“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?” Romans 7:1
This pericope, for which verse 7 is the introduction, references back to chapter 6:14; we should then see 6:15-23 as a kind of digressio—a rhetorical device in which the speaker (writer in this case) digresses from his main point to make an equally important and relevant point—where Paul makes our new life in Christ analogous to slavery (we can have only one master). The institution of slavery would be recognized by Jew and Gentile alike, and by this example, Paul is able to demonstrate why a person no longer under the law should not continue to be a slave to sin but a slave to righteousness.
In verses 1-6, Paul begins speaking specifically to those who know the law and makes a legal argument about marriage they will more easily apprehend. It is in at least one way more apropos to our real condition in Christ. Death nullifies the covenant of the law which was binding only on living men.
Paul will show how a bride can only be married to one man at a time. If the first husband dies (the Law), she can be married to another (Christ).
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