Romans 7:7-25

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:7

‘However, I had not known (egnown) sin, except through the law. For I had not known (edein) coveting, except the law had said, “You shall not covet,” ’ For it was through the Law that Paul had come to ‘know sin as a personal experience’ (egnown). The Law had taught him intellectually the essential nature of ‘coveting’ (following illicit desire) in such a way that he had come to understand it in his mind (edein), as found in Exodus 20:17, and as a consequence he had come to recognise it... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:7-13

Paul’s Initial Experience Of The ‘Slaying’ Power Of The Law (7:7-13). Having demonstrated that much of what sin does in chapter 6, the Law does in Romans 7:1-6 (see introduction to chapter 7 above), Paul now faces up to the shocking question as to whether that means that he equates the Law to sin. And, knowing what the horrified reaction of his hearers would be he immediately says, ‘Certainly not!’ For many of them saw the Law as something to be greatly revered, both because it had come from... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:7-25

Paul’s Personal Experience Of The Law, Used As An Illustration In Order That The Roman Christians Might Also Apply It To Themselves, Demonstrating Both The Holiness And The Powerlessness of The Law; The Sinfulness Of Our Flesh, Even Though Redeemed; The Transformation Of The Redeemed Mind; And The Way Of Release Through Jesus Christ Our Lord And The Law Of The Spirit Of Life In Christ Jesus (7:7-8:2). Paul now gives what we might see as a personal testimony (note the singular personal pronouns... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:8

‘For apart from the law sin is dead.’ For until the Law comes on the scene sin is able to continue its work unnoticed. It is as though it was dead. It lies there unnoticed and seemingly dormant, yet working all kinds of things within people, until suddenly it is exposed. And then they are faced with the decision as to whether they should repent and seek God’s mercy. This activity of sin of which they are unaware, is something experienced by all people, although sadly in many cases they die with... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:9

‘And I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died,’ This was what had happened to Paul, while he was still Saul. He had been striving with all his might to obey the Law, and had prided himself on how well he was doing (Galatians 1:13-14; Philippians 3:4-6), so much so that he had seen it as ‘making him alive’ (‘the man who does these things will live in them’ - Leviticus 18:5; Galatians 3:12). He had been confident that he was on the way to eternal... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:10

‘And the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death,’ And the result was that the commandment which was found in the Law, the commandment which was supposed to be giving him life, was found by him to be ‘unto death’. He had recognised that his hopes of eternal life had gone. He was under sentence of death, and had like Adam felt himself as having been thrust out of the presence of God. read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:11

‘For sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.’ And what was to blame for what had happened to him? It was sin (not the Law). Sin had taken advantage of the commandment so as to beguile him and then to slay him. It had brought home to him his sinfulness, had then encouraged him to sin even more as he had sought to deal with it, and had finally made him recognise that his disobedience could not just be put aside. It had rather brought him under sentence... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:12

‘So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.’ Thus he had recognised that ‘the Law was holy, and that the commandment was holy and just, and good’. They were from God and were instruments of God set apart for His holy purpose, and they were both righteous and good. It was not the Law that was to blame for man’s sins. The Law had simply revealed them for what they were. read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:13

‘Did then that which is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through what is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.’ Did this then mean that what was good had brought about death in him? By no means. It was not the Law which had done it, but sin. Sin, that it might be shown to be what it was, had worked death in him through what was good. What the commandment had done was to reveal the awful... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 7:14

‘For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, sold under sin.’ If we consider the passage from Romans 7:14 to Romans 8:4 we discover an interesting fact. It commences with ‘we’ and then immediately moves into ‘I, me’, and with the exception of ‘our’ in Romans 7:25 (easily explicable in a phrase which is commonly found throughout the letter). The use of ‘I, me’ then continues until Romans 8:2 with the passage finishing in Romans 8:4 with ‘us’. Thus ‘we’ and ‘us’ form an inclusio for... read more

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