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“Bound and Released” deals with one of the most important and most misunderstood themes in the New Testament: the believer’s relationship to the Law and to Christ.
Let us look at what the Word of God says.
> “For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
> Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
> — Romans 7:2–4 (NASB)
And again:
> “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”
> — Galatians 2:19 (NASB)
The song puts this in simple, memorable form:
> “Bound and released,
> Life and the law,
> In death comes freedom,
> In Spirit we draw.”
The central theme is this:
We were once bound to the Law as to a husband, but through the death of Christ, we have died to the Law, been released from that old bond, and joined to Christ in order to live and bear fruit by the Holy Spirit.
This is not theory. It is the dividing line between spiritual bondage and spiritual freedom, between frustrated effort and fruitful life in the Spirit.
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### Romans 7: The Struggle of a Religious Man
Romans 7 stands in the middle of Paul’s great teaching on justification and sanctification. In Romans 3–5 he shows how we are justified—made righteous—by faith in Christ, apart from works of the Law. In Romans 6 he teaches that we have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, that we might walk in newness of life.
Then in Romans 7 he turns to a crucial problem:
If we are saved by grace, what is our relationship to the Law of Moses?
Do we still live under it? Are we bound to it? Does it still govern our standing before God?
Paul is writing mainly to believers in Rome, many of whom are Jewish or influenced by Jewish thought. They know the Law. They respect it. Paul himself, as a devout Jew, had loved the Law and tried to keep it. Yet he discovered that the Law could not save him from the power of sin.
So in Romans 7 he uses an everyday illustration—marriage—to explain a spiritual principle: a legal bond is only valid as long as both parties are alive. Death ends legal obligation.
### The Legal Picture
In Jewish and Roman law, a married woman was “bound” to her husband while he lived. To be joined to another man while he still lived was adultery. But if the husband died, she was free, both legally and morally, to marry another.
Paul takes this legal picture and applies it spiritually. He is not teaching about marriage ethics here; he is using marriage law to explain our release from the Law.
Paul’s conclusion:
> “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,
> so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead,
> in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4)
In Galatians, Paul addresses another group of believers who started in the Spirit but were being drawn back under the Law—trying to perfect in the flesh what God began in the Spirit.
> “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.” (Galatians 2:19)
He is saying:
The Law itself, by exposing my sin and condemning me to death, brought me to the end of myself. In that sense, through the Law I died. But I did not remain in that death. In Christ I rose again, now free from the authority of the Law, to live directly unto God by the Spirit.
---
Let us look at two key words: *bound* and *released/freed*.
### 1. “Bound” – Greek: δέω (*deō*)
In Romans 7:2:
> “For the married woman is bound by law to her husband…”
The word “bound” is *deō*, which means:
This is strong language. It is not casual connection. It is legal bondage. To be “bound by law” means the Law has the right to demand, to judge, and to condemn. It has authority over you.
So when the song says:
> “Bound and released,
> Life and the law…”
it is pointing to this reality:
Before Christ, we were legally bound to the Law as the standard by which our lives would be measured and judged.
### 2. “Released / Free” – Greek: καταργέω (*katargeō*) / ἐλευθερόω (*eleutheroō*)
Romans 7:2 says:
> “…but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.”
The verb there is *katargeō* in verse 2’s logic (and nearby verses):
It means:
Elsewhere Paul uses *eleutheroō*—“to set free”:
> “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
> For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:1–2)
So the picture is:
The Law is not destroyed, but its claim over us is ended.
This gives depth to the lyric:
> “Bound and released…
> In death comes freedom,
> In Spirit we draw.”
The “release” is not a feeling; it is a legal and spiritual change of relationship. We do not escape the Law illegally. We satisfy it in the death of Christ and emerge on the other side, beyond its jurisdiction.
---
Now we walk through the lyrics and link them with Scripture.
### Verse 1
> “So then, if she lives with another
> While her husband is alive,
> She is called an adulteress,
> But if her husband dies, she's free.”
This is taken directly from Romans 7:2–3. Paul is stating a simple legal principle that everybody in his day understood.
**Spiritually, the central point is this:
You cannot be under two husbands at the same time.
You cannot be married to the Law and married to Christ simultaneously.**
To try to do so is spiritual adultery. Many believers are in exactly this condition—saved by grace, but trying to live the Christian life under the Law. They are joined to Christ, yet still acting as if the Law is their covenant head.
The woman in the illustration cannot “live with another man” while bound to her first husband without being an adulteress. In the same way, we cannot live as if Christ is our Lord and yet still look to the Law as the ultimate basis of our righteousness and standing before God.
Something must die.
### Chorus
> “Bound and released,
> Life and the law,
> In death comes freedom,
> In Spirit we draw.”
Each line is a theological statement.
#### “Bound and released”
This is the movement of the gospel:
1. Bound to the Law:
2. Released through death in Christ:
It has nothing more to demand.
#### “Life and the law”
The Law is not opposed to life in itself. The problem is in us.
> “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12)
> “…but sin, taking opportunity through the commandment…” (Romans 7:8)
The Law reveals the standard of God’s righteousness, but it does not impart the power to live that standard. It commands but does not transform.
True spiritual life is found only in Christ:
> “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
> “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
#### “In death comes freedom”
This reverses the natural way of thinking. Naturally we think death ends freedom. Spiritually, for the believer, death to sin and to the Law’s claims is the doorway to true freedom.
> “Our old man was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” (Romans 6:6)
> “For he who has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7)
And Galatians 2:19:
> “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”
The only route to living unto God is dying to the Law as a covenant of obligation.
#### “In Spirit we draw”
Once released from the Law’s jurisdiction, we do not drift into lawlessness. We are not free to sin; we are free from sin’s dominion, to live by the Spirit.
> “…that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4)
We “draw” near to God in and by the Spirit. We live under a new government:
> “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
### Verse 2
> “She is not an adulteress,
> If she marries another man.
> So, brothers and sisters,
> You died to the law through Christ.”
Once the first husband dies, the woman is legally free to marry another. No accusation can stand against her.
Now Paul applies this to believers explicitly (Romans 7:4):
> “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,
> so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead,
> in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
Notice the order:
1. You were made to die to the Law.
2. Through the body of Christ (His crucifixion).
3. So that you might be joined to another—Christ risen.
4. For a purpose: to bear fruit for God.
The Law is like the first husband. Christ is the second husband. But we do not kill the Law; it is eternal and holy. Rather, in Christ’s death, we die to its covenantal claims. That legal bond is ended. We emerge on the resurrection side, joined to Christ under a new covenant.
So Galatians 2:19 is parallel:
> “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”
The Law performs a vital function: it exposes sin, condemns the sinner, and drives him to Christ. When I accept Christ’s death as my death, the Law’s sentence is carried out. I am dead—legally, spiritually—to the old claim. Now I am free to live directly unto God, in Christ, by the Spirit.
### Chorus (Repetition)
When the chorus is repeated, it presses the lesson upon the heart. Many of us grasp this truth intellectually but struggle to live in it. Repetition helps implant truth:
### Outro
> “Through Christ we are new,
> In Spirit we soar,
> Bound and released,
> Forevermore.”
This aligns precisely with Paul’s climax in Romans 8 and Galatians 2:
> “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;
> the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
> “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
> and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
> who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“Through Christ we are new” is not just a feeling; it is a new legal standing and a new spiritual reality.
“In Spirit we soar” describes the liberty of Romans 8:
> “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:2)
> “The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)
“Bound and released, forevermore” points to the finality of this work:
> “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)
The Law still instructs, still reveals God’s character, but it no longer stands as the covenant by which we are accepted or rejected. That place is now taken by Christ and Christ alone.
---
Sound doctrine must become sound living. How do we move from theory to experience?
### 1. First, We Must Accept Our Death with Christ
Many believers try to improve their old nature instead of accepting its execution.
Romans 6:6–7:
> “Our old man was crucified with Him… for he who has died is freed from sin.”
Romans 7:4:
> “You also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ…”
We do not feel dead; we believe what God says.
Faith reckons it true:
> “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11)
Practical step:
Confess with your mouth what God has declared in His Word. Say regularly:
Faith is released through confession.
### 2. Second, We Must Renounce Legalism and Mixture
Legalism is the attempt to achieve righteousness or maintain acceptance with God by keeping rules, even good rules, instead of depending on Christ and the Spirit.
We are not lawless, but we are not under the Law as a covenant system.
Paul says:
> “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)
To try to relate to God on the basis of Law after being joined to Christ is spiritual adultery. The Law remains holy, but it is no longer my covenant head. Christ is.
Practical step:
Identify any way you are trusting in:
as the basis of your security with God.
Confess this as sin and renounce it. Transfer your trust wholly to Christ and His finished work.
### 3. Third, We Must Yield to the Holy Spirit as Our New “Law”
Romans 8:2 speaks of “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
The Spirit is not a vague influence. He is a Person. He leads, instructs, convicts, empowers.
We do not live by a written code etched in stone, but by a living law written in our hearts by the Spirit.
> “I will put My laws upon their hearts, and on their mind I will write them.” (Hebrews 10:16)
This inner law is higher than the external Law. It fulfills the moral content of the Law from the inside out.
Practical step:
You will find that the righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in you as you walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4), without coming back under the old system.
### 4. Fourth, We Must Live Out of Union with Christ
Romans 7:4 speaks of being “joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
The Christian life is not self-effort; it is union with a risen Person.
Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Galatians 2:20 describes this union:
> “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Practical step:
Fruit does not grow by strain; it grows from union with the vine (John 15:1–5).
---
### Proclamation
Say this aloud, thoughtfully, and in faith:
> I thank You, Lord, for the truth of Your Word.
> According to Romans 7:4 and Galatians 2:19,
> I have died to the Law through the body of Christ.
> Through the Law I died to the Law,
> so that I might live to God.
>
> I affirm that my old man was crucified with Christ.
> The Law has executed its judgment on me in Him.
> Its claim over me as a covenant of righteousness is finished.
>
> I am released from that old bond,
> and I am joined to another—
> to Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead,
> in order that I might bear fruit for God.
>
> The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
> has set me free from the law of sin and of death.
> I am not under law, but under grace.
> I do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
> Christ lives in me, and I live to God.
>
> I was bound, but in Christ’s death I have been released.
> Through Christ I am new.
> In the Spirit I soar.
> And I am bound and released, forevermore.
> In Jesus’ name, Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I come to You on the basis of Your finished work on the cross. I acknowledge that in myself I could never keep Your Law or make myself righteous. I confess that I have often lived as if I were still under the Law—trusting in my own efforts, my own performance, my own righteousness.
Today I accept, in a fresh way, that I have died with You. I have died to sin, and I have died to the Law as a covenant of righteousness. I ask You to break every chain of legalism and self-righteousness in my life. I renounce any trust in my own works, and I put my trust wholly in You.
Holy Spirit, I yield myself to You. Be the law of the Spirit of life in me. Write God’s will on my heart. Lead me, govern me, correct me, empower me. Enable me to walk not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, that the righteous requirement of the Law may be fulfilled in me.
Lord Jesus, I thank You that I am now joined to You, the risen One. Live Your life in me. Bear Your fruit through me—for the glory of God the Father. I receive my place as one who was bound and has been released, to live to God forever.
In Your mighty name I pray,
Amen.
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