The Dead Husband: Freedom from the Law Through Christ

Based on Bible Study by Scott Mitchell: The Dead Husband: Freed from the Law to Be Married to Christ

The Apostle Paul presents a profound truth in Romans 7:1–4. He uses the analogy of marriage to reveal how believers are freed from the law through Christ’s death and resurrection. Just as a woman is free to marry another when her husband dies, so too are we delivered from the bondage of the law by the death of Christ. This picture of the dead husband is central to understanding our liberty in the gospel.

The Law as a Dead Husband

Romans 7:1–4 reminds us that “the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth.” Paul explains that the law, like a husband, bound Israel under obligation. But when the husband dies, the woman is free. Likewise, when Christ fulfilled the law and took its curse upon Himself, those who believe are made free.

Mahlon, whose name means “sick,” serves as a type of the law (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 7:18–19). The law was weak through the flesh and could not bring righteousness. Just as Ruth’s husband died, leaving her in need of a redeemer, so the law died in Christ, leaving us in need of the Redeemer who brings life.

Ruth and the Gentile Church

Ruth as a Type of the Body of Christ

Ruth’s very name means “friendly.” She is a picture of the Gentile body of Christ (Isaiah 65:1; Romans 10:20–21). She was an outsider, yet she found grace in the eyes of Boaz. Her story reveals how the Lord brought salvation to the Gentiles after Israel stumbled at the stumbling stone (Romans 10:1–4).

Boaz the Redeemer

Boaz, whose name means “fleetness,” represents Jesus Christ, the true Redeemer (Revelation 22:12–13; Isaiah 44:6). In Ruth 4, Boaz fulfills the role of kinsman-redeemer, a foreshadowing of Christ purchasing the church with His own blood.

The nearer kinsman, representing unbelieving Israel, would not redeem Ruth (Ruth 4:1–6). But Boaz, as a type of Christ, had the power and willingness to redeem her. This is the heart of the gospel: what the law could not do, Christ accomplished by His death and resurrection (Romans 8:2–4).

Israel’s Rejection and Christ’s Fulfillment

The Sadducees in Matthew 22:23–30 tried to trap the Lord with the law of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5). Their question revealed not faith but unbelief. Jesus corrected them, declaring God is the God of the living, not the dead.

Israel’s leaders rejected the Son, as seen in Matthew 21:33–39, and the kingdom was taken and given to a nation bringing forth its fruits (Matthew 21:42–43). In Christ, the law is fulfilled, nailed to His cross (Colossians 2:13–14). He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4).

The Mystery of Marriage to Christ

Paul speaks of the church as being espoused to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Ephesians 5:30–32). The mystery of marriage finds its highest fulfillment not in the union of man and woman, but in the union of Christ and His church.

When the law, our dead husband, was put away through Christ’s death, we were free to be joined to another—even to Him who is raised from the dead (Romans 7:4). In Him, we serve not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the Spirit (Romans 7:6).

Righteousness by Faith Alone

The law brought the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19–20) but could never justify. Righteousness is now manifested through faith in Christ Jesus, freely by His grace (Romans 3:21–26). Hebrews 7:19 declares, “the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did.”

That better hope is Christ, the true Redeemer, the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:12–13). In Him we are justified, redeemed, and set free.

Conclusion

The lesson of the dead husband is this: the law, like Mahlon, was sick and powerless to save. In Christ’s death, the law was fulfilled and put away. Believers are now free to be married to Christ, our Redeemer, who grants life and righteousness.

The story of Ruth and Boaz points us to this truth. Ruth, a Gentile, found redemption not through the law but through the love of her redeemer. Likewise, we are saved not by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. He alone is the Redeemer who makes us His bride.