Romans 7:3 : So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man. Here again is a fixed law concerning the marriage relation. When one pledges one's self to another in marriage, it is a base thing to break the marriage vows by immoral practices. But let us not forget that Paul is using this marriage relation to illustrate a principle that is involved in our relations to the law and to the Christ. Our close union with the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul, by a figure of speech, speaks of as marriage to him. The relation of the people of Israel to Jehovah under the Old Testament was frequently spoken of under the same figure of speech. When the people then turned from Jehovah to worship idols and to mix in the religions of other people, Jehovah accused them of being guilty of whoredom and adultery. "She committed adultery with stones and with stocks" (Jeremiah 3:9). "With their idols have they committed adultery" (Ezekiel 23:37). So long as the law was of force, they could not be married to another.