“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Rom.7:4“…
that you may be married to another…” Being married to the law inevitably leads to despair. It is like living with Mr. Perfect. He never makes a mistake, never has a bad day, never indulges himself, never comes home late, always does the right thing, always knows the right way, etc. The problem is that he expects the very same things of you. He lets you know every time you fail to measure up to his expectations. The only acceptable standard for your performance is perfection. If you do nine out of ten things right you are still a failure. If you ever saw the movie, “Sleeping with the Enemy”; it is a perfect portrait of this kind of husband. And how the law impacts us.
Beyond this, the law hands you a list of responsibilities but gives you no help in fulfilling them. It is all up to you. Ask for help, and he turns a cold shoulder and tells you to try harder. Your acceptance by him is wholly conditioned by your performance. You feel an abiding sense of hopelessness, for you know that you will never be able to live up to his list.
What a blessed contrast is life married to our Lord! At the very outset He assures you that you can never lose His love and acceptance (Eph.1:6). Though sins grieve Him; they will never, ever cause Him to reject you (Heb.13:5). He delights in you; in fact, He sings over you (Zeph.3:17). He makes much over your every effort to please Him, even when they fall short (Zech.4:10). Anything He asks you to do for Him, He fully intends to do through you Himself (Phil.4:13). He makes sure that you never lack for adequate resources (Eph.1:3). He sympathizes with your weaknesses (Heb.4:15) and picks you back up when you fail (Jn.21:15-17). He loves you with a love you can never lose (Rom.8:21-29) and provides you with an eternally significant purpose for living (Eph.2:10). Yours is an abiding sense of hope and joy because of the kind of Husband you are married to (II Cor.3:12). As F.B. Meyer put it, "The love of God is like the Amazon River flowing down to water one daisy."You my friend, are that daisy. Never forget it.
And guess what? Many of the things He requires of you are the exact same things your former husband (law) required. But now you do them far more freely, joyously, and even better than ever before. Grace always motivates and enables far beyond what law is able to do. As Reinhold Niebuhr put it so well, “You may be able to compel people to maintain certain minimum standards by stressing duty, but the highest moral and spiritual achievements depend not upon a push but a pull. People must be charmed into righteousness.” And nothing charms like the wild, irrational, unquenchable grace of God.
Flashpoint: Life was meant to be lived in the warm, tight embrace of our Savior. Don’t exchange it for the cold handshake of mere duty.
