Romans 7:1-3

Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.

Back in chapter 5, Paul gave us consequences of justification by faith: peace and hope. Then in chapter 6, he gave us another consequence of justification by faith: holiness, or sanctification. And now in chapter 7, he’ll give us another: freedom. These first 6 verses of chapter 7 are Paul’s way of concluding a point that he actually began in chapter 6, that antinomianism is wrong. In the first part of chapter 6, Paul used water baptism as an illustration of our having died with Christ and having been raised to new life in union with Him. Then in the second part of chapter 6, Paul used slavery as an illustration of the same principle — that believers have died to sin and are free to obey God; we have a new master! And now Paul offers a third and final illustration to this same principle. First, v1 is Paul’s principle; v2-3 is Paul’s illustration of that principle; and v4-6 is Paul’s explanation to his audience, so they can apply the principle. Let’s look at v1-3 today:

V1 – The law has authority over a man only while he lives. Paul’s principle is this: you are under the law as long as you live. This is bad news for all those presently alive, because all living humans have transgressed the law, which Paul here tells us that we are under. Now back in Romans 6:14, Paul said that “you are not under law, but under grace.” Then in v15 on to the end of chapter 6, he explains what he doesn’t mean by that statement. We looked at that last time. Now, finally, Paul is telling us what he does mean by that statement, and that’s that all those living are under the law. But once we die, united with Christ, we are under grace. That’s the teaching of Christ! If you lose your life, you will find it. If you die to self, you will live. Paul is saying if you have died with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and also by faith, then you’re under grace and not law. I have died and no longer live; but the live I live I live by the Spirit of Him Who lives within me. And Paul provides next an illustration of that.

V2-3 – Paul, in this seemingly simple example of marriage, gives extremely complex ideas that have baffled many. We are just as morally bound by the law as a bride is legally tied to her husband. And Paul gets confusing here, because his example is of the man dying and the woman being free. Then in v4, we see that it’s as if the woman has died. Paul does this for a couple of reasons. There are certain things that are not parallel between a human marriage and union with Christ, and he’s got to bring that out; first, Christ has actually died for us, and we’ve died in Him, as we’ve been united to him. So there are some differences between that and earthly marriages. Second, women don’t die and then get remarried. So, therefore, he has to alter this illustration in order for it to make sense. Third, Paul is not talking about every possible case that he can bring up with regard to marriage. Simply put, dying to sin and being free to obey God is like having a new husband after your previous marriage was severed by [your] death.