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Romans 7
New Living Translation

No Longer Bound to the Law

7 Now, dear brothers and sisters[a]—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature,[b] sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

God’s Law Reveals Our Sin

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”[c] 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

Struggling with Sin

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[d] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Footnotes

  1. 7:1 Greek brothers; also in 7:4.
  2. 7:5 Greek When we were in the flesh.
  3. 7:7 Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21.
  4. 7:18 Greek my flesh; also in 7:25.
  5. 7:23 Greek law; also in 7:23b.
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Romans 7
New International Version

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)

The Law and Sin

7 What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)

21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
  2. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
  3. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
  4. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh
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Romans 7
New English Translation

The Believer’s Relationship to the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters[a] (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person[b] as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her[c] husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage.[d] 3 So then,[e] if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her[f] husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4 So, my brothers and sisters,[g] you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.[h] 5 For when we were in the flesh,[i] the sinful desires,[j] aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body[k] to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died[l] to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.[m]

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I[n] would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else[o] if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”[p] 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.[q] For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So[r] I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death![s] 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.[t] 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.[u] 15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.[v] 16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.[w] 17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.[x] 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be[y] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,[z] I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but[aa] with my flesh I serve[ab] the law of sin.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
  2. Romans 7:1 sn Here person refers to a human being.
  3. Romans 7:2 tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
  4. Romans 7:2 tn Grk “husband.”sn Paul’s example of the married woman and the law of the marriage illustrates that death frees a person from obligation to the law. Thus, in spiritual terms, a person who has died to what controlled us (v. 6) has been released from the law to serve God in the new life produced by the Spirit.
  5. Romans 7:3 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
  6. Romans 7:3 tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
  7. Romans 7:4 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
  8. Romans 7:4 tn Grk “that we might bear fruit to God.”
  9. Romans 7:5 tn That is, before we were in Christ.
  10. Romans 7:5 tn Or “sinful passions.”
  11. Romans 7:5 tn Grk “our members”; the words “of our body” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.
  12. Romans 7:6 tn Grk “having died.” The participle ἀποθανόντες (apothanontes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
  13. Romans 7:6 tn Grk “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
  14. Romans 7:7 sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).
  15. Romans 7:7 tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”
  16. Romans 7:7 sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.
  17. Romans 7:8 tn Or “covetousness.”
  18. Romans 7:10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate the result of the statement in the previous verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
  19. Romans 7:10 tn Grk “and there was found in/for me the commandment which was for life—this was for death.”
  20. Romans 7:11 tn Or “and through it killed me.”
  21. Romans 7:14 tn Grk “under sin.”
  22. Romans 7:15 tn Grk “but what I hate, this I do.”
  23. Romans 7:16 tn Grk “I agree with the law that it is good.”
  24. Romans 7:18 tn Grk “For to wish is present in/with me, but not to do it.”
  25. Romans 7:25 tc ‡ Most mss (א* A 1739 1881 M sy) read “I give thanks to God” rather than “Now thanks be to God” (א1 [B] Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506), the reading of NA28. The reading with the verb (εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ, eucharistō tō theō) possibly arose from a transcriptional error in which several letters were doubled (TCGNT 455). The conjunction δέ (de, “now”) is included in some mss as well (א1 Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506), but it should probably not be considered original. The ms support for the omission of δέ is both excellent and widespread (א* A B D 1739 1881 M lat sy), and its addition can be explained as an insertion to smooth out the transition between v. 24 and 25.
  26. Romans 7:25 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
  27. Romans 7:25 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.
  28. Romans 7:25 tn The words “I serve” have been repeated here for clarity.
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Romans 7
Christian Standard Bible

An Illustration from Marriage

7 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters,(A) don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives.(B) But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death(C) in relation to the law(D) through the body of Christ(E) so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh,(F) the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us[a](G) to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit(H) and not in the old letter of the law.

Sin’s Use of the Law

7 What should we say then?(I) Is the law sin? Absolutely not!(J) But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.(K) For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.[b](L) 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,(M) produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.(N) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life(O) resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me,(P) and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy,(Q) and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not!(R) But sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

The Problem of Sin in Us

14 For we know that the law is spiritual,(S) but I am of the flesh,[c] sold(T) as a slave under sin.(U) 15 For I do not understand what I am doing,(V) because I do not practice what I want to do,(W) but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.(X) For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:[d](Y) When I want to do what is good,[e] evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self[f] I delight in God’s law,(Z) 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body,[g](AA) waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?(AB) 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AC) So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

Footnotes

  1. 7:5 Lit in our members
  2. 7:7 Ex 20:17
  3. 7:14 Or unspiritual
  4. 7:21 Or principle
  5. 7:21 Or I find with respect to the law that when I want to do good
  6. 7:22 Lit inner man
  7. 7:23 Lit my members
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