Mrs.
Law Gets Remarried
(Readers
Theatre based On Romans 7)
By Jim Hammond
I’d like to tell you my story.
It begins with an unhappy marriage, but was completely changed
one day after that marriage dissolved.
(Romans
7:1-4 NIV) . . . the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
{2} For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long
as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of
marriage. . . . {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, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
One day, a long
time ago, I met Mr. Law. Perhaps
you know him. He is a good
man. I used to call him by
his initials quite endearingly-- “M.S.”
M.S. stands for Moral Standard. How’s
that for a solid name--M.S. Law.
“M.S.” I would say, “I’m so privileged to know you.
You are so wise. You
only do what is right. You
are so strong.” He had
such firm muscles. I was so
attracted to Him. Soon we
were married. We did
the usual ceremony and bound ourselves together in covenant.
Excuse me if I don’t speak of him so endearlingly any more. Now, he’s just Mr. Law.
Mr. Law was always Mr. Right.
Though he sure didn’t seem to be Mr. Right for me.
I was surprised at some of the changes Mr. Law brought about.
As I was saying Mr. Law brought me some unhappy surprises.
Ours wasn’t a happy marriage even from the beginning.
Our
relationship was so difficult. Mr.
Law was so controlling and harsh. Not
mean, mind you, just harsh. He
wasn’t bad. He was, well,
just cold and distant. He
didn’t seem to have any feelings.
Everything was black and white for Him.
The thing I hated most was that he was always right.
At first this was good, but then it became terrible for me.
I was always, well, always wrong.
I always felt condemned. Mr.
Law seemed so unrelenting. He
had his absolute standards. He
would get so angry with me with the wrong things I did.
I can’t say I blame him. He
was right, and I was wrong and I knew it.
That doesn’t mean I let him know I knew I was wrong.
We fought constantly. I
tried to convince him he was wrong.
But I always knew deep down.
He was right. I just
wish he’d grade me on a curve or something.
He was so relentlessly right.
Let me tell you what happened before our marriage was legally
dissolved.
(Romans 7:5
NIV) 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.
In my old Marriage to Mr. Law we had children.
You probably have never heard this from a mother before, but
I’ll tell you right out; my babies were ugly!.
Now how did our babies look so bad when Mr. Law looked so nice?
Mr. Law noticed these babies didn’t look right.
I thought I could please Mr. Law with the obedience I bore him.
But I couldn’t. I kept giving birth to offspring that looked more like my
pride than a reflection of their father.
The more I tried to produce good looking obedience, the less good
looking my babies really looked.
(Romans 7:6
NIV) 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.
You
know the rules about marriage. You
know how vows work, “till death do us part’, isn’t that how it
goes? Well there was a
death and Mr. Law and I parted ways.
That old covenant was dissolved.
Things are so different now.
I’ll tell you about that in a moment.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
It got worse with Mr. Law you know, before things got any better.
(Romans 7:7
NIV) What shall we say,
then? Is the law sin? .
. .
I
guess it will sound strange but even though he was a lout of a husband I
was proud of him. It’s
hard to believe I was proud of him.
But it’s true. I was proud of him. I used to believe that I was
better off than all the other wives because I had Mr. Law for a husband.
You see, he wasn’t a bad man.
He lived up to his name--M.S. Law.
He had perfect moral standards.
But his standards were so perfect they were killing me. I never measured up. I
always fell short. He would
show me how I fell short, but he couldn’t change me.
He never lifted a finger to help me improve or do any better.
(Romans
7:7-8 NIV) What shall we
say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known
what sin was except through the law. . For apart from law, sin is dead.
After
some unhappy years, I gave up. I
even began to rebel. If I
can’t ever please this demanding tyrant, why should I even try?
I began to do things I knew were wrong.
He told me they were wrong.
The relationship with him was getting worse and worse. He was not happy with me, and I was not happy with Him.
(Romans 7:9
NIV) Once I was alive apart
from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
I
was different before I met Mr. Law.
I used to have fun doing some of the things Mr. Law didn’t
approve of. I didn’t feel
condemned. I wasn’t
disobeying anyone—at least as far as was known to me.
Since marrying Mr. Law I can’t even do those things and enjoy
them. Every time I do them, I just feel guilty.
(Romans
7:10-11 NIV) I found that
the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought
death. {11} For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the
commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
I
began to be rebellious because I couldn’t measure up. Since I never measured up, and since I felt so bad, I
decided, why not just give up and be bad.
I began to visit Mr. Sin. In
my rebellion I visited him often. Mr.
Sin appreciated me. Mr. Sin
said I pleased him. At
least someone appreciated me.
(Romans
7:12-13 NIV) So then, the
law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. {13} Did
that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order
that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through
what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly
sinful.
As
I began to Please Mr. Sin a war began inside of me. I knew I had become an adulteress. I began to fight a battle within myself.
I began to do things I didn’t want to do.
I found myself agreeing with M. S., and hurting him.
I didn’t want to hurt M.S.
Things got really painful for me then.
I couldn’t help myself from thinking just like M.S.
I was no longer single, I
was Mrs. Law, but I acted like Mrs. Sin.
The personal battle within me was ripping me apart.
I, the adulteress, was involved with Mr. Law and Mr. Sin. My allegiances didn’t make any sense anymore.
I hated the double life, and every time I tried to break the
patterns, I fell back into that double life.
I would tell myself. “This
is it. I’m going to do what’s right.”
I’d go and make up to Mr. Law.
But his demands were never lowered, he didn’t offer me any
help. I was helpless. I
went to console myself again and again in the embraces of Mr. Sin.
(Romans
7:14 NIV) We know that the
law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
I
had sold myself into bondage to Mr. Sin.
How did he do it? How
had he bought such an allegiance from me?
It didn’t even make any sense.
I continued to feel so miserable all the time.
The pauses of relief were the very causes of my misery. I sought out Mr. Sin for sinful liaisons just to feel relief,
but the more relief I sought from him the more miserable I felt.
(Romans
7:15-20 NIV) I do not
understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate
I do. {16} And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is
good. {17} As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin
living in me. {18} I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my
sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot
carry it out. {19} For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the
evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. {20} Now if I do what I
do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in
me that does it.
Mr.
Sin had gotten into my head. Mr.
Sin had gotten into my heart. How
he did it I don’t know. I
did the very things I didn’t want to do.
I’m not Mrs. Sin. I’m
Mrs. Law but I don’t act like it.
I now think like Mrs. Law, but I can’t act like her!
(Romans
7:21-23 NIV) So I find this
law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. {22}
For in my inner being I delight in God's law; {23} but I see another law
at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
I
used to wonder, is it too late for me?
I want to be good. I
want to do right. I
joyfully agree with Mr. Law. He
has always been right. He
may not help me but at least he expects good from me.
Mr. Sin is always asking me to do evil.
He expects evil. He
never expects good from me, except when he’s quoting how harsh Mr. Law
is to make me mad at him and seek relief.
How did I give Mr. Sin my heart when my head says he’s all
wrong? Now I’m a
prisoner to my passions. And
I keep doing what is wrong, I know it is wrong, and I can’t stop.
(Romans
7:24-25 NIV) What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? {25}
Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my
mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the
law of sin.
Let
me tell you about my new husband.
I’m not married to Mr. Law anymore.
I’m so happy. I’m
married to Jesus Christ. I
was so relieved when I became free to be remarried.
It was a freedom I hadn’t expected.
You see. Do you
remember the part of the vow…till death do us part.
Well that’s the part that released me.
It’s not what you think. Moral
Standard didn’t die. I
did. I died the day I was baptized into Christ.
Through Christ’s body I died.
It sounds funny doesn’t it?
My death broke forever the covenant connection with Mr. Law that
was killing me. It also
broke the adulterous connection I had established with Mr. Sin.
The day I entered covenant with Christ, I was joined with Him.
The two of us became one. I
was joined to Him and all the marriage benefits became mine.
I was released from my connection with my former husband, the
absolute-unrelenting-inflexible-tyrant, Mr. Law. It’s hard to believe it has happened. How is it that I can be here talking to you about my
death--but that’s just what happened.
You see I was united with Christ in His death.
I was put to death with Christ when He died.
I died with Him by faith through the ceremony of death and
life—my baptism. My death
released me from that old covenant and freed me to “Remarry” into my
New Covenant relationship. And
boy is this new marriage quite a change.
Our whole relationship is different, mostly because Christ is so
different from Mr. Law. Our
relationship is energized by the power of love.
My service comes from the heart and not from the frustrating
guilt of passionless duty. I
don’t know how to explain it but I not only want to please him, I do
please him. And when I fall
short, he loves me and forgives me.
It is so amazing sometimes it’s hard to believe.
I carry Christ’s
Name now. He calls me
Christian. I think that’
so sweet. I have a new
security that comes with my new identity.
I have new resources, and new sense of significance.
I even have a new sense of purpose.
I’ve got resources available like you wouldn’t believe.
Whereas, Mr. Law never helped me.
Jesus always does. He
gets right down where I have struggled.
At first I was so embarrassed to have him down on his knees
struggling with me. Now,
I’m so grateful he is. He
listens to what I feel. He
even understands what I feel. Then
he helps. It is so incredible.
One of the things
I’m still getting used to is being able to use His credit card. It’s so great. On
this card is his name. Every
merchant I’ve ever been to bends over backward when they see HIS Name
on the card. I
don’t mind telling you it’s a MASTER card.
He’s so wonderful, I don’t mind calling him my Master.
He’s the best master I’ve ever served.
With this MasterCard all I do is ask for this and I ask for that,
and just because of His Name on that Master Card I get it.
You want to know the best thing about it?
Jesus already paid for everything.
I don’t even have to pay the card off.
It’s paid off in advance.
People now know me by His Name. The
power of his reputation goes with me. It is so nice and I really don’t deserve it after all
I’ve been through, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
His reputation seems to cover all of that. Oh, and you should see his pension plan, its better than life
insurance! Oh and I’d
like you to meet our children. The
fruit of our union has been so pleasing to me and to God.
I must say. I’m so
blessed. And I’m so
happy. I never thought that my shambled life could be so changed by
one man. I’m so glad he
found me.
(Romans 8:1
NIV) . . . there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
********
The following was the Message Notes Outline that
came with the Romans 7 Message “Mrs. Law Got Remarried”
Focus:
The Law is powerless to save us.
Christians are freed from the powerlessness of the Law.
These Old Covenant demands have been fulfilled in Christ.
Christians are in a New Covenant based on the law of liberty in
Christ. We follow Christ’s law, by Christ’s power, because of
love for Christ. Salvation cannot be found by obeying the law. No matter
who we are, only Jesus Christ can set us free.
I.
The Christian has been released
from the Law which condemned
to death (7:1-6;
cf., Romans 10:4; Ephesians 2:14-15; Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 7:18;
8:7, 13)
II.
The law is powerless to save the sinner
(7:7-14),
¨
The
sinner is condemned by the law
III.
The law is powerless to save the lawkeeper
(7:15-22)
¨
The lawkeeper can’t live up to the law
IV.
The law is powerless to save the Christian
(7:23-25).
¨
The
Christian finds his or her obedience sabotaged
by the old nature.
¨
Christ
Will Rescue Me
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