Romans 7

Romans 7 is a chapter in the middle portion of Romans. Romans 6 states that believers have been set free from sin and are "not under the law, but under grace." Chapter 7 builds on this by explaining the believer's relationship to the law, and this explanation leads into the life in the Spirit described in Romans 8.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 present an analogy from marriage. As long as her husband is alive, a wife is bound by the law, but if her husband dies, she is released from that law.
• Verses 4–6 state that believers have become dead to the law by the body of Christ. They therefore belong to him who was raised from the dead, bring forth fruit unto God, and serve "in newness of spirit."
• Verses 7–13 answer the question of whether the law is sin with "God forbid." Through the commandment "Thou shalt not covet," the "I" came to know sin, but sin, taking occasion by the commandment, slew the "I." The law itself is described as holy, just, and good.
• Verses 14–20 describe how the "I" does not do the good it wills but does the evil it does not will. The passage attributes this to the sin that dwells within.
• Verses 21–25 depict the law of the mind warring against the law of sin in the members. The "I" laments, "O wretched man that I am," and then gives thanks to God through Jesus Christ.

Key Verses

• Romans 7:12 "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." This verse makes clear that responsibility for sin lies not with the law but with sin.
• Romans 7:19 "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." This verse epitomizes the conflict of the chapter.
• Romans 7:24–25 "O wretched man that I am!" Here lament turns to thanksgiving, leading into chapter 8.

People and Places

• Paul: the author of the letter, who speaks in the first person as "I" from verse 7 onward.
• Jesus Christ: mentioned in verses 4 and 25.
• No specific places are mentioned.

Notes on Interpretation

• Interpreters have long been divided over the identity of the "I" in verses 14–25.
• Augustine, in his later writings, understood this "I" as Paul the converted believer.
• Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the Reformed tradition continued this interpretation, reading the passage as describing the struggle with sin that remains even in the regenerate.
• John Wesley and the Wesleyan tradition generally read this "I" as a person under the law who has become aware of sin but has not yet been set free.
• Some modern scholars view the "I" not as Paul himself but as a rhetorical device representing Adam or Israel.
• "Thou shalt not covet" in verse 7 is the tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments.
• The role of the law connects to the discussion of law and gospel. The contrast in verse 6 between "spirit" and "the letter" (the written law) is read alongside 2 Corinthians 3:3–6, and the conflict between flesh and spirit alongside Galatians 5:16–21.

In the Korean Church

• Verse 24, "O wretched man that I am!", is frequently quoted in sermons on the believer's inner conflict and sanctification.