Romans 7:1-6 – Released from the Law
Verse 1: “Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?”
Paul begins by addressing believers who are familiar with the law (likely Jewish Christians or Gentiles acquainted with Jewish traditions). He asserts that the law has authority over a person only during their lifetime. The Greek word for “binding” (κυριεύει, kurieuei) means “to lord over” or “to have dominion.” This concept lays the foundation for understanding the believer’s new relationship to the law through Christ’s death.
- Cross-reference: Galatians 3:23-25, where Paul speaks about the law being a “guardian” until Christ came, showing that the law had temporary jurisdiction.
Verses 2-3: “For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.”
Paul uses the analogy of marriage to illustrate the believer’s relationship to the law. As death dissolves the marriage bond, so too does a believer’s “death” to the law in Christ. The phrase “released from the law” is essential to Paul’s argument—just as a widow is free to remarry, believers are now free from the law’s condemnation.
- Greek insight: The word for “released” (κατήργηται, katērgētai) is the same term used in Romans 6:6 to speak of the body of sin being “brought to nothing” or “rendered powerless.” This conveys that the believer’s relationship to the law has been nullified by death in Christ.
- Cross-reference: 1 Corinthians 7:39, which speaks about the marriage bond being dissolved by death.
Verses 4-6: “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
Paul explicitly states that believers have “died to the law” through union with Christ’s death. The law’s purpose was never to produce righteousness but to expose sin (Romans 3:20). Being “in the flesh” refers to living under the control of sin, where sinful passions were provoked by the law itself. But now, through Christ, believers are called to “bear fruit for God” through the Spirit, not through external adherence to the law.
- Key insight: “Released from the law” doesn’t mean lawlessness but freedom to serve God in a new spiritual way (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6).
- Cross-reference: Galatians 5:18, where Paul contrasts the law with being led by the Spirit.
Romans 7:7-13 – The Law and Sin
Verse 7: “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.'”
Paul anticipates an objection: If the law leads to sin, does that make the law itself sinful? He emphatically denies this. The law reveals sin, but it is not inherently sinful. The reference to the Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17) demonstrates how the law exposes internal desires, not just external actions.
- Greek insight: The word for “covet” (ἐπιθυμέω, epithymeō) refers to strong desire, whether for good or evil. The law identifies this sinful inclination.
- Cross-reference: Romans 3:20, where Paul says that “through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Verses 8-11: “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”
Paul paints sin as an active force that uses the law to provoke rebellion. The law, which was meant to promote life (Leviticus 18:5), ironically brings death because of sin’s power. The law awakens sin’s potential within us.
- Greek insight: The term “seizing an opportunity” (ἀφορμὴν, aphormēn) suggests sin exploits the law, using it as a base of operations to exert its influence.
- Cross-reference: Genesis 3:13, where Eve is “deceived” by the serpent, similarly to how sin deceives Paul here.
Verses 12-13: “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.”
Paul reiterates that the law is “holy, righteous, and good.” The problem is not with the law, but with sin. The law’s function is to expose sin in all its ugliness, showing it to be “utterly sinful” (καθ’ ὑπερβολήν, kath’ hyperbolēn, meaning “exceedingly sinful”).
- Key insight: The law magnifies the sinfulness of sin, but it cannot offer a solution to sin.
- Cross-reference: Galatians 3:19-22, which explains that the law was given to expose sin until the coming of faith in Christ.
Romans 7:14-25 – The Struggle with Sin
Verse 14: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”
Paul introduces the tension between the law, which is spiritual, and his own fleshly nature, which is weak and enslaved to sin. The law reflects God’s character and spiritual realities, but human nature (the “flesh”) is incapable of keeping it perfectly.
- Greek insight: The phrase “sold under sin” (πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, pepramenos hypo tēn hamartian) evokes the imagery of slavery, indicating a deep sense of bondage to sin.
- Cross-reference: John 8:34, where Jesus states, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
Verses 15-20: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
Paul vividly describes the internal conflict between the regenerated self (who desires to obey God) and the sinful flesh (which pulls him toward disobedience). This passage reflects the Christian experience of struggling with sin despite new desires to live righteously.
- Greek insight: The word for “dwell” (οἰκέω, oikeō) emphasizes that sin still “inhabits” the believer’s flesh. This habitation is temporary, but it explains the persistence of sinful behavior.
- Cross-reference: Galatians 5:17, where Paul similarly speaks of the flesh and the Spirit being in opposition.
Verses 21-23: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
Paul contrasts the “law of God” (which he delights in) with the “law of sin” (which wages war in his body). The “inner being” refers to the new nature, but there remains a battle with sinful desires.
- Cross-reference: Psalm 1:2, which speaks of delighting in the law of the Lord, highlighting that the renewed heart desires God’s ways.
Verses 24-25: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
Paul concludes this section with a cry of despair over his own helplessness. The phrase “body of death” refers to the mortal body still affected by sin. His only hope for deliverance is Christ. The tension between serving the law of God in his mind and still being affected by sin in his flesh is a picture of the ongoing struggle of sanctification.
- Cross-reference: 1 Corinthians 15:57, where Paul gives thanks to God for victory through Jesus Christ, echoing the hope that ultimately Christ will deliver us fully from sin.
Key Insights and Practical Applications
- The Law’s Role: The law is not inherently sinful; it exposes sin and points to the need for a Savior. The law was always meant to be temporary, leading us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The believer’s relationship to the law changes upon salvation—we are no longer under its condemnation (Romans 8:1).
- The Believer’s Struggle with Sin: Even though believers are justified, they continue to battle indwelling sin. This struggle is not a sign of spiritual failure but evidence of the Spirit’s work in opposition to the flesh (Galatians 5:17). Sanctification is progressive, requiring reliance on the Holy Spirit (Romans 8).
- Victory in Christ: Deliverance from the “body of death” is found only in Jesus Christ. He gives us the strength to overcome sin’s power, and ultimate freedom will be realized in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:57).
- Practical Steps for Sanctification: Daily submission to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:4-5), immersion in Scripture, accountability in community, and persistent prayer are vital for growth in holiness. This aligns with the “new way of the Spirit” rather than the old “written code” (Romans 7:6).
- Ties to the Old Testament: Paul’s use of the law and sin builds on the Jewish understanding of Torah. The Old Testament shows that the law was never meant to save but to reveal God’s standards and human inability to meet them (cf. Deuteronomy 30:19; Leviticus 18:5). Christ fulfills the law’s demands (Matthew 5:17), and believers now walk by faith.
Romans 7 provides both a theological foundation and practical framework for understanding the ongoing conflict between sin and the Spirit in the believer’s life. It reminds us of our dependence on Christ for victory and the progressive nature of sanctification, moving us ever closer to the likeness of Christ.