"Wherefore, my Brethren, you also are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. 7:4).
While the Sixth Chapter of Romans reveals the Divine method of Sanctification, the Seventh Chapter sets out its impossibility under the bondage of Law.
The argument here is:
Just as death is the only force that can liberate from the claims of sin, so is it the only force that can liberate from the claims of Law.
Paul pictures a woman being married to a man and then, without Scriptural foundation divorcing him and marrying another. He said, “She shall be called an adulteress.” The Apostle is not teaching here on the law of divorce and remarriage. He is making a point regarding Victory in Christ.
The Believer is married to Christ. This means that Christ is our husband. If we are unfaithful to Christ, and we go to Law, which is the only place to go if our faith is not solidly anchored in Christ and the Cross, we are then committing “spiritual adultery.” We should also realize that if the Believer is living in spiritual adultery, the Holy Spirit simply will not help such a Believer. If He did, He would be condoning this act of rebellion, which He cannot do.
To trust anything other than Christ and the Cross is the highest insult directed at Christ, whether the Believer understands such or not. Sadly, because of not understanding the Cross, almost all modern Believers are living in a state of spiritual adultery. Actually, most Christians have never even heard the term, “spiritual adultery.”
Paul deals greatly with “Law” in this Seventh Chapter.
What does Paul mean by “Law”?
He is speaking of the Law of Moses, or any type of Law that we devise ourselves, or which is devised by a religious Denomination, etc. In other words, anything in which we place our faith, other than the Cross of Christ, becomes Law. In fact, many of the things in which we place our faith are good things, and, because they are good things, they deceive us.
Look closely at this example:
If a Believer tries to overcome sin by praying an hour each day, while he will definitely be blessed, he will not be delivered from sin.
The reason?
He has just turned prayer into “Law,” and the Holy Spirit will not work in that capacity, because such a Believer is committing spiritual adultery. I realize that comes as a shock, especially considering that there is nothing which is greater than a consecrated prayer life, other than our Faith. But it is very easy to turn such into Law; in fact, that’s exactly what will happen if the Believer doesn’t have his faith anchored solidly in the Cross of Christ. But when a Believer does have his Faith anchored squarely in the Cross of Christ, prayer then becomes the powerful force it is meant to be, because it is engaged in the proper manner.
Spiritual adultery is a position in which no Believer can afford to be. Simple Faith in Christ and the Cross will solve the problem."
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
While the Sixth Chapter of Romans reveals the Divine method of Sanctification, the Seventh Chapter sets out its impossibility under the bondage of Law.
The argument here is:
Just as death is the only force that can liberate from the claims of sin, so is it the only force that can liberate from the claims of Law.
Paul pictures a woman being married to a man and then, without Scriptural foundation divorcing him and marrying another. He said, “She shall be called an adulteress.” The Apostle is not teaching here on the law of divorce and remarriage. He is making a point regarding Victory in Christ.
The Believer is married to Christ. This means that Christ is our husband. If we are unfaithful to Christ, and we go to Law, which is the only place to go if our faith is not solidly anchored in Christ and the Cross, we are then committing “spiritual adultery.” We should also realize that if the Believer is living in spiritual adultery, the Holy Spirit simply will not help such a Believer. If He did, He would be condoning this act of rebellion, which He cannot do.
To trust anything other than Christ and the Cross is the highest insult directed at Christ, whether the Believer understands such or not. Sadly, because of not understanding the Cross, almost all modern Believers are living in a state of spiritual adultery. Actually, most Christians have never even heard the term, “spiritual adultery.”
Paul deals greatly with “Law” in this Seventh Chapter.
What does Paul mean by “Law”?
He is speaking of the Law of Moses, or any type of Law that we devise ourselves, or which is devised by a religious Denomination, etc. In other words, anything in which we place our faith, other than the Cross of Christ, becomes Law. In fact, many of the things in which we place our faith are good things, and, because they are good things, they deceive us.
Look closely at this example:
If a Believer tries to overcome sin by praying an hour each day, while he will definitely be blessed, he will not be delivered from sin.
The reason?
He has just turned prayer into “Law,” and the Holy Spirit will not work in that capacity, because such a Believer is committing spiritual adultery. I realize that comes as a shock, especially considering that there is nothing which is greater than a consecrated prayer life, other than our Faith. But it is very easy to turn such into Law; in fact, that’s exactly what will happen if the Believer doesn’t have his faith anchored solidly in the Cross of Christ. But when a Believer does have his Faith anchored squarely in the Cross of Christ, prayer then becomes the powerful force it is meant to be, because it is engaged in the proper manner.
Spiritual adultery is a position in which no Believer can afford to be. Simple Faith in Christ and the Cross will solve the problem."
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart