Your First Husband Is Dead: Living Free From the Law as Sons of God

Sermon outline

In Christ you are a son or daughter of God, not a servant under the law: the law is a dead husband, so stop trying to hold on to it and Christ at the same time, and walk free, led by the Spirit.

1. You are a son, not a servant

   We have received the adoption of sons, so you are not even a servant of the Lord but a son or a daughter. Some prefer to call themselves humble servants; he would rather sit with the Father as a son. It depends how far you want to go.

   Illustration: If you want to be a servant, we'll send you outside to be the gardener; God gave you all eight cylinders to fire, and it depends how many you want to use.

   “You are a son and a daughter of the Lord.”

   • Galatians 4:1-7

2. Two sons, two covenants: cast out the bondwoman

   Abraham had two sons, one by Hagar the bondmaid and one by Sarah the free woman. Paul is not really talking about two women but about two covenants: Hagar is the law from Mount Sinai, and the free woman is the promise. We, as Isaac was, are children of the promise, so cast away the law and be free; a born-again believer should not be in bondage under 'do this and I will do that'.

   “He was not talking about two women. He was talking about two covenants.”

   • Galatians 4:19-31

3. We are the makers of history

   He admires the zeal and commitment of Muslims for their God and wishes Christians had the same passion, since we have the real thing. But when a speaker on Islamic television said no Christian can recite the whole Bible, he answers that we are not children of the law and need not know the five books of Moses by heart: they are God's Word and history, but we are writing history now.

   Illustration: The book of Acts has no 'amen' at the end because the church is still writing it.

   “Now we're the makers of history.”

4. Stand fast in liberty: faith that works by love

   Stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made us free and don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Whoever tries to be justified by the law has fallen from grace. All that is required of a son of God is faith that works by love; you have been called to liberty. Rules about how a pastor must behave usually come from bad past teaching, not from Scripture.

   Illustration: Asked what qualifies a minister, he says it is not a suit and tie or three years of study and ordination.

   “Faith that works by love. That's it.”

   • Galatians 5:1-13

5. Childlike faith and servant sons

   Be like a child in your faith: believe all things and hope all things. We are not ordinary but carriers of God and His ambassadors, and many truly called men and women were never given an opportunity by the church, while others who followed the traditions of men have no signs and wonders following them. The church lacks gratitude and humility: don't be a 'mafia in the kingdom' who bullies people. Give your seat to a visitor, help mothers with crabby children and treat children gently, because the child may be a future president or surgeon. He is a son, but a servant son.

   Illustration: His wife woke to see a big bright white light shining in their room; he smiled and told her it was just his angel. Others have told him they saw someone big standing behind him while he preached. He also says some pastors need to be bus drivers and some bus drivers need to be pastors.

   “I'm a son of God, but a servant son.”

   • 1 Corinthians 13:7
   • 2 Corinthians 5:20
   • Colossians 2:8
   • 2 Corinthians 12:12
   • James 4:6
   • James 4:10
   • Mark 10:13-16

6. Your first husband is dead

   Romans 7 is not about husbands and wives. A woman bound to a living husband who marries another is an adulteress, but if her husband dies she is free. The first husband is the law, and the believer who looks back at the law while desiring Jesus is trying to be married to two husbands. Gentiles were never married to the law, so don't even look at it; the Jew, too, is now free to choose the new husband, Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, so that we bear fruit unto God.

   Illustration: He acts it out with members of the congregation standing as the wife, the first husband and the second husband.

   “If the law is dead, look away to the Lord Jesus Christ and become the bride of Christ.”

   • Romans 7:1-8

7. No condemnation, no curse: you are beautiful

   There is no condemnation to those in Christ; as many as are led by the Spirit are the sons of God, crying 'Abba, Father'. A Gentile under a curse, sick or oppressed, who says yes to Jesus walks into the inheritance and is free. God may discipline you to teach you, never to destroy you, so stop fishing for curses and bad omens in your past, and stop digging up your spouse's old mistakes that Christ has forgiven. When God looks at you, He sees you are beautiful.

   Illustration: Don't tell your child 'God will burn you'; that is brimstone-and-fire talk, and we are free.

   “Don't go fishing in the past.”

   • Romans 8:1-4
   • Romans 8:6-8
   • Romans 8:14-15
   • John 8:36