Romans Chapter 7

BIBLE PASSAGE

ROMANS CHAPTER 7

Released from the Law

1 Or do you not know, brothers—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 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. 3 Accordingly, 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, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, 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 in our members 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 new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

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, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. 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 that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So 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, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For 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 the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells 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 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, 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 I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members 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 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.

SYNOPSIS

Romans 7 addresses the complex relationship between believers, the law, and sin. The chapter begins by asserting that believers are no longer bound by the law, using the analogy of a widow being free to remarry. Paul argues that Christians have "died to the law through the body of Christ" to belong to Him instead. While the law is holy and reveals sin, it also arouses sinful passions. Paul describes an internal struggle between the desire to do good and the tendency to sin, highlighting the limitations of the law in overcoming sin. He concludes that rescue from this struggle comes through Christ. The chapter emphasizes that while believers are free from the law, this freedom is not a license for lawlessness but an opportunity to serve God in a new way, guided by the Holy Spirit rather than by written code.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

1. Paul describes a struggle between wanting to do good and battling sin (vv. 15-19). How can you rely on God's grace instead of your own strength when facing this struggle?

2. How does the realization that Paul also struggled with sin encourage us in our own battles?

3. What steps can we take to cultivate a deeper dependency on Christ in our daily struggle against sin?

4. Romans 7:6 says we serve in the new way of the Spirit, not the old way of the written code. What does it look like for you to live by the Spirit in your daily life?

PRAYER SUGGESTION

Heavenly Father,

I confess that I often struggle with sin, wanting to do what is right but falling short. Thank You for Your grace that covers my weakness and for the freedom I have in Christ. Help me to rely on Your strength and not my own, knowing that true victory comes through Jesus.

Lord, teach me to walk in the new way of the Spirit, not by rigid rules but by a heart transformed by Your love. Lead me daily to seek You, trust You, and live in obedience out of gratitude rather than obligation.

Thank You for the deliverance I have in Jesus. May my life reflect the joy and freedom found in Him.

In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.