To approach the issue of whether such πορνεία as is not so much as named among the Gentiles¹ is of greater consequence than the παραπτώματι (a form of παράπτωμα) addressed in Galatians 6:1 I want to consider Romans 7.  But first I want to remind myself of that most forgotten part of the Gospel, the active ingredient, if you will, of the Gospel as a remedy for sin (Romans 6:3-8 NET).

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.   For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.  We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin (ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία) would no longer dominate (καταργηθῇ, a form of καταργέω) us, so that we would no longer be enslaved (δουλεύειν, a form of δουλεύω) to sin (ἁμαρτίᾳ).  (For someone who has died has been freed [δεδικαίωται, a form of δικαιόω] from sin [ἁμαρτίας, another form of ἁμαρτία].)  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Bearing in mind then that this death is one of the gifts of righteousness contained in the Gospel, I want to turn to chapter 7 where Paul contrasted those who through faith in Jesus Christ have become united with him in the likeness of his death to the person whose lord is the law (Romans 7:1 NET):

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives?

The word translated lord above is κυριεύει (a form of κυριεύω), to rule in Greek.  “The kings of the Gentiles lord (κυριεύουσιν, another form of κυριεύω) it over them,” Jesus told his disciples (Luke 22:25 NET).  In his letter to the Romans Paul continued with the following metaphor (Romans 7:2-4 NET):

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage.  So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress.  But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress.  So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.

This can seem like a complex mixed metaphor, but I think it’s actually simpler than it first appears.  If I start again with verse 1: the law is lord over a person as long as he lives.  The Greek word translated person is ἀνθρώπου (a form of ἄνθρωπος), humankind.  The metaphor involves ἄνθρωπος as God created us, male and female, ἀνήρ and γυνὴ.  The meaning of the metaphor is that the husband (ἀνήρ) represents the law and the wife (γυνή) represents all humanity (ἄνθρωπος).  In verse 2 then the married woman (ὕπανδρος γυνὴ) is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives like the law is lord over a person (ἀνθρώπου, a form of ἄνθρωπος) as long as he lives.  The word translated married (ὕπανδρος) is a compound of two words: ὑπό meaning under and ἀνδρός (a form of ἀνήρ), man, husband.  So I can see the metaphorical relationship between the wife under a man, ὕπανδρος γυνὴ,and the original state of all humankind (ἄνθρωπος), under law (ὑπό νόμος).²

The sexual overtones are real here and shouldn’t be ignored.  For instance, the word translated joined in Romans 7:3 is a euphemistic usage of γενέσθαι (a form of γίνομαι): If she be taken (made, done) by another man while her husband is still alive…  The same One who inspired Paul to write this metaphor created the hormonal and neuronal responses that make me feel this husband-wife relationship.  He made marriage to communicate something to me about my relationship to Him.  I don’t want to miss this understanding just because it makes me feel a little gay.  I want to know Him, for this is eternal life.³

The second part of verse 2 is where the metaphor seems to become confused: but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage (literally: τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός, the law of her man).  In verse 1 the law is lord over a person as long as he lives, and in verse 4a it was the believer who died not the husband/law.  The solution I think is that in everyday life a woman who dies is obviously released from the law of the marriage but she is not free to be taken (made, done) by another.  That only happens in everyday life if her husband dies.  And to be made free to be taken (made, done) by another was the point of the metaphor.

Since those who believe in Jesus Christ have become united with him in the likeness of his death and in the likeness of his resurrection⁴ they can both die to the law through the body of Christ and are made free to be taken (made, done) by another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.⁵  They are no longer under law, ὑπό νόμος, but under Christ, ὑπό Χριστός.

The ladies have the advantage when it comes to understanding what it means to be ὑπό Χριστός without feeling gay.  But I—who have known the joy and wonder of a wife who even briefly was willingly, happily, contentedly, eagerly and excitedly ὕπανδρος—have the advantage of understanding how discouraging and distressing it must be to the Lord Jesus when I come to Him with rules and regulations rather than willingly, happily, contentedly, eagerly and excitedly.  As I began to grasp the meaning of the metaphor in Romans 7 all my searching the Scripture for rules to obey seemed like a young wife, eager to start her family, studying a sex manual.  Her husband calls out amorously.  “Not now,” she says, “I have to figure out how to bear fruit!”

As I began to add Paul’s understanding in Galatians to this metaphor in Romans 7 I began to see any turning back to the law on my part, any attempt to justify myself by law, or make myself righteous by my efforts to keep laws, like this:  A young wife is eager to start her family.  Her husband calls out amorously, but all he hears is the slamming of the door behind her as she hurries off to hook-up with her ex.  Paul called it fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4 NET Table).

You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Here I find the meaning of adultery, even of πορνεία, why it is unlawful, why we were made to experience it the way we do.  I can grasp now why it would be as distasteful to God for me to simply walk away from the law—apart from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ shared as my own—as it would be for a wife to simply walk away from her husband to be taken (made, done) by another.  And it was in the face of this super πορνεία, if you will, against the Lord Jesus Himself that Paul wrote: if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness.⁶  In my mind that trumps such πορνεία as is not so much as named among the Gentiles⁷ and makes Paul’s earlier response to one man’s sin seem disproportionate by comparison.