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Romans 7

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Freedom from the Law Illustrated 1–6

1
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? ​
2
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. ​
5
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. ​
6
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. ​

The Purpose and Goodness of the Law 7–13

7
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. ​
8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. ​
9
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. ​
10
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. ​
11
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
12
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. ​
13
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. ​

The Conflict of the Two Natures 14–25

14
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. ​
15
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. ​
16
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. ​
18
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ​
19
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. ​
22
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: ​
23
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ​
24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ​
25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Romans 7

Verse 1

the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth — Kyrieuo, to lord it over, is the language of rule. The principle is that death ends a legal claim; the marriage picture of vv.2–3 applies it. 'Them that know the law' are those who know its rule on marriage and, by extension, its limits.

Verse 4

dead to the law by the body of Christ — Thanatoo, to put to death, in the passive: believers were made dead to the law through his crucified body (cf. Gal 2:19, 'I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God'). The new husband is 'him who is raised from the dead', and the purpose is 'fruit unto God'.

Verse 5

in the flesh — Sarx here is the unrenewed state, not the body as such. The 'motions' (pathema, passions) of sins were stirred 'by the law' and worked 'in our members' toward 'fruit unto death', the counterpart of 'fruit unto God' in v.4.

Verse 6

newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter — Kainotes (renewal) against palaiotes (oldness); 'letter' is gramma, the written code. 'The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life' (2 Cor 3:6). The law is not condemned: those 'held' by it are released, it being 'dead' to them.

Verse 7

Thou shalt not covet — The tenth commandment (Ex 20:17), the only commandment Paul cites in this chapter. Epithymeo is to set the heart on, an inward desire no outward act betrays, so the law exposes it: 'by the law is the knowledge of sin' (Rom 3:20). 'God forbid' rejects any charge against the law itself.

Verse 8

sin, taking occasion by the commandment — Aphorme is a starting-point, a base of operation; sin is personified as using the commandment as one. 'Concupiscence' is epithymia, the noun of 'covet' in v.7. 'Dead' (nekros) means inactive, not non-existent; the same occasion-taking returns in v.11.

Verse 9

sin revived, and I died — Anazao, to live again: sin, dormant, sprang to life when 'the commandment came', and the 'I' that thought itself alive was shown to be dead. Paul could elsewhere call himself, 'touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless' (Phil 3:6), until the commandment's reach was grasped.

Verse 10

ordained to life — The commandment promised life to the keeper: 'which if a man do, he shall live in them' (Lev 18:5). 'I found' (heurisko) reports a discovery: through sin's use of it (v.11), the very commandment meant for life proved 'unto death'. The fault lies not in the commandment.

Verse 12

holy, and just, and good — Three adjectives (hagios, dikaios, agathos) answer 'Is the law sin?' (v.7), the law and the commandment each being holy. 'The law of the LORD is perfect' (Ps 19:7); 'the law is good, if a man use it lawfully' (1 Tim 1:8).

Verse 13

exceeding sinful — Hyperbole (beyond measure) with hamartolos, sinful. Two purpose clauses: 'that it might appear sin' and 'that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful'. Sin, not the good law, brings death; its use of a good commandment to kill exposes its true character.

Verse 14

carnal, sold under sin — Sarkikos, fleshly, is set against the law as pneumatikos, spiritual. 'Sold' (piprasko) is the verb of selling into slavery; Ahab 'did sell himself to work wickedness' (1 Kings 21:25). From here the verbs are present tense; Christians differ whether vv.14–25 describe the regenerate or one under the law.

Verse 15

what I hate, that do I — 'Allow' is ginosko, to know: the deed is not recognised or approved by the mind. 'Hate' is miseo. The conflict between willing and doing matches Gal 5:17, 'the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh', 'so that ye cannot do the things that ye would'.

Verse 17

sin that dwelleth in me — Oikeo, to inhabit a house, makes sin a resident; the verb recurs in v.18 ('dwelleth no good thing') and v.20. 'It is no more I' separates the willing self from sin's working, while v.16 shows that self agreeing that the law is good.

Verse 18

in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing — The parenthesis limits 'in me' to the flesh. 'Is present' is parakeimai, to lie near at hand: willing lies at hand, but performing is not found. The same verb says in v.21 that 'evil is present with me'.

Verse 21

I find then a law — Nomos here is a rule discovered by experience: 'I find' is heurisko, the verb of 'I found' in v.10. 'Is present' is parakeimai as in v.18; the willing of good and the presence of evil lie side by side, summarising vv.15–20.

Verse 22

I delight in the law of God after the inward man — Synedomai, to rejoice together with, occurs only here in the KJV New Testament. The 'inward man' (esō anthrōpos) is the self within, which 'is renewed day by day' (2 Cor 4:16). The delight echoes the blessed man of Ps 1:2.

Verse 23

another law in my members — A second principle opposes 'the law of my mind' (cf. 'the law of God', v.22). Antistrateuomai is to campaign against, and aichmalotizo to take prisoner of war. Rom 8:2 answers it: 'the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.'

Verse 24

O wretched man that I am! — Talaiporos, enduring trial, miserable; elsewhere in the New Testament only Rev 3:17. 'Deliver' is rhyomai, to rescue. 'The body of this death' is the body under death's reign, as 'the body of sin' in Rom 6:6; the question is answered in v.25.

Verse 25

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord — The thanksgiving answers the 'who' of v.24: the deliverer is a person, Christ. The last sentence sums up vv.14–23, mind and flesh each serving a different law, and leads into Rom 8:2: 'made me free from the law of sin and death'.