1Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
The first word in the Greek text of verse 1 of this chapter is “Or” : “Or know ye not, brethren,....” That word binds this passage with the previous chapter. In this first verse, Paul returns to his statement in 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” In the coming verses, he will give an illustration to further explain this statement. In verse 1 is also found the first use of the word “brethren” since 1:13. This tells us that the coming verses are intended for believers. It may be significant that there is no article “the” in the Greek text before the first occurrence of the word “law” in this verse. The Roman believers were people who knew “law.” That is, they knew how legal systems work. Paul draws on this knowledge when he says, “Know ye not...that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?” By their familiarity with legal systems, the Roman believers would understand and agree that the Law only has application to a person’s situation during that person’s lifetime.
2For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Paul now applies the legal principle which he cited in verse 1 to the situation of marriage, and he takes the point of view of the wife. He says that marriage law binds a woman to her husband for as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, the wife is “loosed” from that marital law. In that case, she is free to remarry, and if she does, she will not have committed adultery.
4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
The wife in the illustration in the previous verses stands for every believer in Christ. Unlike the illustration, our old husband did not die; Paul says that we died. The Greek word translated “are become dead” in this verse is a verb in passive voice: it means “you were put to death.” Paul says that through the body of Christ, the believers in Rome – and all believers today – were put to death to the Law that bound us to our old husband. That is, as we read in the previous chapter, God spiritually baptized us into the death of Christ (6:3). God accounted us as “deceased” because we are in Christ. Because we are accounted to have died with Christ and to be risen with Him, we are free to remarry. This time we are marrying Christ Himself, who was raised from the dead. We used to bear fruit for death (verse 5), but now we can bear fruit for God.
5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
The marriage illustration that Paul has used is further explained in these verses. If the Law bound us to our old husband, who was the old husband? The first words of verse 5 give us information. Paul begins by saying, “For when we were in the flesh....” This is the first occurrence of the expression “in the flesh” in the book of Romans. Clearly, it does not mean, “when we had a physical body,” because we still have a physical body. We get a clue about what Paul means by remembering what he said in the previous chapter. In 6:19, he said that he was speaking in human terms “because of the infirmity of your flesh.” “Infirmity of the flesh” didn’t mean physical infirmity. We get another clue about what he means from verse 6 of this chapter. In the expression translated “that being dead wherein we were held,” the participle “being dead” is plural and refers to the subject of sentence, “we.” Paul says, “we having died in that by which we were held.” Paul says that we were in something that was holding us down. We were “in the flesh.” Being “in the flesh” meant being married to sin. The Law bound us to our old husband by condemning us to spiritual death. We will learn more about this old husband in the coming verses in this chapter.
Paul says that “the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.” Here also, Paul introduces a new connection in the book of Romans; he says that sinful passions can be stirred up in us through the Law. While we were “in the flesh,” that was what was happening. But now that we have been accounted “deceased” with Christ, we are loosed from the Law which bound us to our old husband. We are remarried to a new husband, Jesus Christ. In the next chapter, Paul will say that we are now “in the Spirit” (8:9).
Most of the Roman believers were not Jewish (1:13), so why does Paul raise the topic of the Law with them? The Covenant of Law was given only to Israel, but Israel was to have shared the Word of God with the other nations (3:2). Any Gentile who believed that Yahweh the God of Israel was the true God, ought to have sought out His Word, as did the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39). The Covenant of Law was given only to Israel, but the righteous standards of the Law are universal in geography and in time. In the first chapters of this book, Paul said that these standards are known by unbelievers by conscience (1:32;2:14-15).
Paul ends his words in verse 6 by saying that we were loosed from the Law “that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” He used similar words in 2:29 when he said, “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” The letter of the Law can command the circumcision of the physical body, but it is the Spirit of God who circumcises the heart. Likewise, we as believers are to serve God in newness of life (6:4) by the Spirit of God that He has given to us (5:5), not by trying in our own strength to keep the letter of the Law. Paul will continue to address this topic in the remainder of this chapter and in chapter 8.
7What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
In the remainder of this chapter, Pauls asks and answers two questions. In verse 7 he asks, “Is the law sin?” That is, if the Law bound us to sin, our old husband, and if sinful passions were stirred up in us through the Law, is the Law the problem? Paul answers his question in the negative. He says that, in fact, the Law did him good. He says, “I had not known sin, but by the law.” He then gives a specific example based on the commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” This commandment said, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's (Exodus 20:17). Certainly Paul did not mean that he would not have known that such a thing as sin existed or that coveting was wrong. His argument in 1:32 and in 2:14-15 shows that all people have that knowledge by conscience. Paul’s words in verses 8-11 show that he meant that without law, he would not have known that he personally had this sin in him. In other words, “I didn’t know that I had a problem with covetousness until I tried to stop myself from coveting.”
8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Verse 8 presents sin as an active personal presence in a believer. Sin “takes occasion.” Sin “works coveting.” Sin can be “dead” (not gone) and then “revive.” Sin “deceives.” Sin “kills.” Sin is our old husband. In Paul’s illustration in verses 4-6, our old husband did not die. We died with Christ. Our old husband can still become active. Paul said that, “without the law sin was dead.” The word “was” in this sentence is in italics in the KJV because it is not in the Greek text. It is still true today that without law, sin is dead. What does that mean? After all, there was a lot of sin in the world even before the Mosaic Law was given. Paul is talking to believers (verses 1,4). Unbelievers are still married to sin; believers are not. When a believer tries to live the Christian life by focusing on law, that believer is trying to obey God in his or her own strength. Satan, who is the one who energizes our old husband, shows up just like he did in the garden of Eden, to tempt us to disobey the law we’re focused on. But if a believer focuses on our new husband the Lord Jesus Christ and depends on His Spirit in us for holiness, our old husband remains dormant.
In giving this example from his own experience, Paul says, “I was alive without the law once.” Only a believer can say that. Paul is remembering a time after He believed in Christ when he was living in fellowship with God. He says, “but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” When he focused on the Law and began trying not to be covetous because the commandment said not to covet, the sin presence in his unredeemed body sprang to life and used the commandment as a base of attack. As a result, Paul “died” in that he committed sin and thus lost his fellowship with His heavenly Father. When believers sin, they must confess their sins to God (I John 1:9). Then their fellowship with Him is restored.
It seemed like the Law, which showed a way to life, became a tool to make Paul die. But the truth was that the sin presence in Paul used something which is holy and just and good to make him stumble in His walk with God.
13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
In verse 13 Paul asks and begins to answer a second question: “Was then that which is good made death unto me?” That is, if sin used the Law, which is good, as a base to attack me and cause me to fall out of fellowship with God, did the Law cause my death? Paul says, “Absolutely not!” Rather, God allowed sin in its evil work to use something good in order that we might see how despicable sin is.
14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
In verse 14, Paul makes a very strong statement. He says that, as we know, the Law is spiritual, but that he himself is fleshly and sold under sin. The evidence that he gives for this evaluation of himself is in the next verse. The evidence is that he is not in control of what he does. He’s not doing what he wants to do; instead, he’s doing what he hates. In verse 16 he says that there is a conflict between how he thinks and what he does. He thinks like the Law but does otherwise. Thus, he says in verse 17, he himself is not doing what he’s doing. Rather, the sin that indwells him is doing it. This is the first time that Paul has spoken of sin as “indwelling.” For Paul to say that he as a believer is fleshly and sold under sin tells us that a believer depending on his own strength to live the Christian life is as helpless as a lost person to obey God.
18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:
Paul said that no good thing dwelled in his flesh. But in I Corinthians 6:19, he wrote, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? God’s Holy Spirit dwells in the body of every believer in Christ. Thus, when Paul said that no good thing dwelled in his “flesh,” he didn’t mean his body. The body itself is not evil. The “flesh” means the sin which indwells us as Adam’s descendants. God accounts us to have died with Christ, but He has not yet given us a new body. He has not eradicated the indwelling sin, our old husband. Our present body gets sick, ages, and dies. Sickness, aging, and death are among the remaining evidences and effects of the ongoing indwelling presence of sin in us. Our present body gets sick and dies because it is infected with sin, Adam’s and ours. This reality is universally obvious in all people, believers or not. Thus, “the flesh” is a suitable term to represent not just the sin which indwells our old body but all our passions and efforts that are independent of the Holy Spirit in us.
for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23but 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. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I 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.
Paul has said that there was no good in any remnant of his life as a descendant of Adam. As evidence of this fact, he says that he can’t do the good he wants to do. In fact, he does the evil that he doesn’t want to do. In verse 20, he again states his conclusion that he himself is not doing what he’s doing. Rather, indwelling sin is doing it. In verse 21, he recognizes that with him as a believer, there is a presence that is not good.
Verse 22, along with the verses before it, is a crystal clear statement that Paul is writing these things concerning himself as a believer. He says, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” Only a believer can say that. That is the voice of the regeneration that Paul spoke of in 6:17-18. But in verse 23, he summarizes his dilemma. His mind wants what is right, but there is a sin presence in his body that is holding him captive. The situation is so bad that Paul says, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He is talking about his physical body. He wants a new one that is not infected by sin. Finally, in verse 25, he rejoices that God will deliver him from the indwelling presence of sin. In 8:23, he will explain that God will give us a new body. Paul’s last words in this chapter leave us in the defeatedness of a saved descendant of Adam trying to fight sin in that person’s own strength. Thankfully, Paul will tell us more in chapter 8.
We might ask at this point: why does the book of Romans have a chapter 7? Why not skip from the regeneration in chapter 6 to the Spirit-controlled life spoken of in chapter 8? Why should believers, including the apostle Paul, go through such spiritual struggle?
It seems that Paul indicates three lessons that we as believers have to learn in order to cross the bridge from regeneration to strength in our walk with God:
(1) We have to learn how bad sin, our old husband, is. Sin is so bad that it even uses God’s holy Law to tempt us.
(2) We have to learn how weak we are. The persons we were as descendants of Adam died with Christ, and we are now in Christ. We have a new husband. But sin, the old husband, hasn’t left the house. We hate the sin in us, but we don’t have the strength in ourselves to fight it.
(3) We have to learn how willing and able Christ, our new husband, is to handle the situation. God has put the Spirit of His Son in us (8:9). God, by His work of regeneration in our hearts, has already made us want right. Now we have to learn to trust Him to make us do right. Our eyes must stay on our Lord Jesus Christ, not on external Law, which we cannot keep in our own strength.
Why didn’t God just throw sin out of our house when He gave us new life? As we will read in the next chapter, “...ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (8:23-25).
God wants us to be people who trust Him for a better future and who trust Him while we wait for it. There has to be a chapter 7 in Romans because without learning these three lessons, none of us can succeed in our spiritual lives. As is written in Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.