Dead to the Law, Bound to the Spirit - Romans 7:1-6 | Lilac City Church

January, 897 AD. The new Pope—Stephen VI—called every church leader in Rome to a trial. The accused? The previous Pope, Formosus. The problem? Formosus had been dead for seven months.

That didn't stop them.

They dug up his body, dressed him in his full papal robes, propped his decaying corpse on a throne, and put him on trial. They shouted accusations. They found him guilty. They ripped off his robes, cut off his blessing fingers, dragged him through the streets, and threw him in a river.

This would go down in history as the Cadaver Synod—the trial of a corpse.

Stephen's entire plan was doomed from the start. He could rage, accuse, and parade a body through Rome—but he couldn't change one thing: Formosus was dead. And the law has no power over a dead man. Death ends the contract. The relationship is over.

That—right there—is exactly what Paul says has happened to you.

In Romans 7:1-6, Paul makes a stunning argument: if you are in Christ, you have died. And because you died, the law's contract with you is over. It can't accuse you. It can't condemn you. It can't drag you back into the courtroom.

You're not just forgiven. You're not just pardoned. You are dead to the law. And you've been raised to belong to Someone new.

Point 1: The Law Has Limits (v. 1) — 'The law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives.' Paul isn't introducing new information—he's connecting dots. Everyone nods along: of course the law only applies to the living. Like an expiration date on chicken—once it's past, it's done. The law has an expiration date, and that date is when the person under the law dies.

Point 2: Death Is the Limit of the Law (vv. 2-3) — Paul uses marriage law as his example. A married woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if he dies, she's released—totally, completely free. The bond doesn't weaken; it ceases to exist. Death dissolves the contract for both parties. The law has no more claim.

Point 3: You Are Dead to the Law, Free to Serve God (vv. 4-6) — 'You also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.' This is passive—you didn't kill yourself to the law. Christ's death became your death. The contract is broken. You're like the husband who died—no longer bound to the old covenant. Unlike Formosus, no one is dragging you back to trial. It's over.

You didn't trade rules for more rules. You traded a contract for a relationship. You went from being bound to a system that could only condemn you—to belonging to a Person who conquered death for you. Now you bear fruit for God. Not compliance fruit (checking boxes under the law). Godly fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. That's the natural overflow of life connected to Jesus.

The old way: external, carved on stone, enforced from outside. The new way: internal, the Spirit transforming you from the inside out.

Dead to the law. Bound to the Spirit. The trial is over. Go bear fruit