Main Highlights
Believers are no longer under the law but have died to it, yet the law reveals sin and stirs up sinful passions; the struggle between the flesh and the spirit.
Key Verses
Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law exercises authority over a person only as long as he lives?— Romans 7:1
For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.— Romans 7:2
So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress even though she is joined to another man.— Romans 7:3
Therefore, my brothers, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.— Romans 7:4
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.— Romans 7:5
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.— Romans 7:6
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! 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.”— Romans 7:7
But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.— Romans 7:8
And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died;— Romans 7:9
and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;— Romans 7:10
for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.— Romans 7:11
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.— Romans 7:12
Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather, it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.— Romans 7:13
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.— Romans 7:14
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.— Romans 7:15
But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good.— Romans 7:16
So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.— Romans 7:17
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.— Romans 7:18
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.— Romans 7:19
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.— Romans 7:20
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.— Romans 7:21
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner person,— Romans 7:22
but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.— Romans 7:23
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?— Romans 7:24
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.— Romans 7:25
Related Scripture
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.— Galatians 5:17
Scholar Insight
"Romans 7 describes the ongoing struggle of the believer with indwelling sin, a struggle that is only resolved in glorification." - Douglas Moo, Romans"
Theological Analysis
What we learn about God
We learn that God's law is holy, righteous, and good, revealing sin and leading us to recognize our need for salvation.
Christological Connection
Jesus is referenced as the one through whom we are freed from the law and the body of death, and through whom we give thanks to God (Romans 7:4, 24-25).
Systematic Theology
This passage teaches the doctrine of the Christian life, highlighting the ongoing struggle between the flesh and the spirit, and our dependence on God's grace.
Law & Grace
The passage emphasizes that we are no longer under the law but have died to it, yet the law still plays a role in revealing our sin and stirring up sinful passions (Romans 7:4-6, 7-11).
Personal Application
People should respond by acknowledging their struggle with sin, recognizing their dependence on God's grace through Jesus Christ, and striving to live according to the Spirit (Romans 7:24-25). For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner person (Romans 7:22).