“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?” – Romans 7:1
As Romans chapter 5 came to a close, Paul made a liberating point: our personal efforts—whether sinful or righteous—are disconnected from the original acts that shaped our spiritual destiny. We weren’t there when Adam sinned, and we weren’t there when Christ died. Yet we are partakers of both because of what theologians call “federal headship.” We are either in Adam and condemned, or in Christ and saved. This truth frees us from the exhausting lie that we must earn or maintain our salvation. Paul wants us to unplug from the idea that our actions initiated either our guilt or our grace. Once we are in Christ, we are secure—not because we hold on tightly, but because He does.
And yet, many believers skip over Romans chapters 6 and 7, eager to leap into the glorious promise of Romans 8:1—“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” But Paul doesn’t rush there. He inserts what some call a “parenthesis,” a pause to address the questions stirring in every believer’s heart. If sin has been dealt with, why talk about law? Why revisit dominion and death? Because before we can walk in the Spirit, we must understand what we’ve died to. Chapter 6 drills deeper into justification—showing us that we are not only forgiven, but dead to sin and alive to Christ. The old man is not sleeping—he’s gone. Our humanness may still flare up, but our identity is forever changed.
Then in chapter 7, Paul shifts to sanctification. He reminds us that just as the law could not justify us, it cannot sanctify us either. We don’t grow in holiness by returning to rule-keeping. Sanctification is not powered by law but by life—Christ’s life in us. This “parenthesis” is not a detour; it’s a foundation. It teaches us what we have in salvation and what we have in sanctification. So don’t skip the process. Let God’s Word shape your understanding. Know what you’ve died to. Know who you belong to. And walk in the newness of life, not by striving, but by surrendering to the One who already secured your place.
“Sanctification, says the Westiminster Shorter Catechisme, is ‘the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.’” – J.I. Packer
surrendered devotions 