Romans 7:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.

NIV: I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

NASB: and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

CSB: and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me.

NLT: and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.

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

NKJV: And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

In the previous verse, Paul wrote that he died, spiritually, when he became aware of the law. This is meant in the sense of Paul's own perspective: coming to a realization that he was not righteous, or "good," but a sinner. Knowing God's command not to covet, for example, suddenly made Paul aware of how covetous he really was. Thanks to his sin nature, there were ways in which it made him desire to covet even more.

Now he writes that the commandments promised life. That is, some believed the purpose of the law was to show human beings how to live in order to be righteous before God. If we will just keep the commandments, in other words, God will give us life. True though that may be, in a literal sense, Paul writes once more that the law could not actually keep any such promise. Why? Because nobody can keep the commands of the law (Romans 3:10, 23). We all break them. Paul wrote that learning of the law proved only that he was spiritually dead and unable to do what pleased God.

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.

Accessed 5/3/2024 1:10:50 AM