Why Did Paul Place Funeral and Wedding Together in Romans 7:4?

 

Why Did Paul Place Funeral and Wedding Together in Romans 7:4?

Rom 7:4 So then, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were at work through the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

Rom 7:6 But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were held captive, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. 

Aspect	Why Did Paul Place Funeral and Wedding Together in Romans 7:4?
Reason	Paul uses the juxtaposition of funeral and wedding to illustrate the believer's identity transformation:  we have died as the old person and are united with Christ as the new person. This dual metaphor perfectly demonstrates the believer's new relationship with the law and with Christ.
Interrelationship	1. Funeral: We have died to the law, freed from the "old husband" (our old self) 2. Wedding: We are joined to the new husband (Christ), becoming the bride 3. Death releases one from old obligations (the law), while marriage establishes a new life relationship
Examples	1. Old husband (old self) → Death → Freedom from the bondage of the law 2. New person (wife) → Union with the resurrected Christ → Bearing fruit to God 3. The old relationship produces death, the new relationship produces God's life
Application	1. Believers no longer live by the law but by the indwelling Spirit, bearing fruit 2. Our actions are no longer dead works but bearing fruit to God 3. We serve not according to the old way of the law but according to the new way of the Spirit 4. In Christ we "die to live" and "die to marry," receiving a new source of life
Related Scripture	1. Romans 7:4-6 - The juxtaposition of funeral and wedding 2. Galatians 2:19-20 - The concept of "dying to live" 3. Romans 6:4-5 - Dying and resurrecting with Christ 4. 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Becoming a new creation in Christ 5. Galatians 5:22-23 - The fruit of the Spirit 6. Ephesians 5:31-32 - The mysterious marriage relationship between Christ and the church

 

This juxtaposition reveals the core transformation of Christian life:

our old self has died, freeing us from the bondage of the law; simultaneously, we are brought into a living relationship with Christ, bearing fruit in His resurrection life. This is not merely a positional change but a transformation in practical living: from bearing fruit to death to bearing fruit to God.

 

*Please refer to the 2025 International Chinese Conference Romans 5-8 - The Core of the Bible Chapter 4: The New Husband