Legally Dead, Gloriously Remarried Text: Romans 7:1-6
Introduction: The Two Husbands
The Christian life is frequently misunderstood, not just by the world, but by many who sit in the pews. We have a tendency to think of our salvation as a kind of parole. We were in prison, condemned by the Law, and Jesus bailed us out. But the warden, the Law, is still watching us, clipboard in hand, ready to throw us back in the slammer the moment we step out of line. We live with a low grade spiritual anxiety, trying to be good enough for the parole officer, hoping we do not mess up too badly.
But the Apostle Paul, here in Romans 7, paints a picture that is altogether different. It is not a picture of parole, but of a funeral and a wedding. Our relationship to the Law has not been suspended; it has been terminated. And this termination was not a back alley deal or a clever escape. It was a perfectly legal, public, and irreversible death. Our freedom from the Law is not the freedom of an outlaw, but the freedom of a widow. And a widow is not free in order to live a life of lonely autonomy. She is free to remarry. Paul's central point here is that you cannot be married to two husbands at once. You were once married to Mr. Law. But you have died, and you are now married to another, Jesus Christ. To try to live the Christian life under the old terms of your first marriage is to commit spiritual adultery.
This passage is absolutely crucial for understanding the nature of sanctification. If we get this wrong, we will either fall into legalism, trying to please our new husband with the rules of the old one, or we will fall into antinomianism, thinking that because the first husband is dead, the very concept of marital faithfulness has been abolished. Both are disastrous errors. Paul shows us the true path: we are free from the Law as a covenant of works, so that we might be enabled to fulfill the Law from the heart, as a covenant of grace.
The Text
Or do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman has been bound by law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. So, my brothers, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
(Romans 7:1-6 LSB)
The Law's Jurisdiction (v. 1-3)
Paul begins with a self evident legal principle, and then illustrates it with marriage.
"Or do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law is master over a person as long as he lives?" (Romans 7:1 LSB)
Paul is addressing people who understand how law works. His point is simple: law has jurisdiction over the living. The dead are beyond its reach. A dead man cannot be sued for breach of contract. A corpse cannot be arrested for trespassing. The authority of the law ends at the grave. This is a foundational concept. The Law is not a friendly suggestion; it is a "master." It has dominion. And that dominion is coextensive with life.
He then provides a specific and powerful illustration of this principle.
"For the married woman has been bound by law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man." (Romans 7:2-3 LSB)
The "law concerning the husband" binds the wife to him for life. This bond is absolute. For her to be joined to another man while her husband lives is adultery. The only thing that can legally dissolve this binding is death. The death of the husband does not abolish the institution of marriage. It simply ends that particular marriage contract. It releases her from that specific bond. She is then free, entirely and honorably, to marry another. Her new marriage is not adulterous. It is good and right. The key is that a death has occurred, changing her legal status completely.
Our Death in Christ (v. 4)
Now Paul applies the illustration, and it contains a surprising twist.
"So, my brothers, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4 LSB)
Here is the twist. In the illustration, the husband died. In the application, we died. We were married to the Law, our first husband. But for us to be free, we had to die. How is this possible? We "were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ." Our death was a substitutionary one. When Christ was crucified, we who are united to Him by faith were crucified with Him. Our old self, the one who was married to the Law, was nailed to that tree. This was a legal, covenantal death. God reckons the death of our representative, Jesus, as our own death.
And why did this death happen? The purpose was not to leave us as free-floating spiritual singles. The purpose was remarriage. We died to the Law "so that you might be joined to another." Who is this new husband? It is "Him who was raised from the dead." Our first husband, the Law as a covenant of works, could only condemn and bring death. Our new husband, the resurrected Christ, is alive forevermore and brings life.
And this new marriage is not a barren one. The purpose of this union is fruitfulness: "in order that we might bear fruit for God." The Christian life is not about grimly trying to follow a rulebook. It is the natural, organic, joyful fruit that grows from a loving union with Jesus Christ. Love, joy, peace, patience, these are not the result of us clenching our fists and trying to be better. They are the beautiful children born of our marriage to the Son of God.
The Fruit of the First Marriage (v. 5)
Paul then reminds us what our first marriage was like. It is a bleak picture.
"For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." (Romans 7:5 LSB)
When we were "in the flesh," meaning in our unregenerate state in Adam, we were married to the Law. And what was the result? The Law, which is holy and good, had an unintended effect on our sinful nature. It "aroused" our sinful passions. The Law is like a bright light turned on in a dirty room. The light does not create the dirt, but it certainly reveals it and makes it more obvious. Tell a rebellious heart "Thou shalt not covet," and the immediate response of that heart is to start coveting everything in sight. The prohibition itself becomes a dare. The Law poked our sinful nature with a stick, and our sinful nature snarled back.
The fruit of this union was not righteousness. The passions stirred up by the Law worked in us "to bear fruit for death." This was a toxic, abusive marriage. It produced nothing but sin and condemnation. Every attempt to justify ourselves by our law-keeping only produced more sin, more failure, and ultimately, the sentence of death.
Service in the Newness of the Spirit (v. 6)
But the story does not end there. The contrast between the two marriages is stark.
"But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:6 LSB)
"But now" are two of the most beautiful words in Scripture. Everything has changed. We have been "released." The Greek word is the same one used for a woman being discharged from her marriage vows. How? "Having died to that by which we were constrained." The constraint, the bondage of our first marriage, has been broken by our legal death in Christ. The Law's demands for perfect obedience and its penalty of death have been fully met in our substitute.
And what is the result? Laziness? Lawlessness? No. The result is service. "So that we serve." But it is a completely different kind of service. We now serve "in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." The "oldness of the letter" was the external service of a slave to a master. It was about conforming to a written code out of fear, in the weakness of the flesh. It was trying to decorate a dead tree with ornaments.
The "newness of the Spirit" is the internal service of a beloved wife to her husband. The Holy Spirit has made us alive, given us a new heart, and written God's law upon it. We now serve out of love, gratitude, and a desire to please the one who bought us. Our obedience is not the cause of our relationship, but the fruit of it. It is the difference between a hired hand and a loving son. One works for wages, the other works for love. We have been set free from the bondage of the letter to enjoy the liberty of the Spirit.
Conclusion: A Joyful Fidelity
So where does this leave us? It leaves us gloriously and securely married to Jesus Christ. We must stop thinking like spiritual parolees, trying to earn our standing before God. That is the logic of the first husband, and you are dead to him. To continue in that mindset is to be unfaithful to your new husband.
Our relationship with God's law has been radically transformed. The Law is no longer our adversary, a prosecuting attorney seeking our condemnation. Because we are in Christ, the Law is now our friend. It is our family code, the wisdom of our Father, showing us how to please our new husband. We obey, not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. We serve, not in the "oldness of the letter," with its fear and death, but in the "newness of the Spirit," with its life and liberty and love.
Your task is not to keep one eye on Jesus and the other eye on your old husband, the Law. Your task is to recognize that you have been honorably released from that first marriage through death. You are now united to the risen Christ. Look to Him. Love Him. Serve Him. And as you do, you will find, to your great surprise and delight, that you are bearing the very fruit of righteousness that the Law always demanded but could never produce in you.