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Romans 7
Disciples’ Literal New Testament

But We Are Indeed Not Under The Law, For It Only Has Jurisdiction Over The Living

7 Or[a] do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to ones knowing the Law[b]), that the Law lords-over[c] the person for as much time as he lives? 2 For the married woman has been bound by the Law to the living husband; but if the husband dies, she has been released from the law of [d] the husband. 3 So then, while the husband is living, she will be called an adulteress if she comes[e] to a different husband. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, having come to a different husband.

We Have Died To The Law In Christ

4 So-then[f], my brothers, you also were put-to-death with reference to the Law[g] through the body of Christ so that you might come[h] to a different One— to the One having arisen from the dead— in order that we might bear-fruit for God.

Having Died, We Are Released From The Law Through Which Sin Produced Death

5 For when we were in the flesh[i], the passions of [j] sins which[k] were through[l] the Law were at-work in our body-parts so as to bear-fruit for death. 6 But now we were released[m] from the Law, having died to that by which we were being held, so that we are serving in newness of the Spirit[n] and not in oldness of the letter[o].

Not That The Law Is At Fault For My Sin

7 Therefore, what shall we say? Is the Law sin[p]? May it never be! On-the-contrary, I would not have known[q] sin except through the Law.

Sin Used The Law To Produce Sin In Me

For indeed I would not have known[r] coveting[s] if the Law were not saying [in Ex 20:17], “You shall not covet”. 8 But sin, having taken[t] an opportunity[u] through the commandment, produced[v] every[w] [kind of ] coveting in me. For apart-from[x] the Law, sin is dead[y].

And Sin Used The Law To Kill Me

9 And I was once[z] alive apart from the Law. But the commandment having come, sin became-alive[aa] 10 and I died. And the commandment for[ab] life— this was found in me to be for[ac] death. 11 For sin, having taken an opportunity through the commandment, deceived[ad] me, and through it, killed me.

So The Law Is Good

12 So-then the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Not That The Law Killed Me. Sin Is To Blame For My Death

13 Therefore did the good thing become death[ae] for me? May it never be! On the contrary, it was sin, in order that it might become-visible as sin while producing death in me through the good thing, in order that sin might become extremely[af] sinful through the commandment.

I Agree The Law Is Good, But The Sin In Me Produces Behavior I Hate

14 For[ag] we know that the Law is spiritual. But I am made-of-flesh[ah], having been sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand[ai] what[aj] I am producing. For I am not practicing this which I am wanting, but I am doing this which I am hating. 16 But if I am doing this which I am not wanting, I am agreeing-with[ak] the Law— that it is good. 17 And now I am no longer producing it, but the sin[al] dwelling in me is.

I Know I Am Not Good, For I Cannot Do The Good I Want To Do

18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For the wanting is present in me, but the producing the good is not. 19 For I am not doing the good which I am wanting, but I am practicing this evil which I am not wanting. 20 But if I am doing this which I am not wanting, I am no longer producing it, but the sin[am] dwelling in me is.

So The Evil Inside Me Enslaves Me To The Law of Sin And Death In Me

21 I find then the law[an] in me, the one wanting to do the good, that the evil is present in me. 22 For I am rejoicing-with[ao] the Law of God according-to[ap] the inner person. 23 But I am seeing a different law in my body-parts waging-war-against[aq] the law of my mind, and taking me captive[ar] under the law of sin existing in my body-parts. 24 I am a wretched[as] person! Who will deliver me from this[at] body of [au] death? 25 But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself am serving the Law of God with the mind, but the law of sin with the flesh.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 Paul now takes up the other part of 6:14-15, the not being under the Law.
  2. Romans 7:1 That is, the Law of Moses, God’s Law. Or, law, the general principle of law and legal justice.
  3. Romans 7:1 Or rules over, is the master of.
  4. Romans 7:2 That is, concerning.
  5. Romans 7:3 Or, comes-to-be with.
  6. Romans 7:4 Now Paul applies to us the principle of v 1, illustrated by v 2-3, that death ends the authority of the Law.
  7. Romans 7:4 That is, God’s Law as the terms and conditions of which we must be doers (2:13) to have a relationship with Him. Christ did not need to die to release us from our legalism or man’s civil law or law in general, but from God’s objective standards.
  8. Romans 7:4 Same word as twice in the illustrations in v 3. It is not the normal word for ‘marry’, but that is the idea in v 3-4.
  9. Romans 7:5 That is, before we died with Christ.
  10. Romans 7:5 That is, leading to; or, belonging to (sin’s passions).
  11. Romans 7:5 That is, the passions... which.
  12. Romans 7:5 That is, were increased through the Law, 5:20. Paul explains this next in v 7-8.
  13. Romans 7:6 Same word as in v 2.
  14. Romans 7:6 Or, of spirit.
  15. Romans 7:6 That is, the written code of the Law.
  16. Romans 7:7 If the passions of sins are through the Law, is the Law what makes me a sinner? No. It merely defines the standard against which sin rebels.
  17. Romans 7:7 Or, come-to-know sin. That is, known of sin’s presence in him as sin (v 7-8) or of its power to kill him in relation to God (v 9-11). Apart from God’s Law, sin is merely ‘your opinion’ or ‘my bad choices’.
  18. Romans 7:7 Or, known-about.
  19. Romans 7:7 Or, [evil] desire, lust.
  20. Romans 7:8 Or, received.
  21. Romans 7:8 Or, occasion, starting point, base of operations.
  22. Romans 7:8 Or, opportunity, produced... in me through the commandment.
  23. Romans 7:8 Once aware it was forbidden, sin increased the coveting. This explains how the passions of sins were ‘through the Law’, v 5.
  24. Romans 7:8 Or, without a law.
  25. Romans 7:8 This is stated as a general principle. Sin is present, but inactive until it has a law to transgress. Thus God’s Law is the power of sin, 1 Cor 15:56. Or, ‘sin was dead’, stating it as the historical experience of Paul.
  26. Romans 7:9 Or, formerly.
  27. Romans 7:9 Or, sprang to life, came back to life.
  28. Romans 7:10 That is, for the purpose life.
  29. Romans 7:10 That is, resulting in death.
  30. Romans 7:11 Or, opportunity, deceived me through the commandment.
  31. Romans 7:13 If the Law resulted in death, v 5, 10, is God’s Law responsible for my death?
  32. Romans 7:13 Or, supremely, utterly.
  33. Romans 7:14 The purpose of v14-25 is to prove that sin is responsible for death, not the Law. Paul uses himself as an example, and scholars debate whether he has in view his experience as a Pharisee or a Christian (each view giving a different sense to ‘Law’ and ‘death’). What Paul says in these verses is true of anyone trying to live under law.
  34. Romans 7:14 That is, carnal, fleshly; or, human, of Adam’s race.
  35. Romans 7:15 Or, ‘acknowledge’ as representing his true desires.
  36. Romans 7:15 For example, this coveting, v 7.
  37. Romans 7:16 Or concurring-with.
  38. Romans 7:17 When God says not to do it, Paul agrees and does not want to do it, but sin produces it in him anyway. Thus it is sin, not God’s Law, that causes his death. The sin in him is against him and against God! How extremely sinful it truly is! This proves v 14b; Paul is under the dominion of sin.
  39. Romans 7:20 Good is not in him producing good, but sin is in him producing sin, and overcoming his inner desire to obey God’s good Law. This proves v 18.
  40. Romans 7:21 Or, the principle, the law of sin. v 23.
  41. Romans 7:22 Or, taking pleasure with, delighting in.
  42. Romans 7:22 Or with respect to.
  43. Romans 7:23 The law of sin’s control over Paul’s body fights and defeats his inner desires to obey.
  44. Romans 7:23 Or, making me prisoner.
  45. Romans 7:24 Or, miserable.
  46. Romans 7:24 Or, the body of this death.
  47. Romans 7:24 That is, characterized by.
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Romans 7
New King James Version

Freed from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law [a]has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For (A)the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then (B)if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become (C)dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should (D)bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law (E)were at work in our members (F)to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve (G)in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Sin’s Advantage in the Law

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, (H)I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, (I)“You shall not covet.” 8 But (J)sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For (K)apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, (L)which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore (M)the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Law Cannot Save from Sin

13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, (N)sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. (O)For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that (P)in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I (Q)delight in the law of God according to (R)the inward man. 23 But (S)I see another law in (T)my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me (U)from this body of death? 25 (V)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.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 rules
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Romans 7
English Standard Version

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For (A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.[b] 3 Accordingly, (B)she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, (C)you also have died (D)to the law (E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, (F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work (G)in our members (H)to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the (I)new way of (J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.[c]

The Law and Sin

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, (K)I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if (L)the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, (M)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. (N)For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment (O)that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, (P)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, (Q)deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So (R)the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, (S)sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For (T)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with (U)the law, that it is good. 17 So now (V)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells (W)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 (X)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, (Y)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For (Z)I delight in the law of God, (AA)in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members (AB)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from (AC)this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 4
  2. Romans 7:2 Greek law concerning the husband
  3. Romans 7:6 Greek of the letter
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