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Romans 7
Disciples’ Literal New Testament

But We Are Indeed Not Under The Law, For It Only Has Jurisdiction Over The Living

7 Or[a] do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to ones knowing the Law[b]), that the Law lords-over[c] the person for as much time as he lives? 2 For the married woman has been bound by the Law to the living husband; but if the husband dies, she has been released from the law of [d] the husband. 3 So then, while the husband is living, she will be called an adulteress if she comes[e] to a different husband. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, having come to a different husband.

We Have Died To The Law In Christ

4 So-then[f], my brothers, you also were put-to-death with reference to the Law[g] through the body of Christ so that you might come[h] to a different One— to the One having arisen from the dead— in order that we might bear-fruit for God.

Having Died, We Are Released From The Law Through Which Sin Produced Death

5 For when we were in the flesh[i], the passions of [j] sins which[k] were through[l] the Law were at-work in our body-parts so as to bear-fruit for death. 6 But now we were released[m] from the Law, having died to that by which we were being held, so that we are serving in newness of the Spirit[n] and not in oldness of the letter[o].

Not That The Law Is At Fault For My Sin

7 Therefore, what shall we say? Is the Law sin[p]? May it never be! On-the-contrary, I would not have known[q] sin except through the Law.

Sin Used The Law To Produce Sin In Me

For indeed I would not have known[r] coveting[s] if the Law were not saying [in Ex 20:17], “You shall not covet”. 8 But sin, having taken[t] an opportunity[u] through the commandment, produced[v] every[w] [kind of ] coveting in me. For apart-from[x] the Law, sin is dead[y].

And Sin Used The Law To Kill Me

9 And I was once[z] alive apart from the Law. But the commandment having come, sin became-alive[aa] 10 and I died. And the commandment for[ab] life— this was found in me to be for[ac] death. 11 For sin, having taken an opportunity through the commandment, deceived[ad] me, and through it, killed me.

So The Law Is Good

12 So-then the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Not That The Law Killed Me. Sin Is To Blame For My Death

13 Therefore did the good thing become death[ae] for me? May it never be! On the contrary, it was sin, in order that it might become-visible as sin while producing death in me through the good thing, in order that sin might become extremely[af] sinful through the commandment.

I Agree The Law Is Good, But The Sin In Me Produces Behavior I Hate

14 For[ag] we know that the Law is spiritual. But I am made-of-flesh[ah], having been sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand[ai] what[aj] I am producing. For I am not practicing this which I am wanting, but I am doing this which I am hating. 16 But if I am doing this which I am not wanting, I am agreeing-with[ak] the Law— that it is good. 17 And now I am no longer producing it, but the sin[al] dwelling in me is.

I Know I Am Not Good, For I Cannot Do The Good I Want To Do

18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For the wanting is present in me, but the producing the good is not. 19 For I am not doing the good which I am wanting, but I am practicing this evil which I am not wanting. 20 But if I am doing this which I am not wanting, I am no longer producing it, but the sin[am] dwelling in me is.

So The Evil Inside Me Enslaves Me To The Law of Sin And Death In Me

21 I find then the law[an] in me, the one wanting to do the good, that the evil is present in me. 22 For I am rejoicing-with[ao] the Law of God according-to[ap] the inner person. 23 But I am seeing a different law in my body-parts waging-war-against[aq] the law of my mind, and taking me captive[ar] under the law of sin existing in my body-parts. 24 I am a wretched[as] person! Who will deliver me from this[at] body of [au] death? 25 But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself am serving the Law of God with the mind, but the law of sin with the flesh.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 Paul now takes up the other part of 6:14-15, the not being under the Law.
  2. Romans 7:1 That is, the Law of Moses, God’s Law. Or, law, the general principle of law and legal justice.
  3. Romans 7:1 Or rules over, is the master of.
  4. Romans 7:2 That is, concerning.
  5. Romans 7:3 Or, comes-to-be with.
  6. Romans 7:4 Now Paul applies to us the principle of v 1, illustrated by v 2-3, that death ends the authority of the Law.
  7. Romans 7:4 That is, God’s Law as the terms and conditions of which we must be doers (2:13) to have a relationship with Him. Christ did not need to die to release us from our legalism or man’s civil law or law in general, but from God’s objective standards.
  8. Romans 7:4 Same word as twice in the illustrations in v 3. It is not the normal word for ‘marry’, but that is the idea in v 3-4.
  9. Romans 7:5 That is, before we died with Christ.
  10. Romans 7:5 That is, leading to; or, belonging to (sin’s passions).
  11. Romans 7:5 That is, the passions... which.
  12. Romans 7:5 That is, were increased through the Law, 5:20. Paul explains this next in v 7-8.
  13. Romans 7:6 Same word as in v 2.
  14. Romans 7:6 Or, of spirit.
  15. Romans 7:6 That is, the written code of the Law.
  16. Romans 7:7 If the passions of sins are through the Law, is the Law what makes me a sinner? No. It merely defines the standard against which sin rebels.
  17. Romans 7:7 Or, come-to-know sin. That is, known of sin’s presence in him as sin (v 7-8) or of its power to kill him in relation to God (v 9-11). Apart from God’s Law, sin is merely ‘your opinion’ or ‘my bad choices’.
  18. Romans 7:7 Or, known-about.
  19. Romans 7:7 Or, [evil] desire, lust.
  20. Romans 7:8 Or, received.
  21. Romans 7:8 Or, occasion, starting point, base of operations.
  22. Romans 7:8 Or, opportunity, produced... in me through the commandment.
  23. Romans 7:8 Once aware it was forbidden, sin increased the coveting. This explains how the passions of sins were ‘through the Law’, v 5.
  24. Romans 7:8 Or, without a law.
  25. Romans 7:8 This is stated as a general principle. Sin is present, but inactive until it has a law to transgress. Thus God’s Law is the power of sin, 1 Cor 15:56. Or, ‘sin was dead’, stating it as the historical experience of Paul.
  26. Romans 7:9 Or, formerly.
  27. Romans 7:9 Or, sprang to life, came back to life.
  28. Romans 7:10 That is, for the purpose life.
  29. Romans 7:10 That is, resulting in death.
  30. Romans 7:11 Or, opportunity, deceived me through the commandment.
  31. Romans 7:13 If the Law resulted in death, v 5, 10, is God’s Law responsible for my death?
  32. Romans 7:13 Or, supremely, utterly.
  33. Romans 7:14 The purpose of v14-25 is to prove that sin is responsible for death, not the Law. Paul uses himself as an example, and scholars debate whether he has in view his experience as a Pharisee or a Christian (each view giving a different sense to ‘Law’ and ‘death’). What Paul says in these verses is true of anyone trying to live under law.
  34. Romans 7:14 That is, carnal, fleshly; or, human, of Adam’s race.
  35. Romans 7:15 Or, ‘acknowledge’ as representing his true desires.
  36. Romans 7:15 For example, this coveting, v 7.
  37. Romans 7:16 Or concurring-with.
  38. Romans 7:17 When God says not to do it, Paul agrees and does not want to do it, but sin produces it in him anyway. Thus it is sin, not God’s Law, that causes his death. The sin in him is against him and against God! How extremely sinful it truly is! This proves v 14b; Paul is under the dominion of sin.
  39. Romans 7:20 Good is not in him producing good, but sin is in him producing sin, and overcoming his inner desire to obey God’s good Law. This proves v 18.
  40. Romans 7:21 Or, the principle, the law of sin. v 23.
  41. Romans 7:22 Or, taking pleasure with, delighting in.
  42. Romans 7:22 Or with respect to.
  43. Romans 7:23 The law of sin’s control over Paul’s body fights and defeats his inner desires to obey.
  44. Romans 7:23 Or, making me prisoner.
  45. Romans 7:24 Or, miserable.
  46. Romans 7:24 Or, the body of this death.
  47. Romans 7:24 That is, characterized by.
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Romans 7
New International Version

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)

The Law and Sin

7 What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)

21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
  2. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
  3. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
  4. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
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