Thursday

Related Verses
Rom. 7:4-5
4 So then, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the passions for sins, which acted through the law, operated in our members to bear fruit to death.

John 15:5, 8
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
8 In this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and so you will become My disciples.

Gal. 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Related Reading
Romans 7:4 tells us that as a wife we bear fruit to God. When we are in resurrection and always live to God, we bear fruit to God. When we were in the flesh, that is, when we were the old husband, everything related to us was death. All we could produce was death. Everything we brought forth was a fruit of death and to death. Now as a regenerated person, that is, as the wife, we bear fruit to God. This simply means that everything we do now is related to God, whereas formerly, whatever we were and whatever we did was death. Therefore, here we see a vivid contrast between death and God, between bearing fruit to death and bearing fruit to God. This shows that when we were the old man and the old husband, held under the law, everything we were and did was death. The result was fruit to death. As a new man and the wife married to a new husband, whatever we are and do is related to God. We bear fruit to God. The phrase bear fruit to God means that God comes forth, that God is brought forth as fruit. Thus, all we are and do must be the living God. We must bring forth God as an overflow of God. In this way we have the living God as our fruit, and we bear fruit to God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3064)

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In Romans 7:4 Paul puts together a funeral and a wedding. On the one hand, we were buried; on the other hand, we were married, joined to another. We have been made dead that we might be joined to another. In Romans 7:4 we have been made dead to be joined to another; in Galatians 2:19 we have died to live. If we did not have two statuses, how could this be possible? We were made dead according to our old status so that we might be joined to another according to our new status. According to our new status, we are joined to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.

Romans 7:5 speaks of what we were…When we were in the flesh (v. 5), we were the old husband. When we were discharged from the law (v. 6), we became the wife. We have been discharged from the law regarding the old husband, having died to that in which we were held.

By now it should be very clear who is the old husband. The old husband is our old man. The wife is our regenerated new man. As the old man, we are dead, and as the new man, we are living. We were dead as the old husband but now are living as the wife. As we will see, the wife does two things—bears fruit to God and serves in newness of spirit. (Life-study of Romans, p. 139)

Everyone who has received life has been joined to Christ [Rom. 7:4]. A Christian has died with Christ through His death. He has also risen with Christ and is now married to Him. Actually not only have we received a life, but we have been joined to Christ’s life. A saved person is one who is risen from the dead and who is joined to Christ. When we are joined to Him, we are married to Him.

Romans 7:4b says, “…that we might bear fruit to God.” We do not refrain from idols just because the law says that we should refrain from them. We refrain from idols because the Holy Spirit is bearing His fruit in us. We have the righteousness of the law, but this righteousness is not produced through keeping the law; it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. After we are saved, we can gain the righteousness of the law without keeping the law. We are not saying that after a man is saved, he does not need to keep the law and that he can sin at will. We are saved by grace, and the Lord’s life is in us. Spontaneously we will not sin. This is the fruit of the Spirit. (CWWN, vol. 60, p. 483)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 300