Matthew 7:23 w/ Romans 4:15 (death to self = freedom from the law)

[justbyfaith]

Jesus speaking (NLT),

Mat 7:21, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
Mat 7:22, On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
Mat 7:23, But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

I consider that the will of the Father being spoken of here, in context, is the moral teaching that we find Jesus preaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I consider that it is also to receive the forgiveness that is provided for us in Jesus dying on the Cross.

Jesus says to those who are condemned, "Get away from me, you who break God's laws."

Consider:

Rom 4:15, For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

Jesus condemns those who break God's laws; but the only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break.

As believers in Christ and what He did for us on the Cross, we are not under the law (Romans 6:14), are dead to the law (Romans 7:4, Galatians 2:19) and are delivered from the law (Romans 7:6).

The law does not apply to us as concerning condemnation...therefore we have no law to break. We are forgiven of past, present, and future sins...and this means that God does not hold our sins against us when we commit them, any longer. Therefore, the law does not point us out as sinners any longer. We cannot break God's laws because we are not under the law, are dead to the law, and are delivered from the law.

However, in context, and in the whole of this teaching in the Bible, you must consider this:

Rom 7:1, Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? Rom 7:2, For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. Rom 7:3, So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

The law still applies to you for as long as you are alive. And therefore, in order to come out from being under the law...in order to become dead to the law and delivered from the law...you must die.

You must die to the power of the law, yes; but it is more than that. You must die to the power of the flesh.

Gal 5:24, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

This means that you will not any longer practice the works of the flesh (the sinful nature) which for all practical purposes are prohibited by the law:

Gal 5:19, When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, Gal 5:20, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, Gal 5:21, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Now, the key to having victory over the works of the flesh, or the results of living by the sinful nature, is clear:

Gal 5:16, So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

This means walking according to and bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

Gal 5:22, But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gal 5:23, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Notice that there is no law that will condemn your behaviour if you consistently walk according to and bear the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, in bearing the fruit of the Spirit, you will become a law-abiding citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

As it is written,

Rom 3:31, Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

I will say only this: that we inadvertently become obedient to the moral tenets of the law when we place our faith in Jesus and begin to walk according to the dictates of His Spirit.

We are not redeemed through the keeping of the law (Galatians 2:16); however, in being redeemed through faith in Jesus Christ, we place our roots into Christ and as the result we will bear the fruit of the Spirit, against which there is no law.

When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, He comes to live in us and through us (Galatians 2:20); and as long as He is the One who is doing the living in your life, the life that is lived is going to be a perfect life. We only sin when we begin to take back the Lordship of our lives and begin to live our own lives again. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it has the tendency to crawl off the altar. Thus it is written,

Psa 118:27, The LORD is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.

We can have complete victory over the flesh.

Consider:

Rom 8:12, Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.

Gal 5:24, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Rom 5:17, For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

Col 2:11, When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

Through the principle of Colossians 2:11, we can defeat the principle in Romans 7:14-25. In my sinful nature dwells no good thing...however, the sinful nature can be cut away so that it no longer has any authority in my life.

We become dead to the power of the flesh when we begin to understand that our relationship to the law has changed:

Rom 7:5, When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.

Our relationship to the law changes when we die to self and to the flesh and begin to consistently walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Thus it is written,

Gal 5:18, But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

When you are directed by the Spirit, it isn't the law of Moses that governs you any longer. Rather, you begin to walk according to the virtues that are produced by the Spirit.

Again,

Gal 5:22, But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gal 5:23, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

And again, when you walk according to these virtues, you will be set free from walking according to the dictates of the sinful nature:

Gal 5:16, So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.