—evidence that the Bible is truly God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). This principle—that death brings freedom from the law—is echoed throughout God’s dealings with Israel. Under the Mosaic covenant, Israel was bound to God in a conditional relationship, one that was contingent on their obedience. But due to their persistent rebellion, God issued a shocking declaration:

“…for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband…” (Hosea 2:2)

This was a powerful statement of divine separation. The northern kingdom of Israel had broken the covenant so severely that God divorced them.

Yet, even in judgment, there was a promise of restoration. Just a few verses later, God declared:

“And in that day, says the Lord, you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master.’” (Hosea 2:16)

This is the heart of the gospel. The law had bound Israel in a conditional relationship, but Christ came to establish a new covenant—one that was not based on Israel’s faithfulness, but on His faithfulness.

Jesus died for our sins because we could not keep the law. He was the perfect sacrifice, the fulfillment of everything the old covenant pointed toward. Our failure to uphold God's law placed us under its condemnation, but through Christ’s death, we have been set free.

Just as a woman is freed from her marital obligations when her husband dies, so too are we freed from the law’s demands through the death of Christ.

This is the foundation of our new life in Him. The law’s authority has not been abolished—it still serves its purpose—but for those in Christ, its dominion has ended. We are no longer trapped in a system that demands perfection for righteousness. Instead, we are bound to Christ, our true and faithful Bridegroom, who has fulfilled the law on our behalf.

The Only Way to Freedom: The Cross

Paul expands on his marriage analogy in Romans 7:3:

“So then, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man while her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she would not be an adulteress if she marries another man.”

This verse reinforces the absolute binding nature of the law. A woman cannot simply leave her husband and marry another man without violating the law. The only way she is truly free to enter a new marriage is if her first husband dies.

But Paul isn’t merely giving marital advice—he’s illustrating a spiritual reality.

Sin is not just a series of bad choices; it is a direction—a turning away from God’s path. The prophet Isaiah describes this condition:

“All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Left to ourselves, we wander. We don’t simply break God's law—we depart from His ways. The old covenant, given through Moses, was a constant reminder of this. The law revealed sin, but it could not cure it. Israel could not uphold their end of the covenant, and as a result, they stood condemned.

The only way to be free from this condemnation was through death.

Just as a woman cannot enter a new marriage unless her husband dies, Israel could not enter into the new covenant unless the old covenant was brought to an end. And according to God’s law, there was only one way for this to happen: the cross.

The death of Jesus was not just an act of atonement—it was the dividing line between the old and the new. In His death:

✅ The old covenant was fulfilled

✅ A new covenant was established

✅ The law’s demands were fully met

Those who belong to Christ are no longer bound to the law’s condemnation.

Through Christ, we are not spiritual adulterers, trying to hold onto the law while also embracing grace. We have been set free to belong fully to Him.

This is the gospel: 

📖 Our debt to the law has been paid 

📖 We now live under the rule of grace 

📖 We are in union with Christ, our true and faithful Bridegroom

The cross changed everything. It ended our bondage to the law, not so that we could live lawlessly, but so that we could live fully under grace, bound to Christ alone.

Dead to the Law, Alive in the Spirit

Paul now delivers the heart of his argument in Romans 7:4-6:

“So, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may be married to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, so that we may bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4)

Just as death dissolves a marriage covenant, so too has our relationship with the law been severed—not through our own effort, but through our death in Christ. This is not just a theological concept; it is the reality of every believer.

When Christ died, we died with Him (Galatians 2:20). The law’s claim over us ended—not because the law was abolished, but because we have died to it and now belong to Christ.

But this death is not the end. It is a transition—from an old union to a new one. We are not left spiritually homeless—we are remarried to Christ, the One who was raised from the dead. And what is the purpose of this new relationship?

✅ So that we may bear fruit for God.

Before this, Paul explains, our lives bore a different kind of fruit:

“When we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, through the law, worked in our members to bear fruit leading to death.” (Romans 7:5)

Before Christ, our sinful nature was fueled by the very thing that was meant to restrain it. The law set the standard, but our fallen nature rebelled against it. Rather than producing righteousness, it stirred up the very sins it condemned.

The result? A life bearing the rotten fruit of death.

But now, Paul declares:

“But now we are delivered from the law, having died to things in which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter of the law.” (Romans 7:6)

We have been delivered.

🚪 The chains that bound us to the law’s condemnation have been broken—not so that we can live lawlessly, but so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit. Instead of striving under the weight of external commands, we now live under the power of the Spirit who transforms us from within.

Now, if this were the end of the matter, we might expect the Christian life to be, as the saying goes, “easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

But Paul knows better.

He knows the struggle isn’t over just because we’ve died to the law. The flesh still wars against the Spirit. The battle is real.

This is why we cannot rely on our own strength.

Yes, we have been delivered from the law, but we have not been delivered from our need to depend on Christ daily. Victory is possible, but it does not come from self-discipline or moral effort—it comes from:

✔ Walking in the Spirit✔ Abiding in Christ✔ Trusting in the One to whom we now belong

Dead to the law. Married to Christ. Bearing fruit for God.

This is the gospel-shaped life.

But as Paul will soon show, knowing these truths and living them out are two different things. The battle within is real, and Romans 7 isn’t done exposing it yet.

The Law Exposes Sin, But It Can’t Cure It

Paul anticipates an important question in Romans 7:7—if we are now delivered from the law, does that mean the law itself is sinful? His response is emphatic:

“God forbid!”

The problem isn’t the law; the problem is us.

“I did not know sin, except through the law. I would not have known coveting if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)

Paul makes a fascinating admission here. He says he didn’t even know what coveting was until the law revealed it to him. But as soon as he understood that coveting was wrong, something happened—his sinful nature rose up and suddenly desired the very thing that was forbidden.

“But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.” (Romans 7:8)

How many of us can relate to Paul?

⚠️ Tell a child not to touch something, and suddenly that object becomes the most interesting thing in the room. 

⚠️ It’s not that the child was particularly interested in it before, but the moment a rule is given, the desire to break it is awakened.

Paul is saying this is how sin works in all of us.

But let’s be clear—this doesn’t mean that Paul had never coveted before he read the law.

💡 He had.

But he hadn’t recognized it as sin.

Once the commandment exposed his heart, he realized that what he had been doing was rebellion against God. The law shined a light into his soul, revealing the sin that had been lurking there all along.

Sin Is a Direction—And So Is Contentment

This is an important lesson: sin is not just a bad action—it’s a direction.

Coveting isn’t just about wanting something someone else has—it’s about turning away from contentment in God’s provision. It’s about looking at what God has given and saying:

🛑 “It’s not enough.”

And at its root, coveting makes us ungrateful.

But notice something else:

✅ If coveting is a direction, then contentment must be its opposite.

✅ Instead of being consumed with what we don’t have, contentment calls us to trust God with what we do have.

✅ And if coveting is a posture of greed, then generosity is its opposite action.

The Law Reveals, But It Cannot Change

Paul is laying the groundwork for a powerful reality—one that becomes even clearer as he moves forward in Romans 7.

The law exposes sin, but it cannot change the sinful heart.

📜 The law can tell us what is wrong.

❌ But the law cannot give us the power to do what is right.

So where does that power come from?

🔹 Not from the law.

🔹 Not from self-effort.

🔹 Not from religious rituals.

That power only comes from Christ.

The same Jesus who frees us from the law’s condemnation also gives us the Spirit, who changes our desires from the inside out.

That is where true transformation begins.

The Law: A Mirror, Not a Cure

Paul continues his argument by reflecting on his personal experience with the law:

"I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7:9)

At first glance, this statement seems puzzling. When was Paul ever "alive without the law"?

💡 Paul was raised as a devout Jew, thoroughly trained in the law from childhood. Yet here, he is not talking about literal life and death. Instead, he is describing a time before he fully understood the law’s demands.

Like many people today, Paul may have assumed he was a good person, righteous before God.

But then, the true weight of the law hit him—and everything changed.

"And the commandment, which was intended for life, proved to be death in me. For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and killed me through it." (Romans 7:10-11)

The very commandment that should have brought life instead brought death.

The Law Exposes Sin, But It Cannot Save

This is the devastating effect of sin:

🚫 The law is not the problem—sin is. 

⚠️ But sin uses the law to deceive us. 

🔍 It twists what is good into something that condemns us.

The law, which was designed to show the path of righteousness, ends up exposing our inability to walk it.

The Law Is a Mirror—Not a Solution

This is why the law is like a mirror.

🔍 It does not create our sin—it reveals it. 

🔍 It shows us what we truly are in comparison to the holiness of God.

We may think we are good people, but when we hold ourselves up to God’s standard, we finally see the truth:

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

This is the function of the law.

Is the Law Evil? Paul’s Emphatic Response

Paul anticipates another objection—if the law brings death, does that mean the law itself is evil?

Again, he answers emphatically:

"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good." (Romans 7:12)

✅ The law is not the problem.

✅ The law is good.

✅ The law is righteous.

✅ The law is a reflection of God’s holiness.

But in a fallen world, even what is good can become an instrument of death—not because of a flaw in the law, but because of the corruption of our hearts.

Paul explains:

"Therefore has that which is good become death unto me? God forbid! Rather, sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was working death in me through that which is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful." (Romans 7:13)

Here is the key point:

✔️ The law did not create sin, but it revealed sin for what it really is—exceedingly sinful. 

✔️ The law magnifies sin. 

✔️ It shows us just how far we have fallen. 

✔️ And yet, it offers no cure.

Paul sums up the human condition in Romans 7:14:

"We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin."

Why the Gospel Is Our Only Hope

This is where we must pause and reflect.

❌ The law reveals sin, but it does not conquer sin.

❌ The law tells us what is wrong, but it does not give us the power to do what is right.

❌ The law is a righteous standard, but it cannot change a rebellious heart.

And this is why we need the gospel.

Because if all we had was the law, we would be left in despair—aware of our sin but powerless to change.

But Paul isn’t done yet.

Romans 7 is moving toward something greater.

📖 The struggle is real, but hope is coming.

⚔️ The battle with sin is fierce, but the victory is not found in the law.

🏆 It is found in Christ alone.

Conclusion: The Law Reveals, But Christ Redeems

Romans 7 presents us with a sobering truth:

✔️ The law is good, but we are not.

✔️ The law is holy, but it cannot make us holy.

✔️ The law exposes sin, but it cannot cure it.

Instead of delivering righteousness, the law magnifies our failure and leaves us desperate for a Savior.

If we stop at the law, we are left in despair— 

❌ Condemned by its righteous demands. 

❌ Helpless in our own strength. 

❌ Crushed by the weight of our failures.

But Romans 7 is not the final word. It is the bridge to something greater.

Paul’s desperate cry— "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24) —meets an immediate answer: "I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25)

🔹 The law was never meant to save us.

🔹 It was always meant to point us to the One who can—Jesus Christ.

🔹 Through Him, we are not only freed from condemnation but empowered by the Spirit to live in newness of life.

The battle against sin is real.

⚔️ But so is the victory that comes through faith in Christ.

The Turning Point: No Condemnation in Christ

This is why Romans 8 begins with a triumphant declaration:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)

Let that sink in.

🔹 No condemnation.

🔹 No shame.

🔹 No longer under the law’s judgment.

Why? Because the law leads us to the cross, and the cross leads us into the freedom of grace.

This is the gospel: 

💡 Our hope. 

💡 Our victory. 

💡 Our assurance in Christ.

The Final Call: The Struggle Is Real, But So Is the Savior

Paul does not ignore the struggle—he understands it.

✔️ The flesh still tempts us.

✔️ The battle against sin still rages.

✔️ The enemy still accuses.

But here is the difference:

🔥 We no longer fight in our own strength.

🔥 We no longer live under condemnation.

🔥 We no longer strive under the law’s burden.

Instead, we…

✔ Walk in the Spirit. 

✔ Live by grace. 

✔ Rest in Christ’s finished work.

Romans 7 leaves us longing for deliverance. Romans 8 declares that deliverance has come.

As we move forward, Paul will show us what it means to:

➡️ Walk in true freedom

➡️ Live in the power of the Spirit

➡️ Experience the fullness of life in Christ

The struggle is real—but so is the Savior. And in Him, we find everything we need.

Final Thought

The law left us condemned. But Christ left the tomb empty. The battle is fierce. But the victory is certain. And for those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation—only grace, only freedom, only life.