Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 7
Paul uses this description of Christians as the bride of Christ in several places. In Ephesians 5:23-30, he emphasises Christ’s love for his people. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, as here, Paul’s subject is the love that Christians should show to Christ. They should love him so much that they will not allow anything to spoil their love for him. Christ should receive the first and most important place in their lives (Mark 12:30).
Before they were Christians, they probably had a different attitude. They loved other things much more than they loved Christ. The worst people love their sins (their evil thoughts, plans and actions). Other people may love their customs, habits and traditions, or even the rules of their religion. Those things may not be evil; some people love the laws that are in the Bible. Those laws are good and holy (7:12). However, it is possible to study those laws and never to understand their real purpose (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). The purpose of God’s law is to bring us to a right relationship with God (Galatians 3:23-24).
When we become Christians, the death of Christ has an extraordinary effect on our lives. It is as if we died with Christ (6:3-4). Before, we may have loved other things more than we loved Christ. Perhaps those things were good and proper; but it was wrong that we loved them more than Christ. Now, we have begun new lives, with a right relationship with Christ. If formerly wrong things controlled our lives, Christ frees us from those things. If formerly we loved good things, we now understand those things in a new way.
So, now God’s law is in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10); we do not still try to follow its rules while we neglect our relationship with God. Instead, now God’s law helps us to love God more. The result is that now our lives can truly please God. We can achieve the good things that God wants us to achieve in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
Next part: Our wrong desires (Romans 7:5)
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