God Speaks
Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Note to the reader: The law referred to here is not the civil law like the speed limit, but the Jewish code epitomized by the Ten Commandments or the (perhaps unwritten) moral laws of any society. Having faith in Jesus does not free us from needing to obey the civil laws of our community or nation. In fact, obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us should make us better citizens, free to do what is right and good. Living out “being dead to the law” or sin, sets us free from our old propensity to sin. Verses 1-6 explain why this is so. Verses 7-14 deal with the question, “Is the law bad?” Answer: No, the law only points out where we have done wrong by thought, word, or deed. It is our old sin nature, our former master, that gets us off track. Have you ever wondered, like Paul (in verses 15-24), why when you want to do right that you so often fail and do wrong instead, or you don’t do what you know you should? Verse 25 reveals the hero who has come to rescue us from this dilemma: Jesus Christ. What a wonderful Savior He is.
Consider the following questions regarding Romans 7:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. God absolves people of having to pay the penalty our sins deserve based on our faith in Jesus Christ’s death having paid for them.
2. By mere willpower, people cannot keep the law (the commandments of our holy God).
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Romans 7?
Dear Lord God, thank You for giving us the Ten Commandments and other moral laws to point out when we fall short. Thank You for Jesus, who took on humanity and bore all our sins. Thank You that He took my place, died, and paid the full penalty for all my sin–both the bad things I did and the good things I didn’t do. Because He died a physical death, I don’t have to die a spiritual one. I am free to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to righteousness. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Romans 7?
- I will examine each of the Ten Commandments to determine what actions and attitudes I am to consider myself dead to because of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross.
- I will examine each of the Ten Commandments to determine what actions and attitudes I am to consider myself alive to because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection and His Spirit indwelling me.
- I will spend at least ten minutes praising God for all that He is.
- I will spend at least ten minutes listing (aloud and on paper) ways in which God has shown His love for me both in the distant past and more recently.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.