Romans 7:1
Ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε, ἀδελφοί— γινώσκουσιν γὰρ νόμον λαλῶ— ὅτι ὁ νόμος κυριεύει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐφ’ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ;
Or are you ignorant, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law) that the law regulates a man for as long a time as he might live.
Paraphrase: I know you know these things, brothers and sisters, but I want to be very clear as to what I am teaching. Let me use another analogy very familiar to all of us. You know that every person is answerable to the laws of the land for as long as he lives. The law has nothing to say to a dead person.
Comments:
It is odd that γινώσκουσιν is anarthrous seeing that it is also substantive. GGBB (p619): “The substantival participle may or may not be articular, although most are.”
Romans 7:2
ἡ γὰρ ὕπανδρος γυνὴ, τῷ ζῶντι ἀνδρὶ δέδεται νόμῳ· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνήρ, κατήργηται ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός.
For the woman under a man has been bound by law to a living husband. Now if her husband should die, she is released from the law of the husband.
Paraphrase: It’s the same idea as a wife whose husband passes away. When her husband is living, the law forbids her from marrying another man. If her husband should die, however, the same law no longer applies to her; she is free to marry another man whenever she has opportunity.
Comments:
For “the law of the husband” cf Leviticus 14:2; Numbers 6:13.
I translated the article in ὁ ἀνήρ in keeping with principle 18. There are other instances of this below.
Romans 7:3
ἄρα οὖν, ζῶντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, μοιχαλὶς χρηματίσει ἐὰν γένηται ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὴν μοιχαλίδα, γενομένην ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ.
Therefore then, while her husband is living, she is labelled “adulteress” if she might be for another husband. But if the her husband might die, free she is from the law so that she might not be an adulteress when being for another husband.
Paraphrase: If, however, she should marry another man while her husband is still living, she would immediately be labelled an adulteress and would receive the prescribed punishment. The case changes completely, however, if her husband dies. Now she is no longer bound by that law which forbid her to remarry. Now she is reckoned to be a single person and may accept the proposal of anyone she chooses. When she marries another man, no one would think to accuse her of breaking the seventh command.
Comments:
Robertson (p1190): “Paul is specially fond of ἄρα οὖν.”
Romans 7:4
Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς ἑτέρῳ, τῷ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθέντι, ἵνα καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ.
So my brothers, even you were made dead to the law through the body of Christ in order that you might be to another, to the One being raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
Paraphrase: Now in the same way, my dear brothers and sisters, you have died to the law. How? You died to the law when the body of Jesus was nailed to the cruel cross and His blood was shed. His life was taken because of the guilt He carried (Isaiah 53:4; Romans 6:10), and His death was an atonement for these sins. When He gave His life in this way, all the guilt He was carrying was forgiven. (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35) Now we know that Jesus was not carrying the guilt of any sin which He committed. (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 7:26) Certainly not! He was carrying your sin and my sin; and by His death, He has made atonement for these sins. Now if your guilt has been forgiven and your sins atoned for, then what charge can the law bring against you? The law has nothing to say any more. He is completely satisfied; you will not hear from him again. Now your conscience is set free from guilt, and you are free to entertain the proposal of a new Husband. This Husband is the same Jesus whose body was broken for you and who now calls you to enter into a new covenant of marriage with Himself. Once you are joined to this new Husband, you will see the difference He makes in your life. By this union, you will bring glory to God by a lifestyle marked by holiness.
Comments:
Summary:
- Reality: dead to the law
- Manner: through the body of Christ
- purpose 1 (BBG 32.15): free to remarry Another
- purpose 2 (ινα): bear fruit to God.
This is the answer to the objection raised in Romans 6:1, 15. The very purpose of the transfer out of the old covenant and into the new was to enable us to bear fruit to God.
Romans 7:5
ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν, εἰς τὸ καρποφορῆσαι τῷ θανάτῳ.
For when we were in the flesh, the desires of sins, those through the law, were active in our members in order that we might bear fruit to death.
Paraphrase: My dear brothers and sisters, some of you are still thinking that you can be justified before God on the basis of your own strict and careful obedience to His law. The truth is, those very sinful desires, which are so contrary to God’s law and which brought us under His wrath, are actually stirred up and invigorated by the presence of the law. That is why we can never hope to be justified by the law. The law brings us into even greater guilt and condemnation. It causes our sinful desires to wake up. Then these desires lead us to use our body to commit all kinds of sin and debauchery (Romans 6:19) of which we would not have even thought, if the law hadn’t forbidden it. The result is the opposite of justification. Eventually, we will hear the dreadful sentence of God’s condemnation and be led away to eternal death as God’s just punishment for sin. (Romans 6:23)
Comments:
Romans 7:6
νυνὶ δὲ κατηργήθημεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἀποθανόντες ἐν ᾧ κατειχόμεθα, ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος, καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος.
But now we were released from the law having died in what we were held down, so that we are enslaved in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Paraphrase: But things have changed now. We are no longer under the terms of that covenant; it has left the room having nothing to say against us. Now we have been brought under a new and better covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:6) When we are under this covenant, God works everything in us which He demands from us. (Jeremiah 31:33-34) Under the old covenant, it was just letters, words, and laws. We had to perform the conditions of the covenant entirely on our own. Under the new covenant, God also expects us to obey Him; but this time, He baptizes us in His Spirit so that we receive a strength to obey that is not our own.
Comments:
Romans 7:7
Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία; μὴ γένοιτο! ἀλλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔγνων, εἰ μὴ διὰ νόμου· τήν τε γὰρ ἐπιθυμίαν, οὐκ ᾔδειν, εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν, Οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις.
Therefore, what shall we say? Is the law sin? May it never be, but I did know sin except through the law, for covetousness, I had not known except the law said, “You shall not covet.”
Paraphrase: Now I know what you are thinking. You are going to accuse me of teaching that God’s perfect law is actually the cause of sin which is all the same as teaching that God Himself is the cause of sin. No, brothers and sisters, this is not my teaching; I reject it out of hand. The truth is that the law identifies sin and shows us which of our choices are sinful and offensive to God. Take coveting, for example. How would I have ever known, that something so apparently trifling as a simple desire, was really such a serious sin if I hadn’t read this in the tenth command where God so clearly forbids it?
Comments:
Romans 7:8
ἀφορμὴν δὲ λαβοῦσα ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς, κατειργάσατο ἐν ἐμοὶ πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμίαν· χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου, ἁμαρτία νεκρά.
But sin, seizing the opportunity, through the command worked in me all covetousness; for apart from the law, sin is dead.
Paraphrase: “But wait!” you will say. “You didn’t just say that the law identifies sin; you said that God’s perfect law actually awakens and invigorates sin!” I did say that, and let me clarify. When I say that the law increases sin, I do not mean that the law is the efficient cause of increasing sin. I mean that it is the occasion of the sin increasing. (Romans 7:11) Let me make this clear by returning to my example of the tenth command. You can think of sin as a cruel person living in my soul and waiting for his opportunity. When I began to study the law of God and I came to understand that coveting was sinful, Sin saw its chance. He leaped to his feet and began to stir up all kinds of desire in me to break the very commands which I had come to understand. Yes, you read me correctly. When I came to understand that coveting was something God prohibited, that is the very thing which I now desired to do! If I hadn’t known that coveting was sinful, Sin would have remained inactive, and I would not have begun to covet those things which did not belong to me. I have found in my life that the mere existence of a law forbidding something makes us want to do the very thing which is forbidden! It seems to me that we desire the forbidden thing all the more just because it is forbidden. (Proverbs 9:17) If we hadn’t read the prohibition, we likely would never have thought to do the forbidden thing. Now do you see how the law is not the direct cause of our sin but rather the occasion for it’s rise? The real problem is not the law but our own depravity.
Comments:
Romans 7:9
Ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ· ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς, ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν· ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον.
But I was living without the law once, but the command coming, sin came to life and I died.
Paraphrase: Such was my life without the law; I remember those days so well. I really thought that I had dotted every i and crossed every t. (Philippians 3:4-6) Every command of God I had kept, and I was very proud of it. (Matthew 19:20) But there came that day, when the Holy Spirit set God’s commandments before me in all their perfection and purity. (Mark 12:29–31) Then the true nature of my own sinfulness and depravity became clear to me; my proud self collapsed and died. (Galatians 3:19) My supposed righteousness was just paper thin and a delusion.
Comments:
Romans 7:10
καὶ εὑρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν, αὕτη εἰς θάνατον.
and the command was found by me, the one for life, this one for death.
Paraphrase: What a harsh truth I learned that day when I was disillusioned. The law, which I understood to be a covenant of works, was not actually a covenant that brought life. On the contrary, it was a covenant which brought death.
Comments:
Romans 7:11
ἡ γὰρ ἁμαρτία, ἀφορμὴν λαβοῦσα διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς, ἐξηπάτησέν με, καὶ δι’ αὐτῆς ἀπέκτεινεν.
For sin, seizing the opportunity through the command, tricked me and through her, it killed [me].
Paraphrase: Here’s how it happened. In this time of my life, I understood the law to be my pathway to justification before God. I was quite successful in keeping all its commands perfectly or so I thought. This terrible delusion was stripped away, however, when the Holy Spirit gave me a proper understanding of the law. It was at that time, as I said before (Romans 7:8), that Sin saw his opportunity. What opportunity? The opportunity to motivate me to do those very things which the law prohibited. This is how Sin tricked me. I thought that I could be accepted by God on the basis of my zealous obedience to God’s law. So when Sin set the law before me, I happily embraced it as a covenant of works and set about obeying it’s every precept. Alas, that I could have been so foolish! Over time, I came to see that the law, far from leading me to greater acceptance with God, was actually bringing me farther under God’s wrath and condemnation. (Galatians 3:19) Contrary to my own thinking, I was as bad a sinner as the worst criminal. All my notions of being a paragon of righteousness fell to pieces and left me in despair. Now I saw so clearly the extent to which I was still under the control of sin.
Comments:
The agent of ἀπέκτεινεν is ἁμαρτία.
Romans 7:12
Ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος, καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή.
So that the law, on the one hand, is holy and the command is holy, and just and good.
Paraphrase: I trust you can see that the problem is not with the law. The law is just the revealed will of God written out for us. It is entirely reasonable, holy, just, and good.
Comments:
Romans 7:13
Τὸ οὖν ἀγαθὸν, ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος; μὴ γένοιτο! ἀλλὰ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἵνα φανῇ ἁμαρτία, διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοι κατεργαζομένη θάνατον· ἵνα γένηται καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν ἁμαρτωλὸς, ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς.
Therefore, did the good thing to me became death? Certainly not! but Sin, in order that it might appear sin, through the good to me working death, in order that sin might be exceedingly sinful through the command.
Paraphrase: But how, you might ask, could something so good and holy and just as God’s law be the cause of my death? Let me explain; it was not the law which killed me. Oh no, far from that. It was Sin who killed me. Remember what I said above that the law was not the direct cause of my death; rather, it was the occasion of my death. My understanding of the law gave Sin the opportunity to rise up and to lead me into more sin. Now, it is clear who the real villain is; the real villain is not the law. No, the real villain is our own depraved heart which loves sin and evil. No one would think to call an X-ray or MRI machine evil because it discovers the cancer which is slowly killing us. The real evil is the cancer, not the machine which exposes it. In the same way, God’s law exposes the real evil that is in our life.
Comments:
Romans 7:14
Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν· ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν.
For we have known that the law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, having been sold under sin.
Paraphrase: Everyone knows that the law, along with the entire word of God, is God-breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16) It is the Holy Spirit who inspired these words; and therefore, it cannot be evil nor does it ever lead anyone to evil. (James 1:12-15) We are the problem; we are the ones who have hearts addicted to sin. For myself, it seems like there are times in my life when I return to my old master and beg him to take me back. I know I’m supposed to be dead to him (Romans 6:11); but for some reason, I keep going back to my old chains and asking for my old bondage back again. Why do I do it?!
Comments:
Romans 7:15
ὃ γὰρ κατεργάζομαι, οὐ γινώσκω· οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω, τοῦτο πράσσω· ἀλλ’ ὃ μισῶ, τοῦτο ποιῶ.
For what I am working out, I don’t know. For what I do not desire, this I practice; but what I hate, this I do.
Paraphrase: I am a mystery to myself; I cannot understand or explain my own heart. On the one hand, I believe that, by my union with Christ, I am dead to sin. I hate sin with all my heart; I want nothing to do with it. I never want to see it or even think about it. In my experience, however, I find that I repeatedly return to the very sin which I hate! How is it possible that I can desire something which I don’t desire?
Comments:
Romans 7:16
εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω, τοῦτο ποιῶ, σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ, ὅτι καλός.
Now if what I do not desire, this I do; I agree with the law that it is good.
Paraphrase: Surely if I am making choices which violate God’s law and these violations of God’s law are not something I find acceptable, then this makes it clear that deep down, I really do love and cherish the law and agree that it is good and the measure of all good.
Comments:
Romans 7:17
νυνὶ δὲ, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ, ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία.
But now, no longer I working it, but the dwelling in me sin.
Paraphrase: So then who is causing me to make these sinful choices? What is it that is causing me to live like this? It can’t be my real self because that self is dead to sin and has presented its members to God for righteousness. (Romans 6:13) Well then, I must conclude that sin is still living and working in me and is stirring up these sinful desires within me.
Comments:
Romans 7:18
Οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, ἀγαθόν· τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειταί μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν, οὔ.
For I know that not in me resides good, that is in my flesh, for to desire is near me but to work good, no.
Paraphrase: Increasingly, I have come to see that there really is nothing good in me. Wait, let me rephrase that. I know that the Holy Spirit lives in me and that He is perfectly and infinitely good. Still, there is a part of me that continues to find sin very appealing. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I can sincerely say that I really and truly desire to do good; but when it comes to actually doing good, I find myself bitterly disappointed time and again. Repeatedly, I fall back into old sinful patterns. I am so bitterly ashamed of myself (Jeremiah 3:25; Daniel 9:7-8); sometimes I just flat out loathe myself. (Job 42:5-6; Ezra 9:6)
Comments:
The qualifying clause “that is in my flesh” is an indicator that the apostle did recognize that there was good in him by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s this fleshly, sin loving part of him that he struggles to understand.
Romans 7:19
οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν, τοῦτο πράσσω.
For I do not do the good which I desire, but what evil I do not desire, this I practice.
Paraphrase: What is wrong with me? When opportunities come my way for doing good, I pass them up even though these are the very things which I cherish and value the most. But, when temptations to sin come my way, I drop what I am doing and jump right into it in spite of the fact that these things are evil and offensive to the God I love and serve. Why would I do this?
Comments:
The οὐ in οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν is modifying ποιῶ, not θέλω.
Romans 7:20
εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω, ἐγὼ τοῦτο ποιῶ, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ, ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία.
But if what I do not desire, this I do, no longer I working it but the dwelling in me sin.
Paraphrase: Well I’ll say it again. (Romans 7:17) In the depths of my soul, I have no delight in these things even though I find myself doing them. It’s clear to me that sin still has some power over me, and I still give in to its leadings.
Comments:
Romans 7:21
Εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον, τῷ θέλοντι ἐμοὶ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν, ὅτι ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται.
Therefore, I find a law in me desiring to do good, that to me the evil is near.
Paraphrase: This is the life of faith, dear brothers and sisters. I have found this truth by hard experience. On the one hand, we have God’s law written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33); and therefore, we love God’s law and joyfully submit to its precepts. (Psalm 119:14) On the other hand, evil still lives in our hearts; and whenever we set our mind on something good, evil never fails to spring up and to show its ugly face.
Comments:
νομος here means a general rule of experience, a maxim. cf Fitzmyer on this verse.
Romans 7:22
συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον·
For I rejoice in the law of God according to my inner man.
Paraphrase: Believe it, brothers and sisters, I love God’s law. In the depths of my soul, I cherish it; every day I thank God for it and rejoice in its beauty. It is a priceless gift which God has given us. I know there are many rumors circulating that I despise God’s law, but it’s not true. I abhor any such thought.
Comments:
Romans 7:23
βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου, ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου, καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου.
But I see another law in my members, making war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner in the law of sin, which is in my members.
Paraphrase: Be that as it may, brothers and sisters, I also find in myself something else. It’s like there is another law in me in addition to God’s law. It also calls out to me and demands that I obey its precepts. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s like a fire in my soul, a motivating force that drives me to do evil. It is constantly driving me back to my old bondage. Instead of presenting the members of my body to God for righteousness, it drags me back to my old master and leads me to present the members of my body to him for unrighteousness. (Romans 6:19)
Comments:
Stuart asks, “And can such be the habitual state of any real Christian?” The experience of the children of God throughout the ages would surely answer in the affirmative.
Romans 7:24
Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος! τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου;
A miserable man, I am. Who will rescue me from the body of this death?
Paraphrase: Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will set me free from rotting stinking corpse that I carry around with me everywhere? How can I get to the place where I will serve good freely and joyfully without these constant relapses into old sinful patterns? Oh please, dear God, cut away (Colossians 2:11) this old self which clings to me and which will eventually lead to my complete destruction!
Comments:
Romans 7:25
χάρις δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν! Ἄρα οὖν, αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τῷ μὲν νοῒ δουλεύω νόμῳ Θεοῦ, τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας.
But thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore then, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but with the flesh, the law of sin.
Paraphrase: Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord! By our union with Him, we receive the Holy Spirit; and, by the Spirit’s power, we will gain the victory over sin and live to the glory of God. (Romans 8:2) Let us live out of this victory! Yes, I continue to carry about with me this wretched inclination to sin, but this I am resolved to do. With all my heart and soul, I will fight against it, and make every effort to present myself a slave to righteousness. In this resolve, I will live and die.
Comments:
For both instances of νόμῳ, see principle 47.