King James Version
Romans 7
25 verses with commentary
Released from the Law
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?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,)</strong>—Paul addresses those familiar with <em>nomos</em> (νόμος, "law"), likely Jewish converts who understood Torah principles. The Greek verb <em>ginōskō</em> (γινώσκω, "know") implies experiential knowledge, not mere intellectual awareness. Paul assumes his audience grasps legal binding principles.<br><br><strong>How that...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
VII.
(1-6) The Apostle takes up an idea to which he had alluded in Romans 7:14-15 of the preceding chapter, “Ye are not under the Law, but under grace;” and as he had worked out the conclusion of the death of the Christian to sin, so now he works out that of his death to the Law. This he does by an illustration borrowed from the marriage-bond. That bond is dissolved by the death of one of the part...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law</strong>—The verb <em>deō</em> (δέω, "bind") describes legal obligation, used throughout Scripture for binding oaths and covenants. Paul illustrates v. 1's principle with marriage law, universally understood across cultures. <strong>So long as he liveth</strong> establishes the temporal limitation of legal jurisdiction.<br><br><strong...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **For the woman which hath an husband.**—The illustration is not quite exact. The Law is here represented by the husband, but the Apostle does not mean to say that the Law dies to the Christian, but the Christian to the Law. The proposition must therefore be understood to be stated in a somewhat abstract form. Relations of the kind indicated are terminated *by death* (not necessarily the death...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 2 Ro 2:1-29. The Jew under Like Condemnation with the Gentile.
From those without, the apostle now turns to those within the pale of revealed religion, the self-righteous Jews, who looked down upon the uncovenanted heathen as beyond the pale of God's mercies, within which they deemed themselves secure, however inconsistent their life may be. Alas! what multitudes wrap themselves up in li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress</strong>—The future passive <em>chrēmatizō</em> (χρηματίζω) means "she will be publicly labeled/divinely warned." Adultery (<em>moichalis</em>, μοιχαλίς) violates covenant fidelity, a repeated Old Testament metaphor for Israel's idolatry. Two simultaneous covenantal allegiances constitute...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. treasurest up unto thyself wrath against--**rather "in."
**the day of wrath--**that is wrath to come on thee in the day of wrath. What an awful idea is here expressed--that the sinner himself is amassing, like hoarded treasure, an ever accumulating stock of divine wrath, to burst upon him in "the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God!" And this is said not of the reckless, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ</strong>—<em>Ethanatōthēte</em> (ἐθανατώθητε, "were put to death") is aorist passive, indicating a completed action done to believers. Through union with Christ's crucified body (<em>dia tou sōmatos tou Christou</em>), believers died to law's jurisdiction. This isn't gradual sanctification but positional ident...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Are become dead.**—*Were rendered dead*—somewhat stronger than simply “ye died.”
**By the body of Christ**—*i.e.,* by the death of the human body of Christ upon the cross. The Christian, as the last chapter has shown, is so united to Christ that whatever has happened to his Master has happened also to him. Christ was put to death upon the cross; *he* therefore has also been put to death with...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. motions: Gr. passions
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For when we were in the flesh</strong>—<em>En tē sarki</em> (ἐν τῇ σαρκί) doesn't mean physical embodiment but the unregenerate state dominated by sin nature. Paul uses <em>sarx</em> (σάρξ, "flesh") to denote humanity's fallen condition apart from the Spirit's regenerating work (Romans 8:5-9). This refers to pre-conversion existence.<br><br><strong>The motions of sins, which were by the la...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) The new alliance ought not to be unproductive, for the old alliance was not unproductive. Before that mortification of the flesh which proceeds from our relation to the death of Christ, we bore a fruit generated through our carnal appetites by the Law, and the only being to whose honour and glory they contributed was Death.
The sins committed under the old dispensation are regarded as due to a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-10. To them who, &c.--**The substance of these verses is that the final judgment will turn upon character alone.
**by patient continuance in well-doing, &c.--**Compare Lu 8:15: "That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience"; denoting the enduring and progressive character of the new life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. that being: or, being dead to that
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But now we are delivered from the law</strong>—<em>Katērgēthēmen</em> (κατηργήθημεν, "released/discharged") is the same verb as "loosed" in v. 2. Believers are freed from law's condemning jurisdiction through death. <strong>That being dead wherein we were held</strong>—Interpretations differ whether "that being dead" refers to the law dying or believers dying to law; context favors believe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **That being dead.**—Our translators seem to have had a false reading here, which is not found in any MS., but arose from an error of Beza and Erasmus in interpreting a comment of Chrysostom’s. The true reading runs thus: “But as it is we were” (not “are”) “delivered from the Law, having died to that wherein we were held.” In the act of our baptism, which united us to Christ, we obtained a rel...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-10. To them who, &c.--**The substance of these verses is that the final judgment will turn upon character alone.
**by patient continuance in well-doing, &c.--**Compare Lu 8:15: "That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience"; denoting the enduring and progressive character of the new life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God.(1-6)
The use and excellence of the law.(7-13)
The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer.(14-25)
**Verses 1-6**
So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some fo...
Read full commentary →The Law and Sin
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid . Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. lust: or, concupiscence
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.</strong>—<em>Mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο, "may it never be!") is Paul's strongest negation. Having shown law's inability to sanctify, he defends law's essential goodness. The law isn't sinful; it's holy (v. 12). The problem lies in humanity's sinfulness, not law's nature.<br><br><strong>Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **What shall we say then**?—The Apostle had spoken in a manner disparaging to the Law, and which might well give offence to some of his readers. It was necessary to correct this. And so now he proceeds to lay down more precisely in what it was that the Law was defective, and what was its true function and relation to the history and struggles of humanity.
In what follows the Apostle speaks thr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-10. To them who, &c.--**The substance of these verses is that the final judgment will turn upon character alone.
**by patient continuance in well-doing, &c.--**Compare Lu 8:15: "That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience"; denoting the enduring and progressive character of the new life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But sin, taking occasion by the commandment</strong>—<em>Aphormē</em> (ἀφορμή, "occasion/opportunity") is a military term for a base of operations. Sin used the commandment as a launching point for assault. <strong>Wrought in me all manner of concupiscence</strong>—<em>Kateirgasato</em> (κατειργάσατο, "produced/accomplished") shows sin's active work. <em>Pasan epithymian</em> (πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Taking occasion.**—The word in the Greek implies originally a military metaphor: taking as a “base of operations,” *i.e.,* an advanced post occupied as the starting-point and rendezvous for further advances. Sin is unable to. act upon man without the co-operation of law, without being able to hold up law before him, and so show itself in its true colours.
The words “by the commandment” may e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-10. To them who, &c.--**The substance of these verses is that the final judgment will turn upon character alone.
**by patient continuance in well-doing, &c.--**Compare Lu 8:15: "That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience"; denoting the enduring and progressive character of the new life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I was alive without the law once</strong>—<em>Ezōn</em> (ἔζων, "I was living") likely refers to Paul's pre-Bar Mitzvah childhood before taking personal responsibility for Torah observance, or more broadly to humanity's pre-Sinai existence. The sense of being "alive" was illusory self-righteousness, unaware of sin's death-sentence.<br><br><strong>But when the commandment came, sin reviv...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **I was alive**.—The state of unconscious morality, uninstructed but as yet uncondemned, may, compared with that state of condemnation, be regarded as a state of “life.”
**Revived.**—The English version well represents the meaning of the original, which is not that sin “came to life,” but that it “came to life *again.”* Sin is lurking in the heart from the first, but it is dormant until the Co...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.</strong>—<em>Hē entolē hē eis zōēn</em> (ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωήν, "the commandment unto life") references Leviticus 18:5: "which if a man do, he shall live in them." The law promised life on condition of perfect obedience. <em>Heurethē moi</em> (εὑρέθη μοι, "was found by me") indicates experiential discovery, not theore...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Which was ordained to.**—“The very commandment which was for life I found to be for death” (Ellicott). The Law was instituted in order that it might give life to those who were under it and who kept it. They did not keep it, and therefore it brought them not life but death.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. For as many as have sinned--**not "as many as have sinned at all," but, "as many as are found in sin" at the judgment of the great day (as the whole context shows).
**without law--**that is, without the advantage of a positive Revelation.
**shall also perish without law--**exempt from the charge of rejecting or disregarding it.
**and as many as have sinned in the law--**within the pale...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.</strong>—<em>Exēpatēsen</em> (ἐξηπάτησεν, "deceived/beguiled") deliberately echoes Genesis 3:13 (LXX), where Eve says "the serpent deceived me." Paul traces his experience to Eden's pattern: prohibition aroused desire, sin deceived through the commandment, and death resulted. <em>Apekteinen</em> (ἀπέκτεινεν, "kill...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11-13) The cause of this miscarriage lay not with the Law but with Sin. Sin played the tempter, and then made use of the Commandment to condemn and destroy its victims. All this time the Law (*i.e.,* the whole body of precepts) and the Commandment (*i.e.,* the particular precepts included in the Law) remained perfectly good in themselves. They could not be otherwise, having come from the hand of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. For not the hearers, &c.--**As touching the Jews, in whose ears the written law is continually resounding, the condemnation of as many of them as are found sinners at the last involves no difficulty; but even as respects the heathen, who are strangers to the law in its positive and written form--since they show how deeply it is engraven on their moral nature, which witnesses within th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.</strong>—Paul emphatically vindicates law's character after showing its inability to sanctify. <em>Hagios</em> (ἅγιος, "holy") means set apart, reflecting God's nature. <em>Dikaios</em> (δίκαιος, "just/righteous") indicates law's equity and conformity to God's righteousness. <em>Agathos</em> (ἀγαθός, "good") describes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Wherefore.**—This word introduces a conclusion, not from the verse immediately preceding, but from the whole of the last five verses. The Apostle glances back for a moment over the course of his argument.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. For not the hearers, &c.--**As touching the Jews, in whose ears the written law is continually resounding, the condemnation of as many of them as are found sinners at the last involves no difficulty; but even as respects the heathen, who are strangers to the law in its positive and written form--since they show how deeply it is engraven on their moral nature, which witnesses within th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid . But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid.</strong>—Paul anticipates objection: if law is good (v. 12) but produces death (v. 10), isn't good itself deadly? <em>Mē genoito</em> (μὴ γένοιτο)—his strongest negation—emphatically denies this. Law remains good; sin bears sole responsibility for death.<br><br><strong>But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Was then that which is good . . .?**—Was it possible that the Law, holy and good as it was, could simply lead miserable men to death and ruin? No, it was not possible. It was not the Law that did this but Sin—acting, it is true, through the instrumentality of the Law. All this, however, only had for its end to show up Sin for the monster that it really is.
**Sin, that it might appear sin.**...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. For not the hearers, &c.--**As touching the Jews, in whose ears the written law is continually resounding, the condemnation of as many of them as are found sinners at the last involves no difficulty; but even as respects the heathen, who are strangers to the law in its positive and written form--since they show how deeply it is engraven on their moral nature, which witnesses within th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-13**
There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more n...
Read full commentary →The Struggle with Sin
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For we know that the law is spiritual</strong>—<em>Pneumatikos</em> (πνευματικός, "spiritual") means proceeding from the Holy Spirit, demanding heart-level obedience beyond external compliance. Law requires love, not mere behavioral conformity (Matthew 22:37-40). <strong>But I am carnal, sold under sin</strong>—<em>Sarkinos</em> (σάρκινος, "fleshly/carnal") describes the believer's remaini...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14-25) Further and detailed proof why it was that though the Law appealed to all that was best in man, still he could not obey it.
(14) **For we know.**—There is no need to argue the question. We Christians all *know* that the Law is spiritual. It is divinely given and inspired. On the other hand, man, though capable of communion with God, is dominated by that part of his nature which is the dire...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. In the day, &c.--**Here the unfinished statement of Ro 2:12 is resumed and closed.
**shall judge the secrets of men--**here specially referring to the unfathomed depths of hypocrisy in the self-righteous whom the apostle had to deal with. (See Ec 12:14; 1Co 4:5).
**according to my gospel--**to my teaching as a preacher of the Gospel.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17**
Compared with the holy rule of conduct in the law of God, the apostle found himself so very far short of perfection, that he seemed to be carnal; like a man who is sold against his will to a hated master, from whom he cannot set himself at liberty. A real Christian unwillingly serves this hated master, yet cannot shake off the galling chain, till his powerful and gracious Frie...
Read full commentary →For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. allow: Gr. know
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For that which I do I allow not</strong>—<em>Ou ginōskō</em> (οὐ γινώσκω, "I do not know/understand/approve") expresses moral confusion and self-frustration. The regenerate will desires God's law but experiences contradiction between intent and performance. <strong>For what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.</strong>—<em>Thelō</em> (θέλω, "I will/desire") versus <em>misō</...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **That which** **I do I** **allow not.**—Rather, *that which I perform I know not.* I act blindly, and without any conscious direction of the will; that higher part of me which should preside over and direct my actions, is kept down by the lower physical nature.
**Which I do.**—St. Paul uses three words for “to do” in this passage, the distinction between which is hard to represent in English...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17**
Compared with the holy rule of conduct in the law of God, the apostle found himself so very far short of perfection, that he seemed to be carnal; like a man who is sold against his will to a hated master, from whom he cannot set himself at liberty. A real Christian unwillingly serves this hated master, yet cannot shake off the galling chain, till his powerful and gracious Frie...
Read full commentary →If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.</strong>—<em>Symphēmi</em> (σύμφημι, "agree with/consent to") means to acknowledge jointly. The very fact that Paul does what he hates proves he agrees with law's goodness—his will aligns with law even when his performance falls short. This is crucial evidence for the regenerate interpretation: the unregenerate do...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) But the fact that I desire to do what is right is itself a witness to the excellence of the Law, which commands that which I desire.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17**
Compared with the holy rule of conduct in the law of God, the apostle found himself so very far short of perfection, that he seemed to be carnal; like a man who is sold against his will to a hated master, from whom he cannot set himself at liberty. A real Christian unwillingly serves this hated master, yet cannot shake off the galling chain, till his powerful and gracious Frie...
Read full commentary →Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.</strong>—<em>Ouketi egō katergazomai auto</em> (οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτό, "no longer I that work it") doesn't absolve responsibility but distinguishes the regenerate self (new identity in Christ) from indwelling sin (remaining corruption). <em>Oikousa</em> (οἰκοῦσα, "dwelling") present participle indicates ongoing reside...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) This, then, appears to be the true explanation of the difficulty. There is really a dualism in the soul. I am not to be identified with that lower self which is enthralled by sin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-17**
Compared with the holy rule of conduct in the law of God, the apostle found himself so very far short of perfection, that he seemed to be carnal; like a man who is sold against his will to a hated master, from whom he cannot set himself at liberty. A real Christian unwillingly serves this hated master, yet cannot shake off the galling chain, till his powerful and gracious Frie...
Read full commentary →For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing</strong>—<em>Ouk oikei</em> (οὐκ οἰκεῖ, "does not dwell") indicates permanent absence. <em>En emoi, tout' estin en tē sarki mou</em> (ἐν ἐμοί, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου)—Paul's parenthetical clarification is vital: "in me, that is, in my flesh." He doesn't say nothing good dwells in him absolutely, but qualifies: nothin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18-20) Enthralled it is, and the will is powerless. What I do and what I will are opposite things. It is therefore sin that acts, and not I.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-22**
The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he o...
Read full commentary →For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.</strong>—This verse reinforces v. 15's chiastic structure, emphasizing the painful contradiction between regenerate desire and imperfect performance. <em>Agathon</em> (ἀγαθόν, "good") contrasts with <em>kakon</em> (κακόν, "evil")—moral opposites that mark the battlefield of Christian experience.<br><br>The repet...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-22**
The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he o...
Read full commentary →Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.</strong>—Paul repeats v. 17's crucial distinction, bracketing vv. 18-19's elaboration. The repetition underscores the fundamental point: regenerate identity ("I") versus remaining corruption ("sin dwelling in me"). <em>Ouketi egō</em> (οὐκέτι ἐγώ, "no longer I") doesn't eliminate responsibility but disti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-22**
The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he o...
Read full commentary →I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.</strong>—<em>Heuriskō ara ton nomon</em> (εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον, "I find therefore the principle/law") uses <em>nomos</em> (νόμος) not of Mosaic law but as "principle" or "fixed pattern"—the predictable reality of sanctification's warfare. <em>Parakeitai moi</em> (παράκειταί μοι, "is present with/beside me") depicts ev...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **I find then a law.**—Of the many ways of taking this difficult verse, two seem to stand out as most plausible or possible. In any case “*a* law” should be rather “*the* law.” This is taken by the majority of commentators, including Bishop Ellicott, in the sense of “rule,” “habitually-repeated fact.” “I find this law, or this rule, that when I would do good evil is present with me.” Such is ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-22**
The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he o...
Read full commentary →For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I delight in the law of God after the inward man</strong>—<em>Synēdomai gar tō nomō tou theou</em> (συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, "I rejoice together with the law of God") uses a compound verb indicating deep pleasure and agreement. <em>Kata ton esō anthrōpon</em> (κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, "according to the inner man") describes the regenerate self—the new creation in Christ.<br><br>Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **I delight**.—“I delight in (and with) the Law of God.” I sympathise with and approve of it after the inward man, *i.e.,* in the higher part of my being. “The inward man” corresponds nearly, though not quite, to the “law of my mind,” in the next verse. It stands rather midway between it and the spirit. The mind is the moral and rational faculties considered as moral and rational. “The inward...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17-24. Behold--**"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 18-22**
The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he o...
Read full commentary →But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I see another law in my members</strong>—<em>Blepō de heteron nomon en tois melesin mou</em> (βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου, "but I see a different law/principle in my members") introduces the counter-force to v. 22's inward delight. <em>Mele</em> (μέλη, "members") refers to bodily faculties as instruments of remaining sin. This "law" is sin's patterns operating through the...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Another law.**—A different law. “In my members,” *i.e.,* that has its chief seat of activity in my members. This is the law of sin, which is ready to take advantage of every fleshly impulse.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. For circumcision--**that is, One's being within the covenant of which circumcision was the outward sign and seal.
**verily profiteth, if thou keep the law--**if the inward reality correspond to the outward sign.
**but if, &c.--**that is, "Otherwise, thou art no better than the uncircumcised heathen."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-25**
This passage does not represent the apostle as one that walked after the flesh, but as one that had it greatly at heart, not to walk so. And if there are those who abuse this passage, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction, yet serious Christians find cause to bless God for having thus provided for their support and comfort. We are not, because of the a...
Read full commentary →O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? the body: or, this body of death
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O wretched man that I am!</strong>—<em>Talaipōros egō anthrōpos</em> (ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος, "wretched I [am], the man") expresses profound anguish over the warfare described in vv. 15-23. This isn't self-loathing (which denies gospel-identity) but righteous frustration over remaining corruption's persistence. Paul hates sin's presence, not his person—the anguish of wanting holiness whil...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) So this intestine struggle goes on unceasingly and reaches no decision, till at last the unhappy man cries out, almost in despair, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Who, that is, will help me to overcome these fleshly desires, gendered by a corrupt human nature, which are dragging me down to imminent destruction? The body is the cause of sin, and therefore of death. If only ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. For circumcision--**that is, One's being within the covenant of which circumcision was the outward sign and seal.
**verily profiteth, if thou keep the law--**if the inward reality correspond to the outward sign.
**but if, &c.--**that is, "Otherwise, thou art no better than the uncircumcised heathen."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-25**
This passage does not represent the apostle as one that walked after the flesh, but as one that had it greatly at heart, not to walk so. And if there are those who abuse this passage, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction, yet serious Christians find cause to bless God for having thus provided for their support and comfort. We are not, because of the a...
Read full commentary →I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.</strong>—<em>Charis de tō theō dia Iēsou Christou tou kyriou hēmōn</em> (χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, "but thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord") answers v. 24's question. <em>Charis</em> (χάρις) means both "thanks" and "grace"—appropriate double meaning. Deliverance comes through Christ alone, prompting thanksgiving. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) It *has* been released. It is Jesus our Lord to whom the thanks and praise are due. Though without His intervention there can only be a divided service. The mere human self serves with the mind the law of God, with the flesh the law of sin.
**I myself.**—Apart from and in opposition to the help which I derive from Christ.
The abrupt and pregnant style by which, instead of answering the questi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. For circumcision--**that is, One's being within the covenant of which circumcision was the outward sign and seal.
**verily profiteth, if thou keep the law--**if the inward reality correspond to the outward sign.
**but if, &c.--**that is, "Otherwise, thou art no better than the uncircumcised heathen."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-25**
This passage does not represent the apostle as one that walked after the flesh, but as one that had it greatly at heart, not to walk so. And if there are those who abuse this passage, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction, yet serious Christians find cause to bless God for having thus provided for their support and comfort. We are not, because of the a...
Read full commentary →