In Romans 7:4, Paul wrote, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
Paul’s point was that the law of Moses was superceded by faith in Christ. The new law of faith began at the death of Jesus, a new covenant, ratified by His blood. With this the Hebrew writer agreed, say that Jesus “is the Mediator of a new covenant, by means of death” (9:15). “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” (16).
Paul used the analogy of marriage to establish the point. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. If a woman marries another man when her husband is alive, she is guilty of adultery. “But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband” (7:2). The way analogies work is they illustrate or lend credence to a truth. This is possible only if the analogy itself is true. It would make no sense otherwise.
What does that teach us? Marriage is a lifetime commitment! The phrase “till death do us part” has great import in the mind of God. The question is, does it to us as well? The institution is not well respected in our time. But the Christian should know marriage is for life!
