EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Romans 7:7
7So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things.
Romans 7:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)What 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.
- New International Version (NIV)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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."
- New King James Version (NKJV)What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
Context of Romans 7:7
5In our old lives, we did the bad things that we wanted to do. God's laws brought bad thoughts into our minds. As a result, our bodies did many wrong things. In the end, those bad things lead to death. 6But now we have become free from the authority of the law. It is as if we have died. So those rules no longer control us. We do not still try to obey rules that someone has written down. That is the old way. Instead, we serve God in a new way. God's Spirit helps us to please him. So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things. 8But the command gave sin a chance to come into my thoughts. As a result, I started to want all kinds of wrong things. If there is no law to tell us what is wrong, then sin has no power to make us guilty. 9As for me, there was a time when I did not know God's laws. I was living without any law to obey. But when I learned about that command, sin now had power in my life.
Read all of Romans 7Romans 7:7 word by word
Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία; μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔγνων εἰ μὴ διὰ νόμου· τήν τε γὰρ ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν, εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν· οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Whatτίςtis · which?G5101
- shall we sayἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
- thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- the lawὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
- God forbidμήmē · notG3361
- God forbidγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
- Nayἀλλάalla · butG235
- I hadγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
- notοὐou · noG3756
- butεἰei · ifG1487
- byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
- forγάρgar · forG1063
- I hadεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
- ·τεte · and/bothG5037
- lustἐπιθυμίαepithumia · desireG1939
- had saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- Thou shaltἐπιθυμέωepithumeō · to long forG1937
Cross-references for Romans 7:7
- Romans 3:5Maybe some people may say, ‘The wrong things that we do show more clearly that God is always right. So perhaps God is wrong to punish us.’
- Romans 4:1Abraham was the ancestor of all of us who are Jews. Think about what he discovered.
- Romans 6:15Someone might say: ‘So we have a new life because God is kind to us. God's Law that he gave to Moses does not rule us any more. Then maybe we should continue to do wrong things. It will not make any difference.’ No, that is not true!
- Romans 7:8But the command gave sin a chance to come into my thoughts. As a result, I started to want all kinds of wrong things. If there is no law to tell us what is wrong, then sin has no power to make us guilty.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56Death only has power to hurt us because of our sins. And it is the authority of God's Law that gives power to sins.
- Romans 7:5In our old lives, we did the bad things that we wanted to do. God's laws brought bad thoughts into our minds. As a result, our bodies did many wrong things. In the end, those bad things lead to death.
- Romans 3:20God's Law shows people clearly that they have done wrong things. Nobody can become right with God because they obey that Law.
- Psalms 19:7The law of the Lord is perfect. It makes us strong again. We can trust what the Lord teaches us. He helps ordinary people to be wise.
- Psalms 119:96I have learned that all things will come to an end, but your commands have no end.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5People who do not know God strongly want to have sex in a wrong way. They cannot control themselves. You must not be like those people.
- Romans 13:9The rules in God's Law say this: ‘Do not have sex with anyone who is not your own wife or your own husband. Do not kill anyone. Do not rob anyone. Do not want things that belong to other people.’ All these rules, and all the other rules in God's Law, are all included in one rule. That one rule is: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’
- Genesis 3:6The woman looked at the fruit on the tree. She saw that it would be good to eat, and it was beautiful to look at. She wanted to eat it because it would make her become wise. So she took some fruit and she ate it. Then she gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her. He also ate it.
- Exodus 20:17You must not want to take your neighbour's house for yourself. You must not want to take his wife, or his servants, male or female. You must not want to take his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbour.’
- Deuteronomy 5:21You must not want to take your neighbour's wife for yourself. You must not want his house or his land, or his servants, male or female. You must not want his ox or his donkey or anything else that belongs to your neighbour.’
- Joshua 7:21I found a beautiful coat from Babylon, and I found 200 silver coins, and a piece of gold that weighed half a kilogram. I wanted them so much that I took them for myself. I hid them in the ground in my tent. The silver coins are under the other things.’
- 2 Samuel 11:2One evening, David got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman who was washing herself. She was very beautiful.
Commentaries on Romans 7:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Is the law sin? - The apostle had said, Romans 7:6; : The motions of sins, which were by the law, did bring forth fruit unto death; and now he anticipates an objection, "Is therefore the law sin?" To which he answers, as usual, , by no means. Law is only the means of disclosing; this sinful propensity, not of producing it; as a bright beam of the sun introduced into a room shows; millions of motes which appear to be dancing in it in all directions; but…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7What shall we say then? - The objection which is here urged is one that would very naturally rise, and which we may suppose would be urged with no slight indignation. The Jew would ask, “Are we then to suppose that the holy Law of God is not only insufficient to sanctify us, but that it is the mere occasion of increased sin? Is its tendency to produce sinful passions, and to make people worse than they were before?” To this objection the apostle replies…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more numerous than he had before thought, but it did not contain any…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-25What then (see study note on 6:1): Paul has just spoken in strong terms about the law. Now he explains that God’s law is good. He does this to prevent people from thinking that the law itself is evil.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-87-8. What ... then? Is the law sin? God forbid!--"I have said that when we were in the flesh the law stirred our inward corruption, and was thus the occasion of deadly fruit: Is then the law to blame for this? Far from us be such a thought." Nay--"On the contrary" (as in Ro 8:37; 1Co 12:22; Greek). I had not known sin but by the law--It is important to fix what is meant by "sin" here. It certainly is not "the general nature of sin" [Alford, &c.], though…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 7:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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