Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 7

The readers are described as those who know “the law.” The fact that “law” (GK 3795) here does not have a definite article in the Greek suggests that Paul is primarily interested not in the specifics of the Mosaic law but in its essential character as law, as that which has binding force. In this opening statement, the principle is laid down that law imposes a lifelong obligation on a person.

Already in this initial statement we have a clue for determining the thought that Paul is about to develop. The law has authority over a person only during his or her lifetime. Since the believer has died with Christ (ch. 6), one can anticipate the conclusion—that whatever authority the law continues to exercise over others, for believers that power has been abrogated. The law remains, of course, an entity that expresses the will of God. The life under grace does not belittle the ethical demands of the law.

To illustrate the binding character of the law, Paul uses the case of a woman who is married to a husband and remains bound by law in that relationship as long as her husband is living. During this time she is not free to seek another attachment; that may be done only in the event that the husband dies. Particularly in Jewish life this was the actual legal status of the wife, for she could not divorce her husband; divorce was a privilege granted only to the man. If the husband died, she was then released from “the law of marriage.”

To illustrate the binding character of the law, Paul uses the case of a woman who is married to a husband and remains bound by law in that relationship as long as her husband is living. During this time she is not free to seek another attachment; that may be done only in the event that the husband dies. Particularly in Jewish life this was the actual legal status of the wife, for she could not divorce her husband; divorce was a privilege granted only to the man. If the husband died, she was then released from “the law of marriage.”

Paul now applies this illustration. But the reader is apt to be somewhat disturbed about a measure of inconsistency in the way it is applied.

In the case under consideration three essential statements are made: a woman is married to a man; the man dies; then the woman is free to be married to another. In the application three statements likewise can be readily inferred: the readers have had a binding relation to the law; they have died to the law; and they are now free to be joined to another, even the risen Lord. The parallel breaks down at the second item, for the law, which is the assumed master or husband in the application, is not represented as dying; rather, the readers are said to have died to the law. Paul avoids saying that the law died (something that is never affirmed in Scripture). The only thing he is concerned with is continuing the emphasis already made in ch. 6, that death ends obligation. Paul was no doubt aware of the incongruity between illustration and application, but counted on the understanding of his readers to see that he was seeking merely to underscore the truth that death with Christ brought to an end the sway of the law over those who are in him and ushered in a new, superior relationship. Death to the law is said to have occurred “through the body of Christ” (v.4).

This is a reference to the personal body of the Savior in his crucifixion. Through their being crucified with Christ (6:6), believers became dead both to the law and to sin.

Death to the law occurred so that believers “might belong to another.” To belong to Christ involves participation not only in his death but also in his resurrection. Severance from obligation to serve the law is only part of the truth. We are married, as it were, to the risen Lord, with a view to bearing fruit to God. Perhaps an analogy is intended here—as a marriage produces progeny, so the believer’s union with Christ results in spiritual fruit (cf. Jn 15:1ff.). In Gal 5:22– 23, bearing fruit is attributed to the Spirit, in contrast to the output of the flesh and of the law. Since Paul speaks of the Spirit in Ro 7:6, the parallel with Gal 5 is close.

In the pre-Christian state there was fruit of a sort, but it was corrupt and perishable, emanating from the sinful nature and produced by the sinful passions as these were aroused by the law (v.5). The phrase “controlled by our sinful nature” is an attempt to render the Greek phrase “in the flesh.” Paul has used “flesh” (GK 4922) in several senses thus far: (1) the “human nature” of Jesus Christ (1:3); (2) the “physical” body (2:28), (3) humankind—“no one” in 3:20 is literally, “not all flesh”; and (4) moral, or possibly intellectual, weakness (“natural selves” in 6:19). Now he adds a fifth: the so-called “ethical” meaning of flesh, which is his most common use of the word and denotes the old sinful nature. It is this sense of the word that pervades chs. 7–8, together with a final use in 13:14. In noting here in v.5 that the “sinful passions” are aroused by the law, Paul is anticipating his fuller discussion in vv.7–13 about the manner in which the law promotes sin.

Release from the law has, as its objective, service to God “in the new way of the Spirit,” in contrast to “the old way of the written code” (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6). The written code, which refers specifically to the OT law, has no power to give life and to produce a service acceptable to God. Only a person can beget human life, and only a divine person can impart spiritual life, which is then fostered and nurtured by the Spirit. The word “new” (GK 2786) has in it not so much the idea of newness in time as freshness and superiority. This is the only mention of “the Spirit” in the chapter. It anticipates ch. 8 with its unfolding of the wealth of blessing to be experienced in this relationship.

Paul now applies this illustration. But the reader is apt to be somewhat disturbed about a measure of inconsistency in the way it is applied.

In the case under consideration three essential statements are made: a woman is married to a man; the man dies; then the woman is free to be married to another. In the application three statements likewise can be readily inferred: the readers have had a binding relation to the law; they have died to the law; and they are now free to be joined to another, even the risen Lord. The parallel breaks down at the second item, for the law, which is the assumed master or husband in the application, is not represented as dying; rather, the readers are said to have died to the law. Paul avoids saying that the law died (something that is never affirmed in Scripture). The only thing he is concerned with is continuing the emphasis already made in ch. 6, that death ends obligation. Paul was no doubt aware of the incongruity between illustration and application, but counted on the understanding of his readers to see that he was seeking merely to underscore the truth that death with Christ brought to an end the sway of the law over those who are in him and ushered in a new, superior relationship. Death to the law is said to have occurred “through the body of Christ” (v.4).

This is a reference to the personal body of the Savior in his crucifixion. Through their being crucified with Christ (6:6), believers became dead both to the law and to sin.

Death to the law occurred so that believers “might belong to another.” To belong to Christ involves participation not only in his death but also in his resurrection. Severance from obligation to serve the law is only part of the truth. We are married, as it were, to the risen Lord, with a view to bearing fruit to God. Perhaps an analogy is intended here—as a marriage produces progeny, so the believer’s union with Christ results in spiritual fruit (cf. Jn 15:1ff.). In Gal 5:22– 23, bearing fruit is attributed to the Spirit, in contrast to the output of the flesh and of the law. Since Paul speaks of the Spirit in Ro 7:6, the parallel with Gal 5 is close.

In the pre-Christian state there was fruit of a sort, but it was corrupt and perishable, emanating from the sinful nature and produced by the sinful passions as these were aroused by the law (v.5). The phrase “controlled by our sinful nature” is an attempt to render the Greek phrase “in the flesh.” Paul has used “flesh” (GK 4922) in several senses thus far: (1) the “human nature” of Jesus Christ (1:3); (2) the “physical” body (2:28), (3) humankind—“no one” in 3:20 is literally, “not all flesh”; and (4) moral, or possibly intellectual, weakness (“natural selves” in 6:19). Now he adds a fifth: the so-called “ethical” meaning of flesh, which is his most common use of the word and denotes the old sinful nature. It is this sense of the word that pervades chs. 7–8, together with a final use in 13:14. In noting here in v.5 that the “sinful passions” are aroused by the law, Paul is anticipating his fuller discussion in vv.7–13 about the manner in which the law promotes sin.

Release from the law has, as its objective, service to God “in the new way of the Spirit,” in contrast to “the old way of the written code” (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6). The written code, which refers specifically to the OT law, has no power to give life and to produce a service acceptable to God. Only a person can beget human life, and only a divine person can impart spiritual life, which is then fostered and nurtured by the Spirit. The word “new” (GK 2786) has in it not so much the idea of newness in time as freshness and superiority. This is the only mention of “the Spirit” in the chapter. It anticipates ch. 8 with its unfolding of the wealth of blessing to be experienced in this relationship.