¹ Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? ² For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. ³ 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. ⁴ Therefore, my brethren, 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.

Diving into the illustration, Paul’s imagery is quite clear. The relationship a Christian has to the Law of Moses is very much like the relationship a woman has to her husband who is no longer alive. Paul used the teaching of the Law of Moses concerning marriage to make his point. In particular, the phrase “a married woman” is worded in the original language to emphasize her position under the husband’s authority, which was a wife’s legal status in Israel. A wife was not allowed to divorce her husband, whereas a husband could divorce his wife under certain circumstances (see, for example, Deut 24:1-4). While we can see the dichotomy of “rights” is overridden in New Testament teachings, the illustration here is not meant to validate the Mosaic teaching for Christians, but simply to illustrate a truth.

While the husband was alive, the woman was bound to his authority over her. And she could not have another man as her authority, that is, a different husband. To do so would be committing adultery. But if and when the husband died, she was free from his authority, and the law of adultery did not apply if she married another man. The first husband no longer had control over her, nor did his family. The real point is that she was free from the law that says she must be under his authority. Where there is death, the law loses its authority.

The apostle now shifts his reference slightly so the comparison is not exact, but very suitable for his analogy. The Law has jurisdiction over those who are alive. However, we who are believers have died in Christ through faith. We are dead to the Law, so to speak. The Law is like the husband to whom we were betrothed, but our spiritual death has freed us from that spiritual husband, that spiritual authority over us. Now, being united to Christ in His resurrection (see Rom 6:4-7), we are “married” to Him, that is, under His jurisdiction and authority, and not the Law’s. Praise God, we are absolutely free from the eternal judgment the Law wields over the human soul. We are free at last and forever!

Praise to You, my gracious and heavenly Justifier, who has given me new life.