NOTES for Rom 7:1-12
Modern European consciousness is very fond of using the categories of “legality” and “justice.” We have inherited—both from the Jews and from the Romans—a clear idea that human life should be governed by certain ordinances and laws. Life should be arranged so that our actions do not cross the boundary established by law; this is what we are so fond of calling “legal consciousness.” Its roots run deep, and one cannot say that it is altogether wrong. After all, the Law of which Paul speaks was given by God to the Jews and, with and through them, to all humanity. For the multitude of commandments that the Pharisees knew and observed so well were originally based on the ten most important commandments of Moses’ tablets. Their role was great: they helped the chosen people remain united, not fall away from God, and await Christ. Yet—as is inevitable for humanity—their meaning was reduced to rituals, to literal reproduction without understanding. It is precisely this attitude that Paul calls service in the “old letter.”
The coming of Christ, His death, and His Resurrection bring humanity liberation from the “burden hard to bear” of many human ordinances: the renewal of the Law through Grace. It was not the Law that died, for it is from God. We died to the Law because above it came the New Law, the Law of Grace.
This is joyful and at the same time very frightening, because it lays an enormous responsibility upon us. We can no longer comfort ourselves by saying that we have carefully observed every ritual precaution and fast and recited all the prayers. Our salvation lies precisely in direct communion between the human person and God, in our ability to participate at least in part in God’s love for the rest of the world. This is what the Lord speaks of in the parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31–46), where we will be judged not by how many times a day we prayed, but by whether we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, and welcomed the stranger.