Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 7:6

"But 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." — Romans 7:6 (ASV)

But now. This phrase refers to the period under the gospel. This verse states the consequences of the gospel, in distinction from the effects of the law.

The apostle illustrates the way in which this is accomplished more extensively in Romans 8, with which this verse is properly connected. The remainder of Romans 7 is occupied with illustrating the statement in Romans 7:5 regarding the effects of the law. After showing that its effects always were to increase crime and distress, he is prepared in Romans 8 to address the proposition in this verse and demonstrate the superiority of the gospel in producing peace.

We are delivered. This means we who are Christians are delivered from the law. We are delivered from it as a means of justification, as a source of sanctification, and as a bondage to which we were subjected—a bondage that tended to produce pain and death. It does not mean that Christians are freed from the law as a rule of duty.

That being dead. The margin reads, "Being dead to that." There is a variation here in the manuscripts. Some read it, as in the main text, as if the law was dead; others, as in the margin, as if we were dead. The majority of manuscripts favor the reading in the margin, and the connection requires us to understand it in this sense. This interpretation is supported by the Syriac, the Arabic, the Vulgate, and the Ethiopic versions. The sentiment here, that we are dead to the law, is the same as that expressed in Romans 7:4.

Wherein we were held. This means we were held as captives or as slaves. We were held in bondage to it, as stated in Romans 7:1.

That we should serve. This means that we may now serve or obey God.

In newness of spirit. This means in a new spirit, or in a new and spiritual manner. This form of expression implies:

1. that their service under the gospel was to be of a new kind, differing from that under the former dispensation;
2. that it was to be of a spiritual nature, as distinguished from that practiced by the Jews (Compare to 2 Corinthians 3:6).

The worship required under the gospel is uniformly described as that of the spirit and the heart, rather than that of form and ceremony. For example, John 4:23 states, The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. .

And not in the oldness of the letter. This means not in the old way of the letter. It is implied here:

1. that the form of worship described here pertained to an old dispensation that has now passed away; and
2. that this was a worship that was in the letter.

To understand this, it is necessary to remember that the law, which prescribed the forms of worship among the Jews, was regarded by the apostle as lacking that efficacy and power in renewing the heart which he attributed to the gospel. It was a service consisting in external forms and ceremonies—in the offering of sacrifices and incense according to the literal requirement of the law, rather than the sincere offering of the heart. As 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, The letter killeth; the spirit giveth life (Hebrews 10:1–4; Hebrews 9:9–10).

It cannot be denied that there were many holy persons under the law, and that many spiritual offerings were presented. However, it is also true that the great mass of the people rested in the mere form. The service offered was often merely the service of the letter, and not of the heart. The main idea is that the services under the gospel are purely and entirely spiritual—the offering of the heart, and not the service rendered by external forms and rites.