I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself truly serve the law of God, but with the flesh I serve the law of sin. Truth to Learn Submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ is the only way to win the battle against...
Romans 7:24 – Winning a Losing Battle
O wretched man that I am! Who will rescue 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 translated...
Romans 7:23 – Captured, Then Confessed
But I see another law in my members, battling 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 sets us...
Romans 7:22 – God’s Delightful Law
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 Testament....
Romans 7:21 – The “Badness” Law
I find then a law, when I desire to do what is right, that evil is present with me. 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
Now if I do what I determine not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin dwelling 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 us. ...
Romans 7:19 – Surrender to Him
For the good that I determine to do, I do not do; but the evil I determine to not 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 word...
Romans 7:17 – Victory Through Surrender
But now, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that is living in me. Truth to Learn There is a battle going on within us that requires surrender. Behind the Words The word translated “living” is the Greek word oikeō, which is a participial form of...
Romans 7:18 – Surrender is the Key
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to perform what is good is not. Truth to Learn We can’t work, or fight, our way to victory as a Christian. Behind the Words The word...
Romans 7:16 – Encouragement in Defeat
If, then, I do what I determine 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 The Greek word translated “determine” is thelō, which is often translated as...
Romans 7:15 – That Thing You Do
For the thing I do, I do not understand. For what I determine 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 The words “the thing I...
Romans 7:14 – Flesh Versus Spirit
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, having been sold by 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...
Romans 7:13 – Sinfulness Revealed
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? No way! But sin, that it might appear sinful, was producing death in me through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful. Truth to Learn The Law reveals our sinfulness to the fullest...
Romans 7:12 – The Holy Law
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is 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...
Romans 7:11 – Deception and Confession
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 “away...
Romans 7:10 – The Deadly Law
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, it...
Romans 7:9 – Understanding Produces Guilt
I was previously alive 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 translated...
Romans 7:8 – A Sinful Product
But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all covetousness. For apart from the law sin is 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 “an occasion, an opportunity,...
Romans 7:7 – The Revealing Law
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! I did not know sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness except the law said, "You shall not covet." Truth to Learn The Law reveals our sinfulness to us. Behind the Words The...
Romans 7:6 – Free to Serve
But now we have been set free from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we should serve in the newness of Spirit and not in the oldness of letter. Truth to Learn We are free to serve God through the power of the...
Romans 7:5 – Fruit of Death
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions 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 The word translated...
Romans 7:4 – Free to Bear Fruit
So, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, so that we might bear fruit to God. Truth to Learn We have been set free so that we can bear...
Romans 7:3 – Free to Remarry
So then if, while the husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband should die, 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 to...
Romans 7:2 – To Obey or Not
For the married woman is bound by the law to the husband while he lives. But if the husband should die, she is set free from the law of the husband. Truth to Learn Salvation releases us from the requirements of the Law. Behind the Words The words “married...
Romans 7:1 – Our Savior, Our Husband
Or do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has Lordship over a man as long as he lives? Truth to Learn Christians are in a marriage relationship with Jesus Christ. Behind the Words The word translated “brothers” is adelphos,...