Romans 7:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

NIV: So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

NASB: So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man.

CSB: So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

NLT: So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

KJV: So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

NKJV: 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.

Earlier, the book of Romans mentioned that salvation in Christ involves a kind of spiritual "death." The prior context was in turning from sin, and instead choosing to be alive in Christ. Here, Paul is explaining how this same idea means freedom from the obligations of the law. This verse concludes an idea begun in the previous verse. It is an illustration of Paul's point that someone who has died is no longer bound to follow the law of Moses.

To show this, he points to the "law of marriage" that binds two people together. Paul has written that a married woman is released from this law if her husband dies. Now he repeats this idea, adding that if a woman lives with another man while she is still married, she will be known as an adulteress. If her husband dies, however, the law no longer holds her. She is free to marry another man.

Paul will again state, in the following verse, that Christians have died in a spiritual sense, freeing us from our spiritual obligation to the law.

Romans 7:1–6 contains Paul's teaching that those in Christ have been released from following the law of Moses. Why? Our association with Christ's death on the cross created in us a kind of spiritual death that led to a new spiritual life. Paul illustrates his point by pointing to the law of marriage. A woman whose husband has died is released from her commitment to that husband. In the same way, we are released from our obligation to the law and freed up to serve in the new way of the Spirit.

In Romans 7, Paul describes the relationship between Christians and law of Moses and between the law and human sinfulness. Because we died spiritually when we came to faith in Christ, Christians have been freed from our obligation to follow the law. Paul insists, though, that the law is holy and good in the sense that it reveals to all who try to follow it just how very sinful we are. The law shows us that no matter how good our intentions, we still end up in sin and in need of the deliverance available only through faith in Jesus.

Romans 6 revealed that those in Christ have died to sin and are no longer slaves to it. Romans 7 begins by showing that, in Christ, we have also died to our obligation to follow the law of Moses. Paul makes clear, though, that the law is holy and good because it reveals to us just how sinful we are. Paul describes how his failed attempts to follow the law convinced him more fully of his need to be delivered from his sinfulness by God through faith in Christ. Romans 8 will explore many of the benefits of being in Christ.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.