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.

Verse 1: "Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has dominion over someone only as long as that person 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.

Verse 2: "For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him."

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.

Verse 3: "So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries 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.

Verse 4: "So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for 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.

Verse 5: "For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for 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.

Verse 6: "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."

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.

Verse 7: "What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not 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.

Verse 8: "But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. 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.

Verse 9: "Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life 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.

Verse 10: "I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought 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.

Verse 11: "For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death."

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.

Verse 12: "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous 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.

Verse 13: "Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly 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.

Verse 14: "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold as a slave to 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.

Verse 15: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate 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.

Verse 16: "And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law 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.

Verse 17: "As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living 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.

Verse 18: "For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out."

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.

Verse 19: "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."

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.

Verse 20: "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin that dwelleth in me that does it."

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.

Verse 21: "So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me."

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.

Verse 22: "For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;"

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.

Verse 23: "but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me."

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.

Verse 24: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to 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.

Verse 25: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! 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."

"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!": 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.