ROMANS: RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH FROM START TO FINISH

VI. God’s Righteousness Transferred: Practical Sanctification, Romans 6:1-8:39

C. The Mosaic Law And Sanctification, Romans 7:1-14

1. The Question Of Being Under Any Of The Law

(Romans 7:1-6; Colossians 2:16)

I. Introduction

A. The theme of the epistle to the Romans is that God’s righteousness is available to man by faith from start to finish (Romans 1:16-17; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 441).

B. This belief is often not accepted in Christendom: Some claim that one must have faith plus works to be justified, and others say that though we are justified by faith, we cannot righteously live a godly life by faith.

C. After teaching that believers should not sin, Paul addressed the believer’s relation to the Mosaic Law.

D. This issue was relevant in Paul’s era due to an emphasis on the Law in Judaism out which the first Christians came, but it is even more relevant today since Seventh-day Adventists say, “While Christ’s death ended the authority of the ceremonial law, it established that of the Ten Commandments,” that we are still to keep the Ten Commandments (Seventh-day Adventists believe . . ., 1989, p. 244), including the Hebrew Sabbath!

E. Romans 7:1-6 with Colossians 2:16 deals with this matter, so we view these passages for our insight:

II. The Question Of Being Under Any Of The Law, Romans 7:1-6; Colossians 2:16.

A. In Romans 7:1-6, Paul taught how a believer in Christ is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law:

1. Paul illustrated from the Mosaic Law how one is under the jurisdiction of the Law regarding his marriage as long as both spouses are living, but if his spouse dies, he is free from that marital bond, Romans 7:1-2.

2. If he then marries another while his spouse is alive, he commits adultery (Romans 7:3a), but if his spouse dies, he is free from the original marital bond and is innocent of adultery if he remarries, Romans 7:3b.

3. Paul applied that illustration to the positional truth regarding the believer in Christ, Romans 7:4-6:

a. When we believe in Christ, we are positionally made dead to the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law by our identification with Christ’s body that died under the Law that we should be spiritually wed to Christ Who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth the righteous “fruit” of godly works, Romans 7:4.

b. Once we were in the flesh, under the Law, we could only do that which violated the Law, bringing forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5), but now that we have been delivered from the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law, we must serve in newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter of the Law, Romans 7:6.

B. However, to clarify whether we were saved just from the jurisdiction of Seventh-day Adventism’s alleged “ceremonial law” and not also from the Ten Commandments, we study Colossians 2:16 (as follows):

1. Colossians 2:16 KJV teaches that we are not to let anyone judge us believers regarding “sabbath days.”

2. Seventh-day Adventists claim that the KJV “sabbath days” should be rendered “sabbaths,” what allegedly refer to sabbatical years of land rest in the alleged “ceremonial law” at Leviticus 25:1-7. We must then allegedly still keep the Sabbath Day as we are allegedly still under the Ten Commandments!

3. The Greek text at Colossians 2:16 does use the plural noun sabbaton that literally means “sabbaths” (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 698), but this plural elsewhere in the New Testament always refers to a Sabbath day or days, not to sabbatical years. (Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 746)

4. Also, the other time-related observances mentioned in Colossians 2:16 are each days within a calendar year, what contextually implies that sabbaton in Colossians 2:16 should refer to sabbath days!

5. Besides, keeping any command of the entire Law requires one to keep all of the Law (cf. Galatians 3:10 and 5:3 with Deuteronomy 27:26), so obligation to keep the Seventh Day cannot be separated from the rest of the alleged “ceremonial law” as Seventh-day Adventists would teach – the whole Law stands together!

6. Thus, in Colossians 2:16 in the Greek text, Paul taught that we are not to let anyone judge us in regard to the observance of the Sabbath Day, part of the Ten Commandments, for we are no longer under any part of the Law, both the Seventh-day Adventists’ alleged “ceremonial law” and the Ten Commandments.

C. [Note: Nine of the Ten Commandments, what excludes the command of the Sabbath, are instituted for us in the apostles’ writings, and as we are under apostolic authority, we observe nine of the Ten Commandments.]

Lesson: By our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, we believers are no longer under the jurisdiction of any part of the Mosaic Law. We are to live in newness of the spirit, not in the oldness of the letter.

Application: May we function totally free from the jurisdiction of the entire Mosaic Law and in union with Christ.