Romans 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?

Paul is still showing us that righteousness and justification are not something we earn by doing works, and here he shows us that laws are only applicable to us while we are alive. To help us make sense of this he uses a married couple as an illustration.

Romans 7:2,3
For the woman which hath an 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.

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.

That's pretty self explanatory, so I'll just move on.

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.

Dead people are simply not responsible for any crimes they committed while they were alive. You just cannot prosecute anyone who is dead for anything, and it makes no difference how evil they were. Once you are dead you have been freed from sin as we learned in chapter 6. Those of us who have been raised from death by the new birth are no longer responsible for anything we ever did before we were born again.

Romams 7:5,6
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.

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.

In the flesh simply refers to what we were before we believed and received the rightousness of God. I remember what I used to be very clearly. So did Paul, and he now goes on to explain how we have been delivered from the law in a little more depth.

Romans 7:7,8
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

In simple language, if there are no laws you can't break them so you can't be guilty of anything. However, always bear in mind that even in the days before law there were still consequences for your actions. How you behaved yourself was important. If you attacked a child in a community they would have beaten you to death, because that's how it was in the Old Testament before there was law.

Judges 21:24,25
And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The scriptures were what was right in their eyes. Israel then had no councils, no government, no state schools, no bureaucrats, no police, no legal system, no banks, no taxes, and no synagogues. You could stone paedophiles to death and there was no one to stop you. Sounds like paradise to me! What governments and police do is protect criminals by stopping you from doing what is right in your own eyes. Anyway, back to Romans.

Romans 7:9,10
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

Laws today are not there for our protection, they only protect criminals and remove our right to self defence. Laws that were intended for our benefit now destroy us. God loves children and told us to execute homos and human traffickers to protect them, but laws today protect homos and human traffickers while our children are kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. The law was supposed to protect us, but now it kills us. Nothing has changed since Paul wrote this two thousand years ago.

Romams 7:11,12
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

There is nothing evil about law in and of itself. However, laws that are intended for good can also be used for evil. I like to think of this in terms of walls. Back in those days the people lived in walled towns and cities. Walls protected them from invaders and wild animals. Walls were built to protect people and keep them safe. However, depending on who was in charge, walls could easily be turned into prisons. Whether a wall protects us or imprisons us is dependent on who has the authority over the people. Same with law. God instituted laws to protect us. These days however, criminals run our governments, our police, and our courts, and they have changed our laws for their own benefit. Laws were intended for good, but they have become death. That's not God's fault, because the commandment is holy, just and good.

Romans 7:13
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

It is evil men who turn protective walls into prisons, and it is evil men who turn protective laws into death. Thousands of years ago God gave us good laws so we could protect children. However, if we tell God to ram his bible up his arse, then the evils of homosexuality, transgenderism, sex trafficking and grown adults raping children become commonplace. Good laws are changed by evil men so they can get away with it. If we would just do what God says, we wouldn't have the problems.

Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Exodus 21:16
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

See, these laws were put in place to protect children. Evil men in government change these laws and the law then becomes death to us. Look around you, see what's going on. If we truly cared about children we would do what God says and execute homos, human traffickers, and any other vermin who would kidnap, rape, torture and murder kids.

Romans 7:14
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Now listen, some of the people going to the home churches in Paul's day had engaged in such evil practices. They had been born again, had received the gift of holy spirit, and they had been forgiven. This isn't about what we used to be, it's about what we are now and where we want to be tomorrow. I don't care if you were a homosexual, or even someone who kidnapped children and murdered them. If you are born again you are forgiven and you have eternal life, but your past is something you are going to have to deal with. That's what Paul is now addressing, and he knew what he was talking about. Before he was born again, Paul kidnapped men and women, put them in prison, tortured them and put some of them to death. He was forgiven and he changed, but he had to deal with his past and put it behind him just as we all do.

Romams 7:15-17
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Even after we are born again and have the righteousness of God we are still going to make mistakes and do evil on occasion. Hey, Jesus Christ not only took care of our past, he has also taken care of every sin we haven't done yet. It is impossible to lose our righteousness because it is impossible to lose the gift of holy spirit. Once you are born again, it's permanent, you have eternal life, and there's nothing you can do about it. Sin all you like, you can't lose your righteousness because someone else paid for it and you receive it as a gift when you believe. However, that's not a particularly loving or thankful response for what Christ went through for you, is it?

Romans 7:18
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

This righteousness we have is not in our body and souls, it's not in our flesh, it comes with the gift of holy spirit. You can sure mess up your life in the flesh, but there is nothing you can do to mess up that gift of holy spirit. It is impossible to lose your righteousness once you are born again and have the gift of holy spirit.

Romans 7:19
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

After we are born again we are still going to mess up. When I got born again I was a drunken bum, and it took me 3 or 4 years to beat my drink problem. I wanted to, but on bad days I would still run out and get drunk. I tell you, I was in a fight for my life. I've not been drunk now for over 30 years, but back then when I first got into the word and started learning about spiritual matters it was a huge problem because sin still lived in me. I delighted in the law of God after the inward man, but there was a war going on inside me as I put off the old man I once was and changed into the man I so wanted to be.

Romans 7:20-24
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

This is an amazing cry from Paul's heart. Our old man, who we were before we were born again, fights us as we try to put him off. Changing from who we were to being spiritual men and women is a war that rages inside us. The devil doesn't give up territory without a fight. Paul likened his old man to a stinky dead body he couldn't shake off. This is actually a reference to a method of execution they had back then. They would literally stitch a dead stinking body to you and leave you until you died. This is the figure of speech Paul used to describe what it felt like for him putting off what he was before he was born again and changing into the man he also wanted to be. He screamed for someone to help him! Thankfully someone did and he tells us who it was in the next verse.

Romans 7:25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Jesus Christ delivered us from these bodies of death. While we live here on earth, we wait for our new bodies and deal with life as best we can in these bodies we were born with which just seem to love to serve the law of sin. That's why we have to fight to change our ways. It isn't automatic, it isn't magic, it's hard fucking work. The gift of holy spirit is free to us, but what we do with it after that is entirely up to us.

When we come to the word and are born again and receive the righteousness of God, nothing changes in our minds or bodies. We are still the same people we were before we were born again. We still have all our old evil ways and habits embedded into our flesh, our beings. Some things are easy to get over, some things are not. It took me years to beat the drink. If you're a homo and you get born again, it's going to take some time for your emotions and passions to change from being a criminally insane pervert who prefers a filthy man's arse to a beautiful woman, but change you will if you want to do something worthwhile with your life.