Tyndale Open Study NotesRomans 7

• Both Jewish Christians and many Gentile Christians were familiar with the law. Jewish people were taught the law of Moses from birth. Many Gentiles in the church at Rome had previously been God-fearers. These were Gentiles who were interested in Judaism and regularly attended the synagogue.

• the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives: Paul might be referencing a well-known Jewish saying. One rabbinic tradition says, “If a person is dead, he is free from the Torah and the fulfilling of the commandments” (Babylonian Shabbat 30a; baraita Shabbat 151).

These verses are not an allegory, in which every part of the story has a separate theological meaning. Paul uses a simple illustration to make two main points:

1. Death can free a person from the law.

2. Ending one relationship can allow a person to start a new one.

Paul applies this example in 7:4.

died to the law: This means they are no longer bound by it. Paul often describes the law of Moses as representing the old system of sin and death. However, through their union with Christ in his death, Christians are set free.

• the flesh: The word flesh can sometimes refer to the human body in a neutral way. For example, Paul speaks of Christ coming “in the flesh” (see 8:3). More often, however, Paul uses flesh in a negative sense. It describes human life lived apart from God. To live according to the flesh means to be ruled by sin and opposed to God.

• the sinful passions aroused by the law: God’s law is good in itself (see 7:12). However, because people have sinful hearts (inner desires that go against God), the law can cause sinful desires to appear. When people live in rebellion against God, his commands can cause a desire to do the opposite of what he commands.

the written code (literally the letter): Paul uses this phrase to refer to the law of Moses. God carved this law on stone tablets consisting of individual letters (see 2:29; 2 Corinthians 3:5–7).

What 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.

• Sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment: The word opportunity is a military term for a position seized in enemy territory that becomes a base of operations (see 7:11). By expressing God’s demands, the commandments provoke rebellion within people controlled by sin. God's commandments become a chance for sin to achieve its harmful goals.

• apart from the law, sin is dead: The law, by plainly expressing God’s will, makes people more accountable than they would be without it. The law of Moses did not solve Israel’s sin problem but revealed and made it worse. This is always the effect that God’s law, by itself, has on people controlled by sin.

• Once I was alive apart from the law: Paul might be referring to his early childhood, before he fully understood the law's demands.

• but when the commandment came: Paul's experience with the law as he matured reflects everyone's experience. With the law, we have more accountability to God. This gives sin power and leads to greater judgment (7:10; see 4:15; 5:14, 20).

The Old Testament promised a blessed and secure life to those who obeyed the law (for example, Leviticus 18:5, quoted in Romans 10:5). However, people inherit a strong tendency to sin because of the effects of Adam's sin. So, when God’s commands come to us, we often resist and disobey them. So, instead of bringing life, the law only reveals our lost and vulnerable spiritual condition. We need God to change our desires because the law cannot provide this inner change.

sin … deceived me: Paul uses language similar to Genesis 3:13. He may be thinking about the first human disobedience.

it is no longer I who do it: Paul is not avoiding responsibility for his sin (see also 7:20). Instead, he explains that he truly wants to do what the law commands. Because of this, something else must be causing him to act in the opposite way. That cause is sin living in him. Paul describes a conflict between what he wants to do and what he actually does.

in my flesh: See study note on 6:19. This phrase may refer to Paul’s former life before God redeemed him. It may also refer to a part of Paul that is still connected to this world and resists God’s will.

the principle (literally law): Paul is referring to something that happens again and again. The struggle between wanting to do what is right and doing what is wrong shows a repeated pattern in human life.

in my inner being: Greek writers used this phrase to refer to the inner life of a person. It points to the spiritual part of a human being that does not pass away (compare 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:16).

another law ... the law: Paul uses the word play with law in these verses (7:22). Opposing God’s law is another law, a ruling power that stops Paul from following God’s law, even though he fully agrees with it.

this body of death: Sin affects the whole person. It especially shapes how people live and act in the physical world.