Romans 7:6 - How Does Love And Works Relate To Christian Obedience?

Rom.7:6: How Does Love And Works Relate To Christian Obedience?

Rom 7:6 (KJV)  But now we are delivered from the law, that being
dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit,
and not in the oldness of the letter.

Rom 7:6 (NIV)  But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have
been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the
Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Rom 7:6 (CWB)  But now we're delivered from seeing the
requirements of the law as a means of salvation, because we're dead to the
idea that salvation can be gained by works.  We are no longer slaves
to what we can do to earn salvation.  On the contrary, we serve God
willingly and joyously with a new life in the Holy Spirit, not in the old
way of the written code.

Believers who have died to sin and risen to newness of life (ch.
6:2, 4) now render a service that is new and spiritual. Their
obedience to God's law is no longer legalistic and mechanical, as if
righteousness consisted merely of compliance with a set of external rules of
conduct, without any reference to the condition of the heart. Through
union with the risen Saviour believers have learned a new way of true,
heartfelt, spiritual obedience. Such service and worship is possible only
to those who have been born again of the Holy Spirit and live under
His influence. . . henceforth the believer no longer serves God from
a sense of legal bondage and fear, but in a new spirit of freedom
and love. [SDA Commentary]

This passage does not suggest that Christians have no obligation
to obey God. Actually, our obligations are now greater since we
know Christ and belong to God's family. The demands now are far more
severe than under the Mosaic law. For example, the Sermon on the Mount
goes beyond outward actions to deal with inward attitudes. The law of
Moses found murderers guilty, but Jesus said that hatred is equivalent
to murder. But this passage teaches that our motivation for obeying
is different: we do not mechanically obey a set of rules, but we
lovingly, from the heart, obey the Spirit of God who fulfills the
righteousness of the Law in us (8:4). A beginning pianist can play a number
"letter perfect" and still not capture the inner spirit of the song the
way an accomplished musician can. Our obedience to God is not that
of a slave fearing a master, but that of a bride lovingly pleasing
her bridegroom. [Wiersbe Expository Outlines]

We serve in a new spirit, not in the old letter. Or better, in
newness of Spirit in contrast to the old legal code. In place of a
legalism that enforces statutes, there is a spirit of love and
dedication. [Wycliffe Bible Commentary]

Only a person who is spiritually alive can bear spiritual fruit,
that is, holy living (cf. John 15:4-5). A person who is married to
Christ can bear spiritual progeny. [Bible Knowledge Commentary]