Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
ROMANS 7
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—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. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. 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 through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, 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, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 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 actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
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 to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. 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. 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.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Application Notes
7:1-25 Paul shows that the law is powerless to save a sinner (7:7-14), someone who diligently keeps the law (7:15-22), or even the person with a new nature who has begun to follow Christ (7:23-25). The sinner stands condemned by the law; the lawkeeper ultimately can't live up to it; and the person with the new nature finds his or her obedience to the law sabotaged by the effects of the old nature. Once again, Paul declares that salvation cannot be found by obeying the law. No matter who we are, only Jesus Christ can set us free.
7:2-6 Paul uses marriage to illustrate our relationship to the law. When a spouse dies, the law of marriage no longer applies. Because we have died with Christ, the law can no longer condemn us. Since we are united with Christ, his Spirit enables us to produce good fruit for God. We now serve God, not by obeying a set of rules, but out of renewed hearts and minds that overflow with love for him.
7:4 When a person dies to the old life and now belongs to Christ, a new life begins. Those who don't follow Christ have only their own selfdetermination as their source of power. By contrast, God becomes the centre of a Christian's life. God supplies the power for the Christian's daily living. Believers find that their whole way of looking at the world changes when they come to know and depend on Jesus.
7:6 Some people try to earn their way to God by keeping a set of rules (obeying the Ten Commandments, attending church faithfully, or doing good deeds), but all they earn for their efforts is frustration and discouragement because they can never do any of those things perfectly. However, Christ's sacrifice has opened the way to God, and we can become his children simply by putting our faith in him. No longer trying to reach God by keeping rules through our own efforts, we can become more and more like Jesus as we live for him day by day. Let the Holy Spirit turn your eyes away from your own performance and toward Jesus. He will free you to serve him out of love and gratitude. This is living "in the new way of the Spirit."
7:6 Keeping the rules, laws, and customs of Christianity doesn't save us. Even if we could keep our actions pure, we would still be doomed because our hearts and minds are perverse and rebellious. Like Paul, we can find no relief in the synagogue or church until we look to Jesus Christ himself for our salvation--which he gives us freely. When we do come to Jesus, we are flooded with relief and gratitude. Will we keep the rules any better? Most likely, but we will be motivated by love and gratitude, not by the desire to get God's approval. We will not be merely submitting to an external code, but we will willingly and lovingly seek to do God's will from within.
7:9-11 God's law makes people realise that they are sinners doomed to die, yet it offers no long-term remedy. Sin is real, and it is dangerous. Imagine a sunny day at the beach. You plunge into the surf; then you notice a sign on the pier: No swimming. Sharks in water. Your day is ruined. Is it the sign's fault? Are you angry with the people who put it up? The law is like the sign. It is essential, and we are grateful for it--but it doesn't get rid of the sharks.
7:11-12 Sin deceives people by misusing the law. The law is holy, expressing God's nature and will for people and showing them how to love God and treat each other. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve by taking their focus off the freedom God had given them and putting it on the one restriction God had made (Genesis 3). Ever since then, we have all been rebels. Sin looks good to us precisely because God has said it is wrong. When we are tempted to rebel, we need to look at the law from a wider perspective--in the light of God's grace and mercy. If we focus on his great love for us, we will understand that he only restricts us from actions and attitudes that ultimately will harm us.
7:15 Paul shares three lessons that he learned in struggling with his sinful desires: (1) Knowledge of the rules does not make it easier to obey them (7:9). (2) Self-determination and self-improvement cannot change our hearts (7:15). (3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from a person's life (7:22-25).
Being born again happens in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ is a lifelong process. Paul compares Christian growth to a strenuous race or fight (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7). Thus, as Paul has been emphasizing since the beginning of this letter, no one in the world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved-not the pagan who doesn't know God's laws, nor the person who knows them and tries to keep them. All of us must depend totally on what Jesus Christ has done for our salvation. We cannot earn it by our good behaviour.
7:15 This is more than the cry of one desperate man--it describes the experience of anyone struggling against sin or trying to please God by keeping rules and laws without the Spirit's help. We must never underestimate the power of sin. We must never attempt to fight it in our own strength. Instead of trying to overcome sin with human willpower, we must take hold of the tremendous power of Christ that is available to us. Satan manipulates and deceives. As a crafty tempter, he arrogantly tried to tempt Jesus. He succeeded with Adam and Eve, and he tries with us. We have an amazing ability to make excuses, so be alert to temptation. This is God's provision for victory over sin: He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and give us power. And when we fall, he lovingly reaches out to help us up.
7:17 "The devil made me do it." It sounds like a lame excuse, but there is some truth in it. Without Jesus' help, sin is stronger than we are, and sometimes we are unable to defend ourselves against its attacks. That is why we should never try to stand up against sin on our own. Jesus Christ who has conquered sin once and for all, promises to fight by our side. If we look to him for help, we do not have to give in to sin.
7:23-25 Here the "law at work in me" means the sin deep within us and our vulnerability to the power of sin. It refers to everything within us that keeps us more loyal to our old way of selfish living than to God.
7:23-25 We feel great tension in our daily Christian experience. We face conflict because we agree that God's commands are right and good, but we cannot carry them out fully on our own. As a result, we are painfully aware of our sin. This inward struggle with sin was as real for Paul as it is for us. From Paul we learn what to do about it. Whenever he felt overwhelmed by the spiritual battle, he would return to the beginnings of his spiritual life, remembering how he had been freed from sin by Jesus Christ. When we feel confused and overwhelmed by sin's appeal, let us claim the freedom Christ has given us. His power can lift us to victory.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)