Articles
"Married" Does not Equal "Bound"
“MARRIED” DOES NOT EQUAL “BOUND”
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 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” (Rom 7:1-3).
This Scripture makes a distinction between being bound and being married. Verse 3 shows that it is possible to be bound to one mate while married to another. This is the case of the woman who, while her first husband lives, marries another man. She is still bound to the first man even though she has married another man. By being married to another man while still being bound to the first man, she is an adulteress – she is living in adultery. On the other hand, if her husband dies and she marries another man, then she is not an adulteress. Why? Because she is released – no longer bound to the first man. And so she is free to become bound and married to another man.
Being married to one while being bound to another is adultery. This truth harmonizes with and sheds light upon the truth of Matthew 19:9, where Jesus said, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Why is it adultery when a man divorces his wife for any cause – not for fornication – and remarries? Why is it adultery when a man marries the woman who has been divorced? True, it is enough that Jesus said it is adultery. But it harmonizes with the teaching in Romans 7 about “bound.” The man who divorces his wife for some cause other than fornication and marries another woman is still bound to his first wife, whom he had no right to divorce, and yet he has married a new wife. That’s adultery. The woman who is divorced by her husband who remarries is still bound to her first husband who had no right to divorce her, and yet she is married to another man. That’s adultery.
On the other hand, Matthew 19:9 gives one exception, which is that when a man divorces his wife for her fornication and then remarries, he does not commit adultery. It is enough that Jesus said it; I accept it. But what is going on when we apply the truth of Romans 7? When he divorced his wife for her fornication, he was freed from being bound to her. He is free to marry another, and it is not adultery to do so. Does his being free then make his first wife, who was guilty of fornication, free from being bound so that she can marry another? No, because Matthew 19:9 says that if she remarries, the one who marries her, as well as she, commit adultery.
Some false teachings about divorce and remarriage hinge upon a lack of distinction between being married and being bound. Making the distinction will help us recognize error and unlawful marriages. “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Even though adulterers are married, they are not bound together. God does not join together adulterers, but to the contrary He will judge them.
When a person decides to marry, he/she needs to be sure both he/she and the one he/she marries are not already bound to any other, lest they both commit adultery.
