Rom 7:1-3, 1Cor 7:10-17 | PNT | STEP | Deliverance from Bondage SUMMARY OF ROMANS 7: Death Releases from the Power of the Law. This Illustrated by Marriage. But We Are Dead to the Law. It Slew Christ and We Have Died with Him. We Are Also Dead to Sin. While the Law Reveals Sin, It Is Holy. The Struggle of the Carnal Nature Under the Law. The Deliverance Through Jesus Christ. I speak to them that know the law . Not "the law", but "law"; know the powers of law. How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth . The argument of the Jews was that the law of Moses was of perpetual obligation, but they knew that death released a man from its power. It reigned only over the living.

‏ Romans 7:1-3

Deliverance from Bondage SUMMARY OF ROMANS 7: Death Releases from the Power of the Law. This Illustrated by Marriage. But We Are Dead to the Law. It Slew Christ and We Have Died with Him. We Are Also Dead to Sin. While the Law Reveals Sin, It Is Holy. The Struggle of the Carnal Nature Under the Law. The Deliverance Through Jesus Christ.

I speak to them that know the law. Not "the law", but "law"; know the powers of law.

How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. The argument of the Jews was that the law of Moses was of perpetual obligation, but they knew that death released a man from its power. It reigned only over the living. For the woman which hath an husband is bound, etc. This principle of law is shown from the marriage relation. Death severs it, and after it the marriage covenant is not binding. A woman can marry again without committing adultery.

‏ 1 Corinthians 7:10-17

To the married I command. Some might say, "If the unmarried state is best now, it will be better to leave our married partner". He replies, "The Lord commands otherwise" (Mr 10:12 Mt 5:32 19:9). But and if she shall depart, etc. Provided, despite the prohibition, there is such disagreement that she leaves her husband, she must remain unmarried, or be reconciled.

Let not the husband put away [his] wife. The wife "departs", because she leaves the home; the husband "puts away his wife", by sending her off. Both are equally prohibited. The same rules apply to each sex. Among the Jews, only the husband exercised the right of divorce; among the Greeks and Romans, the wife exercised it equally with the husband. To the rest I speak, not the Lord. On the circumstances that follow, the Lord has not directly spoken, as he did on divorce; hence, Paul speaks by inspiration.

If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, etc. If either husband or wife is converted, and the other is not, they must not on this account forsake the unbelieving helpmeet, provided he or she is pleased to remain. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, etc. This passage has been much debated, and little understood. The unbelieving husband or wife is not made personally holy, not do the children of believers have personal holiness transmitted to them by virtue of birth relation. Sanctification, then, means something besides personal holiness. To sanctify is to separate to a sacred use, or relation (Ex 20:8 28:38). Food is "sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1Ti 4:4,5). Here Paul uses the term to denote that one Christian member of a household brings a sanctifying influence to it, so that all the members are to be regarded as separated in part from the great, ungodly, unclean world. Nehemiah commanded Jews to part from heathen wives on the ground that they were ceremonially unclean (Ne 13:23-27). Paul insists, rather, that the believer cleanses the other, and that the unbelieving partner, or the children, are rendered ceremonially clean.

But now are they holy. Brought into such a sacred relation that the unbelieiving partners are under the power of sacred influences, and not to be counted as sources of defilement. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. If the unbelieving husband or wife insists upon making the Christian profession a ground of separation, let them have their way. Examples of this kind occur in every age, and the rule is always applicable.

God hath called us to peace. Hence, if strife must prevail to prevent separation, let the other go. What knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save [thy] husband? etc. Let the Christian be gentle, forbearing, unselfish, though true to Christ, and perhaps the result will be that they will be God's means to save their partner. This has occurred in thousands of instances. As God hath distributed to every man, etc. "This I would add", says Paul in effect, "whatever may be the lot and special circumstances of each man, single, married, or deserted on account of Christianity, let him walk in it without seeking a change".