Romans 7:13–25

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ 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.

Commentary

Vs. 13 Having declared that the law is holy, and the commandment from the law is holy, just, and good (Rom 7:12). The Apostle Paul now reiterates that the law which was to bring life, instead he found only to bring death (Rom 7:10-11). The reason that it brought death to him, (and to us all) is because of sin. For apart from sin, the law encapsulates all that points to life (Ps. 119:93). However with sin on the scene, sin merely runs amuck, using the law as a grounds to arouse and awaken all manner of sinful desires inside of us. And so here in chapter seven the Apostle Paul reveals the personal dilemma that he found in his own life because of the laws incompatibility with us because of our carnal or sin nature. Thus the law which was meant to bring life he found only to bring death. Since the law does not address the fundamental problem with us all and that is our sin nature. And so through the commandment (which is good) sin becomes exceedingly sinful, so that it's active and destructive presence is so absolutely and undeniable revealed to one and to all, that all who see sins presence in their own lives, or in this world, will flee to God through Jesus Christ via the Gospel. For only then can one be set free from sins destructive grip and control in their persons and lives. The law on the other hand can do nothing to restrict or alleviate one's own desires towards sin, it only makes sin more manifest, and thus eliminates any hope of our change coming through the law (Rom 7:5; 1 Cor 15:56). Thus through the law the Apostle Paul discovered his own sinful condition, yet the law offered him nothing as a remedy for it. For in his flesh he was incapable of keeping it, sin simply defeated him over and over again through it. And that is the dilemma that Paul is expounding here in chapter seven, for both the believer and unbeliever alike, the inherent conflict between the law and the sinful nature of us all, and thus the defeat that comes to us all through our flesh.

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 

And so here the Apostle Paul reveals the first problem in our fight with sin, that is that the law is spiritual, but we are are all carnal, sold under sin (vs. 14). For the law knows no sin, nor does it make any allowances for sin. We on the other hand are carnal, sold under sin, and so whether we admit it or not, we all know sin (1 John 1:8). Now that Paul says he, and thus we all are sold under sin, is the result of Adam and Eve's disobedience, by which sin entered the world, and thus sin through their fall spread to all of mankind, indeed all of creation. And so the spiritual nature that they once bore (being Spiritually alive with God and apart from sin) has been lost to them, and to us all, as we are all descended from them. Thus we are all Scripturally said to born into Adam's sin as a consequence of their disobedience to God, and thus we are all said to be carnal, sold under sin. Meaning God has sold us all (that is all of humanity) under sin, so that our Redemption from sin and death must come through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore neither law, nor good works, can save us from our sin, because these cannot fundamentally change who and what we are apart from God, carnal and sold under sin. Now as evidence of this point that we are all carnal, sold under sin. The Apostle Paul will now say of himself in verse fifteen, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." Here then we have the reality and dilemma of our carnal (or fleshly) nature. For as Paul says of himself "what I am doing I do not understand." Paul then (like ourselves) has found himself doing (and saying) things which he cannot explain as to why, nor can he justify. Yet it's not merely a case of being ignorant, as he goes on to say, ..."For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." And so like ourselves, Paul has also gone through this inner turmoil of knowing what is good and right and yet doing doing what he hates.

Vs. 16 "If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good." 
And so in a twist of irony by our doing what we will not to do, we agree with the law that it is good and thus all that is of the flesh is not. 

Vs. 17-19 ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 

And so here the Apostle Paul names the source of this conflict within us, sin. But not as an excuse for our sins, rather to clarify how sin works through the flesh and brings us into subjection to itself. Which is why Paul says nothing good in his flesh dwells (vs. 18). For indwelling sin by default means that nothing good dwells within our flesh, for the flesh is subject to sin, and is thus the means by which sin when "full grown" brings forth death (James 1:15). Now as evidence of this conflict between our will and our flesh, and it's powerlessness because of indwelling sin. The Apostle Paul says in verse eighteen, ..."for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." Thus the good Paul wants to do he does not find the means to do. The flesh provides him with nothing to attain to that desired end. Yet it's far worse that just not being able to do the good God commands of us all, for as Paul says in verse nineteen, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." vs. 19
And so even well meaning people can very much find themselves in this conundrum of wanting to do good, and yet being overcome by sin through the fleshes weakness. It is then the essential human tragedy, given a will that (when the moral conscience is still intact) instinctively wants to do that which reflects the true nature of us as God's creation, yet because we are all sold under sin, we have no way to exercise that will apart from Divine intervention. If then the flesh had any possibilities by which we could overcome sin, (or find redemption for ourselves from it through it) it would not be the crux through which sin overrides our own will and brings us into death. And so again in the flesh nothing good dwells, for the flesh does not empower anyone to overcome sin and temptations towards it, for the flesh is only subject to sin, being the dwelling place of it. 

Vs. 20-25 ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ 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.

Therefore if I (the one who desires to do good) find myself doing what I do not want to do, then that is evidence enough that there is evil present with me, which is working against my will, and this again is sin (vs. 20). And so the Apostle says, "I find then a law..." , (same word used of the law of God in vs. 22) "...that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good" (vs. 21).  And so indwelling sin is "a law" which has a dominion over the flesh. Thus when we individually or collectively (in of ourselves) try to rise above it, inevitably we are brought back into it's domain, because we are all children of the fall. 

Now as evidence of his (and our) wanting to do good according to the will of God, the Apostle Paul now says, "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man" (vs. 22).  That is the inward man, which is our regenerated (or born-again) person, the new creation (2 Cor 5:17), where Christ and the Holy Spirit dwell inside of us all who believe in Jesus Christ, who having brought us to life and baptized us all into Christ by the Holy Spirit, we have been given a new heart and new mind. Yet we are not yet in our glorified body, and so there is this conflict between the old sinful nature with our new nature until this mortality is swallowed up by life (consider 2 Cor 5:1-8). Therefore as long as we are in this mortal body we will all have to wrestle against indwelling sin, (and or temptations towards it), until we are home in eternity with Christ (12:1-11). For truly the righteous do indeed delight in the law of God according to the inner man (or person). But because of the law of sin within our mortal members we find no means (in of ourselves) to effectively live by it's moral decrees. Sin simply overrides our will and brings us back into it's captivity and bondage through the fleshes weakness (vs. 23). Therefore in an outcry against this state of being, which is our persons here and now, the Apostle Paul now says in verse twenty-four, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" To which he quickly answers in verse twenty five, "I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!..." For truly our deliverance from these mortal bodies will come to us from God through Jesus Christ our Lord, who will transform our lowly bodies of death and conform them to bear the image of Christ's glorious resurrected body, where sin and death will have no more domain or rule (Phil. 3:21, 1 Cor 15:35-49). And so to sum up the Apostle will now say, "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." 

Scripture Quotation
The New King James Version. Nashville Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Romans 7:7–12

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 

Commentary

Vs. 7-10 The Apostle having declared our co-death with Christ, to both sin and law, so that we might be liberated from them, now asks a question that might be in some believers hearts and minds as to the nature of the law. "Is the law sin?" To which he responds with a resounding no! For it is not the law that is sin. Rather it is through the law that the indwelling sin in each one of us is clearly revealed to us. As Paul says, I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” vs. 7

And so before the law came righteousness was purely subjective, we could basically live and do as we pleased, as long as we did not violate the social "norms" around us we felt pretty secure in our own consciences. However when the law came, we were suddenly exposed to the true nature of our own persons and conduct, so that sin ceased to be a subjective reality. Instead sin became living and real to us. But not as some sort of external force or entity, rather as something that is active and alive within us. And thus we came to realize (not only moral right and wrong in the sight of God), but there was something inside of us that desired what was wrong, and was moving our behavior towards that which is sin. Therefore as Paul states in verse eight, it was not the law which was at fault, rather it was sin taking opportunity through the commandment (literally sin seized the law as a base of operations from which it could now fuel all kinds of temptation towards itself) and thus through the law sin produced in us all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead (vs. 8). Not dead as to it's existence, but dead as an awakened force or impulse in our persons. And so as the Apostle Paul says, "I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death." vs. 9-10 

And so before the law came I was alive, that is alive in the sense of having little or no knowledge of sin, nor of the sinful state of my person. And so I felt quite secure and all right in of myself. Sin though present within me was not a controlling force or impulse, and though I sinned, as all men sin, conviction of it was relatively an unknown to me, as long as I stayed inside of the boundaries of "social norms." 
However when the law came, sin revived and I died. And so the law didn't bring life (consider Gal. 3:21). Instead the law became the means by which all manner of sinful desires were awakened within me, and so, as Paul says, I died. All manner of feeling alright in how I was living and what I was doing ceased to be. I suddenly became aware of a whole new sphere of my person, a sphere which I did not like, nor did I have control over, but rather it had control of me! And so when the law comes we are all faced with a dilemma, either acknowledge our own brokenness and helplessness to God, and thus receive redemption and life through the Lord Jesus Christ, who was brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim 2:10). Or try to bury the unlawful desires and carry on as "usual", resisting the now aroused sin nature in one's own strength, which usually leads to one yielding to it, or only seeking to justify one's own lawless deeds in the end. For the law is not neutral, through it you will either present yourself to God as a sinner in need of His redemption; and thus receive redemption from Him and new life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Or you will present yourself to sin, and end up serving and reaping the realities of it in your life. 

Vs. 11-12 That is why the Apostle Paul says that it is sin (not the law) that is the problem. For even in his own experience, Paul says it was sin, which ..."taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me." vs. 11
Here Paul is basically reiterating what he said in verse 8 by using the same word translated opportunity there, which is now rendered occasion here in verse 11. That it is sin which uses the law as a "starting point", or a "base of operations" to begin it's assault on our persons. And so it is sin which takes occasion by the commandment, and through it sin deceives us, and kill us (vs. 11). Now sin can deceive us in many ways, from temptations towards it, too outright denying it's devastating consequences in our persons and lives if we obey it. Sin is ultimately deceitful, and so we are all warned about the deceitfulness of sin, which not only destroys lives, but it also hardens those who give their hearts over to it from the truth of God (Heb. 3:13). And so those who do so, who carry on in their sins, and or forward temptations towards the same, will receive everlasting punishment on themselves (consider Mark 9:42-50; 2 Thess. 2:9-12). For through the law God has laid down the everlasting moral boundaries by which we now have an objective reality as to right and wrong. And so there is no ambiguity in the law as to right and wrong. These do not change, just as God does not change (Heb. 13:5). Therefore no matter how this world turns, or where it stands in regards to "social norms" or it's "evolving" values, God's law is the moral compass that always points true north. Therefore the law is rightfully called holy, and the commandment holy and just and good (vs. 12),

Scripture Quotation

The New King James Version. Nashville Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Word Studies 

Vs. 8 opportunity, Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887.

Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

Romans 7:1–6

¹ Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? ² For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. ³ So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. ⁴ Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. ⁶ But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Commentary 

The Apostle Paul now lays down his reasons as to why we are no longer under Law, but grace (see Rom 6:14). To do this Paul will use the principal of "death annulment" from the Law as the means to bring forth his reasoning. Therefore as he will demonstrate only death can annul a covenantal relationship. And so he begins by asking us all, "Do you not know, brethren that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?" His point being (though not yet stated) before Jesus Christ's crucifixion death, and our faith in Him, and thus our co-death with Him, we were all "under the Law", (that is the condemnation of it), whether Jew or Gentile, we were all reckoned by God as "under Law", so that redemption could come to us all who believe in Him through the Gospel. And so with Christ's crucifixion death, and our co-death with Him, by our faith in His Person, we are no longer under the Law (Gal 3:23-25). Jesus Christ as our Head has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law, and thus paid the penalty for all our sins by His own crucifixion death, and so we through body of Christ have not only died to sin, we have also died to the Law (Rom. 7:4). That's where the Apostle Paul is heading, but for now we will look at how Paul wants us to get there in our understanding, and that is through the principal of a marriage relationship. And so in accordance with the law a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, if however her husband dies she is released from the law of her husband (vs. 2). Meaning she is free from that covenant relationship, and she can lawfully marry another man. However if she takes another man, while her husband lives, she is by law an adulteress. But if her husband dies and she marries another man, she is not considered an adulteress. And that is the principal the Apostle Paul is using here in describing every believer's relationship to God, that through the body of Christ we have not only died to sin (discussed in chapter six) but also the Law (discussed here), so that we may be married (i.e. be in a covenant relationship with) the Lord Jesus Christ. For it was Christ who was raised from the dead, to whom we are now "married" (i.e. in a covenant relationship with) and thus He gives life to all who believe in Him. The Law on the other hand does not bring life, only condemnation, (which is why it is called the "ministry of death" and the "ministry of condemnation", see 2 Cor 3:5-9, vs. 7, 9). Therefore Holy Spirit rebirth/regeneration (and thus life) does not come through the Law (Gal 3:21). For the Law is not the means of salvation for anyone, rather it is our tutor (gr. paidagogos ) meant to bring us to Christ who alone is (Gal 3:24-25). And so through Christ's crucifixion death and our co-death with Him, we have died to the Law, and thus we have been released from being under the Law's domain (John 1:12). Christ's death and our death with Him has annulled that covenantal relationship. Thus with Christ's resurrection life, we are now free to be married (i.e. enter into a covenant relationship) with Himself. And as verse four goes on to say this was done not only for our redemption, but as verse four states, in our being brought to life by faith In Jesus Christ, we are now to bear fruit to God. Fruit being the positive life, holy attributes, and abounding good works that are inherently part of having Christ's life now within us. Something which we could not do, nor can anyone else produce in of themselves. For no one can replicate the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) in of themselves. And so it is now the Spirit who is to govern our persons and lives, not the law. For only these testify to the grace of God, clearly manifesting and revealing Jesus Christ's' Resurrected Person and Life in us and through us. And so having our own persons transformed by Christ's Resurrection Power and Life, we can now have a positive and eternal impact on this world and people within it. For being released from servitude to sin and law we are now living temples of God, testifying to grace of God through the Gospel of God by our persons and lives. And thus we have been freed to serve God as His agents of reconciliation and peace, through the blood and cross of Christ, and thus do good wherever the King and the Kingdom of God is needed.

Vs. 5 ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.   

The Apostle Paul now uses the term "in the flesh" to describe us before we were in Christ; thus to describe our unregenerate state. A familiar term in the N.T. and here (like many of it's uses in the N.T.) it is being used to describe ones unregenerate state. Thus before we were made alive by the Spirit of God, and baptized into Christ, being fully united with Him, we were "in the flesh." Living only by our fleshly instincts and desires. And so here the Apostle Paul here reveals to us and essential problem of being in the flesh and how the law cannot fix us. For the law does not liberate anyone from sin. Indeed, when one is in the flesh (i.e. not In Christ, not reborn by the Spirit of God, and thus not freed from sins domain), the sinful passions of the flesh are only aroused by the law, and thus the law is no solution to sin in anyone's life, only Christ is. Thus the law, only awakens and arouses the sinful passions of the flesh which only bear fruit to death (vs. 5). 

Vs. 6 "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

And so through the body of Christ, we have been delivered (i.e. discharged) from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we might serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. The implication being our co-death with Christ has completely liberated us from both sin and law, and so with that we are no longer to serve in the "oldness of the letter". Meaning the strict and exact observance of every detail of God's commandments, and thus by doing so leaving no room for grace, nor faith, nor love to flourish through us. And so unlike the Father in Jesus' prodigal son's parable who in heart felt love and longing ran to his returning and broken son, and who then openly rejoiced and celebrated having him home again with Himself. Observing God's commandments in the "oldness of the letter" would have left no room for such grace and compassion to be shown towards the prodigal son, nor any other repentant sinner (consider Matt 9:9-13). And so if you try to serve God in the "oldness of the letter" all you are going to do is end up back under bondage, just as the Pharisees exemplified in the N.T., living by the most minute details of "the letter" while forsaking the major and most important aspects of God's commandments; like love, justice, mercy, and faith (consider Matt 23:23-24; Rom 13:8-10). And so we must not put ourselves or anyone else under the laws impossible demands (see Acts 15). Instead we are to be led by the Spirit, who is now the controlling force in our lives; not sin, and not the law. And so in serving in the newness of the Spirit, we are to be governed or led by the the Spirit, and thus the fruits thereof (see Gal 5:22-23) and so these are too govern our persons and lives, and thus our behavior. For when anyone does they are no longer living by "the flesh", and it's sinful impulses and desires, (which are only aroused by the law) instead they are living by the life and freedom and power of the Spirit of God, working within and manifesting the life of Christ throughout our person and lives, and thus they are no longer under law (Gal 5:16-24).

Scripture Quotation  
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.