Romans 7

Romans 7 explores the believer's struggle with sin, the law's role in revealing sin, and how through Christ’s death, believers are freed from the law to 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 begins by addressing those familiar with the law, likely Jewish Christians. He emphasizes that the law only applies to a person while they are alive, setting the stage for a discussion on how believers, who have died with Christ, are released from the law's authority.

Romans 7:2 (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.

Paul uses marriage as an analogy. Just as a woman is bound to her husband only as long as he lives, the law binds people only while they are "alive." The death of a spouse frees the woman from the marriage law, illustrating how believers are freed from the law through death.

The Wife: In this interpretation, the wife represents a person's conscious mind or will, which is aware of God's law and desires to live in accordance with it. This conscious mind is the part of a person that seeks to make moral and ethical decisions, striving to do what is right.

The Husband: The husband does not symbolize the law because, as Paul states in verse 4, "you also died to the law." This suggests that the husband represents the believer's old self—the carnal mind, the flesh, or "the sin dwelling in me," all characterized by sin and selfish desires. Paul describes this sinful nature as dwelling within a person, pulling them away from the desires of the conscious mind, represented by the wife.

Key Points:
Bound by Law: The conscious mind (the wife) is bound to the carnal mind (the husband) as long as the old man (the sinful nature) is "alive." This reflects the internal struggle where the conscious mind knows what is right according to the law but is often overpowered by the carnal mind’s sinful inclinations. Paul later describes his experience before being born again in verses 14-24, where he wanted to do what was right, but the "sin dwelling in him" caused him to do the opposite.

Death of the Husband (Carnal Mind): If the carnal mind (the husband) "dies," meaning that the power of sin is broken through union with Christ's death, the conscious mind (the wife) is released from being under the dominion of the sinful nature. This release allows the conscious mind to align itself with Christ rather than being controlled by the old, sinful nature.

Freedom to Belong to Another: Once the carnal mind’s power is broken, the conscious mind is free to belong to another—Christ. This represents the believer’s ability to live a new life, guided by the Spirit rather than dominated by the sinful nature.

Romans 7:3 (NKJV)
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.

This further clarifies the analogy: if a woman’s husband dies, she is free to marry another without being guilty of adultery. Similarly, Paul is building up to explain that Christians, having "died" with Christ, are no longer bound by the law.

Romans 7:4 (NKJV)
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 now directly applies the analogy. Christians have "died to the law" through Christ’s death, which means they are no longer bound by it. This death allows them to be united with Christ, enabling them to live in a way that produces good fruit for God.

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 emphasizes the new life believers have in Christ. By dying to the law, they are released from its demands and can now serve God in a new way—through the Spirit rather than through mere obedience to a written code.

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.”

Anticipating a misunderstanding, Paul clarifies that the law itself is not sinful. Instead, it reveals sin. The commandment against coveting, for example, makes one aware of the sinfulness of covetous desires.

Romans 7:8 (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.

This verse illustrates the paradoxical effect of the law on human behavior. Paul argues that sin takes the opportunity provided by the commandment to make a person aware of all kinds of sinful desires, such as coveting. Before knowing the law, sin was "dead" in the sense that it was inactive or unnoticed, but the commandment brings sin into the open, making people aware of their sinful tendencies. This passage underscores the idea that while the law is good, its interaction with human nature under the power of sin leads to increased awareness and manifestation of sin.

Romans 7:9 (NKJV)
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

Paul reflects on a time when he felt "alive" or "happy in sin without guilt" before the law became fully known to him. However, once he understood the commandment, the law exposed his sinful nature, which had been dormant or unnoticed before. This means that sin came alive and led to spiritual death, illustrating how the law exposes sin but does not save from it.

Romans 7:10 (NKJV)
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

The law, which was meant to guide people to life, ends up condemning them because it reveals their sinfulness, leading to spiritual death rather than life.

Romans 7:11 (NKJV)
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Sin exploits the law by using it to deceive people, making them think they can achieve righteousness through the law. But in reality, it results in death because no one can perfectly keep the law.

Romans 7:12 (NKJV)
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Despite the negative role of sin, Paul affirms that the law itself is holy, righteous, and good. The problem is not the law but sin’s use of the law to bring about death.

Romans 7:13 (NKJV)
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 asks rhetorically if something good (the law) caused death. He answers no; instead, sin used the good law to show its true, deadly nature, making sin utterly sinful.

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

"The law is spiritual": Paul affirms that the law is holy, righteous, and spiritual. It reflects God's will and is inherently good, designed to guide people toward righteousnefrss and a life pleasing to God.

"But I am carnal, sold as a slave to sin": Here, Paul is reflecting on his experience before being born again, when he was still under the control of his old, sinful nature—the "old man." He describes himself as "carnal", meaning that, in his natural state, he was dominated by the flesh (the carnal nature) rather than by the Spirit.

"Sold as a slave to sin" indicates that Paul felt trapped and powerless against sin. Before his conversion, his life was characterized by an inability to break free from sin's control. Despite his recognition of the law's goodness, his unregenerate state left him enslaved to sin, unable to live according to the spiritual demands of the law.

Romans 7:15 (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.

Paul describes his inner conscious mind wanting to do good but finding himself unable to carry it out, illustrating the power of sin even in someone who desires righteousness.

Romans 7:16 (NKJV)
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

When Paul finds himself doing what he does not want to do, he is implicitly agreeing that the law is good because his desires align with the law, even though he fails to obey it fully.

Romans 7:17 (NKJV)
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Paul attributes his sinful actions to the power of sin dwelling within him. While he (or his conscious mind) desires to do good, the sin within him leads to actions contrary to those desires.

Romans 7:18 (NKJV)
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.

Paul acknowledges the lack of inherent goodness in his sinful nature. He wants to do good but recognizes his inability to achieve it due to the sinfulness of his nature.

Romans 7:19 (NKJV)
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

This continues the theme of inner conflict. Paul reiterates his struggle: he fails to do the good he desires and instead does the evil he wishes to avoid.

Romans 7:20 (NKJV)
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.

Paul emphasizes that it’s the sin within him, not his conscious mind, that leads him to act against his desires. This shows the depth of the internal battle against sin.

Romans 7:21 (NKJV)
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

Paul concludes that there is a principle at work within him: even when he desires to do good, evil is always present, competing for control over his actions.

Romans 7:22 (NKJV)
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

Paul expresses his deep love for God’s law at the core of his being, specifically in his conscious mind, which reflects his true desires and intentions.

Romans 7:23 (NKJV)
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.

Despite his delight in God’s law, Paul acknowledges another principle—the law of sin—that wages war within him, taking him captive and preventing him from fully obeying God.

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 expresses profound gratitude for the complete deliverance through Christ, marking the end of the sin struggle he described. This deliverance is total, signaling a decisive shift from his past, unregenerate state.

"So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.": Paul summarizes the duality he experienced before being born again. In his mind, he wanted to obey God’s law, but his sinful nature made him a slave to sin. This was his condition before the deliverance he now celebrates in Christ. This verse is not describing the current state of a believer but rather the state Paul was in before finding Christ. The struggle he describes was part of his life before he received the deliverance that comes through Jesus. In Christ, believers are set free from this struggle, as Paul will elaborate in Romans 8.