Verses 1-6: Released to Belong to Christ and Bear Fruit

¹ Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives? ² For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband. ³ So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man. ⁴ Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. ⁶ But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.

• Law’s jurisdiction is real but limited by death:

  Paul begins with a shared premise: law “has dominion over a man for as long as he lives.” The marriage illustration clarifies that a binding legal claim is not denied, but it is also not ultimate—death changes covenantal/legal status. Theologically, this sets the stage for understanding that God’s law is not treated as irrelevant; rather, its condemning hold is addressed through a decisive change in the person’s standing.

• Union with Christ reorders covenant belonging and purpose:

  Believers “were made dead to the law through the body of Christ” with a clear goal: “that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead.” This expresses salvation as personal and relational union—belonging to the risen Christ—not merely a legal transaction. It also ties union to mission: “that we might produce fruit to God,” showing that grace aims at holiness and fruitful living, not moral indifference.

• Freedom from the law’s hold is not freedom to sin but freedom to serve:

  Paul contrasts two modes of existence: “when we were in the flesh” sinful passions “worked in our members” to yield “fruit to death,” but now, discharged from the law, believers “serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.” Theological balance is crucial here: release from the law is not release from God; it is release from a former kind of bondage so that genuine service becomes possible—service characterized by inward renewal rather than mere external conformity.

• “Newness of the spirit” highlights God’s inward work in sanctification:

  Paul does not merely describe a change of outward obligation, but a change of lived reality: “so that we serve in newness of the spirit.” Theologically, this points to God’s active work within the believer, renewing the heart for real obedience. This guards against two errors at once: treating the Christian life as only external rule-keeping (“oldness of the letter”), or treating grace as if it removed the call to holiness. Instead, grace establishes a new way of serving God—one marked by inward renewal that bears “fruit to God.”

Verses 7-13: The Law Is Good; Sin Hijacks the Commandment

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. ⁹ I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. ¹⁰ The commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death; ¹¹ for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. ¹³ Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.

• God’s law reveals sin without being sin:

  Paul emphatically rejects the idea that “the law” is itself sinful: “May it never be!” Yet he insists that the law has a revelatory function—“I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law”—even naming inward desire: “You shall not covet.” Theologically, this supports the goodness of God’s moral will and explains why divine commands can expose what is hidden in the heart.

• Sin is an active power that exploits good commands:

  Repeatedly, Paul identifies the culprit as “sin, finding occasion through the commandment,” which “produced,” “deceived,” and “killed.” The commandment is “for life,” but sin twists it so that it becomes an occasion for death. This teaches that moral instruction, though holy, cannot by itself heal the corrupted will; it can diagnose and even intensify the exposure of rebellion when confronted by a heart not yet fully restored.

• The law’s goodness magnifies sin’s evil and our need for grace:

  Paul concludes that “the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good,” and again denies that the good became death. Instead, “sin… was producing death in me through that which is good,” with a purpose: “that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.” Theologically, the law functions like a bright light: it does not create filth, but it shows it clearly—leaving no room for self-justification and preparing us to seek deliverance beyond ourselves.

Verses 14-25: The Inner War and the Cry for Deliverance

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good. ¹⁹ For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. ²⁰ But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. ²¹ I find then the law that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. ²² For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, ²³ but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? ²⁵ I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law.

• God’s law is spiritual; the human problem is the flesh under sin:

  Paul affirms, “the law is spiritual,” shifting blame away from God’s command and toward the human condition: “I am fleshly, sold under sin.” Theologically, this locates the crisis not in God’s standard but in humanity’s fallen weakness—an enslaving reality that requires more than instruction to overcome.

• Conviction includes real desire for good and real inability in the flesh:

  Paul describes a painful contradiction: “I don’t practice what I desire to do,” and again, “the good which I desire, I don’t do.” Yet this desire is not meaningless; it shows that he “consent[s] to the law that it is good” and even “delight[s] in God’s law after the inward man.” Theologically, Romans 7 holds together two truths believers recognize in experience: sincere love for God’s will, and the continuing presence of weakness that cannot be mastered by willpower alone.

• Sin “dwells” within, making sanctification a conflict, not a myth:

  Twice Paul states, “it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me,” clarifying that sin operates like an indwelling power. This does not excuse wrongdoing (Paul still grieves and resists), but it explains why the Christian life involves conflict: “warring against the law of my mind.” Theologically, sanctification is presented as a battle in which the believer is not merely choosing between equal options, but resisting an entrenched force that seeks dominion through the “members.”

• Deliverance is ultimately personal and Christ-centered:

  The climax is not self-improvement but a plea: “Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?” and a doxology: “I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!” Theologically, this anchors hope in God’s saving action through Christ. Whatever the intensity of the inner struggle, the final word is thanksgiving—deliverance is received, not achieved.

• The struggle is real, yet God provides real renewal for obedience:

  Paul’s “What a wretched man I am!” is honest about the depth of the problem, and his thanksgiving “through Jesus Christ, our Lord!” confesses that the answer comes from God. Joined to this, Paul has already said believers “serve in newness of the spirit,” showing that God’s grace does not only pardon; it also renews and enables a new way of serving. Theologically, this keeps the church from despair (as though sin must always rule) and from presumption (as though the battle has vanished), calling believers into ongoing dependence on God for both forgiveness and transformation.

• Believers live in a real tension that calls for humility and dependence:

  Paul concludes with a sober summary: “with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law.” This describes a tension that can mark the believer’s ongoing experience: sincere service and real vulnerability. Theologically, this calls the church to humility (no boasting), vigilance (no complacency), and dependence on God’s grace (no despair), since the battle is not imaginary and the Deliverer is not optional.

Conclusion: Romans 7 teaches that God’s law is holy and spiritual, yet it cannot by itself free the human person from sin’s indwelling power. Through the body of Christ, believers are released from the law’s former dominion in order to belong to the risen Lord and bear fruit to God, serving in newness of the spirit. The chapter also gives a realistic portrait of the inner conflict many believers recognize, leading not to resignation but to a sharper cry for deliverance—and to thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.