Romans Chapter 7
Romans 7:1 "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?"
We see here, that Paul is speaking to his Hebrew brethren who knew the Law of Moses. A man was required to keep the law all the days of his life.
No matter how serious a criminal’s offenses may be, he is no longer subject to prosecution and punishment after he dies.
Romans 7:2 "For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to [her] husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of [her] husband."
In (verses 2 and 3), we see that these two verses are not a complex allegory, but a simple analogy, using marriage law to illustrate the point Paul just made about law’s jurisdiction.
This passage is not teaching that only the death of a spouse frees a Christian to remarry; it is not teaching about divorce and remarriage at all.
Both Christ and Paul have fully addressed those issues elsewhere.
Romans 7:3 "So then if, while [her] husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man."
The law that governs a married woman’s actions no longer has any jurisdiction over her once her husband dies.
Widows are free to marry again, and Paul even encourages younger ones to remarry, as long as their potential mate is a believer. (1 Cor. 7 3:9 and 1 Tim. 5:14).
Here again, we see that husbands and wives are one flesh until one is taken in death.
The obligation is to the flesh (not the spirit).
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also 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.
In response to faith in His Son, God makes the believing sinner forever dead to the condemnation and penalty of the law.
Just as the widow in Paul’s analogy was freed to remarry, the believer has been freed from his hostile relationship to the law that had condemned him, and can therefore, be remarried, this time to Christ.
“Bring forth fruit unto God”:
This is a transformed life that manifests new attitudes and actions.
Romans 7:5 "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."
Scripture uses the word “flesh” in a
Flesh here describes a person who is able to operate only in the sphere of fallen mankind.
“Motions of sins”:
This is referring to the overwhelming impulses to think and do evil, which characterize those who are “in the flesh”.
The sinful passions at work in an unbeliever produce a harvest of eternal death.
Romans 7:6 "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter."
We are not free to do what the law forbids, but freedom from the spiritual liabilities and penalties of God’s law.
Because we died in Christ when He died, the law with its condemnation and penalties no longer has jurisdiction over us.
“Serve”:
This is the verb from of the word for “bondservant”, but here it is parallel to being slaves of righteousness, emphasizing that this service is not voluntary.
Not only is the believer able to do what is right, he will do what is right.
The newness of spirit is a new state of mind which the Spirit produces, characterized by a new desire and ability to keep the law of God.
“Oldness of the letter”:
This was the external, written law code that produced only hostility and condemnation.
Galatians 5:18 "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Those whom Jesus made free are free indeed.
Romans Chapter 7 Questions
1.Who was Paul speaking to in verse 1?
2.How long did the law have dominion over man?
3.What cancelled out the Jews' obligation to keep the law?
4.How long is the woman bound by the law to her husband?
5.In Matthew 19:5, husband and wife are one in what?
6.All Christians are one in what with Christ?
7.In Ephesians 5:32, it says this is a great mystery concerning whom?
8.The reverence of the wife to her husband in Ephesians 5 is in what area?
9.The husband is the savior of her ___________.
10.In Ephesians 5:28, Why does the husband love the wife?
11.Who is head of the church?
12.Who makes up the church?
13.What does the husband rule over on the earth?
14.Where in Galatians do we read that with God there is no male or female?
15.Who do we read about in Acts chapter 5 that lets us know that women are responsible for their own sins?
16.If a woman marries someone else while her first husband is alive, what is she called?
17.What are the only two things a husband or wife can get a divorce for?
18.What does fornication mean?
19.What does 1 Corinthians 7:15 tell us about marriage to an unbeliever?
20.Why are we Christians no longer under the law of the flesh?
21.How are Christians buried with Christ?
22.Which trespasses did Jesus buy our forgiveness for?
23.Sin brings fruit unto what?
24.1 Corinthians 15:50 tells us what about flesh and blood?
25.In verse 6, we see that after we are delivered from the law we are to serve what?
26.Walk in the _______ and ye shall not fulfill the ______ of the __________.