CERTAINLY YOU UNDERSTAND. Paul uses an illustration from human life to show that the Christian is dead to the Law. _Luther_ says: "When a husband dies, his wife, too, becomes free, and each is released from the other. Not in this sense, that the woman is not to take another husband, but rather in th... [ Continue Reading ]
A MARRIED WOMAN. The Jews believed that the Law of Moses formed a perpetual obligation. Paul uses marriage to teach them this lesson. BUT IF HE DIES. The wife was united to her husband during his lifetime, but his death terminated the obligation, leaving her free to marry another.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE HER HUSBAND IS ALIVE. She would be an adulteress, because she would be unfaithful to the law (marriage vows) that united her to her husband. Note that the Jewish Christians to whom Paul wrote believed that to abandon the Law of Moses was equal to spiritual adultery.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IS THE WAY. "Since marriage is terminated by the death of either spouse, you Jews, who were married to God as your king, and obligated to obey the Law of Moses, are legally free from that marriage and Law." In becoming a Christian, they died with Christ (Romans 6:6), and since the old relations... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHEN WE LIVED. Before we died with Christ. STIRRED UP BY THE LAW. We would not recognize these desires, if the Law did not identify them (Galatians 5:24; Romans 7:9-10).... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE FREE FROM THE LAW. See ROMANS 6:2-4. BUT IN THE NEW WAY OF THE SPIRIT. This does not mean that the Jews under the Law did not worship God with spiritual worship. Yet the Law was directed toward weak human nature. In contrast to the _old life,_ we have a new life in the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE LAW ITSELF IS SINFUL? In Romans 7:5 Paul said that the Law _stirred up sinful desires._ OF COURSE NOT! Paul strongly denies that the Law itself was sinful. The _restraint_ of law made him aware of his own sinful nature. [See notes on _law_ at the end of _chapter 3._] The experiences which h... [ Continue Reading ]
SIN FOUND ITS CHANCE. Sin was given its chance by the commandment which had the effect of awakening and stirring up evil desires. God's word of command to Adam and Eve called their attention to the forbidden fruit. FOR SIN IS A DEAD THING. The restraint of law makes sin spring into life, because our... [ Continue Reading ]
I MYSELF WAS ONCE ALIVE. _Gifford_ says: "There is a deep tragic pathos in the brief and simple statement; it seems to point to some definite period full of painful recollections." This could be the time in youth when happy innocence is displaced by the moral conflicts and awareness of mature years.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I DIED. The awareness of sin showed him under the sentence of death. It may have been when Christ said, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute," that Paul first realized that "Christ has brought the Law to an end," and _he died._ WHICH WAS MEANT TO BRING LIFE. The Law promised life (Romans... [ Continue Reading ]
SIN FOUND ITS CHANCE. Because men were under the Law, sin found its chance to first fool them and then to kill them. Yet this result is not due to the Law itself, since this would make God responsible for our sinning by giving the Law. Sin deceives us by: (1) making us think the demands of the law a... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN. The Law itself is holy, even in its curse, as it restrains us from sin by its threat of punishment. Its moral requirements are holy, right, and good.... [ Continue Reading ]
DOES THIS MEAN? Paul has shown us that the Law is holy, right, and good, even though it stirs up evil desires. It was through the Law that sin killed him. But is the Law then death??? BY NO MEANS! The problem is not the Law, but sin. Sin stirs up our human nature to rebel against the Law, to break i... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAW IS SPIRITUAL. To show us that it is not God's Law, but rather sin that is the source of death, Paul points out the conflict in man. The Law requires actions which are spiritual, as our mind and conscience tells us. BUT I AM MORTAL MAN. He means this in its worst sense (_compare_ Romans 8:5-8... [ Continue Reading ]
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I DO. The word "slavery" explains his actions. "As a slave, my actions are guided by someone else's will.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I DO WHAT I DON'T WANT TO DO. He knows that sin is wrong, yet he goes on sinning (_compare_ 1 John 1:8-10). The fact that he doesn't want to sin shows he agrees that the Law is right in its commands and its curse.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO I AM NOT REALLY THE ONE. It is not "Paul the free-man" who sins, but "Paul the slave to sin." The sin that lives in us: (1) interferes with the good we would like to do; (2) like some evil spirit, it tries to destroy our spiritual nature; (3) tries to control us and take us to death (Romans 7:24)... [ Continue Reading ]
IN MY HUMAN NATURE. Compare James 4:5. See notes on Romans 7:14 of this chapter.... [ Continue Reading ]
I DON'T DO THE GOOD. This proves what he said in Romans 7:18. How often we resolve to do better, and then give in to temptation when it comes. This repeats Romans 7:15, but makes a stronger contrast between _good intentions_ and _bad actions._... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS MEANS THAT NO LONGER AM I THE ONE. The same answer as Romans 7:17. To be saved from sin, a man must at the same time _own it_ [confess to it] and _disown it_ [repudiate it]. This is the Christian paradox to live in a condition of "confident despair.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS LAW IS AT WORK. This is similar to Romans 7:10. "This is how I find the Law or life under the rule of the Law works out in actual practice: when I make up my mind to do good, evil is the only choice I have." Compare Romans 7:7_ and note._... [ Continue Reading ]
MY INNER BEING. The _inner being_ is not the same as the new nature; but is the side of human nature that is _tuned in_ to God. Compare Romans 2:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I SEE A DIFFERENT LAW. This continual conflict in man goes on between the _inner being_ who delights in the law of God, and the law of sin and death which holds him prisoner.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT AN UNHAPPY MAN I AM! This is the despair of natural man, held prisoner by sin, and unable to help himself. [The Christian also feels this constant struggle, but has hope in Christ.] WHO WILL RESCUE ME? The Law cannot help, because it is the curse of the Law which is about to kill him. See Roman... [ Continue Reading ]
THANKS BE TO GOD. He has acted _already_ to set us free! THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! God sets us free through Jesus Christ! _See_ Romans 8:2. THIS, THEN IS MY CONDITION. _By myself -_ without Christ's help the best I can do is serve God's law with my mind, while the sin that lives in me perverts... [ Continue Reading ]