Spiritual Adultery

2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband। 3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Rom 7: 2-4)


Here, the Apostle Paul is using the analogy of marriage to explain our relationship with the law. We were born into this world married to the law. How did that happen? When Adam ate from the law tree (tree of knowledge of good and evil), we who were in Adam, got married to the law system (Mr. Law). The law system or legalism is a system of knowing what is right and wrong, and then observing those rules to make spiritual progress. It is based on our performance.

Being married to Mr.Law is a miserable life because he is always condemning and critical (2 Cor 3:7, 9). He points out our faults, but never does anything to help us live a godly life (Gal 3:21). It is a lifetime of struggling in vain against sin and attempting to achieve righteousness.

How do we get free from this marriage with Mr.Law? When one person in the marriage dies, the other person is set free from that relationship. But Mr.Law is not going to die. Therefore, Rom 7:4 says that, we were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, thereby setting us free from the marriage with Mr. Law, so that we might be joined to another man (Mr.Grace). Gal 2:19 says that Paul died to the law so that he might live unto God. When Christ died on the cross, our old man that was married to the law, died with Christ. We are now born again in our spirits and are married to a new person Mr. Grace (Jesus Christ). Therefore we have NO RELATIONSHIP with Mr.Law or the system of religious rules.

Mr. Grace never condemns us (Rom 8:1), he loves us and adores us. He gives us a wedding gift – the gift of righteousness (Rom 5:17b). He offers us a life of rest, free from our toils and labors (Matt 11:28, 29). Grace says that we are blessed, not because of our performance, but because we are in Christ and what He has done on our behalf.

Now, what happens when we fail to fully understand our relationship with Jesus Christ? What happens when we feel like we need to observe certain religious rules to please God and make spiritual progress? We begin to flirt with our ex-spouse (Mr.Law) again. What is it called when we are married to one, but involved in an affair with another? It is called ADULTERY. Remember, Christ loved us so much, that He took us with Him on the cross, so we could die to the law, be set free from that relationship, and as a result be joined to Him. We don’t want to turn our backs to His love and commit spiritual adultery. Let us therefore be conscious of our relationship with Him and His life in us, thereby resisting the lure and deception of spiritual adultery.