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The Amish Voice 6
One of the most interesting and inspiring explanations anywhere with
regard to our new relationship in Christ is in Romans chapter 7 where
Paul likens the walk of grace to a marriage scenario. But first we will
visit briefly what law is like.
The trade mark of law is punishment. A law is not a law
unless it has teeth. Rules that have no teeth are only
guidelines or suggestions. Parents may have house rules
that children need to obey. There are two primary reasons
why children or adults will obey. One reason is the fear
of punishment and the other is not wanting to disappoint
someone we love. Of course the latter is always a better
motive.
The whole of our society needs the rule of law because
love and respect are not present in all people all the time.
The penalty of not obeying a stop sign is spelled out by
the law. Our forefathers went through the same intersec-
tions as we do without stopping, yet did not violate law
until the corner had a stop sign posted. So now we be-
come lawbreakers simply by default. The nature of law is
to always need more law. Even though we oppose more
law, its increase is inevitable. No country can exist with-
out laws.
Likewise the Old Testament had law spelled out in de-
tails that were to govern Israel. The law was designed to
deal with sin. When the church was first getting started,
many being from Jewish background were struggling to
deal with trying to fulfill those laws. So the apostle Paul
explained how believers now are to deal with sin in the
new Testament way. Incidentally, the law continues for-
ever. It is not about to be removed or become extinct.
Now to Romans 7:1-4:
Know ye not, brethren, (for I
speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the wom-
an which hath an husband is bound by the law to her
husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead,
she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to
another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her
husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulter-
ess, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the
dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
There are three players in the above scene:
1. First, is the husband who is the Law of Moses.
2. Second, the woman who is us, that is the church.
3. Third, the next husband known as ‘another’ who is
Christ.
When we are born to our parents as all are, we are under
Law. No matter where you are born, you come under
God’s Law. That is not escapable. The law is right and
true. The first husband is totally righteous and demand-
ing. He does not offer her, the woman, any help to per-
form his requirements. His demands are just, proper and
true. But the woman is unable to meet all his demands.
She is easy-going, casual and hap-hazard. Life is indeed
very difficult. She is fully aware of her inability to carry
out his demands. Since divorce is impossible, she seems
stuck with her fate. And he (law) is not about to die.
(Matthew 5: 18)
But, there is a way out. She has to die. Verse three says
that if he died, she is free to marry another man. And
therein lies the secret of the Christian life. We must be
counted as dead in order to be born again. Now it be-
comes apparent from Matthew 5 Sermon on the Mount
that the new husband is no less demanding, but has an
even higher standard. BUT the big difference is this; the
new husband in verse 4 carries out the requirements in
himself. That is the only way to produce fruit.
You can never take satisfaction that you have lived a life
good enough that you can take credit for getting yourself
into heaven. If that were possible, Jesus would not have
needed to come to earth. Only one sin, one slip up and
the law says the soul that sins must die. That concept of
dying seems hard to understand, but rest assured that God
knows how to do this. Call in total honesty and openness
of heart on the name of Jesus and ask him to do it. It will
change you forever.
Eli Stutzman — Ontario Canada
Phone: (519) 866-3737
How Shall We Ever Please God?
—by Eli Stutzman
Christians of a by-
gone era prepared
themselves for trou-
ble. They expected
hard times and a
difficult life. They
understood that entrance into the Kingdom of
God was strewn with days of tribulation.
Today, new gospels are preached that tell
Christians to expect the world to be laid at
their feet. Our forefathers, however, knew
that Jesus had warned us “In the world you
will have tribulation … “
The book of Job is a book about suffering in
this present world. It is about a man who
loved God and yet experienced a day of suf-
fering like none of us has ever experienced.
In one day Job lost his source of income, and
everything he had set aside for retirement. He
not only lost his income, he also lost all of the
tools that he needed to do his work.
Worse of all, Job’s children, all of them, were
killed in a wind storm. Today’s preachers
who teach that only good comes to those who
love the Lord, can never take their texts from
the book of Job.
You may be reading this and saying, “I have
had a terrible week this week.” You may be
saying, “In fact this has been the worse week
of my life.” You may be crying to yourself,
grumbling to your friends and even complain-
ing to God, but before you continue acting
like that, read the book of Job.
Read the first two chapters and you will see
what happened to Job. Read the last five
chapters (38 – 42) and you will hear God an-
swering Job’s complaints about having to suf-
fer. —Paul
The Law
Another who is Christ
The Church
Christian Suffering