Romans 7

(1) Tour experience of human laws helps here: you are aware that law rules a man so long only as he lives—for instance marriage binds the wife during the life of her husband; but after his death she is free to marry another. (4) So you were under the law, but you died with the Christ, by the death of His Body, and that was a death to the law, so that you became united to Another, to Him who was raised from death just in order that (in Him) we might bear fruit to GOD. (5) For when the flesh was the condition in which we lived, the sinful states which we experienced under the influence of the law were so operative in our members that we bore fruit only for death, (6) but in our present condition we have been freed from all influence of the law, we are dead in respect of that character in which we were held under its influence, so that we are now rendering our due service under the influence of a fresh action of spirit and not by an antiquated action of literal precept.

A new illustration enforces the argument of the preceding section that freedom from law does not imply freedom to sin. There is a change of allegiance which has its analogue in human laws. The change chosen as an illustration is that of the law of marriage. This suggests not only allegiance but a union which is productive of offspring. The old union is of the self with the flesh or the ‘old man’; under the influence of law that produced sin: the new union is of the self with Christ; it has been brought about by the self sharing the death of Christ, and consequently becoming united to His risen Life: this union involves as its product service to GOD under the inspiration of a fresh spirit. The progress in the main argument is in this emphasis on the new life as in Christ, developing Romans 6:11; Romans 6:23.

If the illustration is to be pressed, the conception must be that there is a persistent self, first wedded to a nature of flesh and, under law, begetting sins; then that nature dies, the self is freed from it and its law, and is wedded to Christ. In this union it brings forth the new fruit. So in Romans 6:6 it is not the self, but the old character that was crucified with Christ, ‘we,’ ‘ourselves,’ were set free. There is a distinction between the self and the character which the self assumes whether ἐνσαρκί or ἐνπνεύματι. Cf. Gifford and S.H., aliter Lft.

Romans 7:1

1. νόμον. Quite general—not Roman or Jewish, but a general axiom of law.

ὁνόμος = the law under which he lives, whatever it be.

Romans 7:2

2. κατήργηταιἀπό. Cf. Galatians 5:4: has been made, so to speak, non-existent as regards that law and so freed from it.

Romans 7:3

3. χρηματίσει, Acts 11:26 only = will be called; cf. Wetst.

γένηταιἀνδρί. Cf. Leviticus 22:12; Rth 1:12 f.

τοῦμὴεἶναι. Cf. Romans 6:6 note.

Romans 7:4

4. ἐθανατώθητε, you were put to death, i.e. your former nature was slain but you yourselves survived to enter upon a new life, free from that law which bound the old nature, but with its own characteristic obligation. ἐθαν. corresponds to κατήργηται of Romans 7:2. See Romans 6:8 n.

διὰτοῦσώματοςτοῦχριστοῦ. Cf. Hebrews 10:10; Colossians 1:22; 1 Peter 2:24, and perhaps 1 Corinthians 10:16, apparently the only passages outside Evv. where the pre-resurrection Body is spoken of thus. Both Col. and 1 Pet. are parallel: and 1 Pet. so close that it must depend on this passage. Infra Romans 12:5 = 1 Corinthians 12:27, we have the sense of the Body as the form of the Church, developed in Ephesians 1:23 et passim. In Col. the words τῆςσαρκός are expressly added to mark the distinction.

διὰτ. ς. Cf. Romans 6:3; Romans 6:8. The thought is that as they were baptised into Christ, they shared the effects of His Death in the Body as well as those of His risen life. N. τοῦχριστοῦ: the article marks the reference to the historic action.

εἰςτὸγεν. So that you came to be wedded to another, i.e. than that old nature which was slain.

ἵνα. Closely with ἐγερθέντι.

καρποφορήσωμεν. Sc. under the influence of the new life imparted by the Risen Lord, constituting in each individual a ‘new man’ or character.

Romans 7:5

5. ἧμενἐντῇσαρκί = ὁπάλαιοςἄνθρωπος of Romans 6:6.

τὰπαθήματατῶνἁμ.: παθήματα only Paul, Heb. and 1 Pet. = (1) sufferings, cf. Romans 8:18, and commonly; (2) = experiences, here and Galatians 5:24 = concrete instances of πάθος, the state in which the subject is regarded as not active but receptive of experiences. So here = the effects which our sins produced upon our nature. See Romans 6:6 n.

τὰδιὰτοῦνόμου. Developed and explained in Romans 7:7 ff. These experiences came through the influence of law upon the old nature.

ἐνηργεῖτο = were constantly being made operative, i.e. by the action of ὁπάλαιοςἄηθρωτος in reaction against law (τὰδιὰτ. ν.); cf. Robinson, Eph. 247. ἐνεργεῖσθαι in S. Paul is always passive, implying an agent, here the context shows that the agent is ὁπαλ. ἄνθρωπος.

Romans 7:6

6. κατηργήθημενἀπὸνόμου = ἐθανατώθημεντῷνόμῳ |[148] Romans 7:2.

[148] | parallel to

ἀποθανόντεςἐνᾧκατειχόμεθα = being dead in or to that character in which we were held in a state of subjection; ἀποθανόντεςτῷ (or ἐντῷ) παλαίῳἀνθρώπῳἐνᾧκατ.; cf. John 5:4 T. R., the only other instance of the passive in N.T. Cf. Polyb. iv. 51. 1, θεωροῦντεςτὸνπατέρα … κατεχόμενονἐνἈλεξανδρείᾳ. The old nature was the prison in which we, our true selves, were detained.

ὥστεδουλεύειν = so that we are still servants (pres.) but in newness of spirit etc. Cf. Burton, §§ 369 f.

ἐνκαινότητιπνεύματος. ἐν circumstantial. Our service is rendered in a new atmosphere marked by the presence in us of Spirit, i.e. the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus; cf. Romans 8:1.

παλαιότητιγράμματος = the worn-out system which was marked by the dominance of written precepts. Cf. Romans 2:29; 2 Corinthians 3:6; S. H. Romans 2:27. The antithesis occurs only in these passages; and contrasts the external law with the internal quickening spirit.

Romans 7:7

7. τίοὖνἐροῦμεν; Yet another suggestion stated, to be put aside. If under law we are slaves to sin, under grace to righteousness, it might be supposed that the law itself is sin: but as the law is a revelation of GOD‘s will, such a supposition would be monstrous.

ἀλλά introduces the true statement of the case, which covers the next few verses.

ἔγνων. Inceptive: I did not become conscious of sin but by the law, making its claim on me for right action.

τήντεγὰρἐπιθυμίαν. Cf. 2 Corinthians 10:8 (ἐάντεγὰρ). This isolated τε introduces a particular example of the effect of law from the 10th Commandment: almost = even, or in particular; cf. Shilleto, Dem. F. L. § 176, crit. ann.

οὐκᾔδειν. I had remained without knowledge of the real meaning of covetousness, if the law had not kept saying.… cf. Moulton, p. 200 f.

Romans 7:8

8. ἀφορμὴν … λαβοῦσα, ‘having got a handle.’ ἀφορμὴ = a starting point, base of operations, opportunity.

ἡἁμαρτία throughout the passage is treated as a concrete force or power. It is remarkable that S. Paul comes as near as possible to personifying the conception of sin, but does not actually use the idea of a personal author of evil: he here limits his account strictly to the analysis of actual experience; cf. S. H. p. 145. See Additional Note, p. 218.

διὰτῆςἐντολῆς. Closely with ἀφ. λ.: the positive command (ἐ. = a particular law) was the opportunity; cf. Romans 3:20, Romans 5:20. The order of the phrases is due to the necessity of emphasising the manner of sin’s entry into experience; διὰτ. ἐ. is here unemphatic.

ἐνἐμοὶ. S. Paul analyses his own experience as typical.

κατειργάσατο … π. ἐ. The idea seems to be that the impulses of man’s nature are not recognised as being right or wrong, till the sense of right and wrong is awakened by a positive command: when this occurs, what were neutral impulses become ‘lusts,’ i.e. desires of what is forbidden; it is this perverse desire which is described as the work of ‘sin,’ impulses persisting when there is present the knowledge that they are wrong, and the will or true self is not yet strong enough to control them.

χωρὶςγὰρκ.τ.λ. For apart from a knowledge of right and wrong sin has no power of action; there is no moral sense or moral judgment. Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:56, a passage which shows that the main idea had been represented already in S. Paul’s teaching. For νόμος as imparting the sense of right and wrong cf. Romans 2:14 f.

Romans 7:9

9. ἐγὼδὲἔζωνκ.τ.λ. ‘I was living unaffected by law once.’ He goes back to a pre-moral state—not necessarily in actual memory of a completely non-moral experience, but comparatively: his life as a child was untouched by numberless demands of law, which accumulated with his moral development; at that period whole regions of his life were purely impulsive; one after another they came under the touch of law, and with each new pressure of law upon his consciousness the sphere, in which it was possible to sin, was enlarged. It was easy to carry this retrospect one step beyond memory and to see himself living a life of pure impulse before the very first voice of law reached him: and to regard such a stage as a typical stage in the general development of the moral sense in man.

ἀνέζησεν, ‘sprang to life’: only here and Luke 15:24 (= revived), not classical. We should perhaps recognise here an instance of the ‘perfectivising’ function of the preposition; cf. Moulton, p. 112. Both A. and R.V. ‘revived’: but the whole point is that at that moment sin for the first time came to life. For this use of ἀνὰ cf. ἀναβοᾶν, ἀναθυμιᾶσθαι, ἀνακύπτειν, ἀνατέλλειν.

Romans 7:10

10. ἐγὼδὲἀπέθανον. Here of the death to the pre-moral life, a death by and in sin: aor. = became dead.

εὑρέθη = proved in my experience; more than ἐγένετο.

Romans 7:11

11. ἐξηπάτησενκ.τ.λ. Here we get nearest to personification of ἡἁμ., with the echo of Gen 2:13; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14. The deceit lies in the representation of the satisfaction of the forbidden impulse as more desirable than obedience to the command.

Romans 7:12

12. ὁμὲνκ.τ.λ. The antithesis is not expressed; an interruption is caused by the occurrence of one more false conclusion which has to be removed. Then the line of thought is resumed in Romans 7:14.

δικαία = right.

Romans 7:13

13. τὸἀγαθὸνκ.τ.λ. Did that good thing, law, itself prove death to me?

ἡἁμαρτία. Sc. ἐγένετοἐμοὶθάνατος.

ἵναφ. The effect of sin found to be death proves sin to be what it is.

διὰτοῦἀγαθοῦ = διὰτοῦνόμου. κατεργαζομένη, by producing.

Romans 7:14

14. οἴδαμενγὰρὅτι. Appeal to acknowledged principle.

πνευματικός introduces the final description of the internal conflict: it is a struggle of πνεῦμα against ἁμαρτία to win the mastery of σάρξ. In this struggle law is on the side of πνεῦμα, but only as a standard and revelation of right, not as a spiritual power strengthening man’s will; that can only come from GOD, by an internal influence on man’s πνεῦμα.

σάρκινος. Fleshy, made of flesh, marks the substance or component part of substance; σαρκικός marks character. A πνεῦμα may be σαρκικόν but cannot be σάρκινον. Cf. λίθινος, John 2:6; 2 Corinthians 3:3; ξύλινος, 2 Timothy 2:20; see Westcott on Hebrews 7:16. Here the word is precise; his nature has in it a fleshy element; if this dominates the πνεῦμα, then the man is σαρκικός; if the πνεῦμα controls it, the man is πνευματικός. σάρξ describes the man in his natural state, including not merely his material body, but his mental and volitional operations so far as they are limited to or dominated by his earthly and temporal concerns. The evil belongs to σάρξ not in itself but in its wrong relation to spirit; so far as it is brought completely under the control of spirit, it too becomes πνευματική; hence explain 1 Corinthians 15:44 f.

So πνεῦμα becomes σαρκικόν if it subordinates itself to σάρξ. Cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 3:3 ff.

πεπραμένος, ‘one that has sold himself under sin’ = ‘made a slave under sin,’ not explanatory of σάρκινος but a further determination of the condition. Before law came, man was σάρκινος, but not πεπρ. ὑ. ἁμ.; now he is both. Metaph. only here in N.T.

Romans 7:15

15. γὰρ amplifies the idea of πεπραμένος; he is no longer his own master but under a tyranny he hates.

δκατεργάζομαι. The effects I produce are not the outcome of my own knowledge and purpose.

οὐγινώσκω = I form no true conception of, I do not thoroughly realise—the durative present. Cf. ἐξηπάτησεν, Romans 7:11.

πράσσω, put into practice. ποιῶ, commit in act.

Romans 7:17

17. νυνὶδὲ. But, in this case, this being so.

οὐκέτιἐγὼ. It is, when this point is reached, no longer my true self that is producing these effects, but the indwelling and alien tyrant.

Romans 7:18

18. οἶδα = I am fully conscious that.…

τοῦτ’ ἔστινκ.τ.λ. A correction of the too wide ἐνἐμοί; in his true self there is ἀγαθόν, the knowledge of and appreciation of law.

ἐντῇσαρκί. The evil is not the flesh, but alien from, though lodged in, the flesh.

παράκειται. Only here and 21.

Romans 7:19

19 = 15.

Romans 7:20

20 = 17.

Romans 7:21

21. ἄρα sums up the reiterated positions of Rom 7:15-20.

τὸννόμον = this law of my condition: a new sense of the word involving some confusion of language. The law of his condition is that there are two laws at once in his complex nature, one a law of his mind, i.e. the law of GOD accepted by his mind, one a law intruded upon his ‘members’ by sin, embodying the law of sin. It is just possible however that τὸννόμον = the law of GOD (cf. ἡὀργή); and tr. ‘I find as regards the Law, that when I will to do the good’ (i.e. the bidding of this law) etc. This is strained, but diminishes the confusion. Cf. S. H.

τὸκαλὸν. The ideally true and right, as referred to a standard: ἀγαθόν = that which is good, as judged by effects.

Romans 7:22

22. τῷνόμῳτοῦθεοῦ. The law of GOD, however revealed, but always in the form of positive command.

τὸνἔσωἄνθρωπον describes the inner core of personality, including mind and will. Cf. Romans 6:6 n.

Romans 7:23

23. ἐντοῖςμέλεσιν describes the flesh as organised and active in various directions = the σῶμα in detail. Observe that S. Paul does not say ‘of my members’ but ‘in my members.’ He carefully avoids using language which implies that this law is proper to the flesh in its essential nature; it has its lodgment there, but the flesh is destined, and must be claimed, for other and higher allegiance.

τῷνόμῳτοῦνοόςμου = the law accepted by my mind, GOD’S law made my own in apprehension and acceptance.

αἰχμαλωτίζοντα |[149] πεπραμένος, Romans 7:14.

[149] | parallel to

τῷνόμῳτῆςἁμ. The law imposed by sin.

Romans 7:24

24. ἐκτοῦσ. τ. θ. τ. The man has become all but wholly involved in his body which sin has made captive to death. τ. θ. τ. this moral death.

Just as in Romans 7:9 S. Paul’s been self-analysis carries him beyond actual memory into the imagination of a pre-moral state, so here he carries the analysis of the internal strife, perhaps beyond his actual experience, into the sympathetic realisation of the common human state and need, when man’s spirit realises its extremity and does not yet see hope: though the very realisation is the first gleam of hope. Cf. S. H. See Additional Note, p. 218.

Romans 7:25

25. χάριςδὲτῷθεῷ. An exclamation—not in construction. For the phrase cf. 1 Corinthians 15:57.

διὰἸ. κ.τ.λ. Sc. ῥυσθήσομαι or ἐρρύσθην. Law being the bare declaration of right had no power to move the living springs of action: that power comes from and through the Risen Lord imparting His own new life to man. This thought is developed in c. 8.

ἄραοὖν sums up the whole statement of the condition of man in the face of law on the one hand, and of sin on the other.

αὐτὸςἐγὼ = I by myself and apart from any new or other power which may be available to change the balance of contending powers. It is important to remember that the whole section is an analysis of man’s state under law, definitely excluding, for the moment, from consideration all action of GOD upon man’s spirit except through the channel of communicated law. It has already been shown or assumed that there is such action, both in the case of Gentiles (Romans 2:14) and in Abraham’s case (c. 4) as typical of the pious Jew; here we are reminded that that action reaches its full and effective operation in the risen Lord. But it was necessary, by this analysis, to isolate, as it were, from these considerations, the case of man under law, in order to bring out the exact place of law in the moral and religious experience of man, and to show that more than law was needed by him and has been and is operative in him. See Additional Note on νόμος, p. 211.

τῷμὲννοῒ. The νοῦς is here used for the mind as capable of the knowledge of GOD and His Will. πνεῦμα seems to be avoided, because it definitely suggests the direct connexion with and dependence upon GOD as acting upon man’s spirit; and that thought is for the moment excluded. The use of the word is almost confined to S. Paul. Cf. 23, Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 2:18. Here it includes apprehension and inclination.

There is much to be said for Joh. Weiss’ suggestion (op. cit[150] p. 231 f.) that there has been here a primitive transposition of text, so that originally ἄραοὖναὐτὸς … ἁμαρτίας preceded ταλαίπωρος … ἡμῶν. The ταλαίπωρος clause would come most properly after the summary of the all but desperate situation in ἄραοὖνκ.τ.λ. The last clause (χάριςκ.τ.λ.) would come naturally at the end of the whole discussion; it contains the name which has so often already been used, as a concluding refrain: and it marks the transition to Romans 8:1.

[150] op. cit. opus citatum