Romans 7:7-25
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
Not That The Law Is At Fault For My Sin
7 Therefore, what shall we say? Is the Law sin[a]? May it never be! On-the-contrary, I would not have known[b] sin except through the Law.
Sin Used The Law To Produce Sin In Me
For indeed I would not have known[c] coveting[d] if the Law were not saying [in Ex 20:17], “You shall not covet”. 8 But sin, having taken[e] an opportunity[f] through the commandment, produced[g] every[h] [kind of ] coveting in me. For apart-from[i] the Law, sin is dead[j].
And Sin Used The Law To Kill Me
9 And I was once[k] alive apart from the Law. But the commandment having come, sin became-alive[l] 10 and I died. And the commandment for[m] life— this was found in me to be for[n] death. 11 For sin, having taken an opportunity through the commandment, deceived[o] 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[p] 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[q] sinful through the commandment.
I Agree The Law Is Good, But The Sin In Me Produces Behavior I Hate
14 For[r] we know that the Law is spiritual. But I am made-of-flesh[s], having been sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand[t] what[u] 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[v] the Law— that it is good. 17 And now I am no longer producing it, but the sin[w] 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[x] 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[y] in me, the one wanting to do the good, that the evil is present in me. 22 For I am rejoicing-with[z] the Law of God according-to[aa] the inner person. 23 But I am seeing a different law in my body-parts waging-war-against[ab] the law of my mind, and taking me captive[ac] under the law of sin existing in my body-parts. 24 I am a wretched[ad] person! Who will deliver me from this[ae] body of [af] 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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.
- 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’.
- Romans 7:7 Or, known-about.
- Romans 7:7 Or, [evil] desire, lust.
- Romans 7:8 Or, received.
- Romans 7:8 Or, occasion, starting point, base of operations.
- Romans 7:8 Or, opportunity, produced... in me through the commandment.
- 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.
- Romans 7:8 Or, without a law.
- 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.
- Romans 7:9 Or, formerly.
- Romans 7:9 Or, sprang to life, came back to life.
- Romans 7:10 That is, for the purpose life.
- Romans 7:10 That is, resulting in death.
- Romans 7:11 Or, opportunity, deceived me through the commandment.
- Romans 7:13 If the Law resulted in death, v 5, 10, is God’s Law responsible for my death?
- Romans 7:13 Or, supremely, utterly.
- 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.
- Romans 7:14 That is, carnal, fleshly; or, human, of Adam’s race.
- Romans 7:15 Or, ‘acknowledge’ as representing his true desires.
- Romans 7:15 For example, this coveting, v 7.
- Romans 7:16 Or concurring-with.
- 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.
- 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.
- Romans 7:21 Or, the principle, the law of sin. v 23.
- Romans 7:22 Or, taking pleasure with, delighting in.
- Romans 7:22 Or with respect to.
- Romans 7:23 The law of sin’s control over Paul’s body fights and defeats his inner desires to obey.
- Romans 7:23 Or, making me prisoner.
- Romans 7:24 Or, miserable.
- Romans 7:24 Or, the body of this death.
- Romans 7:24 That is, characterized by.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
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