Chapter 7
25 verses — switch translations with the toolbar below.
Scripture
KJV1Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7What 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.
8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment 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 allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that 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 how to perform that which is good I find not.
19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Overview
Paul uses the analogy of marriage to explain that believers have died to the law through the body of Christ in order to be joined to another — the risen Christ — and bear fruit unto God. He then defends the law, insisting it is holy, just, and good, but shows how sin used the law as an occasion to produce all manner of evil desire. The chapter closes with Paul's anguished description of the inner struggle between the desire to do good and the inability to carry it out in the flesh, crying, 'O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?'
Key Themes
Dead to the Law, Alive to Christ
Believers have died to the law's authority through union with Christ's body so that they may be married to the risen Lord and bear spiritual fruit.
The Holy Purpose of the Law
The law is not sin — it is holy, just, and good — but it exposes sin and reveals the depth of human depravity, showing our desperate need for a Savior.
The Inner Conflict of the Flesh
Paul describes the agonizing reality that the desire to do right is present but the power to perform it is not, revealing the insufficiency of human effort apart from Christ.
Study Questions
How does Paul's marriage analogy (vv. 1-4) help explain the believer's new relationship to the law and to Christ?
In what sense is the law 'holy, and just, and good' (v. 12) if it cannot save and even provokes sin?
Do you identify with Paul's struggle of wanting to do good but finding evil present with him (vv. 18-21)? What does this teach about human nature?
What does Paul's cry 'O wretched man that I am!' (v. 24) reveal about the limits of self-effort in the Christian life?
How does this chapter set the stage for the triumphant answer that comes in Romans 8?
Connection to Christ
Paul's anguished cry for deliverance finds its answer in Jesus Christ: 'I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord' (v. 25). The law could diagnose sin but not cure it. Only through the body of Christ — His death and resurrection — are believers freed from the law of sin and death and joined to the One who gives life.
Personal Reflection
Take time to journal or meditate on what God is teaching you through Romans 7. How can these truths transform your thinking and actions today?