Romans 7

Romans 7 explains the relationship between the believer, the law, and the old sinful nature. The law is holy and good, but it cannot give life or power to overcome sin. It can only reveal sin and condemn the sinner. Through Christ’s death, believers are released from the old way of serving God under the letter, so they may belong to Christ and live by the Spirit.

Romans 7:1 (NKJV)
1 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?

Paul speaks to those who understand the law and explains that the law has authority over a person only while he is alive. Once death happens, the law’s claim ends. Paul is preparing to show that believers have died with Christ, so they are no longer under the law as a system that condemns but cannot give life. Instead, they now belong to Christ and serve God in the newness of the Spirit.

Romans 7:2-4 (NKJV)
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.

Paul uses marriage to explain that a person cannot belong to two husbands at the same time. A wife is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but when death takes place, that old marriage bond is ended, and she is free to belong to another. In the same way, before Christ, God’s people were bound under the law as the old covenant system, the ministry of the letter, which commanded righteousness, revealed sin, and kept people under its authority until Christ came. This agrees with Galatians 3:23-25, where Paul says we were kept under the law before faith came, but after faith has come, we are no longer under that tutor. The law was not evil, but it was not the final husband; it could guard, instruct, expose sin, and point to Christ, but it could not give life or produce true righteousness in the heart. Therefore, through the body of Christ, believers have become dead to the law, meaning the old covenant relationship under the letter has ended, so that they may be married to another — the risen Christ. The point is that we must have only one husband, one master, one system of life. We cannot be joined to the old way of the letter and at the same time fully belong to Christ as our new Husband. Now we belong to Christ under the new covenant, and because we are united with Him, we serve God “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6), bearing real fruit to God through His life in us.

Romans 7:5 (NKJV)
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Before being united with Christ, people were "in the flesh," meaning they lived according to sinful nature. The law, rather than saving them, actually stimulated sinful desires, leading to actions that resulted in spiritual death.

Romans 7:6 (NKJV)
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Paul now explains the result of being “dead to the law” through Christ. Believers have been delivered from the law, not because God’s moral principles are bad, but because they are no longer under the old covenant system of the letter, where the law stood outside of man, commanded righteousness, exposed sin, and condemned failure, but could not give life. “Having died to what we were held by” means that through Christ’s death, the old binding relationship under the law has ended. We are no longer trying to serve God by the old way of outward commandment, human effort, and fear of condemnation. Instead, we now serve in the newness of the Spirit. This means Christ lives in the believer by His Spirit and produces the righteousness that the law could only describe. The oldness of the letter can demand obedience, but the newness of the Spirit gives life, power, and true obedience from the heart.

Romans 7:7 (NKJV)
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

Paul makes clear that the law is not sin. The law is holy and good, but its role is to reveal sin. By saying, “You shall not covet,” the Ten Commandments expose not only outward wrong actions but also inward sinful desires. This shows that Romans 7 is especially dealing with the moral law, because it reveals what sin is. But while the law can show covetousness in the heart, it cannot remove it. Only Christ, through the Spirit, can cleanse the heart and give true righteousness.

Romans 7:8-11 (NKJV)
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Paul explains what happens when God’s law meets a person who is still under the power of the sinful nature. The law itself is not sin, and the commandment is not evil, but sin uses the commandment as an opportunity to reveal and stir up what is already in the flesh. When Paul says, “apart from the law sin was dead,” he does not mean sin did not exist; he means sin was not clearly exposed to his conscience. He may have felt alive, safe, or innocent before he truly understood the commandment, but when the commandment came with real force to his mind, sin “revived,” meaning it became clearly active and visible, and he saw himself as condemned and helpless. The commandment was meant to point the way to life, because God’s law is holy and good, but because man is carnal and sold under sin, the law ended up bringing death to him. The problem was not the law, but sin in the flesh. Sin deceived him by making him think he could find life through his own effort under the law, or by stirring up rebellion against the very commandment that was good. In this way, sin used the law to expose his guilt, increase his awareness of evil desire, and bring him to the realization that he was spiritually dead and needed deliverance through Christ. The law can show what righteousness is, but it cannot give power to produce righteousness; only the life of Christ through the Spirit can do that.

Romans 7:12-13 (NKJV)
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

Paul makes it clear that the law is not the problem. The law is holy, just, and good because it comes from God and reveals His righteous will. The problem is sin in the flesh. Paul asks whether the good law became death to him, and he answers, “Certainly not!” It was not the law that produced death, but sin using the law. The commandment exposed sin and showed how evil sin really is. In this way, the law reveals sin’s true character: it is not harmless weakness, but a deadly power working in man. So the law is good because it brings sin into the light, but it cannot remove sin or give life. Only Christ can deliver from sin’s power and give true righteousness by the Spirit.

Romans 7:14 (NKJV)
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Paul now makes a clear contrast between the law and the natural man. The law is spiritual because it comes from God, reveals God’s will, and shows the righteousness that God desires. The problem is not the law; the problem is the person who is still carnal, meaning still controlled by the flesh and the old sinful nature. When Paul says, “I am carnal, sold under sin,” he is describing the experience of a person before the new birth, or a person trying to serve God in his own strength while still under the power of the old man. He knows the law is good, and he may even want to obey it, but he finds himself unable to do so because sin still rules inside him. “Sold under sin” means he is like a slave under sin’s control, unable to free himself by willpower or by simply knowing the commandment. This connects with the struggle Paul describes in the following verses: the mind may agree with God’s law, but the flesh pulls the person in the opposite direction. Therefore, Romans 7:14 shows that the law can reveal what is spiritual, but it cannot make a carnal man spiritual. Only Christ, through the Spirit, can deliver a person from the power of sin and give him a new life.

Romans 7:15-23 (NKJV)
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to 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.

Paul describes the experience of a person who knows God’s law is good and truly wants to obey it, but still finds himself powerless against sin in the flesh. His mind, or inward man, agrees with God’s law and delights in what is right, but another power is working in his members — the law of sin. This means there is a conflict between the mind that wants to serve God and the flesh that is still under sin’s control. Paul is not blaming the law, because his desire to do good proves that the law is good. The real problem is “sin that dwells in me,” meaning the sinful nature that still rules when a person is not delivered by Christ. He wants to do good, but he cannot find the power to perform it. He hates evil, yet he finds himself doing it. This shows that knowledge of the law and sincere desire are not enough to overcome sin. The law can tell a person what is right, and the mind may even love what is right, but if the person is still in the flesh, sin will bring him into captivity. This is the helpless condition of a person trying to obey God without the life of Christ within. Paul is showing the need for deliverance, which comes only through Jesus Christ and is explained fully in Romans 8, where the law of the Spirit of life sets the believer free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 7:24 (NKJV)
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Paul expresses deep frustration and despair over his condition, recognizing his helplessness to overcome sin on his own. He acknowledges that his sinful nature makes him a "wretched" man, trapped in a body destined for death. This reflects Paul’s experience before he was born again, highlighting his need for deliverance, which he will address in the next verse.

Romans 7:25 (NKJV)
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.

Paul reaches the answer to the desperate cry in the previous verse: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord. This shows that deliverance does not come from the law, human effort, willpower, or trying harder, but through Christ alone. Paul is thankful because Christ brings complete deliverance from the bondage he has been describing. The last part of the verse summarizes the condition of the man before this deliverance: with the mind, he agrees with and wants to serve the law of God, but with the flesh, he is still a slave to the law of sin. In other words, his mind knows what is right and desires God’s law, but his sinful nature overpowers him and brings him into captivity. This is not the victorious experience of the born-again believer walking in the Spirit; it is the experience of a person who sees the goodness of God’s law but is still trying to obey while under the power of the flesh. Paul is showing that the law can awaken the mind and reveal what is right, but it cannot deliver the person from sin’s power. Only Jesus Christ can do that. Romans 8 then explains the solution clearly: those who are in Christ are no longer under the condemnation that sin brings, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets them free from the law of sin and death.