Q. In Rom 7.1-6 doesn’t Paul say that the Law has been done away with when we believe in Jesus?

A. The answer to the question in the question. How can one say that now that I believe in Yeshua I don’t have to keep the commandments! Didn’t Yeshua say the opposite. So if Paul kept the commandments (and he did) then Paul is saying something else here. Here is what I believe he is saying. He assumes his listeners have a knowledge of the Torah (Law) because it is the framework that this passage is understood. The basic scripture for understanding what Paul is saying will be Deut 24.1-4. Paul is going to use the Jewish concept of marriage to teach the spiritual concept that we are free from the condemnation of the Law through our old nature/sin. So, we have characters assigned to this metaphor for this principle to be understood. The woman is a picture of the us, who at one time was “married” to the old nature/sin and it’s impulses. We “obeyed” our “husband” like a good little wife and was subject to “him” (the old nature/sin-Rom 7.1 =“bound”).The problem was he was “killing” us in the ultimate case of spousal abuse. The Torah is like a marriage counselor/manual and has advised us (the woman/wife)of what the problem was and what to do about it. So, in v 4 Paul says that we were made to die to that part of the Torah that condemned us through our old nature/sin (the 1st husband) so that we can be joined (or married)to another husband (the 2nd) who is Yeshua. We are released (divorced=Rom 7.6) from the 1st husband (that part of the Law that condemned us). We can never go back to the 1st husband (condemnation) once we have been divorced from him (Deut 24.1-4). So, the Torah is like a marriage counselor who leads us through this marital crisis. We must leave or die, it’s just that simple. People get angry with the “marriage counselor” (Torah/Law/commandments) for giving good, holy, righteous advice (v12-13) on how to deal with the 1st husband and don’t want to listen. Some will say “I have the Holy Spirit so I am set free from the Law” ,misunderstanding v6. But, the Holy Spirit uses the “marriage counselor/manual “of the written Word of God (Torah) , not away from it. Anyone who says that the Holy Spirit has lead them away from keeping the commandments is deceived at best. Paul goes on in Chapter 7 to describe the struggle within a believer now that she (believer) has “remarried” another (v14-25). The 1st husband (flesh) continues to make demands on his former spouse (us) and sometimes we listen to it do what he (the 1st husband says) which is called sin. But we need to remember that we are “divorced” from him and he (the 1st husband) does not have any rights over us anymore. For example, the 1st husband will say “you don’t have to keep the Sabbath, keep biblical festivals, you can eat pork and catfish, you are free from the Law just like you were when we were married”. But, you have a new husband now (Yeshua) and He says “if you love Me keep the commandments” and it is by this we know we have eternal life (1Jn 2.1-5). One who contends with the marriage counselor (Torah) about obeying the advice given and says” I don’t want to listen to your counsel” probably does not really want a divorce from the 1st husband in the first place, or thinks he is divorced and really isn’t. The Torah as a counselor says that the believer’s (wife) marriage to the 1st husband (sin/condemnation) is over and that she must listen to her 2nd husband now. The wife (believer) listens to her husband’s voice (the Torah/marriage counselor) by faith through the Holy Spirit in our hearts (or inner promptings). In Romans 8.1 Paul says “Now (in light of all I have just said in chapter 7) there is no condemnation (what we are set free from in the Law, not the Law itself) for those who are in Christ Jesus (or married to the 2nd husband)”. We are set free from the servitude and marriage to the sin nature (our 1st husband) which condemned us. As you can see this has nothing to do with the false theology out there that says you don’t have to keep the biblical commandments but it deals with who you are married to.