How Do the Harlot and the Bride Come Into Being?

“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.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Rom. 7:1-4.

We—our mind, our spirit—are the woman. The man is the flesh, because we read, “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work . . . .” Verse 5. Many are of the opinion that the law is the man; but this cannot be, because the law binds the woman to the man. As long as the man—the flesh—lives, the woman is under the law. She can only be released from the law by the death of the man. Therefore it is written, “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by” (i.e., dead to the things that held our minds, our spirits, captive). Verse 6. What was it then that held us captive? It was the man—the flesh—because it was God’s judgment over the woman that the man should rule over her. Gen. 3:16. The man is the head of the woman. 1 Cor. 11:3.1

There are many women who are tired of their first husband’s leadership, and they desire another. If a woman marries another man while her first husband is still alive, she is an adulteress. However, if her first husband should die, she is free from the law so that she will not be an adulteress if she should marry another man.

In the same way, there are many people who are tired of being led by the flesh. Rom. 8:7-8. They desire to be free; they long for the man to die. For them Paul brings a liberating message: “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Rom. 7:4.

Paul tells us that we are dead to the law by the body of Christ and released from that which held us captive—the flesh, the first man. How can this happen by “the body of Christ”? It is because Jesus had exactly the same flesh as we have. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . . .” Heb. 2:14.

Paul begins his letter to the Romans by explaining this. He says this is through the gospel of God “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Rom. 1:3-4. Here Paul points out the dual nature of Jesus—according to the flesh and according to the spirit. Notice how he carries this duality through the entire letter to the Romans, particularly in Chapter 8.

Peter says in 1 Peter 3:18, “He . . . being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.” We see here that the first man was put to death by the body of Christ. This is what Paul tells us in Romans 6:6: “Knowing this,” (unfortunately, there are not many who know this, and so they continue in bondage to the first man) “that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” This is indeed a gospel—glad tidings—for people who are tired of the first man—the flesh, the old man! Paul continues to make this clear to the Romans and goes on to say, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit . . . .” “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” Rom. 8:9 and 12. The first man has been put to death. Christ brought him into death. Therefore we don’t owe him anything! Now we are free to marry another without becoming an adulteress. We will receive as our husband the one who has been raised from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, so that we can bear fruit for God.

Jesus says that no man can be His disciple unless he hates even his own life. Luke 14:26. “My own life” is my life under the first man’s rule, the rule of the flesh. It is impossible to come to Jesus unless I hate the old man, because if I love them both, I am an adulteress. In this hatred there is an acceptance and agreement with the death of Christ over the first man, and by faith it becomes a reality in me. In other words, without hating my own life, I cannot become a partaker of this death through the body of Christ.

The mind of the flesh is hostile to God. It cannot be obedient to God’s law. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Jesus destroyed this enmity on the cross, and in His flesh He abolished the law. Eph. 2:14-18.

Now we can understand how the harlot comes into being. If we come to Jesus without hating ourselves according to the flesh, our heart is divided. We are adulterous, and James says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15.

This is how the harlot comes into being. The name “harlot” cannot be attached only to one particular denomination, but let each one take heed that he is not adulterous according to God’s Word!

The bride comes into being when we believe in the work of Christ and repent. We come to Him and hate our own life. Thus we receive the Spirit of Christ, and we have the power to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. Paul says such people belong to Christ. Gal. 5:24. They are faithful to the leading of the Spirit, and consequently the bride comes into being.