I had asked in that post if Slade considered a widow who had married another man to have a "renewed" marriage contract or a new one.
Slade wrote:
The logic is wrong here. We are the widow who are then able to marry our True Husband. We are not divorced from Torah of Moses to marry Messiah, we are divorced from the "Torah of sin" (to quote D.Stern, I think) to marry Messiah.
There are two questions involved here. First, I was just asking whether or not a widow who married again was considered to have a renewed or new marriage contract. Can I assume that your answer here is that a widow who married again has a new marriage contract?
The second question concerns the passage in Romans. You say that we are not divorced from "Torah of Moses" to marry Messiah, but rather we are divorced from "Torah of sin." Let's examine that, but first let me affirm that we are indeed to divorce from the Torah of sin, and to consider ourselves dead to the Torah of sin, that we might be married to Messiah. We agree on that, but not on the Torah of Moses thing. Look at the passage for yourself.
Romans 7:3-13
(3) 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.
(4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
(5) For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
(6) But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
(7) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
(8) But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
(9) For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
(10) And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
(11) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
(12) Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
(13) Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Verse 3. Clearly this is Torah of Moses. The Torah of Moses is what prohibits adultery, but releases the woman to remarry in the case of death. The Torah of sin does not prohibit adultery. So verse 3 is speaking about the Torah of Moses. Agreed?
Verse 4. You believe that this verse is talking about Torah of sin while I believe it continues to talk about Torah of Moses. Why do I believe that? Because of the previous and subsequent verses.
Verse 5. The motions of sin, which were by the law... which law? The law of Moses, as he explains in verse 6 & 7.
Verse 6. Now we are delivered from the law... which law? The law of Moses, as he explains in verses 7 & 8.
Verse 7. Is the law sin? Well, if we were talking about the law of sin, the answer would be yes, but no, we are talking about the law of Moses. Therefore, verses 4, 5, & 6 leading up to this verse clearly has the law of Moses in view. This is most abundantly clear by what follows next. He actually quotes the law: I had not know lust, except the law had said, 'Thou shalt not covet.' Which law is this? Clearly not the law of sin, but the law of Moses. What Paul is explaining here is an interaction between the law of Moses and the law of sin in our members.
Verse 8. Without the law, sin was dead. Which law? Again, it is the law of Moses.
Look at verse 11: sin taking occasion by the commandment... which commandment? The commandment that comes from the law of Moses.
I could go on and on, but surely you get the point. The law Paul speaks about here is the law of Moses. He specifically quotes a commandment of that law (thou shalt not covet). More importantly, he is talking about a kind of relationship with the law, a covenant, whereby one seeks to be justified before God through observing the law of Moses. I believe you have used the word "legalism" to describe this covenant. He clearly uses words like "dead to the law" and "delivered from the law" in speaking about the law of Moses. This does not mean that Paul had something against the law of Moses. He clarifies this later, saying that the law is holy, just and good. Rather, he is speaking about a kind of relationship to that law, a covenant of law, which is now changed by the death of Christ.
I'm going to stop here, because I wonder if we are going to be able to discuss this. Let me know your thoughts thus far before we move forward.
Peace be with you.
David Miller.
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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