Thursday, 6 June 2013
So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Romans 7:3
“So then if” takes into consideration the previous verse. That a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. However, should he die before she does, then she is no longer bound to him, but if he is alive she remains bound to him…. So then if, while in this state, she marries somebody else, she “will be called” an adulterous.
The Geneva Bible says, “That is, she will be an adulteress, by the consent and judgment of all men.” She not only is “called an adulterous” as if she were somehow being improperly maligned, but she is called it as a matter of fact. She has betrayed her vow to her husband and before God.
However, Paul continues – if her husband dies before she does, then the law which bound her to him dies with him; she is free from the obligation and the vow which made them one. Even though she has a new husband, nobody can mark her as an adulteress. She is free to commit herself to him, wholly and entirely. This example is given to show us a theological truth which will be explained in the verse to come.
Life application: As you are bound to your spouse while they live, live as if they live. Be faithful in your marriage and in your promise which you spoke before your Creator.
Heavenly Father, You have blessed me with my spouse, knowing in advance everything that I would face along this path of my marriage. There are joys, but there are struggles – Oh how there are struggles! But through both joy and trial, You have commanded that I abide as I vowed to do. Because I have vowed with my lips in Your presence, I will perform my vow to the one I wed. Amen.