Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. Truth to Learn When we’re controlled by our flesh, we’re not submitted to God, we’re in open rebellion to Him. Behind the Words This current verse...
Romans 8:6 – Guarding Our Peace
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Truth to Learn Guarding our thoughts keeps us at peace with God. Behind the Words We saw in the previous verse that the verb translated “minds” is phroneō, which means “to think...
Romans 8:5 – What Do You Think?
Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Truth to Learn What we think about is demonstrated by our actions. Behind the Words The words “who...
Romans 8:4 – Fulfilled Through Him
Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Truth to Learn The righteousness that God demands of us is fulfilled for us through the righteousness of Christ. Behind the Words The...
Romans 8:3 – Righteous Through Him
Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, Truth to Learn Jesus Christ perfectly kept the law, thus...
Romans 8:2 – His Faithful Spirit
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Truth to Learn The Holy Spirit is continually working in Christians. Behind the Words This verse starts with “For,” a translation of the Greek article gar,...
Romans 8:1 – No Condemnation
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Truth to Learn There is no condemnation declared against born-again Christians; instead, we are declared as righteous. Behind the Words This word...
Romans 7:25 – He is Lord!
Romans 7:25 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. Truth to Learn Submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ is the only way to win the battle against our sin...
Romans 7:24 – Winning a Losing Battle
Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Truth to Learn The ever presence of sin will bring a committed Christian to his or her knees … over and over and over and over … Behind the Words The Greek word...
Romans 7:23 – Captured, Then Confessed
Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Truth to Learn Because of the battle within us, we become captured by our sin nature, but confession...
Romans 7:22 – God’s Delightful Law
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. Truth to Learn For Christians, obeying God’s law is delightful, not onerous. Behind the Words The word translated here as “I delight in” is sunēdomai, which only occurs in this one place in the New...
Romans 7:21 – The “Badness” Law
Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. Truth to Learn There is a “law of sin” that can control our actions. Behind the Words The word translated “a law” is the Greek word nomos, which means “something...
Romans 7:20 – Living on our Knees
Romans 7:20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Truth to Learn When we lose a battle against our sin nature we simply need to confess our sin and God removes it from...
Romans 7:19 – Surrender to Him
Romans 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Truth to Learn Overcoming our enemy, our sin nature, is not ours to do. Behind the Words Back in verse sixteen we looked at the...
Romans 7:18 – Surrender is the Key
Romans 7:18 For I know that 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. Truth to Learn We can’t work, or fight, our way to victory as a Christian. Behind...
Romans 7:17 – Victory Through Surrender
Romans 7:17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Truth to Learn There is a battle going on within us that requires surrender. Behind the Words The word translated “dwells” is the Greek word oikousa, which is a participial form of...
Romans 7:16 – Encouragement in Defeat
Romans 7:16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. Truth to Learn Our battle against our sin nature is evidence that we are saved. Behind the Words There are two Greek words translated “will” or “willing.” They are...
Romans 7:15 – That Thing You Do
Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. Truth to Learn Paul battled his sin nature just as you and I do. Behind the Words “Doing” is from the...
Romans 7:14 – Flesh Versus Spirit
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Truth to Learn There is a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit. Behind the Words The word translated “spiritual” is the Greek word pneumatikos, which means “that which pertains to the...
Romans 7:13 – Sinfulness Revealed
Romans 7:13 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. Truth to Learn The Law reveals our sinfulness to the fullest...
Romans 7:12 – The Holy Law
Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Truth to Learn The Law and its commandments are holy, but we are sinful. Behind the Words “Law” is translated from the Greek word nomos, which we saw in the last chapter is the noun...
Romans 7:11 – Deception and Confession
Romans 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Truth to Learn Sin is deceptive and causes separation between us and God. Behind the Words “Taking occasion” is translated from aphormē. This is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “from” or...
Romans 7:10 – The Deadly Law
Romans 7:10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. Truth to Learn The Law is supposed to bring life, but it only brings death. Behind the Words The word translated “found” is heuriskō, which means “to find, by having searched or without searching. Metaphorically,...
Romans 7:9 – Understanding Produces Guilt
Romans 7:9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Truth to Learn Without an understanding of what sin is, we feel innocent of it, but when we understand what it is, we realize our guilt. Behind the Words The word...
Romans 7:8 – A Sinful Product
Romans 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. Truth to Learn The Law does not prevent sin, it produces sin. Behind the Words The Greek word translated “taking opportunity” is aphormē, which means...
Romans 7:7 – The Revealing Law
Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." Truth to Learn The Law reveals our sinfulness...
Romans 7:6 – Free to Serve
Romans 7:6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Truth to Learn We are free to serve God through the power...
Romans 7:5 – Fruit of Death
Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. Truth to Learn Trying to live by a set of laws or rules produces spiritual death, not life. Behind the Words...
Romans 7:4 – Free to Bear Fruit
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become 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 bear fruit to God. Truth to Learn We have been set free so that we...
Romans 7:3 – Free to Remarry
Romans 7:3 So then 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. Truth to Learn We are no longer bound...
Romans 7:2 – To Obey or Not
Romans 7:2 For 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. Truth to Learn Salvation releases us from the requirements of the Law. Behind the...