Romans 7:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Romans 7:1-6

Among other arguments used in the foregoing chapter to persuade us against sin, and to holiness, this was one (Rom. 6:14), that we are not under the law; and this argument is here further insisted upon and explained (Rom. 7:6): We are delivered from the law. What is meant by this? And how is it an argument why sin should not reign over us, and why we should walk in newness of life? 1. We are delivered from the power of the law which curses and condemns us for the sin committed by us. The... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Romans 7:1-6

7:1-6 You are bound to know, brothers--for I speak to men who know what law means--that the law has authority over a man only for the duration of his life. Thus, a married woman remains bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but, if her husband dies, she is completely discharged from the law concerning her husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man while her husband is still alive; but, if her husband dies, she is free from the law, and she... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:4

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also ,.... Here the apostle accommodates the foregoing instance and example to the case in hand, showing, that the saints were not under the law, the power and dominion of it; since that, as when a man is dead, the woman is loosed from that law by which she was bound whilst he lived, that she may lawfully marry another man, and bear children to him without the imputation of adultery; so believers being dead to the law, and the law dead to them, which is all one,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:4

Wherefore, my brethren - This is a parallel case. You were once under the law of Moses, and were bound by its injunctions; but now ye are become dead to that law - a modest, inoffensive mode of speech, for, The law, which was once your husband, is dead; God has determined that it shall be no longer in force; so that now, as a woman whose husband is dead is freed from the law of that husband, or from her conjugal vow, and may legally be married to another, so God, who gave the law under which... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:4

Verse 4 4.Through the body of Christ. Christ, by the glorious victory of the cross, first triumphed over sin; and that he might do this, it was necessary that the handwriting, by which we were held bound, should be cancelled. This handwriting was the law, which, while it continued in force, rendered us bound to serve (203) sin; and hence it is called the power of sin. It was then by cancelling this handwriting that we were delivered through the body of Christ — through his body as fixed to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:1-6

Here comes in the third illustration of the moral obligation of the baptized. It rests on the recognized principle that death cancels the claims of human law on a person (cf. Romans 6:7 ); and this with especial reference to the law of marriage, as being peculiarly applicable to the subject to be illustrated, since the Church is elsewhere regarded as married to Christ. As has been observed above, it is from the Law that Christians are now said to be emancipated in the death of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:1-6

The two unions. The apostle has spoken of freedom from the Law, and of the new reign of grace; but lest this freedom should be disputed, he here establishes it. The Mosaic Law, as such, touches only this present life; death does away with its claims. Christ, therefore, by his death, is freed from its demands; and we, by our spiritual fellowship with him, are likewise free. Free from the old union, to enter on the new. Such is the argument of these verses. I. DEAD TO THE LAW .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:1-6

The two marriages of the soul. In the preceding chapter we saw how justification leads of necessity to sanctification. Once we realize that we have died in Jesus for sin, we are spiritually prompted to enter with a risen Saviour into newness of life. We realize our consecration to God. We give up the slavery to sin, and become slaves to God; and our fruit is found unto holiness, and our end everlasting life. The apostle, moreover, has affirmed that" we are not under Law, but under grace" (... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:1-17

The position of the Law under the New Testament. The apostle is here continuing his discussion of the immoral suggestion to which he alluded in the previous chapter ( Romans 7:15 ), "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace?" I. THE RELATION OF THE LAW TO THE CHRISTIAN . 1. he Christian's union with Christ involves his freedom from the Law. 2. But this union with Christ and freedom from the Law do not imply that he is free... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 7:2-4

For (this is an instance of the application of the general principle, adduced as suiting the subject in band) the woman that hath an husband ( ὕπανδρος , implying subjection, meaning properly, that is under an husband ) is bound to her living husband; but if the husband die, she is loosed ( κατήργηται ; cf. Romans 7:6 and Galatians 5:4 . The word expresses the entire abolition of the claim of the husband's law over her) from the law of the husband. So then if,... read more

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