Romans 7:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

NIV: Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

NASB: I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died;

CSB: Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again

NLT: At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life,

KJV: For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

NKJV: I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

Paul describes himself as someone who once lived with no awareness of the law. In that state, he was "alive." He doesn't suggest by this that he was without sin. He seems to be speaking about his own awareness—his perspective. He was alive, in some sense, spiritually. At least, he had no awareness of his spiritual disconnection from God. This is a matter of perception—Paul saw himself in one way, only to find his perspective was wrong.

A few scholars suggest that Paul is describing mankind in general here, perhaps referring to the time before God gave the law to Moses and Israel. Most, however, disagree. When Paul, and people in general, learned about God's law, they died spiritually. That is, it was the law that made Paul aware of his own sinfulness and separation from God. The law showed Paul that he was a sinner and not a righteous person. This is not unlike a person who enters a doctor's office thinking they are "alive," but leaves with a diagnosis that death is imminent—all that really changed was their perspective.

This is why Paul insists that, in spite of the law being a good gift from God, it is not how God intends for us to become righteous people. The law is how God intends for us to learn that we are sinful people.

Romans 7:7–25 explores the relationship between the law of Moses and human sin. Paul insists that the law is how he came to know and understand sin, in general, and his own sin specifically. He also explains how knowing the law does not make a person holier; it can actually tempt us to sin even more! Paul changes his perspective in this passage, speaking in a first-person-here-and-now manner, as a Christian, wanting to do what is right and finding himself doing what is sinful instead. Paul recognized his natural inability to do right and realized his need to be delivered from sin by God through Jesus.

In Romans 7, Paul describes the relationship between Christians and law of Moses and between the law and human sinfulness. Because we died spiritually when we came to faith in Christ, Christians have been freed from our obligation to follow the law. Paul insists, though, that the law is holy and good in the sense that it reveals to all who try to follow it just how very sinful we are. The law shows us that no matter how good our intentions, we still end up in sin and in need of the deliverance available only through faith in Jesus.

Romans 6 revealed that those in Christ have died to sin and are no longer slaves to it. Romans 7 begins by showing that, in Christ, we have also died to our obligation to follow the law of Moses. Paul makes clear, though, that the law is holy and good because it reveals to us just how sinful we are. Paul describes how his failed attempts to follow the law convinced him more fully of his need to be delivered from his sinfulness by God through faith in Christ. Romans 8 will explore many of the benefits of being in Christ.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.