Romans 7

Released from Law And Rescued by Christ

In this section, Paul is anticipating the accusation that he disparages God’s holy law (vs. 7, 12) since he’s said that Christians have “died to the law” (vs. 4) and no longer serve God in “the oldness of the letter” (vs. 6). In effect, the apostle replies: “You want to know what the problem is? It’s not my view of the law. That’s beyond reproach. It’s me. I’m the problem. My teaching on the law is not a reflection of what the law is like. It’s a reflection of what I am like.”                     - Will Timmins

Paul continues to develop an argument that he began in chapter 5. The law was good, as it reflected the character of a good God. But men are incapable of completely meeting its demands.  Therefore, the purpose of the law was never to provide men an instruction guide for achieving holiness (justification) before God.  It was given to reveal man’s desperate need for a deliverer.  

For Example

Vs. 2 - For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives.

Paul begins with an illustration to demonstrate how our relationship with the law has changed.  

As a woman whose husband has died is free to marry another, so also are believers, since they have died to the law, free to belong to Christ.                 - Mounce

We Have Been Released from The Law

Vs. 6 - But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.

The law was a standard we could not keep, a taskmaster we could not obey.   But Paul says that, since we as believers have participated in Jesus’ death and resurrection (through baptism - Romans 6:4), we have been released from its demands.

By baptism, we share in the death of Christ. That means that, having died, we are discharged from all obligations to the law and become free to marry again. This time we marry, not the law, but Christ. When that happens, Christian obedience becomes, not an externally imposed obedience to some written code of laws, but an inner allegiance of the Spirit to Jesus Christ.                 - William Barclay 

The Law Reveals Sin

Vs. 7 - I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.

The law was given to reveal the sinfulness of sin and to demonstrate man’s need for mercy and grace.  It reveals our need for a new “husband.”

Essentially his (Paul’s) argument was that the Law is not sinful simply because it makes us aware of what is sinful. The Law is similar to an X-ray machine that reveals a tumor. The machine itself is not bad because it reveals something bad.              - Thomas Constable

Evil Is Present with Me

Vs. 14 - For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin.

Although the law is “spiritual” (v. 14)—having a divine origin and nature—we are “fleshly” (v. 14), intrinsically incapable of keeping God’s good law. So God in Christ has to take from our hands the external written code—the law book—and put into our hearts his Spirit, who empowers the powerless to live the fruitful life of love to which the law points.                   - Will Timmins

Vs. 21 - When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. 

He (Paul) gives a picture of all men under law in order to show why death to law is a part of the Gospel.                    - Griffith Thomas

Because of our sinful nature, we are powerless to completely obey the law of God. Paul’s frustration and failure here is representative of us all. We can try again and again but will always fall short of God’s perfect standard.  So, Paul says, it is very good news that, through Jesus’ death, we are no longer bound by its demands, no longer married to its mandates. 

Who Will Rescue Me?

Vs. 25 - Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Here Paul began the celebration that continues into chapter 8.  Only by looking to Jesus for rescue will we find the healing and help we need. 

Summary

His (Paul’s) purpose (in this section) is to simultaneously (1) defend himself against the misconception that he dismisses and denigrates God’s law, and (2) help the believers in Rome see that they’re fleshly by nature and, therefore, can’t successfully serve God in the “oldness of the letter.”                - Will Timmins