In 49 AD, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome due to constant rioting, reportedly instigated by someone named Crestus, according to the Roman historian Suetonius.
Crestus is widely believed to be a reference to Christ, suggesting that these disturbances were related to conflicts within the Jewish community over the teachings of Jesus and the rise of Christianity. When the Emperor Claudius died in 54 A.D., Nero did not continue the policy of keeping Jews out of the city.
The church often mirrors the surrounding culture, and unfortunately, the Jews and Gentiles were divided in the church when Jews were allowed to return to Rome.
Paul wanted a unified church to join him in missionary activity in the unreached area of Spain. His letter to the Romans was written to address Jewish pride and to encourage Gentiles to accept their Jewish counterparts.
One of the key factors that marked the division between Jews and Gentiles was the law. Jewish pride was rooted in the fact that they had been the recipients of God’s law.
Romans 7 emphasizes both the value of the law and its limitations. When Paul discusses the law, he is pointing to a new era. The old era under the law involved recognizing our sins and our need for God.
The new era, brought about through the death and resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, reveals our new life of grace.
The Marriage Illustration
Paul used the image of marriage to describe how the new era sets us free from the constraints of the law.
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime?
Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.
Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.
In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God (Romans 7.1-4).
In the New Testament era, men held control over family relationships. A man could divorce his wife for almost any reason, but a woman did not have the freedom to divorce her husband.
The death of a husband marked a new chapter for his wife, allowing her to marry another man without any repercussions.
Paul uses this analogy to illustrate that we are no longer bound by the constraints of the law. Later in the chapter, he explains that while the law is valuable and good, it is limited by human weakness.
Although the law has great value, something even greater is offered to us—life in the Spirit, which will be explored more fully in chapter 8.
Present Day Application
I see two important applications of this passage for modern life.
First, just as Paul aimed to unite people from different cultures for the sake of God’s mission, the church should remain unified despite cultural conflicts. We must not let culture wars distract us from the mission God has entrusted to us.
Second, as we continue reading, we will discover that one of the great gifts God has given us is the gift of His Spirit. We need to learn how to live by the Spirit and apply this to our daily lives.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 