Romans 7

Romans 7:2

2. For the woman &c.] Take the instance of a husband and wife: let the husband be the law; let us converts to Christianity be the wife; so then, the woman, which hath a husband, is bound by the law to live with her husband and to be subject unto him, so long as he liveth; but if her husband be once dead she is loosed from any further bond to her husband or observance of him. Bp. Hall.

Forsaking the law of God, and going over to another religion, is frequently in scripture styled “fornication,” or “adultery.” And the Jews seem to have used some such argument for not quitting the law of Moses, and

Anno DOMINI 60. We are dead to the law, which is not sin, ASSO DOMINI 60.

are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Romans 7:4

4.—ye also are become dead to the law] The ceremonial law, to which God at first joined you, is now dead to you, and you to it. Pyle.

—by the body of Christ;] By the crucified body, the death of Christ. Dr. Hammond.

—that we should bring forth fruit unto God.] The Apostle says, “that we should bring forth,” &c. to shew that he was in the same circumstances with the Jews. Dr. Macknight, Locke.

Romans 7:6

6.—in the flesh,] That is, in a comparatively carnal state, and without the grace of the Spirit, which was our condition, whilst we were under the law, and rested on the carnal ordinances of it. Dr. Wells.

—the motions of sins, which were by the law,] Those sinful desires and affections, which were forbidden by the law, and so were rendered more criminal by being prohibited. Dr. Hammond. Or the phrase, “which were by the law,” may be rendered, ‘which we had under the law.’ Dr. Wells, Pyle, Dr. Macknight.

—did work in our members] “Members” here do not signify barely the fleshly parts of the body, in a restrained sense, but the animal faculties and powers, all in us that is employed as an instrument in the works of the flesh, which are reckoned up, Gal. v. 19—21; some of which do not require the members of our body, taken in a strict sense for the outward gross parts, but only the faculties of our minds, for their performance. Locke. See the note on chap. vi. 13.

6. But now we are delivered from the law,] As far as regards, not its moral precepts, but its carnal external performances. Dr. Hammond.

—in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.] That is, in leading entirely new, and inwardly as well as outwardly righteous lives, by the grace of the Spirit vouchsafed unto us by the Gospel; and not in contenting ourselves, as we have of old or formerly done, to observe only the letter of the law, and so acquiescing in an outward righteousness only. Dr. Wells.

Romans 7:7

7. What shall we say then? &c.] Rather, ‘What do we say?’ The Apostle proceeds to meet an objection, that by thus arguing he charged the law with being sin, or the cause of sin, contenting itself with an external performance of the ceremony, and not exacting inward purity. Dr. Hammond.

—Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.] I should not have known in some cases what was to be avoided as sin, but by the law. Dr. Wells. The Apostle here changes the person, and speaks as of himself.

This he does elsewhere, Rom. iii. 6; 1 Cor. x. 30; iv. 6; when he is only personating another character. And the character here assumed is that of a man, first ignorant of the law, then under it, and sincerely desiring to please God; but finding to his sorrow the weakness of the motives it suggested, and the sad discouragement under which it left him: and last of all, with transport discovering the Gospel, and gaining by it pardon and strength, peace and joy. Dr. Doddridge.

The miserable condition of a man under the law, is modestly represented by the Apostle, as usual, see 1 Cor. iv. 6, in his own person. Bp. Fell.

—for I had not known lust,] That is, I had not known the lustings, or covetous desires of the heart, to be things worthy of death, except the law had said, “thou shalt not covet,” and so made him that coveteth obnoxious to death, as being a transgressor of the law. The law therefore hath done its part, in giving us knowledge that the very desires of the heart are sins. Drs. Whitby and Hammond.

The Apostle does not speak particularly of himself, but in the person of a Jew, or man in general; and then it is true, not only of this, but of all the other commandments, that the knowledge of sin is by the promulgation of the law which forbids it. But there was a particular reason why the Apostle instanced in this commandment. The Jews about our Saviour’s time, seeing no punishment judicially appointed for unclean or dishonest thoughts or desires, had resolved this to be no sin. So that St. Paul might well say of any Jew, so instructed, that he had not believed coveting to be a sin, unless the more exact consideration of the direct words of the law had assured him that it was so. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 7:8

8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,] That is, taking advantage to slay me by the said commandment against coveting, wrought effectually in me the strongest desire of things forbidden, and so subjected me to death. Compare ver. 11. Drs. Wells and Macknight.

—For without the law sin was dead.] That is, had not power to render me guilty of death. Dr. Wells. Sin, which the Apostle still considers as a person, would have had no being, or at least no strength to kill men, unless law existed. For the essence of sin consists in its being a violation of law. Dr. Macknight.

Romans 7:9

9. For I was alive &c.] To my appearance; being neither wounded by my conscience, nor so much solicited by sin. Bp. Fell.

Romans 7:10

10.—which was ordained to life,] Or, given for life, as teaching those things, which if a man do, he shall live in them, Lev. xviii. 5. The word “ordained” is not in the original: the verse may be paraphrased, The

but holy, just, and good. The law of sin in our members. Anno DOMINI 60.

Romans 7:11

11. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,] See above, ver. 8. “Deceived,” or enticed me to the transgression of the commandment, and so rendered me guilty of death. Dr. Wells. There is an allusion here to the excuse which Eve made for eating the forbidden fruit; “The serpent beguiled me,” by assuring me that I should not die. Dr. Macknight.

Romans 7:12

12. Wherefore the law is holy, &c.] The Apostle here infers the groundlessness of the objection urged in the 7th verse. Dr. Hammond. Wherefore it appears, that the law is by no means in itself the cause of sin, but on the contrary it is “holy,” or a rule directing us to holiness: and consequently “the commandment,” or whatever the law commands, is in itself “holy,” and not only so, but “just,” or fit to be commanded; “and good,” or beneficial to be observed. Dr. Wells.

Romans 7:13

13. Was then that which is good made death unto me? &c.] Shall I then charge my ruin on this holy and good law of God? By no means. But I must rather charge it upon sin, which by means of so holy an instrument undid me. Dr. Doddridge.

— that it might appear sin.] That is, malignant, pernicious, and detestable. Dr. Wells.

— that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.] As being done against an express positive commandment, which plainly denounced death to the sinner; and so carrying with it a far greater degree of aggravation, and consequently of malignity, perniciousness, and detestableness than before. Dr. Wells.

Romans 7:14

14. For we know that the law is spiritual: &c.] The Apostle here argues, that it will not seem strange that sin should prevail over us in a state of lapsed nature, to transgress the law, and to become obnoxious to death by it, if we consider the contrariety which exists between every natural man and the law: “for we know, that the law is spiritual,” and requires spiritual things; “but,” every natural man hath cause to say of himself, “I am carnal, sold under sin,” that is, enslaved by my corrupt affections: such is the meaning of the last phrase in the Old Testament. See 1 Kings xxi. 20, 25. Dr. Whitby.

Romans 7:15

15. For that which I do I allow not: &c.] The meaning is, that carnal men, though they are taught their duty by the law, do not such things as their understanding or conscience, thus instructed and directed,

not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Romans 7:16

16. If then I do that which I would not, &c.] The conscience of such men, which smites them for thus acting in disobedience to the law, is an acknowledgment that the law itself is good. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 7:17

17. Now then it is no more I that do it, &c.] “I,” according to the better part, from which I am denominated; “but sin that dwelleth in me,” that is, in my flesh, ver. 23; and captivates me to the obedience of it. Dr. Whitby.

By distinguishing his real self, that is, his spiritual part, from the self, or flesh in which sin dwelt, and by observing that the evil actions which he committed were done, not by him, but by sin dwelling in him; the Apostle did not mean to teach that wicked men are not accountable for their sins, but to make them sensible of the evil of their sins, by shewing them, that they are all committed in direct opposition to reason and conscience, the superior part of their nature, at the instigation of passion and lust, the lower part. Farther, by appealing to the opposition which reason and conscience make to evil actions, he hath overturned the grand argument, by which the wicked justify themselves in indulging their lusts. Say they, Since God has given us passions and appetites, He certainly meant that we should gratify them. True, says the Apostle: but God hath also given you reason and conscience, which oppose the excesses of lust, and condemn its gratification. And as reason and conscience are the superior part of men’s nature, a more certain indication of the will of God may be gathered from their operation, than from the impulses of the other. Dr. Macknight.

Romans 7:20

20. — it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.] The objection against the law in the 7th verse, is thus fully answered by shewing, that the law is far from being guilty of men’s sin; and that it is not they, by the conduct and dictate of the law, or by their own conscience guided by the law, that do evil; but their carnal inclinations, or the custom of sin, which hath gained such power over them. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 7:21

21. I find then a law, &c.] By calling our sinful inclinations “a law,” the Apostle teaches, that they are a principle of action as steady and constant in impelling us to evil, as the law of God is, in directing us to what is good. Dr. Macknight.

Romans 7:22

22. — after the inward man:] That is, in the mind Anno DOMINI 64. The law of sin in our members. Anne DOMINI 66.

Romans 7:23

23. — in my members.] See the note on chap. vi. 13.

Romans 7:24

24. O wretched man that I am! &c.] This is a sad condition, the very state of a carnal man under the law; and out of which the law cannot rescue any man, nor from the destruction that attends it. Dr. Hammond. This mass of inward corruption, which dwells in this mortal and sinful flesh of mine. Bp. Hall. Or, “The body of this death” appears to be an emphatical Hebraism, signifying “the body,” that is, the lusts of the body, which cause “this death,” the death threatened in the curse of the law. Dr. Macknight.

Romans 7:25

25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.] Yet blessed be God, by the grace and strength of Jesus Christ, chap. vi. 23, there is a way to escape from this sad condition: 1st, pardon to every penitent sinner, which may encourage any to break off their sins; and 2dly, grace and strength in Christ, to perform what God in Christ will accept, namely, a sincere though imperfect obedience. Dr. Hammond.

— So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; &c.] So then the conclusion of this digression from ver. 7, is, that the bare knowledge of the law of Moses only directs the understanding what is our duty; notwithstanding which, the carnal man, accustomed to the ways of sin, may still persevere in them contrary to the suggestions of his conscience, and so be justly rewarded with death. The phrase, “I myself,” which may be rendered literally, “The same I,” means one and the same person, namely, him, whom the Apostle has hitherto personated, and whom he here describes as consisting of two parts, and so doing two things at once; with his understanding serving the law of God, and yet at the same time with his flesh submitting to

the dictates of sin. Dr. Hammond. See the notes on ver. 17.

As if he had said, Thanks be to God, His gracious mercy and goodness through Jesus Christ delivers us by the powerful and effectual motives and helps of the Gospel. So then, to shut up this discourse, the sum and substance thereof is this: antecedently to the consideration of Gospel-grace this is the condition of man; by a diversity of inclinations he is drawn by different motives at one and the same time towards opposite objects; by reason and conscience in the spirit of his own mind he is of necessity obliged to approve the law of God, and strongly invited to act in conformity to that obligation, but his bodily appetites and desires, importunate to be gratified, often draw him into forbidden actions, and so bring him under subjection to sin and death eternal; from which miserable estate he is and can be delivered only by the mercy of the Gospel. T. Edwards.

Chap. VIII. The Christian religion is here shewn to be fully able both to cure the habits, and to atone for the guilt, of sins against the moral law: the merits of Christ’s death being a sufficient satisfaction for past offences; and the spiritual nature of His laws, with the assistance of the Divine Spirit, enabling us to attain such habits of righteous living, as will qualify us for, and assure us of, a resurrection to eternal life and happiness. This spiritual life is the great obligation, and the only mark and character of a true Christian. It will entitle the Gentile, as well as the Jewish converts, to the future glory and happiness of God’s true Church and children. Pyle.

St. Paul, in the foregoing chapter, having shewn the Jewish converts the necessity and obligation they were under of quitting the observance of the law on the one hand, which affording men neither possibility of escaping sin wholly, nor sufficient means of recovering from the guilt of it, left them unavoidably subject to the final wrath of God, the necessary consequence of every transgression by the terms of the Law; but that the Gospel on the other hand, having delivered men from the body of death and from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, enabled them to prevail not only over the temptations of sin within themselves, but also over all the persecutions and all the powers of the world, and also enabled them to bring forth unto God the fruits of obedience acceptable unto eternal life—be proceeds in this chapter to confirm the latter part of his argument by shewing how Christians are free from the sentence of condemnation, being delivered both from the guilt and dominion of sin by the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and the merciful terms of the Gospel established thereupon, whereby they are enabled to serve God acceptably unto justification and salvation, if they be careful so to do; that is, to perform the conditions of this gracious covenant on their part, by mortifying the deeds of the body, utterly forsaking