May 04, 2025

Series: Transformed   5-4-25

The Benefits of Freedom

(Romans 7:1-13)

BENEFITS OF BEING FREED FROM THE LAW:

1. a new _________________________ (v.1-3)

Romans 7:1 ¹ Do you not know… that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Galatians 2:20 ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me 

Romans 7:2–3 (ESV) ² For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. ³ 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.

• When you died with Christ, you were _____________ from the LAW!

THE PARADOX OF FREEDOM:

We DIE to _______________.

2. a new ____________________________ (v.4)

Romans 7:4 ⁴ So, my brothers, 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…

       “another” (2 words)        1) Another of the same kind. “Homos” (not used)

                                                   2) Another of a different kind “Heteros” (USED)

THE PARADOX OF FREEDOM:

We BREAK-UP, to _________________.

(with the Law)       (the Lawgiver)

John 14:2–3 ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

3. a new _______________________ (v.4-5)

Romans 7:4-5 ⁴ you died to the law through the body of Christ… in order that we might bear fruit to God. ⁵ For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 

THE PARADOX OF FREEDOM:

We were CONTROLLED, now ______________________.

(by the Sinful Nature)                          (for God)

Colossians 3:3–4 ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

4. a new _____________________________ (v.6)

Romans 7:6 ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

THE PARADOX OF FREEDOM:

We become SERVANTS, to be _________________.

• Jesus taught that it’s all a matter of the _________________!

Religious Leaders:

Matthew 15:8 ⁸ These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Murder:

Matthew 5:21–22 ²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister^, will be subject to judgment.

• Jesus made it more difficult than keeping the Law, not ____________!

Adultery:

Matthew 5:27–28 ²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

• Jesus cares about the heart, not just the _________________!

Money:

Matthew 23:23 ²³ Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth… But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

James 4:3 ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The Heart:

Matthew 5:8 ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

“katharós” – pure, unmixed or unalloyed.

• The PURER the gold, the _________________ it is!
• The SOFTER the gold, the _________________ to dent! 

“A Christian is a person whose heart is broken by the 

things that break the heart of ____________.”

Matthew 23:25–26 ²⁵ Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

• An “Alloyed Christian” is one who mixes Trust in God with ___________________ else.