 | |
Lesson 8
Romans Chapter 7
Our relationship to law and sin
|
Romans 7:1-6
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the
law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2Thus
a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her
husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3Accordingly, she
will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her
husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and
if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body
of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised
from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were
living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work
in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the
law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under
the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
|
There may be those who read Paul’s letter who think that law and
Christianity mix. Paul says they do not and offers an illustration regarding
marriage. Marriage vows last as long as both parties are alive and to have
more than one mate at a time involves adultery, or in the United States the
charge would be bigamy (Romans 7:1-3). Likewise, for Christians, there has
been a death to the Law of Moses through the body of Christ, that is, through
the cross (Romans 7:4; see Colossians 2:14). Christ nailed the law to the
cross and since we have been "baptized into his death" (Romans 6:3)
and "united with him in a death like his" (Romans 6:5) we, having
died to the law "are released from the law"(Romans 7:6). Thus the
old written code is done away and we now live a new life in the Spirit (Romans
7:6).
|
Romans 7:7-12
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had
not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known
what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not
covet." 8But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,
produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies
dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came,
sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life
proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the
commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy,
and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
|
The next question that one might ask would be, "Well then, isn’t the
law itself sin?" There are three answers to this question: "By no
means!" (Romans 7:7; see notes on Romans 6:2) and "The law is
holy" (Romans 7:12). Actually, the law is "spiritual" (Romans
7:14). Its commandments are "holy and righteous and good" (Romans
7:12). The law allowed individuals to know what sin really is (Romans 7:7)
because sin took advantage through the commandment and "deceived me"
(Romans 7:11). The law worked like a mirror: it could help you see sin much as
a mirror can help you see the smudge on your face, however, it did not remove
sin anymore than the mirror removes the smudge. Thus, what was supposed to
bring life actually brought death. This is how covetousness or murder or
breaking any other commandment can bring sin to life (Romans 7:7-10).
|
Romans 7:13-23
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was
sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might
be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond
measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh,
sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what
I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want,
I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do
it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells
in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right,
but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want,
but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I
do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies
close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but
I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
|
Since the results were bad, (i.e. death) does that mean that bad was a
result of good? (Romans 7:13). The answer is that sin was the culprit. When
you are in the flesh, you are sold into bondage to sin (Romans 7:14). Paul
describes the plight of most of us in Romans 7:15 when he says, "I do not
understand my own actions." He demonstrates with several examples:
 | I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Romans
7:15) |
| It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans
7:17) |
| Nothing good dwells in me (Romans 7:18) |
| I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to
carry it out (Romans 7:18) |
| I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want I keep
doing (Romans 7:19) |
| It is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans
7:20) |
| When I want to do right, evil lies close at hand (Romans 7:21) |
| I delight in the law of God, but I have another law waging war
within me (Romans 7:22-23) |
| I am being taken captive by the law of sin that dwells within me
(Romans 7:23) |
|
Romans 7:24-25
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve
the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. |
So, the result of this war that is raging is that Paul considers himself to
be a "wretched man" who will be delivered to death (Romans 7:24).
Remember what he said in Romans 6:23! In spite of all this, he affirms that he
can and will be delivered through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25). While we are in
the flesh the battle will constantly go on between spirit and flesh! (Romans
7:25). Many times it will seem like the flesh is winning. However, we must
remember that we have someone to deliver us from this death sentence: Jesus
Christ.
Review Questions:
- Should Christians follow the Law of Moses today? Give scriptures to support
your answer.
- What words did Paul use to describe the Law?
- What words did Paul use to describe the Commandments?
- In Romans 7:15, Paul says, "I do not understand my own actions." He
follows this with several examples where his own actions do not match what his
desires are. What caused this battle to go on within him? Does this battle still
go on in Christians today?
- While Paul declares himself to be a "wretched man," he claims there
is delivery from this. How does it happen?
Click
on the chapter buttons above to go to a different chapter or click on the up
button to view other studies that are available.
|
