BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Romans 7 — Release from the Law and the Inner Struggle
Romans 7 argues that believers have died to the law through Christ's body and are released to serve in newness of the Spirit, while honestly describing the inner conflict between delighting in God's law and the power of indwelling sin.
Scripture
1Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?
2For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
3So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.
4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet:
8but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead.
9And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;
10and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:
11for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.
12So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
13Did then that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; — that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.
14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do.
16But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
18For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.
19For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.
20But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
21I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present.
22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
24Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
What this passage means
The chapter opens with a marriage analogy: a married woman is bound to her husband by law while he lives, but if he dies she is discharged from that law (verses 1-3). Paul applies this to believers — through the body of Christ they have been made dead to the law so that they might be joined to the risen Christ and bear fruit for God (verse 4). The contrast is between serving 'in newness of the spirit' rather than 'in oldness of the letter' (verse 6).
In the next section Paul defends the law itself. The law is not sin; rather, it reveals sin. Without the commandment 'Thou shalt not covet' he would not have known coveting (verse 7). When the commandment came, sin revived and he died (verse 9). The law is 'holy, and righteous, and good' (verse 12), yet the good commandment became the means through which sin worked death, so that 'through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful' (verse 13).
The final section portrays the divided self. The speaker delights in God's law after the inward man (verse 22) but sees another law in his members warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin (verse 23). The cry 'Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?' (verse 24) is answered by thanksgiving 'through Jesus Christ our Lord' (verse 25), leaving the speaker serving God's law with the mind and the law of sin with the flesh.
Context
The provided curated note summarizes the chapter as 'Released from law, inner struggle,' which matches the two movements visible in the text: the legal argument for release (verses 1-6) and the autobiographical description of conflict (verses 7-25). The chapter stands on its own in the material provided; no surrounding chapters are included, so any connection to Romans 6 or 8 is not stated here.
The cross references supplied by the source reinforce both halves. Marriage imagery is connected to Genesis 2:23 and Genesis 2:24, and the adultery comparison draws on Exodus 20:14. Inner delight in God's law is linked to Psalms 1:2, Psalms 40:8, Psalms 119:35, and Psalms 119:47. The inner conflict between flesh and Spirit is tied to Galatians 5:17, and fruit-bearing to Galatians 5:22 and Galatians 5:23. Release through Christ's body echoes 1 Peter 2:24, and Isaiah 54:5 frames the husband relationship in covenant terms.
Key words in the original
- G3551 The repeated Greek term (G3551) for 'law' is central to Romans 7. Its supplied definition covers law as a prescriptive regulation, specifically the Mosaic law, and figuratively a principle — a range the chapter itself exploits when it speaks of 'the law of God' alongside 'the law of sin.'
- G2961 G2961 is supplied as 'to rule,' used in verse 1 of the statement that the law 'hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth.' The lemma's basic sense of ruling fits the picture of a legal authority exercising lordship over a person during their lifetime.
- G3428 G3428, supplied with the gloss 'an adulteress,' appears in verse 3 within the marriage analogy: while the husband lives, joining another man makes her 'called an adulteress.' The term is applied analogically, not literally, to the believer's relation to the law.
Related verses
- Galatians 5:17 Galatians 5:17 supplies a parallel image of two opposing forces within the believer — flesh against Spirit — which matches the war Paul describes in Romans 7:23 between the law of his mind and the law in his members.
- 1 Peter 2:24 1 Peter 2:24 speaks of bearing sins 'in his body upon the tree' so that believers, having died to sins, might live unto righteousness. This resonates with verse 4 of the chapter, where believers are 'made dead to the law through the body of Christ.'
- Psalms 1:2 Psalms 1:2 describes the righteous person whose delight is in the law of Jehovah and who meditates on it day and night. This background illuminates verse 22, where the speaker 'delights in the law of God after the inward man.'
Common questions
Is the 'I' in Romans 7 Paul himself, a typical believer, or someone under the law?
The text does not say. Paul uses the first person ('I') throughout verses 7-25 without specifying whose experience it represents. The provided material does not resolve the scholarly debate over whether this describes Paul before conversion, as a believer, or as a rhetorical device; it only presents the passage as written.
Does Romans 7 teach that the law is sin?
No. Verse 7 explicitly asks 'Is the law sin?' and answers 'God forbid.' Verse 12 calls the law 'holy, and righteous, and good.' The chapter's argument is that the law reveals sin rather than causes it, though sin uses the commandment to produce death (verses 8-11, 13).
What is the answer to the cry 'who shall deliver me?' in verse 24?
Verse 25 answers it with thanksgiving 'through Jesus Christ our Lord,' followed by the summary that with the mind the speaker serves the law of God, though with the flesh the law of sin. The provided text gives no further elaboration of the deliverance itself.