Romans 7:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?

NIV: Do you not know, brothers and sisters--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?

NASB: Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

CSB: Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don't you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives?

NLT: Now, dear brothers and sisters — you who are familiar with the law — don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?

KJV: 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?

NKJV: 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?

This seems to begin a deeper explanation of what Paul wrote back in Romans 6:14, before briefly changing his focus. In verse 14 he wrote that Christians are not under the law but under grace.

Now he expands on that idea with the obvious-sounding statement that the law remains binding only as long as a person lives. He will develop this idea further in the following verses, showing that those who are in Christ have, in fact, died to the law.

First though, he insists that he is speaking to people who know the law, apparently referring to the law of Moses. The first audience for Romans was the Christians in Rome. This would have included Jews who had trusted in Christ, as well as Gentiles. Certainly, Paul's Jewish readers would have known the law of Moses, but even Gentile Christians would have been taught something about the law.

Paul's bottom line is that those who died, spiritually, are not required to keep the law they were under while alive. He will use the concept of marriage to illustrate this idea in the following verses.

Romans 7:1–6 contains Paul's teaching that those in Christ have been released from following the law of Moses. Why? Our association with Christ's death on the cross created in us a kind of spiritual death that led to a new spiritual life. Paul illustrates his point by pointing to the law of marriage. A woman whose husband has died is released from her commitment to that husband. In the same way, we are released from our obligation to the law and freed up to serve in the new way of the Spirit.

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.

Accessed 5/4/2024 1:59:10 AM