MARRIED TO CHRIST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 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.”

“So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”

Romans 7:1-6

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you know that every single person is married, spiritually that is?

The biblical principle of marriage is grounded in a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman, an enduring relationship not only ordained by God but sustained through Him. Through their everlasting vow to one another, the husband and wife leave behind the opportunity to have different partners because they have chose to give themselves fully to God’s chosen mate. In other words, the two are one flesh as the Bible describes in referring to the first married couple, Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:24).

Now, from a physical perspective, not everyone will be married in life. Many go through a lifetime from cradle to grave single and there’s no wrong in this when it’s the Lord’s will for it to happen. Likewise, not everyone will commit themselves to Jesus either. Many choose to simply reject Him as they go through this worldly life day by day.

So it would appear that marriage looks the same from a physical and spiritual viewpoint but that couldn’t be further from the truth because when it comes to one’s spiritual side, everyone is married to one of two things. We learn this in today’s passage from the opening six verses of Romans 7. There Paul writes the following:

“Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 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.”

“So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”  Romans 7:1-6

Here we find Paul discussing the matter of marriage from a worldly perspective before using it as an illustration to relay a spiritual truth. In doing so, he followed the lead of Jesus who used the same teaching method over and over again in His earthly ministry. The strategy was to talk about something that the audience could all relate to and then turn it toward instruction which would lead the listener or reader toward righteous and holy living.

First, Paul talks about the law, reminding the Romans that it only held authority over a person while they were alive. He then uses the matter of marriage to prove his point.

When a man and woman got married, they were bound to one another in holy matrimony as long as they remained alive. Any sexual relationship outside of marriage would constitute the sin of adultery, a sin that God commanded against (Exodus 20:14).

But what if the husband or wife died? How would that change things?

Well, the widowed partner would no longer be bound to the marital covenant agreement. He or she is released from the requirements of the law that once were applied to the relationship. Therefore, if the man and woman chose to enter into another marriage, that tryst would not be considered adulterous. It would be perfectly legal and appropriate.

With this illustration made, Paul turns to the spiritual point he was making to the readers of his letter in Rome. For all people are married spiritually to one of two things.

People living for the world and therefore under the law did so through the “realm of the flesh” which aroused “sinful passions” that went to work within to bear “fruit for death”. This is what the bondage of sin looks like to anyone who marries themselves to it. This is what spiritual marriage looks like outside of Jesus as one is betrothed to evil and wickedness through their transgressions. They are unfaithful and adulterous to the One who came to be married to them and bring them out of sin to eternal life.

Conversely, we have Christians who have accepted the invitation of Christ, the bridegroom. These Jesus believers have “died to the law through the body of Christ” so that they “might belong to another”, turning away from iniquity and to Jesus “who was raised from the dead” so they might reap a harvest of “fruit for God”. Married to Jesus, Christians faithfully live and walk with Him by faith and not sight, led by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So all this leads us to two important questions:

Who are you married to?

Is it the world or is it Jesus?

Married to the world is a marriage of the flesh, a union with sin, and a future appointment with hell and its associated damnation, torment, and suffering.

God didn’t wish this for anyone who He provide a way for us to instead enjoy eternal joy, peace, and hope, a life free from all the afflictions and sins of this world. All we need to do is commit ourselves to a spiritual marriage with Jesus so that we might gain eternity and the glory of the God’s kingdom as we live with our Lord now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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