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“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.”
— Romans 7:1–3 (NKJV)
Here Paul states a fundamental spiritual principle: law only rules the living. The song captures this in simple language:
> “The law has dominion,
> While we’re alive,
> But when death comes,
> We’re free to thrive.”
The entire argument of Romans 6–8 turns around this issue: How does a believer come out from under the dominion of the law and the dominion of sin, and come into the liberty of the Spirit?
Many believers today are genuinely born again, yet live as though they are still married to the old order—still bound, still condemned, still defeated. They do not understand what Paul is teaching: death ends the claim of the law. And in Christ, a real death has taken place.
“Now, dear brothers and sisters, you who are familiar with the law, don’t you know the law applies only while a person is living?” The apostle is appealing to common legal sense to lead us into deep spiritual truth.
Romans is Paul’s great systematic unfolding of the gospel. By chapter 7, he has already established:
Romans 7 addresses a specific question:
If we are justified by faith and not by the law, what then is the place of the law?
Particularly for Jewish believers, this was critical. They had been raised under the Torah, the law of Moses. Their identity, worship, and daily life had been shaped by it.
Paul begins chapter 7 with these words:
> “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law)…” (Romans 7:1).
He is addressing people—especially Jewish believers—who know how law operates. He uses a common legal example from marriage, not to teach on marriage ethics here, but to illustrate the way death breaks legal obligation.
In Jewish law, a wife was legally bound to her husband as long as he lived. She did not have the right to leave him and marry another, unless he died. Once he died, she was truly free, in the eyes of the law, to belong to another man. No condemnation. No accusation. The law itself acknowledged her freedom.
Paul applies this picture to our spiritual condition. In Romans 7:4 (immediately following the passage of the song), he says:
> “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
So the situation is this:
This is not abstract theology. It is the legal basis, in the spiritual realm, for deliverance from condemnation, bondage, and fruitless striving.
Let us look closely at two key terms in Romans 7:1–3.
### 1. “Dominion” – κυριεύω (*kurieuō*)
Romans 7:1:
“…that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?”
The Greek verb is κυριεύω (kurieuō), from κύριος (kurios), meaning “lord, master.”
Literally, it means “to be lord over, to rule, to exercise mastery or ownership.”
So Paul is not merely saying, “The law applies.” He is saying:
The law exercises lordship over a man’s life while he lives.
This deepens the lyrics:
> “The law has dominion,
> While we’re alive…”
The law stands as a ruler, as a master, making demands, issuing judgments. It does not negotiate. It does not lower its standard. It rules absolutely as long as the person is under its jurisdiction.
But when death occurs, the law loses its mastery. You cannot prosecute a corpse. You cannot indict a dead man. Jurisdiction ends at death. This is a universal principle, both in human courts and in the court of heaven.
### 2. “Bound” – δέω (*deō*)
Romans 7:2:
“For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives…”
The verb is δέω (deō), meaning “to tie, bind, fasten; to put under obligation.” It is used of binding prisoners, tying up animals, and of being held under obligation or pledge.
The married woman is “tied,” “bound,” “obligated” by the law to her husband. She does not have the right to create her own terms. The law defines and enforces the bond.
Spiritually, this illustrates how the law held us. We were tied to an order of existence in Adam—under sin, under judgment, unable to escape. We could see the standard, but we could not fulfill it.
> “…but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.”
“Released” here is κατήργηται (katērgētai) from καταργέω (katargeō): to make ineffective, to render inoperative, to bring to an end. The law concerning that first marriage is no longer operative over the widow. Its claim has been neutralized by death.
Combine these ideas:
This is the backdrop of the song’s refrain: “But when death comes, we’re free to thrive.”
### Verse 1: The Scope of the Law
> “Now, dear brothers and sisters,
> You who are familiar with the law,
> Don’t you know the law applies
> Only while a person is living?”
Paul is appealing to spiritual common sense. He says, “You who know the law—use your own understanding. Law governs living persons. Once a man dies, he passes out of the jurisdiction of the law.”
In Romans 6, Paul has declared:
> “For he who has died has been freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7)
The word “freed” there is actually “justified.” The one who has died has been justified from sin—sin can make no more claims, because the penalty has been paid in full.
Now in Romans 7, he applies the same principle to the law. Not only sin, but law has no more jurisdiction over a dead man. Therefore, if we have died with Christ, we have passed out of the dominion of law as a system of relating to God.
This does not mean we become lawless. It means this:
We no longer relate to God on the basis of external commandments written on stone, but on the basis of union with Christ and the indwelling Spirit.
Jeremiah prophesied it long ago:
> “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts…” (Jeremiah 31:33).
So, the law as an external, condemning master is no longer our lord. The Spirit, writing God’s will on our hearts, becomes the new governing principle.
### Chorus: Dominion and Death
> “The law has dominion,
> While we’re alive,
> But when death comes,
> We’re free to thrive.”
There is a profound spiritual order here:
1. While we live “in Adam,” we are under the dominion of the law and sin.
2. Only through death—our co-crucifixion with Christ—do we exit that dominion.
3. After death with Christ, we enter a new realm: the dominion of grace and the Spirit.
Romans 6:14 states it plainly:
> “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Notice the parallel:
Why? Because the law, while holy and good, energizes sin in fallen flesh.
> “The strength of sin is the law.” (1 Corinthians 15:56)
That is an astonishing statement. The law, by defining righteousness, exposes and agitates the rebellion in fallen human nature. The problem is not in the law, but in us.
So God’s solution is not to adjust the law. It is to execute the old man and raise up a new man in Christ.
> “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6)
From heaven’s perspective, the execution has taken place. The “old I,” in Adam, under the law, has been crucified. That person, in legal-spiritual terms, is dead. The law has no more jurisdiction over a corpse. This is why Paul can say:
> “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:19–20).
Only death to the law opens the way to life to God.
### Verse 2: The Married Woman Illustration
> “For example, by law,
> A married woman is bound
> To her husband as long as he lives,
> But if he dies, she’s released from the law.”
Here Paul uses an earthly marriage to illustrate a spiritual transition. Under Mosaic law, the woman is obligated to her husband as long as he lives. The law binds her; the law protects the marriage; the law defines her status.
If she seeks another man while her first husband lives, she is an adulteress. She violates the law’s claim.
But if he dies, the very same law that once bound her now acknowledges her freedom. The law no longer has a claim upon that first relationship, because death has intervened. She is free to marry another without accusation.
In Romans 7:4–6, Paul makes the application:
> “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” (v.4)
> “…But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” (v.6)
Notice:
The song’s words agree:
> “But when death comes,
> We’re free to thrive.”
Fruitfulness, thriving, real spiritual productivity come after death—death to the old husband, death to the old system, death to self-effort—and through union with the risen Christ.
### Chorus Repeated: From Condemnation to Fruitfulness
> “The law has dominion,
> While we’re alive,
> But when death comes,
> We’re free to thrive.”
Romans 8 demonstrates the outcome of this truth:
> “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
> For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1–2)
Here we see:
Freedom to “thrive” is not license to sin. It is freedom to bear fruit, to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law—not by striving in the flesh, but by walking in the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
### Outro: Life in the Spirit
> “Free to thrive,
> Free to live anew,
> In the Spirit,
> Our life is true.”
This final stanza echoes Romans 7:6 and Romans 8:2–4.
Romans 7:6:
> “…so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
Romans 8:10–11:
> “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
> But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Notice the sequence:
1. Our body is reckoned dead because of sin—through union with Christ’s death.
2. The Spirit is life in us because of righteousness—Christ’s righteousness.
3. The same Spirit who raised Jesus gives life even to our mortal bodies now—enabling holy living and service.
So when the song says:
> “Free to live anew,
> In the Spirit,
> Our life is true.”
It expresses this deep biblical truth:
True life begins when we stop trying to serve God under the old regime of law and self-effort, and yield to the Spirit who lives in us.
It is the difference between “oldness of the letter” and “newness of the Spirit.”
The “letter” kills; the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). The law written on stone exposes our failure; the law written on our hearts by the Spirit empowers our obedience.
The truths of Romans 7 are not merely for theologians. They are for every believer battling condemnation, striving in self-effort, and failing repeatedly. The way into freedom is specific and practical.
### 1. Acknowledge God’s Verdict: “I Died with Christ”
The first step is to agree with God’s judgment on the old man.
Romans 6:11:
> “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Reckon” means to consider, to account it as fact. God says:
You must stop thinking of yourself as the same person, struggling to get better under the law, and start thinking of yourself as a person who has died and been raised with Christ.
A practical proclamation:
> “Through the body of Christ, I died to the law and to sin. I am no longer under their dominion.”
### 2. Renounce Self-Effort Under Law
Many believers are saved by grace but habitually live by law—struggling to keep rules in their own strength, seeking acceptance by performance. This always produces one of two things:
Galatians 3:3 asks:
> “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
We must consciously renounce this way of living:
A practical step: Say to the Lord,
> “I repent of trying to relate to You on the basis of my performance. I receive my standing before You entirely on the basis of Jesus’ finished work.”
### 3. Present Yourself to God as Alive From the Dead
Freedom from the law is not an end in itself. It is freedom for a new kind of service.
Romans 6:13:
> “…present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Now that you have died to the law and sin, you must present yourself deliberately to God:
This is how you “marry” the risen Christ in practice: you yield yourself to Him as Lord and Lover, and allow His life to flow through you by the Spirit.
### 4. Choose to Walk in the Spirit Daily
Romans 8 is the practical outworking of Romans 7. The way out of the frustration of Romans 7 (“the good I want to do, I do not do…”) is to walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16:
> “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
This is not a mystical feeling. It is a daily choice:
Gradually, as you walk this way, the righteous requirement of the law will be fulfilled in you—not because you are under the law, but because the Spirit produces in you what the law always demanded but could never supply.
### Proclamation
Say this aloud, thoughtfully and firmly:
> Through the body of Jesus Christ, I have died to the law and to sin.
> I affirm that the law no longer has dominion over me, because I am united with Christ in His death and resurrection.
> My old man was crucified with Him; I am no longer that person, bound under condemnation.
> I am now free to belong to Another—
> to Jesus, who was raised from the dead—
> that I may bear fruit to God.
> I no longer serve in the oldness of the letter,
> but in the newness of the Spirit.
> The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
> has made me free from the law of sin and death.
> I am free to thrive, free to live anew,
> in the Spirit, where my life is true.
> This I confess, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank You that You took my place under the law’s judgment, bore my curse, and died my death. I acknowledge before You today that I died with You, that my old man was crucified with You, and that I have died to the law through Your body.
Heavenly Father, I renounce every attempt to earn Your acceptance by my own works. I lay down self-effort, self-righteousness, and striving under the law. I receive, by faith, the gift of righteousness in Christ.
Holy Spirit, Spirit of life, I yield myself to You. Write God’s law on my heart. Empower me to walk in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Make real in my experience what is true in God’s Word—that sin shall not have dominion over me, because I am not under law but under grace.
Lord Jesus, I choose to belong to You as my risen Lord and Bridegroom. Let my life bear fruit to God—real, lasting fruit that glorifies Your name.
I thank You for freedom from condemnation, freedom from the law’s dominion, and freedom to live and thrive in the Spirit.
In Your mighty name I pray,
Amen.
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