John Calvin Commentary Romans 7:4

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, [even] to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God." — Romans 7:4 (ASV)

Through the body of Christ. Christ, by the glorious victory of the cross, first triumphed over sin; and that he might do this, it was necessary that the handwriting by which we were held bound should be cancelled. This handwriting was the law, which, while it continued in force, rendered us bound to serve sin; and hence it is called the power of sin.

It was then by cancelling this handwriting that we were delivered through the body of Christ—through his body as fixed to the cross. But the Apostle goes further and says that the bond of the law was destroyed; not that we may live according to our own will, like a widow who lives as she pleases while single, but that we may now be bound to another husband; indeed, that we may pass from hand to hand, as they say, that is, from the law to Christ.

He at the same time softens the asperity of the expression by saying that Christ, in order to join us to his own body, made us free from the yoke of the law. For though Christ, of his own accord, subjected himself to the law for a time, it is not right to say that the law ruled over him. Moreover, he conveys to his own members the liberty which he himself possesses. It is therefore no wonder that he exempts those from the yoke of the law whom he unites by a sacred bond to himself, so that they may be one body in him.

Even his who has been raised, etc. We have already said that Christ is substituted for the law, lest any freedom should be claimed without him, or lest anyone, not yet being dead to the law, should dare to divorce himself from it. But he adopts here a periphrastic sentence to denote the eternity of that life which Christ attained by his resurrection, so that Christians might know that this connection is to be perpetual. But he speaks more fully of the spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church in Ephesians 6.

That we may bring forth fruit to God. He always annexes the final cause, lest anyone should indulge the liberty of their flesh and their own lusts, under the pretense that Christ has delivered them from the bondage of the law. For he has offered us, together with himself, as a sacrifice to the Father, and he regenerates us for this purpose: that by newness of life we may bring forth fruit to God. We know that the fruits which our heavenly Father requires from us are those of holiness and righteousness.

It is indeed no lessening of our liberty that we serve God. Indeed, if we desire to enjoy so great a benefit as there is in Christ, it will not henceforth be right for us to entertain any other thought than that of promoting the glory of God, for which purpose Christ has connected us with himself. We will otherwise remain the bond-slaves not only of the law but also of sin and of death.