Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 95)

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 95)

We recently finished our study of Romans 6. If you have not read it, you can do that here. You can also link to several free eBooks about Romans at the end of this study.

We learned in Chapter 6 that we are “dead to sin and alive to God.” God in His great love, mercy and grace has changed us from “slaves of sin to slaves of God.” Paul used the example of slavery heavily in Chapter 6. A central point of Chapter 6 is when Paul made a truth claim followed by a question — “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (verses 14-15)

We move now to Chapter 7 where we will learn that we have been “freed from the Law.” Paul used an example from personal life (marital law) that helped his readers understand the obligation of Law as it relates to the power of the sin. He also addressed the experience of living “in the flesh” and “in the Spirit.”

Outlining Chapter 7

Verses 1-6 are about being freed (liberated) from the Law.
Verses 7-13 addresses how the Law works and the advantage sin has in the Law.
Verses 14-25 shows the power of sin and how the Law cannot save us from sin. (NKJV)

Here are some other outlines you may find helpful in your study:

Died to the Law .. 1-6
Doomed by the Law .. 7-13
Defeated by the Law .. 14-25 (Bible.org)

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ .. 1-6
The Law and Sin .. 7-25 (NIV)

Believers United to Christ .. 1-13
The Conflict of Serving Two Masters .. 14-25 (NASB)

Released from the Law .. 1-6
The Law and Sin .. 7-25

No Longer Condemned by Law .. 1-25 (New American Commentary Vol 27: Romans)

Released from the Law .. 1-6
Law Good; Sin Bad .. 7-12
The Role of Indwelling Sin .. 13-25 (Romans: Exegetical Guide To The Greek New Testament)

Verse One

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

η αγνοειτε αδελφοι γινωσκουσιν γαρ νομον λαλω οτι ο νομος κυριευει του ανθρωπου εφ οσον χρονον ζη

η αγνοειτε αδελφοι (Ē agnoeite adelphoi) “or are you ignorant brothers” … it’s important to remember that Paul did not write his letter in chapters and verses .. this question flows naturally from what immediately preceded it …

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things isdeath. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:20-23

Paul asked his readers another question: “Or do you not know, brethren … ?” The word agnoeite means “do not know, am ignorant of” … it was used sometimes of willful ignorance … Paul called them “brethren” (adelphoi – brother, member of same religious community) .. these were people who believed in Jesus Christ .. they shared a common faith ..

γινωσκουσιν γαρ νομον λαλω (ginōskousin gar nomon lalō) “to those knowing for law I speak” … Paul was speaking specifically to Jewish believers who were well acquainted with the Mosaic Law .. the word ginōskousin means “knowledge gained through personal experience” .. Jews learned and experienced the Mosaic Law from childhood .. they were well-acquainted with its wording and meaning ..

οτι ο νομος κυριευει του ανθρωπου εφ οσον χρονον ζη (hoti ho nomos kurieuei tou anthrōpou eph’ hoson chronon zē) “that the law rules over the man for as long as long as the time he is alive” .. Jews knew that the Mosaic Law ruled over Jewish people from birth to death .. Paul’s question to them was rhetorical .. they knew the answer .. Paul used the question as part of his instructing them in the difference between Law and Grace .. the word kurieuei means “to be lord of, have authority over

Verse Two

For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

η γαρ υπανδρος γυνη τω ζωντι ανδρι δεδεται νομω εαν δε αποθανη ο ανηρ κατηργηται απο του νομου του ανδρος

η γαρ υπανδρος γυνη τω ζωντι ανδρι δεδεται νομω (hē gar hupandros gynē tō zōnti andri dedetai nomō) “the for married woman to the living husband is bound by law” .. the word hupandros means “under the power or subject to a man, subject to a husband, married) .. zōnti means “am alive” .. dedetai means “to tie, bind, fasten” .. nomō means “law” ..

Paul used the example of marriage to demonstrate the power of the law while someone is alive .. a married woman was “bound” by Law to her living husband as long as he was alive ..

εαν δε αποθανη ο ανηρ κατηργηται απο του νομου του ανδρος (ean de apothanē ho anēr katērgētai apo tou nomou tou andros) “if however should die the husband she is cleared from the law of the husband” .. the word katērgētai means “to render inoperative, abolish, make of no effect, annul, sever, separate from” .. a married woman was no longer under the “law” of her husband after his death .. even though she was still alive, the authority that her husband had over her legally ended upon his physical death .. a widow was no longer legally connected to her dead husband, though she would have emotional ties to her life with him .. she was released from the obligations of the law .. Jewish Christians would have acknowledged that to be true ..

Verse Three

So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

αρα ουν ζωντος του ανδρος μοιχαλις χρηματισει εαν γενηται ανδρι ετερω εαν δε αποθανη ο ανηρ ελευθερα εστιν απο του νομου του μη ειναι αυτην μοιχαλιδα γενομενην ανδρι ετερω

αρα ουν ζωντος του ανδρος μοιχαλις χρηματισει εαν γενηται ανδρι ετερω (ara oun zōntos tou andros moichalis chrēmatisei ean genētai andri heterō) “then therefore being alive the husband an adulteress she will be called if she is to man another” .. moichalis means “married woman who commits adultery” .. as long as a woman’s husband was alive, she would be a law breaker if she had sexual relations with a man who was not her husband .. the consequences of a married woman committing adultery were severe .. “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, hewho commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10)

εαν δε αποθανη ο ανηρ ελευθερα εστιν απο του νομου του μη ειναι αυτην μοιχαλιδα γενομενην ανδρι ετερω (ean de apothanē ho anēr eleuthera estin apo tou nomou tou mē einai autēn moichalida genomenēn andri heterō) “if however should die the husband free she is from the law so as for not to be her an adulteress having been to man another” .. a married woman whose husband had died would not be an adulteress if she was with another man .. why? because she was freed from the law of her husband upon his death ..

Verse Four

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

ωστε αδελφοι μου και υμεις εθανατωθητε τω νομω δια του σωματος του χριστου εις το γενεσθαι υμας ετερω τω εκ νεκρων εγερθεντι ινα καρποφορησωμεν τω θεω

ωστε αδελφοι μου (hōste edelphoi mou) “likewise brothers of me” .. the word hōste means “so then, as both and” .. it’s a conjunction that connects cause to effect which emphasizes result (Strong’s Concordance) .. Paul used a term of endearment (brothers of me, my brethren), which reminded the Romans that Paul was writing to them from a position of love and concern for them ..

και υμεις εθανατωθητε τω νομω δια του σωματος του χριστου (kai humeis ethanatōthēte tō nomō dia tou sōmatos tou christou) “also you have been put to death to the law through the body of Christ” .. Paul wrote that like the widow who was severed from the obligation of the law by the death of her husband, so a Christian is severed from obligation of the law by their death to the law .. as Paul wrote in Romans 6:14, “for you are not under law but under grace.” .. the reason a Christian is not under law is because they died to the law .. how did that happen? They became dead to the law “through the body of Christ.” Here’s a reminder of what Paul wrote about this earlier in Romans:

And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Romans 5:16-18

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3-4

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Romans 6:8-10

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23

We died to the Law and its obligations and power through faith in Christ because Jesus died and rose again.

εις το γενεσθαι υμας ετερω τω εκ νεκρων εγερθεντι ινα καρποφορησωμεν τω θεω (eis to genesthai humas heterō tō ek nekrōn egerthenti hina karpophorēsōmen tō Theō) “for to belong you to another to the one out from the dead having been raised so that we should bear fruit to God” .. this continues Paul’s example of the married woman who became a widow at the death of her husband .. she could marry again and bear fruit (children, good works) to a new husband because she was free from the legal obligation she had been under with her first husband prior to his death .. in the same way, Christians are dead to the law through the death of Christ and are raised to life to serve God and bear fruit to Him.

It’s important that we do not lose sight of the fact that Christians have a new obligation. It’s no longer to the Mosaic Law. The new obligation is to Christ our Lord and Savior. Paul addressed the importance of bearing fruit several sentences earlier:

What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Romans 6:21-22

God has prepared for each of us to bear fruit to His glory. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-9

And in his letter to the Colossians:

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. Colossians 1:3-6

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Colossians 1:9-12

And in his letter to the Galatians:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Other Commentaries

The apostle speaks of Christ as the husband of the believing Jews, because he was now become their Lord and head; and he calls him another husband, because they had been formerly, as it were, married to the Mosaic law, and relied on that alone for salvation. And the crucifixion of their old man, or corrupt nature, and their obtaining a new nature, through the death of Christ, was a fit preparation of them for being espoused to Christ. Benson Commentary

The sense, is, therefore, that by the death of Christ as an atoning sacrifice; by his suffering for us what would be sufficient to meet the demands of the Law; by his taking our place, he has released us from the Law as a way of justification; freed us from its penalty; and saved us from its curse. Thus released, we are at liberty to be united to the law of him who has thus bought us with his blood. Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The death of the believer took place when by faith that person became identified with the crucified Christ (cf. 6:3–7). 68 Christ’s death to and for sin becomes our death to sin (cf. Gal 2:19–20). The purpose of this death is that we might belong to another husband—to the one who was raised from the dead. The one in whom we died becomes the very one in whom we find our new life. Our Savior becomes our new ‘husband.’ And this, in turn, is in order that we may bear fruit to God. Robert H. Mounce (2012). New American Commentary Vol 27: Romans. B&H Publishing Group.

What an exciting truth Paul gives us in the first four verses of Romans 7! May we grasp this truth and live our lives freely and fully to bear fruit to God.

Romans Resources

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1 Verses 1-15

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1 Verses 16-17

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1:18 – 25

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1:25-32

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 2:1-29

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 3

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God”Chapter 4

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 5

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 6

Next Time

We will look at Romans 7:5-6 in the next part of our study of the Gospel of God.

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 95)