lookup

Romans 7:1-6 NASB

NT

Romans 7:1-6

nasb

Believers United to Christ 7 1 Or do you not know, a brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For a the married woman is bound by law to her 1 husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law 2 concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were a made to die b to the Law c through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were a in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were b aroused by the Law, were at work c in 1 the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been a released from the Law, having b died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in c newness of d the 1 Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

notes

Overview

"Christians are not saved by the law and 'are not under law, but under grace' (6:14). Knowing that his readers, especially Jewish believers, would still have a great many questions about the law in relation to their faith in Christ, Paul continues in the present passage to explain that critical relationship. In the last part of Romans 6, he expounds the first truth of verse 6:14, namely, that believers are no longer under the law regarding its power to condemn. In chapter 7 he expounds the second truth in that verse, that believers are now under grace. Yet, in doing so, he refers to the law twenty-three times in this chapter, eight times in the first six verses. In his explanation he presents an axiom (7:1), an analogy (7:2-3), an application (7:4-5), and an affirmation (7:6)." ~ MacArthur's New Testament Commentary on Romans

Dead to the Law (7:1-6)

editing

Romans 7:1-6

mine

Or do you not know, a brethren

The Axiom (7:1)

(for I am speaking to those who know the law),

that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

For a the married woman is bound by law to her 1 husband

The Analogy (7:2-3)

while he is living;

but if her husband dies,

she is released from the law 2 concerning the husband.

So then, if while her husband is living

she is joined to another man,

she shall be called an adulteress;

but if her husband dies,

she is free from the law,

so that she is not an adulteress

though she is joined to another man.

Therefore, my brethren, you also were a made to die b to the Law c through the body of Christ,

The Application (7:4-5)

so that you might be joined to another,

to Him who was raised from the dead,

in order that we might bear fruit for God.

For while we were a in the flesh,

the sinful passions,

which were b aroused by the Law,

were at work c in 1 the members of our body

to bear fruit for death.

The Affirmation (7:6)

But now we have been a released from the Law,

having b died to that by which we were bound,

so that we serve in c newness of d the 1 Spirit

and not in oldness of the letter.

discourse

Questions for Clarification

Q. What did Jesus mean when He said that He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17-19). A. "Just as Jesus fulfilled OT prophecies by His person and actions, so He fulfilled OT law by His teaching." ˜ Expositor's Bible Commentary "Jesus opposed not the law but an illegitimate interpretation of it that stressed regulations more than character." ˜ IVP Bible Background Commentary "Jesus was neither giving a new law nor modifying the old, but rather explaining the true significance of the moral content of Moses' law and the rest of the OT. 'The Law or the Prophets' speaks of the entirety of the OT Scriptures, not the rabbinical interpretations of them. 'Fulfill' speaks of fulfillment in the same sense that prophecy is fulfilled. Christ was indicating that He is the fulfillment of the law in all its aspects. He fulfilled the moral law by keeping it perfectly. He fulfilled the ceremonial law by being the embodiment of everything the law's types and symbols pointed to. And He fulfilled the judicial law by personifying God's perfect justice." ˜ The MacArthur Study Bible Q. What are the promises made to those who "keep and teach" the law made by Christ, and what are the implications of this (Matt 5:17-19)? A. Those who keep and teach the law will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Q. What did Paul mean when he said that they do not nullify the law, but establish it (Rom 3:31)? A. Those who have been justified as a gift of God will not abandon the law, but the gospel of grace and faith establishes it. As Paul said in Rom 6:17, they were slaves of sin, but having been freed from that slavery, they became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching - meaning the law of God. As John says in 2 John 1:9, anyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Slaves of God who have been justified by faith will live righteously.