The Book of Romans, Chapter 7
Believers United to Christ, The Conflict of Serving Two Masters
Paul begins chapter 7 admitting that he is primarily speaking to and in the religious context of those who “know the law”, and that becomes apparent to you if you did not already know the Law (the Torah).
Romans 7 is Paul’s explanation of the believer’s relationship to the Law and the ongoing struggle with sin. It serves as a bridge between Romans 6 (“you are no longer slaves to sin”) and Romans 8 (“life in the Spirit”).
Paul uses the illustration of marriage. A woman is bound to her husband while he lives, but when he dies she is released from that legal obligation.
Paul applies this to Christians: Through Christ’s death, believers have died to the Law as a means of relating to God and that we are now united to Christ and serve God “in the new way of the Spirit.” The Law could identify sin, but it could not free people from sin. Christians are no longer under the Mosaic Law as a covenant; they belong to Christ.
Paul uses the commandment against coveting as an example. Before understanding the commandment, he was unaware of the depth of his sinfulness. Sin then took advantage of the commandment and produced rebellion. The problem is not the Law; the problem is sin dwelling in fallen humanity. The Law is holy, righteous, and good, but it cannot make sinners righteous.
Paul writes, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (See verse 19). Herein Paul describes wanting to obey God, delighting in God’s law inwardly, yet experiencing another principle (“the law”) at work in his flesh, and this creates a painful conflict. The mind desires God’s will, yet the flesh resists as sin seeks to exert influence. This realization evokes lament, “Wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from this body of death?” (Which he answers in chapter 8).
Romans 7 shows that God’s Law can expose sin but cannot defeat it; only through union with Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can believers experience victory over sin.
Let me say that this is akin to a psychological treatise written in a religious context in the language of a lawyer (Paul, in fact was one – a “Pharisee among Pharisees”), about the conflict of that exists between the mind, the soul and the spirit. There is no easy reading here. So, I will limit commentary and recommend BibleHub.com for commentary.
Believers United to Christ
Romans 7:1, Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? Verse 2. For the married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. Verse 3. So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man.
(Commentary Break): Paul is using the Jewish legal view (The Law – The Torah) to compare the obligations created by both marriage and one’s relationship to God and the obstacles therein. (End Commentary Break).
Verse 4. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. Verse 5. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. Verse 6. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” Verse 8. But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. Verse 9. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; verse 10, and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; verse 11, for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me. Verse 12. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Verse 13. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
(Commentary Break): This is a complex explanation using a literal death that frees one from the obligations created by the marriage contract of covenant comparing and contrasting how the Jewish Law (The Torah) creates a contract or covenant in our relationship with God which reveals and distinguishes its obligations and how sin causes a similar death that leads to freedom. (End Commentary Break).
The Conflict of Serving Two Masters
Verse 14. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin.
(Commentary Break): Paul’s words in verse 14 could be compared to an oxymoron: The Law being spiritual in its origins and intended application; but creates a bondage of the flesh (the human mind, soul, body and spirit) to follow it as a cold rule. We become enslaved to its rules because as hard as we try it is impossible for a person (the flesh) to fulfill The Law. So we strive, suffer and fail. A true dilemma. (End Commentary Break).
Verse 15. For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.
(Commentary Break): This is the conundrum that creates confusion. We cannot understand what we are doing nor why. We mean to do good but we do not. Instead the do the very things we hate. (I don’t want to curse, but I curse. I don’t want to lust, but I lust. I don’t want to lie, but I lie.) (End Commentary Break).
Verse 16. However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good.
(Commentary Break): How dan I do the very thing I do not want to do and still say “the Law is good”? It is because it has revealed to me what is sinful. Like Paul has said, unless the Law had told me lying, cheating, stealing and murder was sinful, I would have continued to commit these sins without remorse. And death, chaos and anarchy would reign in our lives and all of humanity would be relegated to the darkness of a fiery hell for all eternity. So, yes, “the Law is good” as my tutor, so I can know right from wrong, good from evil and light from darkness . (End Commentary Break).
Verse 17. But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. Verse 18. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Verse 19. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Verse 20. But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.
(Commentary Break): If there ever was an “ah-hah” moment, this is it! This describes the duality of the human mind. It could be compared to dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personality disorder). The Presence of two or more distinct personality states resulting in alterations in sense of self and perception and feelings of detachment from oneself or surroundings.
This duality of the mind refers to the complex nature of human beings, embodying both good and evil, or contrasting desires and motivations. This concept highlights the internal conflicts and opposing traits that coexist within individuals such as “Good versus Evil”, “the struggle between altruistic and selfish impulses”, conflicting desires and motivations such as the pursuit of happiness versus the fear of failure.
This duality can lead to significant internal conflict and emotional turmoil, as people navigate their Christian belief system, contrasting instincts, and behavioral expectations. Wretched, indeed! (End Commentary Break).
Verse 21. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. Verse 22. For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, verse 23, but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. Verse 24. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Verse 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
(Commentary Break): Finally, Paul arrives at his conclusion: “The principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good”. How can this be? We were created in the very image and likeness of God, were we not? How can evil, then, be present in me? This is the most misunderstood and poorly taught concept in all of the Scriptures. (And, no, it was not the fault of “The Fall”. The Fall of humankind was the result of a cause:
The cause can be found in Genesis 1:27. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him, male and female, He created them.”
In His own image: from the Hebrew word, ‘ tselem’, we get the image, which is described and defined as a mere, empty, image, semblance; image, vain show, from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e., an illusion, a resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol, an image, a vain shew, of dubious character. (Made, from the beginning, as just a semblance of God, but not an exact representation. Made with the flaw of a dubious character, bound to fail and in need of redemption. But made with a purpose and being shaped into the image, the perfection as of Jesus – “And you are to be (made) perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). This is a creative prophetic statement, made in the future tense. God, through His process of sanctifying, is in the process of molding and making (poieo) believers and followers of Jesus into His image.
By this we can know that man is created with a sin flaw – a “dubious character and mind” as the Hebrew translation gives it. And from the beginning of the time of the creation man sinned. He was bound to fail and he was in need of a Savior, being reborn and transformed by being purified, cleansed and refined by trials (see Daniel 12:10). As 1 Peter 1:6-7 puts it, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (End Commentary Break).
End Chapter 7.
Romans 7 is Paul’s explanation of the believer’s relationship to the Law and the ongoing struggle with sin. It serves as a bridge between Romans 6 (“you are no longer slaves to sin”) and Romans 8 (“life in the Spirit”).
We have been told that by trusting in Jesus and making Him our Lord and Savior that we have been set free from sin. (“having been set free from sin, we have become slaves of righteousness”. Romans 6:18.) Please know that the phrase and term (Romans 6:18) is describing the process of being sanctified – it is an ongoing and progressive. It is in the aorist tense which means “you have been set free (in the past); you are being set free (in the present) ; and you will be set free (for all time future). It is to be complete when He as consummated this age and we are safely present with Jesus in our heavenly home. (Whew! And Praise God!)
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Next: (Coming Soon). The Book of Romans, Chapter 8, Deliverance From Bondage, Our Victory in Christ
(Previous): THE BOOK OF ROMANS, Chapter 6, Believers Are Dead To Sin, Alive To God.
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