Following the rhetorical “do you not know,” the seventh chapter of Romans opens with an address to those “knowing law,” which may be an allusion to the basic legal principle rather than to a specific law,1 although the Law of Moses appears to be the focus in vv. 4 ff. Paul has been tracing the Christian’s spiritual journey from a sinful past characterized by “death” (cut off from God) to a new life in Christ, illustrating the point with images of slavery and now marriage. Each situation has intrinsic obligations, and transitioning into a different status does not negate binding expectations but implements new ones.
The Marriage Analogy
Marriage is a lifelong commitment.2 The death of a spouse severs the marriage bond and frees the widowed spouse to enter another union with an eligible marriage partner. Otherwise, if a woman is joined to another man while her husband is still living, “she will be called an adulteress.” Adultery involves voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.3 But if the husband is dead, adultery is not committed in a second marriage.4 The illustration is intended to convey the same truth as the previous example of a freed slave committed to another master, from an old life to a new life.
Released from One and Joined to Another
“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code” (Rom. 7:4-6).
The “death” analogy continues from 5:12–7:3, as Paul speaks of dying to “the law” (vv. 4-6) and contrasts “life in the flesh” under the law (v. 5) with serving “in newness of spirit” (v. 6, ASV, KJV). The law itself is holy and intended for good, but fallible human distortion has made it an agent of sin (vv. 7-12). Paul and his Christian brethren had “died to the law” (vv. 4, 6), severing reliant ties so completely in Christ that there could be no return. The aorist ἐθανατώθητε (“you … died”) “is fixed by reference” to 6:3-6. “The aorist refers to the definite time at which in their baptism the old life (and with it all its legal obligations) came to an end.”5 This “death” is “through the body of Christ,” a probable allusion to his crucified and resurrected body, although perhaps inclusive of his emblematic body, the church.6
Flesh Vs. Spirit
In the first four verses of this chapter Paul contrasts himself (first person singular) with his reading audience (second person plural), but in vv. 4b-6 both are joined together with seven inclusive first person plurals. The pre-Christian experience is described as “living in the flesh.” The antithesis between “flesh” [σάρξ] and “spirit” [πνεῦμα] (7:5–8:18) has particular application to two mutually exclusive ways of living (cf. 8:4-5). Although there is a sense in which “flesh” and “spirit” can each be corrupted (2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 2:3), the term “flesh” is typically used to categorize a selfish or worldly disposition estranged from God, while “spirit” generally conveys a spiritual disposition focused on the divine will.
The problem of “sinful passions, aroused by the law” does not implicate God’s law, rather the weakness of the flesh informed and instructed by the law yet choosing to defy God anyway. People would not even know what “the passions of sins” were without the law (cf. v. 7). Paul continues from the previous chapter the terminology of “members” (cf. 6:12) and bearing “fruit for death” (cf. 6:21-22).
In contrast to “serving (as slaves)” [δουλεύειν] “the old way of the written code,” lit. the “oldness of [the] letter” [παλαιότητι γράμματος] (cf. 2 Cor. 3:6), we serve as slaves “in newness of spirit” [ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος] (cf. 8:4), which is not necessarily “the new way of the Spirit” (ESV). The πνεῦμα (“spirit”) of v. 6 is synonymous with τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον (“inner being”) of v. 22 and νοῦς (“mind” or “will”) of vv. 22-25, whereby one is able to θέλω (“determine,” “wish,” “desire”), a verb used seven times in vv. 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21. The contrast here is between the external “letter” [γράμμα] or written law-code and the internal “spirit” [πνεῦμα], fulfilling the long-anticipated new-covenant promise (cf. Jer. 31:31-34).
Conclusion
The regulative principle that was supplied by the external law-code of the Jews has been superseded by something much better. Jesus Christ and his new covenant system are now available for all people, irrespective of race, nationality, social status, or gender (cf. Gal. 3:26-27; Heb. 8:6-13).
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Whether Paul specifically has in mind Roman law (J. B. Lightfoot, Notes 300) or Jewish law (C. K. Barrett, Romans 135; J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 1:359) “is a question impossible to answer” (C. H. Dodd, Romans 100).
2 Marriage is the lawful union of a husband and wife (1 Cor. 7:2), ordained by God (Matt. 19:4-6) and consummated according to the legal system to which the couple is amenable, as long as it does not conflict with the divine will (Rom. 13:1-5; cf. Acts 5:29). But not all “marriages” are sanctioned by God, even if recognized by civil law (e.g., Mark 6:17-18; 10:11-12).
3 The noun μοιχεία (John 8:3), the verb μοιχάω (Matt. 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11-12), and the verb μοιχεύω (Matt. 5:27; 19:18; Rom. 2:22) are all related. The secondary sense, used figuratively of spiritual adultery, is applied to the relationship between God and his erring people (cf. Jer. 3:6-9; Ezek. 16:32; Hos. 3:1; 4:12; Jas. 4:4), but when used with reference to a man and a woman, it refers to illegitimate sexual intercourse (cf. Lev. 20:10; 18:20; Deut. 22:22; Prov. 6:32; Matt. 5:28; John 8:3; Heb. 13:4).
4 See K. L. Moore, “The Biblical Doctrine of Divorce and Remarriage: Part 2,” Moore Perspective (7 May 2015), <Link>, and Part 3 (14 May 2015), <Link>.
5 J. Denney, “Romans” 637-38.
6 Since this statement immediately follows the marriage analogy, it is not without significance that Paul uses a similar comparison in Eph. 5:22-33. Note also Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; Rev. 21:2-9; 22:17.
Related Posts: Free from Sin (Rom 6:15-23), The Law: Holy, Righteous, Good (Rom 7:7-14)
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