Dead to the Law

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Romans 7:4.

When are you dead to the law, and when do you become a mem­ber of the body of Christ, so you can bear fruit to God? When you are crucified with Christ. Galatians 2:20. Then you are in the body that has fulfilled the law; you are free from the curse of the law (free from the law as an accuser of conscious sin), and you are free from “you must” and “you have to,” which are outside the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:18.

Romans 7:6 confirms that we are set free from the law by death. “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by . . . .” We were held by the lusts and desires of the flesh. Being crucified with Christ puts an end to transgressing the law—it cannot accuse you any more, but neither can it lead you any further. It has chastened you to come to Christ so you can have your sins forgiven and receive a pure heart and a good conscience. This is the purpose of the law. 1 Timothy 1:5. You can only be set free from the desires of the flesh through the law of the Spirit in Christ. Romans 7:23. This occurs if the dying of Christ is working in the body—the dying which Jesus suffered daily in the days of His flesh. 1 Peter 3:18.

You cannot make any progress in salvation unless you are fin­ished with the law as an accuser. If you transgress the law, you are outside the body of Christ and under the law. Then the Spirit has something to indicate (Hebrews 9:8), and you are only in the first part of the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:6). Then you are not dead to the lusts in the flesh, and your ministry is soulish and concerns external things (1 Corinthians 3:4); whereas, the ministry in the Holy Place is performed with the flesh crucified according to the revelations of the Spirit in the law of the Spirit of life. Romans 7:25 and 8:13.

Knowledge is power. This is a fact in the natural, as well as in the spiritual realm. Therefore, the knowledge of God must always be made manifest in all things. 2 Corinthians 11:6. Once you can see a difference between the law as an accuser for having committed conscious sin, and the law that reveals unconscious sin­covetousness—you have, through knowledge, received insight into the form of doctrine. Romans 6:17. Then you have been made suffi­cient as a minister of the new covenant—not of the letter, but of the spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6.

The fact that the law works outside the body, but the Spirit works within the body, is a bright light of knowledge. This light gives a god­fearing person an opportunity to understand how important it is to be a member of the body of Christ. In the body of Christ we are not only one spirit with Jesus, but we are also one flesh with Him.

The knowledge of God concerning the precious truth of being set free from the law and serving in the newness of the Spirit must al­ways be made manifest in all things. Then many people can receive a desire to become servants of the glory of the new covenant. The hope is that we will be transformed into the image of Christ, from glory to glory. 2 Corinthians 3:12 and 3:18.