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Romans 7:1
Paul states that the law has "dominion" over a man only as long as he lives. Some have interpreted this to mean that, now that we have died with Christ, the law is no longer binding on Christians. Indeed, some modern translations of the Bible translate this verse to say just that. However, note how Paul uses this word "dominion" in other places.
In Romans 6:9, Paul speaks of Christ's immortality now that He has been resurrected, saying, "Death no longer has dominion over Him." During the period that Christ was a flesh-and-blood human being, He could die, and He did die on the stake. Now, however, death no longer has any power over Him, because He is an immortal Spirit Being.
In Romans 6:14, Paul uses the same word to describe our relationship with sin. "For sin shall not have dominion over you." Here he shows how our past sins have been forgiven, and we have access to Christ's atoning grace for forgiveness of future sins. Therefore, sin no longer has the power to condemn us to death.
Throughout Romans 6 and 7, the Greek word translated "dominion" is kurieuo, meaning "exercise lordship over." Paul uses this term in the context of having power over something. In Romans 6:9 and 14, he states that death and sin no longer have power to harm us or to cause any adverse effect in our lives.
Now we can better understand Paul's meaning in Romans 7:1. In this verse, Paul explains how the law has "power" over a human being only while he lives. He means the law has power to condemn us as a sinner and, consequently, condemn us to death only as long as we are alive. Once we have died, the penalty for sin has been paid, and the law has no more power to condemn us.
Earl L. Henn
Dead to the Law?Related Topics: Antinomian | Death | Death Penalty | Dominion | God's Law | Jesus Christ's Sacrifice | Justification | Sin | Sin's Dominion | Sin's Effect
Romans 7:1-3
The law Paul refers to here is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament; no verse in the Old Testament says a man and wife shall be married "until death do they part." Those words are nowhere in the Bible. Neither is the phrase, "as long as you both shall live," used in many wedding ceremonies, although it is implied in Romans 7. Nevertheless, the principle is unquestionably in both testaments, showing the continuity throughout God's Word.
Paul makes God's instruction about the marriage union very clear. Marriage is for life, except for a limited number of circumstances that are explained by both Christ in Matthew 19 (and related places in the other gospels) and Paul in I Corinthians 7. God says that He hates divorce in Malachi 2:16, and He therefore provides only a bare minimum of "outs" from the marriage covenant.
The "marriage is for life" principle is definitely in the Bible. In I Corinthians 7:10, Paul restates the church's teaching unequivocally: "Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband." With all the authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul affirms God's desire for a lifelong union, this time positing it in the negative. It should be added that, despite his commanding the wife not to depart from her husband, "what is good for the goose is good for the gander," as the saying goes.
I Corinthians 7:39 repeats the apostle's doctrinal statement from Romans 7, adding an interesting caveat: "A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord." The caveat concerns a person's conversion status. If a woman's husband dies while she is a member of the church, she is free to remarry, but "only in the Lord." In other words, she can marry only another converted member of the church, and without doubt, that is the best thing for her to do if she wishes to remarry.
Jesus comments on Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 in Mark 10:6-9:
But from the beginning of the creation, God "made them male and female." "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.
Clearly, the Bible consistently emphasizes lifelong marriage—from the Book's opening salvos in Genesis to Malachi, throughout the Gospels, in the epistles of the apostles, and even in the final chapters of Revelation. On the other hand, human beings try to find loopholes for splitting up. However, the Bible is not a book that provides many legal loopholes. In fact, it contains so few regulations concerning divorce that it takes a fair bit of scholarship to figure out exactly what Jesus and Paul, especially, mean when they give the few reasons for divorce. It is not simple but a matter that must be deeply considered.
Our God is a very positive God. Throughout His Book, He emphasizes His desire—His intent—for a man and a woman to remain married for life. As we see from Jesus' statement regarding marriage, the first two chapters of Genesis provide the core principles regarding marriage. Other biblical scriptures about marriage are based on what we read about the first human couple in Genesis 1-3. In the end, it comes down to one concept: A man and his wife are to be one flesh joined together by God. Jesus sums it up by saying that, since "they are no longer two, but one flesh," they should not be separated.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Six)Related Topics: Continuity, Principle of | Divorce | God Created Male and Female | God Hates Divorce | Marriage as a Lifelong Union | Marriage for Life Principle | Marriage Partners to Become One Flesh | One Flesh | Remarry "Only in the Lord"
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What Does Romans 7:1 Mean?
The law Paul references concerns marriage, though no verse explicitly states a couple remains married until death. Still, the principle of lifelong marriage permeates Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Marriage is for life, with only a few exceptions noted by Christ and Paul. God hates divorce, providing minimal grounds for it. In I Corinthians 7, Paul commands wives not to depart, adding that a widow may remarry, but only in the Lord. The Greek word for "dominion," kurieuo, means to exercise lordship over. Just as death no longer has dominion over Christ, and sin no longer has dominion over believers, the law's dominion is its power to condemn a person as a sinner. Once death occurs, sin's penalty is paid, removing the law's condemning power.