Beauty in the Book: Romans 7
Themes
This portion of Scripture reveals what it really means to “die to the law” and be made new in Christ Jesus. We learn what it means to embrace the deliverance we fully needed and could never begin to deserve on our own.
Questions
This chapter addresses the following questions:
Does God’s law—as revealed to Israel in the Old Testament—still hold authority over the Christian today?
Can a person bear fruit apart from the law?
If the law is “dead”, does that mean it was no good to begin with?
Why is a person still prone to sin even after they’re made new in Jesus?
Moving Forward
This writing will break down the chapter section-by-section, offering commentary for your reflection. Don’t miss the ending titled Beauty in the Book where it all gets wrapped up in a bow—highlighting how every chapter is woven with uplifting realities of God’s goodness and grace.
Romans 7:1-3
At first glance, the metaphor Paul uses here can seem almost strange… comparing the law to a deceased husband. But in an everyday example that most can wrap their minds around, Paul makes one thing perfectly clear: what was once binding, is binding no more.
It’s not that there wasn’t relevancy and purpose in the old union, it’s just that the old union is simply no more. It had it’s time, and a new bond is here.
We no longer relate to the law, for it is simply done away with. We now relate to—and wrap ourselves up in—the person of Christ. We are unified with him.
Now, you may have heard Matthew 5:18-19 before, words spoken by Jesus himself during the sermon on the mount, and wondered how they applied to this very topic:
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:18-19 NIV
In order to consider the deeper meaning of this scripture, it’s important that we look at it in context. Jesus offers this powerful statement right before unpacking what it truly means to follow God’s law. God’s righteousness runs deep, straight to the heart. In the same way, so does sin.
As an example, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus clarifies that it’s not just physically murdering someone that breaks God’s commandments, but harboring anger and malicious feelings in your heart also “qualifies” as murder in God’s eyes. (Matthew 5:21-22)
Similarly, it’s not just someone who physically commits adultery that is worthy of condemnation, but even the one who lusts after another person in their own heart—desiring fornication—who is worthy of breaking God’s command. (Matthew 5:27-28)
You see, it was never simply the outward actions that made someone worthy of hell, but the inward state of their own sinful heart. This is why Jesus says that the Pharisees—who went to great lengths to outwardly observe the law—weren’t the standard for righteousness. Rather, as he tells us in Matthew 5:20, one’s righteousness needed to exceed their approach to holiness.
This righteousness was only made possible through a New Covenant: through a transformation and regeneration of the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a full identification with the life of Jesus, offering atonement on our behalf. (Hebrews 8:7)
So then, it’s not that God’s law was bad in any way. On the contrary, as we’ll see ahead in Romans 7:12, the law is “holy, righteous, and good”. (Romans 7:12)
But God’s perfect standard of righteousness was always intended to be more than an outward display of behavior. It was meant to involve a goodness of heart. Even back in the Old Testament days! We touched on this Scripture back in the commentary on Romans 4, but it’s worth revisiting as it illustrates this concept well:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” Jeremiah 9:25-26
Here, the Lord is talking about the nation of Israel; they may have been circumcised and law-abiding in their practices, but they were still utterly sinful in heart. And that was a problem in need of a solution. They were a people in need of salvation.
The Lord longed for more for us. In Micah 6:6-8, we see the Lord describe those who were coming with their offerings, falling into the technicalities of the law code, while still neglecting love, mercy, and justice.
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God. Micah 6:6-8 NIV
Jesus had strong words for this manner of living. In Matthew 23:1-39, Jesus confronted the hypocrisy of the religious teachers. You can read it in fullness if you want, but to give you a glimpse: Jesus said they tied up big heavy loads on the people and slammed heaven’s door in people’s faces. (Ouch!) (Matthew 23:4, 13)
This is the opposite of God’s heart. Jesus longs for our repentance because he loves us. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, hoping we hear his voice, turn from our evil ways, and dwell with him. (Revelation 3:20)
On the contrary, the Pharisees and religious teachers had people before them honestly longing to live right before God, yet they delighted in slamming heaven’s doors straight in their faces.
Jesus wanted the door to God flung open wide; the Pharisees wanted it sealed shut.
I love the way Jesus describes himself as “the gate” in John 10, again, addressing the Pharisees. In this section, Jesus is relating his followers to sheep, and he is their safe entry into the “green pastures” of life:
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:9-10 NIV
Over and over again, we see Jesus pushing back against the teachers of the law—not because the law itself was bad—but because the law could never do what only Christ could do: save us completely and regenerate us from the inside-out.
So then, as we consider this metaphor found in Romans 7 of our marriage with the law being ended, we can linger in all the truths found above.
God wanted us unbound from technical law following, and re-bound to life with Christ in the Spirit. What it comes down to, is what you are giving authority to in your life.
Authority can be defined as “the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience”. Are we working in our flesh to abide by a written code, or are we yielding to the Spirit, showing us God’s way of love in each and every situation?
The Spirit is greater, and we can trust him to guide us into all truth. (John 16:12-15)
2 Corinthians 3:1-18 speaks beautifully to this concept. You may enjoy reading it fully, to embrace the life-giving nature of the Holy Spirit, and God’s power to write his law directly on our hearts. Only in Christ are we able to see the God’s law clearly. Because the Spirit sets us free to know the Lord’s glory for what it truly is, even as we are being transformed into his image.
Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.2 Corinthians 3:15-18 NIV
Romans 7:4-6
There is purpose in this new life we life apart from the law-code. New life wasn’t given so we could live fruitless lives, free to sin and destroy whatever we please…
We aren’t set free from the law to live Godlessly. No, we are set free to live “Godfully”!
We were made for fullness in Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:9-12 NIV
Jesus is powerful over sin. He is powerful over death. We are to die to our selves and identify fully with him, yielding ourselves to his rule and reign in every area of our lives. By our faith, our new selves are brought to life according to God’s work in us.
The old us is dead-and-gone. The new us is alive.
The alarming thing about this powerful new reality, is that we have a choice. When we choose Jesus, we are choosing to die to the old ways of life that define our holiness before God.
We have to break ties with our works-based systems, so that we can fully embrace the grace-empowered way of life offered to us in Jesus Christ.
Romans 7:6 says that we “die to what once bound us”, in reference to living in the way of our human capacity to resist sin as defined by the law. This way of living bound us because trying to work for a high bar of righteousness only left us labeled as failures. We were literally bound to fail. And that failure had a defined consequence: death.
Dying to what once bound us means breaking ties with that structure so that we can embrace a new structure. It’s like becoming a citizen in a new city, where the land is ruled in a new way that is entirely different from what you once new.
We pack our bags and travel into the new land of grace, and allow Christ’s kingship to shape us and guide us—knowing that we are no longer living under the strict and binding facets of our old economy.
To circle back to the idea of living fully, I want to note that this new economy we have stepped into is actually more powerful to produce the righteousness God wanted for us all along.
Do you see what it says in Romans 7:4? It says that we died to the law “in order that” we might bear fruit for God. And Romans 7:6 tells us we died to the law “so that” we can serve in the new way of the Spirit, in contrast to our old way which only bore fruit for death.
We were made to bear fruit. We were made to abide in Jesus, to hide ourselves away in his person. Not stepping out in the ugliness of our own flesh and humanity, but literally to cover ourselves in who he is. When someone says, “How righteous are you?” Our answer is “In Christ, fully!”
It is no longer our life that is of consequence, but Christ’s life. And we live so that who he is might be displayed in us. Drawing others into him.
In this way, we can be encouraged that our own shortcomings aren’t the end-game, but only magnify the grandeur of Christ, who miraculously accomplishes his purposes through the broken vessels of our human bodies.
Paul knew the reality of his own weakness deeply. Even though he was a “very spiritual” man (as we see in boasting in 2 Corinthians 12), there were still plenty of areas in which he knew he was broken and sinful. And yet, Christ’s grace was sufficient for him.
Paul could literally delight in all the areas that were broken in him, because he knew that the light of Christ shone through the cracks.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
So then, may we understand that it’s not going to be by our own power and self-sufficiency that God’s work is accomplished in our lives. It’s in our yielding to Christ that God’s power is made known and that his mercy is put on display.
When we relinquish powering our lives by our own strength, and hand the controls over the the power of the Holy Spirit, what we see is beautiful, spiritual fruit.
The one who tries to live this life according to their own strength finds themself caught up in all sorts of evil. They end up pitted against their fellow man, seeking power from evil sources, and trying to numb the pain of their failure in all sorts of destructive ways.
On the contrary, the one who has given the reigns of their life over to God finds peace, love, and joy in increasing measure. They are for their fellow man, not against them or seeing them as competition. See it in Galatians 5:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:19-26 NIV
When we belong to Jesus, when we surrender ourselves to the power of his care, we are empowered to walk in the Spirit, knowing that all the good we encounter flows from him as our life-source.
To wrap-up from Romans 7:6, may we “serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
Romans 7:7-13
I moved into a new house this year, and something interesting happened. You see, I have this crisp white bedding, which I thought I kept clean. It always looked fine to be and I washed my duvet cover every so often… whenever it seemed necessary to me.
I remember the first time I made my bed in my new home. I spread my blanket across the bed, and was instantly grossed out. You see, the lighting was much brighter in my new home, and the walls surrounding my bed were now white instead of beige. Next to all the bright white light, my bedding didn’t seem so clean after all.
Now, do I blame the light and white walls for how dirty my bedding was? Of course not, the light simply served to expose what was there all along.
This basic illustration reminds me of what Paul is discussing here in this portion of Romans: it’s not that the law was bad; the law simply served to prove how bad our sin problem was to begin with.
The law brought the depth of our depravity into the light. And in doing so, highlighted our desperate need for saving grace.
Through the law, sin was exposed as utterly sinful. In that way, it “came to life” and the sentence stamped on our backs was “worthy of death”.
Romans 7:14-25
I find this one of the most oddly comforting passages in the entire Bible. Do you know why? Because He gets it, guys. God understands the struggle.
He understands the nature of enslavement. When a person is enslaved, they are often forced to do what they don’t want to do, against their will. This introduces what feels like a paradox of the Christian life: inwardly, we are made new in Jesus, yet outwardly dwell in sinful bodies.
We make Christ our Lord—our king—and we become established as citizens of heaven. And we await our blessed King to come back and make everything, including our sinful bodies, restored and new.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21 NIV
This isn’t to say that we don’t operate with the intention to mature, and to walk in the newness for which we were saved! For that’s exactly what we were—we were saved. Saved from sin that entangles and destroys us. Saved from condemnation. We were saved to enter into this process of being renewed day-by-day, sanctified into Christ’s image.
Paul writes to the church in Ephesus with instructions for living as Christians, holding all these beautiful realities in the balance:
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24 NIV
Or said again in the book of 1 Peter, we are called to fix our sights on the grace that’s underway. We are called to step out of evil, ignorant desires, as we step into the hope-filled holiness of a sober and present mind.
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16 NIV
All of this is to say, may we fix our hope on Christ alone. We new creations in Christ, with new hearts and new minds. (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 36:26, 1 Corinthians 2:16)
And our new bodies are on deck! Our sin-free, glorious, and perfect bodies.
But while we live in this conundrum of being unable to carry out our true desires as followers of Jesus, may we rest on all he has accomplished on our behalf. We are called to press into holiness, but our slip-ups are inevitable.
It’s this reality that has us all crying out, as Paul does in verse 24, “how wretched we are!” We are entirely in need of salvation, and praise God, it has been fully provided for us in the person of Christ.
As we mature in our understanding of his perfect righteousness and holiness, we will become more like him. Being transformed into his image as our gaze remains transfixed upon his face.
Beauty in the Book
This entire chapter highlights the truth that death no longer has the final say in the lives of believers. While the law served to expose the evil within us, Jesus accomplished what we never could, dying for the evil that was revealed in us by the law, and gracing us with eternal life because of his sacrifice on our behalf.
Presently, we walk the line of old and new, as sin tries to tug on our new beings, pulling us back into its deceitfulness. But in Christ, we are given new hearts and new minds, so that we have a desire to serve God in the spirit, with regenerated hearts. In Christ, we long for true holiness.
And so, while we wrestle with sin in our bodies, we also rest in the reality of Christ’s finished work, having our hearts and minds fixed that his return is imminent, and our struggles with sin will be done away with once-and-for-all.
We stand delivered from condemnation, bound no longer by sin, but bound up in the heart of Christ, and in the love of our Heavenly Father who stopped at nothing to save us.
As you read about Paul’s struggle with sin, may you be reminded that God understands our the areas that enslave us and is—and always has been—The God of the Rescue.
May we trust him fully, with gratitude for the new hearts and minds we have received in Christ, even as we eagerly await the new bodies we will receive along with them at Christ’s return.
