Romans 7
29 Mar 2026 - Theology
Released From the Law
Released From the Law (1-13)
Romans 7:1 - “Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?”
To illustrate that point, Paul uses an analogy of a woman who is married to her husband. If she marries another man while her current husband is still alive, she will be called an adulteress. However, if her husband is dead, then the woman is loosed from the law and free to marry another man.
Similarly, we also are called to be dead to the law, so that we should be married to another - to Jesus Christ who is raised from the dead, so that we can bring forth fruit unto God (4).
Romans 7:6 - “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”
newness - Strong’s Concordance [2538]
- renewal, not simply an experience similar to the past, but a qualitatively different one
oldness - Strong’s Concordance [3821]
- age, antiquity, length of time, existing a long time
- Used only in this verse, referring to the oldness of the letter of the law as compared to the newness of the Spirit. As the Spirit comes in place of the letter, the letter (in relation to the Spirit) is something belonging to the past. The letter therefore has no longer any right to prominence because it belongs to a time now past and gone
Hebrews 8:13 - “In that he saith, ‘A new covenant’, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
In Romans 7:7, Paul poses a question: Is the law sin [noun]? The response is: no, but I had not known sin if not by the law. Paul is saying here that while the law itself is not sin, the law brings the knowledge to a man that he is under a power of Sin [noun] that he cannot control.
Paul uses the only commandment from the 10 Commandments that deals entirely with inward desire, rather than outward action to illustrate his point. The law against coveting exposes the state of the heart. It shows that sin isn’t just about what you do; it’s about a corrupt kingdom or state of the heart that wants what it shouldn’t have.
This creates a deadly contrast. Paul explains in verse 8 that apart from the law, Sin was dead. This doesn’t mean Sin doesn’t exist, but it is dormant and unrecognized by man. Instead of stopping all desire, Paul shows how the holy law is found to be unto death.
Romans 7:9 - “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”
Before Paul knew the law, he felt righteous and secure. But when the commandment came, Paul suddenly realized his state of spiritual death and condemnation.
In verses 10-11, Paul writes how the law was “ordained to life.” This is because it shows the path to righteousness. Verse 11 clarifies that Sin [noun], not the law, is the murderer. Sin uses the law to deceive us - perhaps by making the forbidden thing more attractive, or by making us think that we can save ourselves by keeping the law.
Paul continues by writing that the law itself is holy, just, and good (12). The law did not become death to him, but Sin [noun] did. God allowed this so that Sin might be shown for what it truly is - something so evil that it can use something good like the law to produce death.
The Sin Nature Still Remains (14-25)
While the spirit of the believer is redeemed, you still live in a body that is sold under Sin [noun] (14). We still have an unredeemed physical flesh that remains susceptible to sinful impulses.
Romans 7:15 (NIV) - “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
In verses 16 and 17, Paul reasons that because he wants to do good but fails, his true self (the “I”) agrees that the law is good. Therefore, the failure isn’t his true identity, “but sin that dwelleth in me.”
This isn’t an abdication of responsibility for his actions, rather he reveals the inner conflict between his two natures. To will was his attitude, but to perform that which is good Paul could not realize (18). Paul bemoans that the good he desired, he did not do, but the evil he did not desire was what he practiced.
The law of God refers to God’s holy and just law, specifically the Mosaic Law or the Torah. In his “inner man” Paul delights in this law and wants to follow it (22). However, Paul also sees another law at work in his physical body which is bringing him into captivity to the law of Sin [noun] (23).
Romans 7:24-25 - “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
This internal struggle between two laws is only resolved by a third law in Romans 8 - the law of the Spirit, where the Holy Spirit provides the power to live out your new identity.
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- Romans 7 - Greek Interlinear