Romans 7
Romans 7 can be divided broadly into three parts. First (verses 1–6) explains the relationship between the law and Christ using the metaphor of “marriage,” emphasizing that believers have been set free from their former life under the law and have come to belong to Christ.
Second (verses 7–13) makes clear that the law itself is not the cause of sin, but rather shows how sin is revealed through the law. Paul argues that although the law is good and holy, humanity’s sinfulness becomes more clearly manifested as a result of the law.
Finally (verses 14–25), Paul speaks candidly about just how intense the inner conflict is that human beings experience between the nature of sin and the law. Paul reflects deeply on his own condition—how he longs in his heart for God’s law, yet is drawn toward the law of sin because of the weakness of the flesh—and ultimately declares that “salvation through Jesus Christ” alone is the only answer.
1verseOr don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?
2verseFor the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
3verseSo then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
4verseTherefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.
5verseFor when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death.
6verseBut now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
7verseWhat shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8verseBut sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
9verseI was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10verseThe commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death;
11versefor sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
12verseTherefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good.
13verseDid then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.
14verseFor we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
15verseFor I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
16verseBut if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
17verseSo now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
18verseFor I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
19verseFor the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
20verseBut if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
21verseI find then the law that, while I desire to do good, evil is present.
22verseFor I delight in God’s law after the inward person,
23versebut I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
24verseWhat a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
25verseI thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law.
Law, Sin, and the Limits of Humanity
Romans 7 clearly defines the role and limits of the law. The law defines sin, but it also reveals that human beings cannot fully obey it by their own strength.
Paul confesses about his own inner life, acknowledging the gap between the desire to do good and the actual actions he takes. As a result, people cannot attain righteousness on their own, and they come to realize that they need God’s absolute grace and salvation.
This chapter is a very important point within the overall flow of Romans, in that it marks a turning point between the despair brought by the law and the new way that goes beyond it (the gospel).
Meditation Points
- I reflect on how much I may be living under the law—or under rules—in a way that is difficult or hypocritical.
- I face honestly the inner conflict found in the gap between my life standards and my actual way of living.
- By revealing sin, the law helps me recognize again how much I need God’s salvation.
Applying It to Myself
- I acknowledge the attempt and limits of trying to overcome sin by my own strength, and I turn my attention back to the grace of Jesus Christ.
- Instead of judging my own weakness or that of others, I develop a prayerful heart that asks God for grace and help.
- I also learn the courage to confess openly before God the inner conflicts and struggles I have.
