Romans 7 Study

Romans 7, My Translation

Jewish opponents of Paul’s gospel contended that freedom from the law opened the door for sin. Paul turns the tables on them by insisting that it is those who are under the law who are in bondage to sin.

The law cannot produce the righteousness it requires or the life it offers.

Romans 7:1-3

Ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε, ἀδελφοί, γινώσκουσιν γὰρ νόμον λαλῶ, ὅτι ὁ νόμος κυριεύει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐφʼὅσον χρόνον ζῇ;  2 ἡ γὰρ ὕπανδρος γυνὴ τῷ ζῶντι ἀνδρὶ δέδεται νόμῳ· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνήρ, κατήργηται ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός.  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. 

1 Or do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to people who know the law, that the law is lord over a man for whatever time he is alive?

2 For the woman who is legally bound to a man in marriage has been bound by the law to her husband who is living; but if her husband dies, she has been released from the law regarding her husband.

3 So then, if she becomes wife to another man while her husband is still alive, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress when she becomes wife to another man.

NOTES:

v. 1 - does this mean he’s primarily writing to Jews? or that the Gentiles he’s writing to are familiar with the law?

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 7

Roman Christians knew about Roman civil law, and many of them (especially those of a Jewish or proselyte background) knew the Mosaic law

ESV Global Study Bible Chapter 7

In this entire chapter, law refers to the Mosaic law given at Mount Sinai. Those who know the law includes both Jews and Gentiles who are familiar with the OT.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 7

those who know the law Refers primarily to Jewish Christians, but also might include Gentile Christians who knew the law of Moses from the synagogue.

Romans 7:4-6

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.  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·  6 νυνὶ δὲ κατηργήθημεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἀποθανόντες ἐν ᾧ κατειχόμεθα, ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος. 

4 Therefore, my brothers, through the body of Christ you also were put to death with reference to the law, so that you might become wife to another Man, to the One who was raised up from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

5 For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions which came through the law were at work in our body parts so that we bore fruit to death.

6 But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were restrained, with the result that we serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written document.

NOTES:

v. 4 — our redemption corresponds to marriage

No longer do we belong to our husband sin and bear his offspring that leads to death, because Christ has put sin to death by his death. Now we are free to belong to a new husband, Christ, and united to him we will bear the offspring of righteousness.

Romans 7:7-8

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·  8 ἀφορμὴν δὲ λαβοῦσα ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς κατειργάσατο ἐν ἐμοὶ πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμίαν, χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία νεκρά.

7 What, then, shall we say? Is the law sin? By no means! Rather, I did not know about sin except through the law; for I would not have come to know covetousness except that the law was saying, “You shall not covet.”

8 But sin, taking hold of the occasion, through the commandment produced in me every kind of covetousness, for apart from the law sin is dead.

NOTES:

Other external commandments are universally known through conscience (such as do not murder or do not steal). But a command such as do not covet, which deals with the heart or desires, may not be known apart from the law.

Romans 7:9-12

9 ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ· ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν,  10 ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον, καὶ εὑρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν αὕτη εἰς θάνατον· 11 ἡ γὰρ ἁμαρτία ἀφορμὴν λαβοῦσα διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐξηπάτησέν με καὶ διʼαὐτῆς ἀπέκτεινν.  12 ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος, καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή. 

9 Now I was formerly alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life,

10 but I died, and it was found in my case that the commandment which was to lead to life – this commandment led to death.

11 For sin, taking hold of the occasion, deceived me through the commandment, and through it, sin killed me.

12 So then, the law is indeed holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

NOTES:

The law and commandments are not evil but simply expose our evil; the commandments would lead to life if perfectly obeyed, but because of our disobedience they lead to death instead.

The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible Chapter 7

Paul might not be talking about his own individual experience directly; rather, he may be imagining the Garden of Eden, where there was life before the commandment came, or he may be evoking Israel before the law came.

The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible Chapter 7

But the law is only a tool in the hand of sin; it does not itself produce the evil desires.

Romans 7:13-14

13 Τὸ οὖν ἀγαθὸν ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος; μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἵνα φανῇ ἁμαρτία διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοι κατεργαζομένη θάνατον· ἵνα γένηται καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν ἁμαρτωλὸς ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς.  14 Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν· ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν.

13 So, did God’s good law cause my death?[1] By no means! Rather sin, in order that it might be revealed to be sin, brought about my death through God’s good law, in order that, through the commandment, sin might prove to be extraordinarily sinful.

14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, having been sold as a slave under the authority of sin.

[1] Greek: So did the good thing become death to me? (The good thing referred to is clearly God’s law/commandment mentioned in v. 12)

NOTES:

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 7

God used the law to accomplish his purpose to fully expose sin and point the sinner to God’s only remedy for sin.

The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible Chapter 7

These verses are not a description of Christian experience (found in

Romans 7:15-17

15 ὃ γὰρ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω· οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω τοῦτο πράσσω, ἀλλʼὃ μισῶ τοῦτο ποιῶ.  16 εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω τοῦτο ποιῶ, σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ ὅτι καλός.  17 νυνὶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία. 

15 For I do not know what I am doing; for I am not doing what I desire; rather, I am doing[2] what I hate.

16 But if I am doing what I do not desire, I concur with the law that it[3] is good.

17 But now I am no longer doing it; rather, the sin residing in me is doing it.

[2] Verse 15 contains 3 different Greek verbs that I have rendered with the English verb “do.” They all have slightly different connotations, but they appear to be used interchangeably in this context.

[3] That is, the law is good.

NOTES:

ESV Global Study Bible Chapter 7

There has been much debate as to whether Paul is describing believers or unbelievers. Although good arguments are given by both sides, the most widely held view is that Paul is referring to believers. Advocates of both positions agree that Christians struggle with sin their whole lives (see

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 7

This section is probably the most difficult and controversial passage in the letter to the Romans. For the most part the Eastern Church has interpreted it as referring to an unregenerate person (e.g., Paul before his conversion). The Western Church has followed Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin in thinking it refers to a regenerate person (Paul after his conversion). Some suggest a mediating position. One such view interprets the subject as an OT believer who loves the law (

Romans 7:18-20

18 οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τοῦτʼἔστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, ἀγαθόν· τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειταί μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ·  19 οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω.  20 εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω τοῦτο ποιῶ, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία. 

18 For I know that good does not reside in me, that is in my flesh; for to be willing is present for me, but to be doing the good is not;

19 for I am not doing the good that I desire, but I am doing the evil that I don’t desire.

20 And if I am doing what I do not desire, I am no longer doing it, but the sin residing in me is doing it.

NOTES:

Romans 7:21-23

21 Εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον τῷ θέλοντι ἐμοὶ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν ὅτι ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται·  22 συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον,  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. 

21 I find then the law[4] that the evil is present for me when I desire to be doing the good;

22 for I delight in God’s law in the inner man,

23 but I see another law in my body parts[5] making war against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin which is in my body parts.

[4] Or principle

[5] The Greek is plural, sometimes translated members. May simply refer to the body. Twice in this verse.

NOTES:

Romans 7:24-25

24 ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος· τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου;  25 χάρις τῷ θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν. Ἄρα οὖν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τῷ μὲν νοῒ δουλεύω νόμῳ θεοῦ, τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας. 

24 I am such a miserable[6] man. Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks[7] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself am serving the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I am serving the law of sin.

[6] The Greek word here is the antonym of μακάριος – the opposite of blessed or happy.

[7] Literally, grace.

NOTES:

ESV Global Study Bible Chapter 7

Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (7:24). The answer follows immediately: the one who has delivered Christians once for all (see 4:2–25; 5:2, 9) and who will deliver them day by day is “Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25). This reflects the ongoing tension between the “already” aspect of salvation (believers have been saved) and the “not yet” aspect (believers will be saved at the return of Christ).