Romans 7:5
Verse
Context
Release from the Law
4Therefore, my brothers, 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 to God.5For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.6But now, having died to what 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.
Sermons
Watchman Nee
Charles Ewing Brown 
George Fox
Charles AlexanderWatchman NeeSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
For, when we were in the flesh - When we were without the Gospel, in our carnal and unregenerated state, though believing in the law of Moses, and performing the rites and offices of our religion. The motions of sins, which were by the law - Τα παθηματα των ἁμαρτιων, the passions of sins, the evil propensities to sins; to every particular sin there is a propensity: one propensity does not excite to all kinds of sinful acts; hence the apostle uses the plural number, the Passions or propensities of Sins; sins being not more various than their propensities in the unregenerate heart, which excite to them. These παθηματα, propensities, constitute the fallen nature; they are the disease of the heart, the pollution and corruption of the soul. Did work in our members - The evil propensity acts εν τοις μελεσιν, in the whole nervous and muscular system, applying that stimulus to every part which is necessary to excite them to action. To bring forth fruit unto death - To produce those acts of transgression which subject the sinner to death, temporal and eternal. When the apostle says, the motion of sin which were by the law, he points out a most striking and invariable characteristic of sin, viz. its rebellious nature; it ever acts against law, and the most powerfully against known law. Because the law requires obedience, therefore it will transgress. The law is equally against evil passions and evil actions, and both these exert themselves against it. So, these motions which were by the law, became roused into the most powerful activity by the prohibitions of the law. They were comparatively dormant till the law said, thou shalt Not do this, thou shalt Do that; then the rebellious principle in the evil propensity became roused, and acts of transgression and omissions of duty were the immediate consequences.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
For when we were in the flesh--in our unregenerate state, as we came into the world. See on Joh 3:6 and Rom 8:5-9. the motions--"passions" (Margin), "affections" (as in Gal 5:24), or "stirrings." of sins--that is, "prompting to the commission of sins." which were by the law--by occasion of the law, which fretted, irritated our inward corruption by its prohibitions. See on Rom 7:7-9. did work in our members--the members of the body, as the instruments by which these inward stirrings find vent in action, and become facts of the life. See on Rom 6:6. to bring forth fruit unto death--death in the sense of Rom 6:21. Thus hopeless is all holy fruit before union to Christ.
John Gill Bible Commentary
For when we were in the flesh,.... This respects not their being under the legal dispensation, the Mosaic economy; which lay greatly in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, such as regarded the flesh chiefly; so their meats and drinks concerned the body; their ablutions and washings sanctified to the purifying of the flesh; their circumcision was outward in the flesh; the several rituals of the law consisted in outward things, though typical of internal and spiritual ones; hence those that trusted in them trusted in the flesh: but to be "in the flesh" stands opposed, Rom 7:8; to a being "in the spirit"; whereas there were many under that legal and carnal dispensation who were in the spirit, and had the Spirit of God, as David and others; besides, the apostle must be thought to use the phrase in such a sense, as to include all the persons he is speaking of and writing to, who were both Jews and Gentiles, for of such the church at Rome consisted; and the sense is this, "for when we", Jews and Gentiles, who are now believers in Christ, "were" formerly, before our conversion to, and faith in Christ, "in the flesh", that is, in a corrupt, carnal, and unregenerate state and condition; in which sense the word "flesh" is frequently used in the next chapter: now not all such who have flesh, sin, or corrupt nature in them, must be reckoned to be in the flesh, for there is a difference between flesh being in persons, from which none are free in this life, and their being in the flesh; nor all such who commit sin, or do carnal things at times, for there is not a just man that doth good and sinneth not; but such who are as they were born, without any alteration made in them by the Spirit and grace of God; who have nothing but flesh in them, no fear of God, nor love to and faith in Christ, nor any experience of the work of the Spirit of God upon their souls; no true sight and sense of sin, nor any spiritual knowledge of salvation by Christ; in whom flesh is the governing principle, whose minds and principles are carnal, and their conversation wholly so; yea, persons may be in the flesh, in an unregenerate state, who may abstain from the grosser immoralities of life, and even make a profession of religion: now such these had been the apostle is speaking of and to, and tells how it was with them when in this state; the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death: by "the motions of sin" are meant, the evil passions and affections of the mind, the lusts of the heart, sinful desires, evil thoughts, the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart, the first motions of the mind to sin: these "were by the law"; not as the efficient cause of them, that neither produces nor encourages them; it is holy, just, and good, requires truth in the inward parts, and not only forbids the outward acts of sin, but even covetous desires, and lustful thoughts: no, these inward motions of sin arise from a corrupt heart and nature; are encouraged and cherished by the old man that dwells there; and men are enticed by Satan to a compliance with them. Some think that the meaning of the phrase is, that these secret lusts of the heart are made known by the law, as in Rom 7:7, so they are, but not whilst a man is in the flesh, or in an unregenerate state, but when he comes to be wrought upon powerfully by the Spirit of God, who makes use of the law to such a purpose: but the true sense of it is, that these motions of sin are irritated, provoked, and increased, through the law's prohibition of them; which is not to be charged as a fault on the law, but to be imputed to the depravity and corruption of man; who is like to one in a burning fever, very desirous of drink, who the more it is forbid, the more eager is he of it; or like a mighty torrent of water, which rises, rages, flows, and overflows, the more any methods are taken to stop its current; or like a filthy dunghill, which when the sun strikes powerfully on it, it exhales and draws out its filthy stench; which nauseous smell is not to be imputed to the pure rays of the sun, but to the filthiness of the dunghill: these motions of sin are said to "work in our members"; in the members of our bodies, which these sinful affections of the soul make use of to put them into action, and so they bring forth fruit; very evil fruit indeed, for nothing else can be expected from such an evil tree as the corrupt nature of man is: and this fruit is "unto death": deadly fruit, worthy of death, and would issue in eternal death, if grace did not prevent: the rise, beginning, motion, progress, and issue of sin, are most exactly and beautifully described, agreeably to this account here, by the Apostle James, Jam 1:13.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
7:5 old nature (literally flesh): Although “flesh” can refer to the human body in a neutral sense (see 8:3, which speaks of Christ coming “in the flesh”), Paul more often uses the word negatively, to denote human existence apart from God. To be “in the flesh” is to be dominated by sin and its hostility to God. • the law aroused these evil desires: The law of God is a good thing in itself (see 7:12), but it arouses sinful tendencies by provoking the rebellion that is in people’s hearts. When we are in rebellion against God, his commands spark in us a desire to do the exact opposite of what he commands.
Romans 7:5
Release from the Law
4Therefore, my brothers, 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 to God.5For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.6But now, having died to what 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.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
After Regeneration
By Watchman Nee0RegenerationEternal LifeJHN 1:13JHN 3:3JHN 3:6JHN 3:16ROM 7:5ROM 8:3ROM 8:91TI 3:16Watchman Nee emphasizes the transformative power of regeneration through faith in Jesus Christ, explaining that when a sinner believes in Him, they are spiritually reborn and receive eternal life. This regeneration establishes an unbreakable relationship between God and the believer, akin to that of a father and son, ensuring that once saved, a believer remains saved forever. Nee highlights that the Holy Spirit enters the believer's spirit, mingling God's eternal life with theirs, which cannot be lost. He contrasts the believer's former state 'in the flesh' with their new identity 'in the spirit,' affirming that this new birth is a divine act of God through the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, the believer's spirit is alive because of righteousness, despite the body's mortality due to sin.
The Second Crisis as Cleansing
By Charles Ewing Brown0ACT 15:9ROM 7:51CO 3:1GAL 5:171JN 1:7Charles Ewing Brown preaches about the doctrine of inbred sin in believers and the need for a second work of grace, entire sanctification, to cleanse believers from the remains of the carnal mind. He emphasizes that this belief, rooted in Wesleyan theology, is supported by the New Testament and has historical significance in Protestant religious faiths. Brown highlights the ongoing struggle between the flesh and the spirit in the hearts of believers, pointing to the scriptural evidence that supports the existence of inbred sin even after regeneration.
Epistle 67
By George Fox0MAL 2:5MAT 19:6JHN 3:21ROM 7:5ROM 13:121CO 3:13EPH 2:3EPH 2:81TI 4:1HEB 13:4George Fox preaches about the sanctity of marriage in the light of God, emphasizing that only marriages within the Lord and in the light are honorable and approved by the children of light. Those who follow the desires of the flesh and engage in adultery are considered to be outside the light and not in an honorable marriage. The children of light are encouraged to let their light shine before others, upholding honorable marriages and condemning actions contrary to the light.
"The Dark Night of Nicodemus" Ch. 3:1-8
By Charles Alexander0GEN 6:3PSA 51:5EZK 36:25JHN 3:2ROM 7:52PE 3:10Charles Alexander preaches a profound sermon on the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus, highlighting the spiritual significance of Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. The nocturnal visit symbolizes Israel's night of spiritual ignorance and unbelief, representing the darkness shrouding both Nicodemus and the nation. Jesus' declaration that one must be born again of water and the Spirit emphasizes the necessity of a new creation by the Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God, contrasting the fallen nature of the flesh with the spiritual rebirth. The sermon warns against the impending judgment on the corrupt and wicked world, urging all to heed the divine truth and prepare for the final battle between good and evil.
The Meaning and Value of Romans Seven
By Watchman Nee0Dependence on ChristDeliverance from the LawMAT 5:17JHN 19:30ROM 6:14ROM 7:5ROM 7:14ROM 7:18ROM 7:24ROM 8:8GAL 3:24PHP 2:12Watchman Nee explores the significance of Romans 7, emphasizing that while Romans 6 teaches freedom from sin, Romans 7 reveals the necessity of being liberated from the Law. He explains that many Christians struggle with sin because they attempt to fulfill God's demands through their own efforts, leading to frustration and failure. The chapter illustrates that true deliverance comes not from trying harder but from recognizing our utter weakness and relying on Christ's power. Ultimately, Nee highlights that through Christ's death and resurrection, believers are freed from the Law's demands and empowered to live a fruitful life in God.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
For, when we were in the flesh - When we were without the Gospel, in our carnal and unregenerated state, though believing in the law of Moses, and performing the rites and offices of our religion. The motions of sins, which were by the law - Τα παθηματα των ἁμαρτιων, the passions of sins, the evil propensities to sins; to every particular sin there is a propensity: one propensity does not excite to all kinds of sinful acts; hence the apostle uses the plural number, the Passions or propensities of Sins; sins being not more various than their propensities in the unregenerate heart, which excite to them. These παθηματα, propensities, constitute the fallen nature; they are the disease of the heart, the pollution and corruption of the soul. Did work in our members - The evil propensity acts εν τοις μελεσιν, in the whole nervous and muscular system, applying that stimulus to every part which is necessary to excite them to action. To bring forth fruit unto death - To produce those acts of transgression which subject the sinner to death, temporal and eternal. When the apostle says, the motion of sin which were by the law, he points out a most striking and invariable characteristic of sin, viz. its rebellious nature; it ever acts against law, and the most powerfully against known law. Because the law requires obedience, therefore it will transgress. The law is equally against evil passions and evil actions, and both these exert themselves against it. So, these motions which were by the law, became roused into the most powerful activity by the prohibitions of the law. They were comparatively dormant till the law said, thou shalt Not do this, thou shalt Do that; then the rebellious principle in the evil propensity became roused, and acts of transgression and omissions of duty were the immediate consequences.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
For when we were in the flesh--in our unregenerate state, as we came into the world. See on Joh 3:6 and Rom 8:5-9. the motions--"passions" (Margin), "affections" (as in Gal 5:24), or "stirrings." of sins--that is, "prompting to the commission of sins." which were by the law--by occasion of the law, which fretted, irritated our inward corruption by its prohibitions. See on Rom 7:7-9. did work in our members--the members of the body, as the instruments by which these inward stirrings find vent in action, and become facts of the life. See on Rom 6:6. to bring forth fruit unto death--death in the sense of Rom 6:21. Thus hopeless is all holy fruit before union to Christ.
John Gill Bible Commentary
For when we were in the flesh,.... This respects not their being under the legal dispensation, the Mosaic economy; which lay greatly in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, such as regarded the flesh chiefly; so their meats and drinks concerned the body; their ablutions and washings sanctified to the purifying of the flesh; their circumcision was outward in the flesh; the several rituals of the law consisted in outward things, though typical of internal and spiritual ones; hence those that trusted in them trusted in the flesh: but to be "in the flesh" stands opposed, Rom 7:8; to a being "in the spirit"; whereas there were many under that legal and carnal dispensation who were in the spirit, and had the Spirit of God, as David and others; besides, the apostle must be thought to use the phrase in such a sense, as to include all the persons he is speaking of and writing to, who were both Jews and Gentiles, for of such the church at Rome consisted; and the sense is this, "for when we", Jews and Gentiles, who are now believers in Christ, "were" formerly, before our conversion to, and faith in Christ, "in the flesh", that is, in a corrupt, carnal, and unregenerate state and condition; in which sense the word "flesh" is frequently used in the next chapter: now not all such who have flesh, sin, or corrupt nature in them, must be reckoned to be in the flesh, for there is a difference between flesh being in persons, from which none are free in this life, and their being in the flesh; nor all such who commit sin, or do carnal things at times, for there is not a just man that doth good and sinneth not; but such who are as they were born, without any alteration made in them by the Spirit and grace of God; who have nothing but flesh in them, no fear of God, nor love to and faith in Christ, nor any experience of the work of the Spirit of God upon their souls; no true sight and sense of sin, nor any spiritual knowledge of salvation by Christ; in whom flesh is the governing principle, whose minds and principles are carnal, and their conversation wholly so; yea, persons may be in the flesh, in an unregenerate state, who may abstain from the grosser immoralities of life, and even make a profession of religion: now such these had been the apostle is speaking of and to, and tells how it was with them when in this state; the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death: by "the motions of sin" are meant, the evil passions and affections of the mind, the lusts of the heart, sinful desires, evil thoughts, the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart, the first motions of the mind to sin: these "were by the law"; not as the efficient cause of them, that neither produces nor encourages them; it is holy, just, and good, requires truth in the inward parts, and not only forbids the outward acts of sin, but even covetous desires, and lustful thoughts: no, these inward motions of sin arise from a corrupt heart and nature; are encouraged and cherished by the old man that dwells there; and men are enticed by Satan to a compliance with them. Some think that the meaning of the phrase is, that these secret lusts of the heart are made known by the law, as in Rom 7:7, so they are, but not whilst a man is in the flesh, or in an unregenerate state, but when he comes to be wrought upon powerfully by the Spirit of God, who makes use of the law to such a purpose: but the true sense of it is, that these motions of sin are irritated, provoked, and increased, through the law's prohibition of them; which is not to be charged as a fault on the law, but to be imputed to the depravity and corruption of man; who is like to one in a burning fever, very desirous of drink, who the more it is forbid, the more eager is he of it; or like a mighty torrent of water, which rises, rages, flows, and overflows, the more any methods are taken to stop its current; or like a filthy dunghill, which when the sun strikes powerfully on it, it exhales and draws out its filthy stench; which nauseous smell is not to be imputed to the pure rays of the sun, but to the filthiness of the dunghill: these motions of sin are said to "work in our members"; in the members of our bodies, which these sinful affections of the soul make use of to put them into action, and so they bring forth fruit; very evil fruit indeed, for nothing else can be expected from such an evil tree as the corrupt nature of man is: and this fruit is "unto death": deadly fruit, worthy of death, and would issue in eternal death, if grace did not prevent: the rise, beginning, motion, progress, and issue of sin, are most exactly and beautifully described, agreeably to this account here, by the Apostle James, Jam 1:13.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
7:5 old nature (literally flesh): Although “flesh” can refer to the human body in a neutral sense (see 8:3, which speaks of Christ coming “in the flesh”), Paul more often uses the word negatively, to denote human existence apart from God. To be “in the flesh” is to be dominated by sin and its hostility to God. • the law aroused these evil desires: The law of God is a good thing in itself (see 7:12), but it arouses sinful tendencies by provoking the rebellion that is in people’s hearts. When we are in rebellion against God, his commands spark in us a desire to do the exact opposite of what he commands.