Summary of Romans 7:1-6

Paul reminds them that they know law (Romans had a flair for that). So they know that the law has power over a person only while he is in this life. Then Paul takes up a special example of this: a wife is bound to her husband while he lives. But when the husband dies, she is free from that law. If she is with another man while her husband is alive, she will be an adulteress. But when he dies, she is free. She is no longer an adulteress if she is with another man.

Similarly, Paul says that they died to the law through the death of Christ. So they can be away from the power of the law, their former husband, and now are with Christ. When they were in the regime of the flesh, the passions of sins aroused by the law worked in their bodies, bearing fruit leading to death. But now in the new regime, they have been freed from the law, they have died to the law that once held them. They are in slavery to the Spirit in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Comments on 7:1-6

Paul says they died and so are freed from the law, since they are members of Christ who died. Formerly they were in the regime of the flesh -- a focused picture, i.e., flesh as such cannot produce good, but only sin. In reality, in the factual picture, one who is physically in the flesh, if he uses the grace of Christ that is offered, he does not always sin, but may do much good. But now they are in the regime of the spirit -- again, a focused picture, i.e., being in the spirit can produce nothing but good. Again, in the factual view, one who has become a member of Christ may reject the grace offered, and so may sin.

He could speak of passions of sins aroused by the law in that the very fact that the law forbids something tempts many people to do it.

Summary of Romans 7:7-13

He does not mean that the law is sin. Of course not. But he would not know sin except through the law. For he would not desire something wrong if the law did not say: "Do not do it." However sin took up the opening provided by the law, and caused him to desire what was wrong. For without the law, sin was dead. But he was once alive, when he did not have the law. But then the command of the law came, and sin came to life again: he died spiritually. So the command of the law that was intended to bring life, turned out to bring death. Sin, making use of the opening, deceived him, and killed him through the violation of the command.

So the law in itself is holy and the command is holy and good. He asks: So, did what was good turn into death for me? Heavens no! But sin showed itself supremely sinful, and produced death through what was good for me. Thus sin became the sinner par excellence by using the command.

Comments on 7:1-13

In the actual text Paul keeps saying 'I', here we used 'he' for clarity. Many proposals have been made as to who the 'I' is: Here are the chief ones: 1) Paul refers to his own personal life, his complete life. 2) Paul refers to his own life since his conversion. 3) Paul speaks in the person of Adam when confronted with the command. 4) Paul uses a stylistic figure, he is dramatizing the experience of all who had the Mosaic law but relied on their own resources to meet what it called for.

The first and second views cannot be right. Here Paul pictures himself as weak, and falling readily into sin (that will be even clearer in verses 13-25). But in Philippians 3:6 he said he kept the law perfectly even before He met Christ. The third view hardly fits, only the personification of sin in verse 11 reminds us of the case of Adam. The fourth view is close to right, but incomplete.

We can gather, with the help of 7:9 that Paul has in mind two different time periods: 1) the period from Adam to Moses, when there was no revealed law; and 2) the period from Moses to Christ, when there was a revealed law. We get this distinction of periods by noting that in 7:9 he says: "I was alive (spiritually) at one time" (the first period). But then in 7:9-10 (the second period) he says that "when the command came, sin came to life again, and so I died." So he has in mind two time periods.

About the first period, from Adam to Moses, when there was no revealed law, Paul says then he (meaning everyone), was spiritually alive. For there was no law. He focused out of the picture the fact that even though one could not violate a revealed law then (parabasis), he still could violate the law written on hearts²⁴ (Interestingly, in 5:13-14 Paul insists there was hamartia, sin committed without a revealed command, between Adam and Moses).

As to the second period, from Moses to Christ, the time of the law, then the law came and sin revived, meaning violation of a revealed law was again possible and really happened. This did happen factually. But especially if we take this as a focused picture we say: The law made heavy demands -- it gave no strength -- so a fall was inevitable. Paul adds two minor touches: the mere fact the law said no-no made people desire the forbidden fruit. And when he personifies sin by saying "sin, taking an opening through the command" he brings to mind the temptation of Adam by the serpent in Eden.

Summary of Romans 7:14-25

Paul [so no one will misunderstand his remarks about the law] says he knows that the law is spiritual. But he is fleshy. He has been sold under sin. He does not understand the way he acts. For he does what he does not wish, and hates what he does. In that case, since he does what he does not want to do, he agrees that the law is good. But it is no longer he who does such things, but the sin dwelling in him.

He knows that good is not in him, in his flesh. For he can wish to do good, but cannot do good. For he does not do the good he wants to do, but he does the evil he does not want to do. In that case, not doing what he wants, it is no longer he who does it, but the power of sin dwelling in him.

So he notices a pattern [law] in himself: when he wants to do good, evil is at hand. He is pleased with the law of God in his heart. But he sees a different pattern [law] in his body, making war against the pattern [law] of his mind, taking him captive in the law of sin, the law that is in his body.

He exclaims: Oh! I am a wretched man! Who will rescue me from this death? [It will be grace, in chapter 8]. Praise to God through Jesus Christ! In his mind he wants to fully follow the law of God, but his flesh follows the law of sin.

Comments on 7:14-25

In the lines above, verses 7-13, Paul gave a historical -- theological picture of a person who is faced with the law, but does not have grace. This is, briefly, a focused picture. Of course, to be under a heavy demand, with no strength, means a fall.

In these lines, verses 14-25, he repeats the same picture, but now in a psychological instead of an historical-theological perspective. So he says, more than once: I see the law is good. I want to obey it. But I cannot. So it is the power of sin in me that makes me fail. I am wretched! What will rescue me? It will be the regime of the grace of Jesus Christ, explained in a focused way in chapter 8.

If one did not know about the focused perspective, he would probably take these lines as a factual picture of Paul, or any Christian. That cannot be true. Paul said in Philippians 3:6 that he even before his conversion had kept the law perfectly. And we notice the shift in verb times or tenses. In 6:17 & 20-22 he said they formerly were slaves of sin: but no more. Yet here he says I am fleshy, as if still under sin. This makes sense only if the picture in chapter 6 was a focused picture of the regime of grace, but here we see a focused picture of the regime of the flesh.

No wonder Luther wrote a book, The Bondage of the Will. He simply did not understand.