FAITH: Comes by Hearing the Word of God
Romans 7:1–3: Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 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.
FAITH: Comes by Studying the Word of God
Some folk insist that divorce and remarriage is not permitted under any circumstances according to this verse. We need to thoroughly understand the background. Suppose a woman is married to a man who is a philanderer, and he is unfaithful to her. What happens? He is stoned to death. When the old boy is lying under a pile of stones, she is free to marry another. In our day we cannot apply the Mosaic Law—we can’t stone to death the unfaithful. And Paul is not giving us instructions on divorce and remarriage here; he will do that elsewhere. The point Paul is making here is that when a woman’s husband dies, she is no longer a wife, she is a single woman again. This is, I think, a universal principle among civilized people. 1
FAITH: Comes by Obeying the Word of God
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. 1 Corinthians 7:39
The law can bind or break us. Both can be good, depending on your circumstances.
FAITH: Comes by Experiencing the Transforming Work of God
Death changes everything. When the old man dies, the new man lives.
FAITH: Comes by Praying with the Word of God
For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. Proverbs 6:23
Dear Father, give me a heart of obedience to Your Word…in Jesus Name. Amen.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Romans 1-8) (electronic ed., Vol. 42, p. 123). Nashville.
