From Law to Christ (Romans 7:1-6)

“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress” (Romans 7:1-3, ESV). 

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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Free from Sin, Enslaved to Righteousness (Romans 6:15-23)

“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:15-18, ESV).

Free to Obey

The chapter began with the rhetorical question, “Are we to continue [present tense] in sin,” followed by an emphasis on freedom. Here the question is repeated but slightly altered, “Are we to sin [aorist tense],” followed by an emphasis on servitude. The subtle difference may simply be between the habitual lifestyle of sin and any violation of the “law.” 

If the intention of the law was to direct people to live righteously in line with God’s will (cf. 2:17-18; 3:1-2; 7:7, 12, 14), and if “we are not under law,” are we then left with no standard of morality so that sin is reinvigorated? Once again Paul responds, “By no means!” Freedom from sin is not freedom to sin, which would otherwise be a total misconception of freedom “under grace” apart from the law. 

Although Christians are free from the old Mosaic system as a means of justification, it is entirely untrue that there are no obligations to the divine will under grace. Obedience continues to be inextricably linked to faith as a fundamental requisite within the new-covenant system of grace. In fact, the sixth chapter of Romans appears to be a concerted effort to reaffirm the essential role of “obedience of faith” (1:5; 16:26).¹

To “present yourselves … as obedient slaves” is a willful choice of being completely devoted in service. The choice is between “sin” unto [εἰς] “death,” or “obedience” unto [εἰς] “righteousness.” Paul is thankful to God that the Romans have chosen the latter, involving the “standard” [τύπος] (cf. 5:14), “pattern” or “model,”² of “teaching” [διδαχή], the body of doctrine mutually accepted and followed by first-century churches of Christ (16:16). This is “the doctrine [διδαχή] that you have been taught …” (16:17), the pattern of instruction “to which you were committed” [παραδίδωμι], “delivered” (ASV, N/KJV), “handed over” (CSB), “entrusted” (ISV, NASB 2020, NRSV); “has now claimed your allegiance” (NIV). 

The teaching of Jesus and the apostles, especially in terms of the demands of discipleship, the ethical requirements of the faith, and the principles that must guide believers in their relations one to the other and to the world became in time so definite and fixed that one could go from one area of the church to another and find the same general pattern. The law was a fixed, definite entity with precepts and prohibitions. Grace has its norms also.”³

This obedient faith emanated from the “heart” [καρδία], the physical, mental, and spiritual core and impetus of action,⁴ and was necessary for “having been set free from sin” (cf. v. 22; 8:2) and to “have become slaves of righteousness.”

Slaves to a New Master

“I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Rom. 6:19).

Paul has been using the familiar analogy (“in human terms,” cf. 3:5; Gal. 3:15) of slavery in the Roman world⁵ to illustrate the past bondage to sin and current obligation to righteousness. Allusion to “your natural limitations” is lit. “your weakness of the flesh,” which Paul acknowledges for himself in the next chapter. While moral impediments may be suggested, it particularly conveys “the difficulties of apprehension, from defective spiritual experience, which prevent the understanding of its deeper truths.”⁶ This is not intellectual ineptness but limitations fostered by corrupt moral character (cf. 8:5-7; 1 Cor. 2:14; 3:1-3). Not only is this “weakness in the capacity to understand,” but “the proneness of self-deception and to forgetting the obligations imposed by grace.”⁷

In the past the Romans had given themselves over to “impurity” (cf. 1:24) and increasing “lawlessness” (cf. 4:7) but have now changed masters to “righteousness” (cf. 1:17) unto “sanctification.”⁸ The noun “sanctification,” used in Romans only here and in v. 22 (with its verbal form in 15:16), refers to the process of making or becoming holy, “set apart for God and separated by life and conduct from the unbelieving world …”⁹ It is cognate with the adjectival “holy” or “set apart,” as well as “holiness” and “saints” (1:7; 8:27; 12:13; 15:25, 26, 31; 16:2, 15).

While one is sanctified at the time of conversion (1:7), sanctification or holiness is to be maintained by holy living (6:1-2, 4), with complete and ultimate sanctification anticipated in the future (6:22). It is not uncommon for a distinction to be made between “sanctification” as an action or process, and “holiness” as the resulting state, but such a clear distinction between the two is less than certain. 

Wages of Sin Vs. Gift of God

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:20-23).

As former “slaves of sin,” so-called “freedom” was essentially “free in regard to righteousness,” when sin was the master rather than the righteous ways of God. Using agricultural imagery (cf. 1:13; 15:28), “fruit” (vv. 21-22) here refers to “the conduct of one’s life in the realm either of salvation or of damnation.”¹⁰ Fortunately the Roman saints are “now ashamed” (cf. 1:16) of their past sinfulness that led only to “death” (cf. 5:12–6:16), something earned and thus deserved as “wages.”¹¹ Now, having been “set free from sin” (cf. v. 18), they have submitted themselves as “slaves of God” producing a different kind of “fruit,”¹² namely “sanctification,” a new and holy way of life, “and its end, eternal life” (cf. 2:7; 5:21), which is unearned and undeserved as “the free gift of God” (cf. 5:15-16) “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Conclusion

We are accountable for our own decisions and actions, as God allows us freedom to choose. He calls us to exercise our freedom responsibly by rendering ourselves completely to his will. He offers us freedom from ourselves and from the master of sin, so we may wholeheartedly obey him. We are thus free from sin’s control and free to obey God in humble service to his righteousness.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ C. K. Barrett, Romans 131. “Against those who might object that the abandonment of the law as a code of conduct (cf. 6:14, 15; 7:1-6) leads to license, Paul argues that the gospel itself provides sufficient ethical guidance for Christians. Through the renewal of the mind that the gospel makes possible, Christians can know and do the will of God (12:2) …” (D. J. Moo, Romans 746).

     ² Acts 7:44; 1 Cor. 10:16, 11; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:7; 2 Thess. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12; Tit. 2:7; Heb. 8:5; 1 Pet. 5:3. In Gal. 6:16 Paul pronounces a blessing on those who walk according to the κανών (“rule” or “standard”), derived from a Semitic word for stalk or reed that came to be used for “measuring rod,” thus a “standard” or “rule.” The English word “canon” is derived from this word, referring to a list of titles of various works or the collection of documents themselves, in particular the biblical canon.

     ³ E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 73.

     ⁴ See Psa. 9:1; 13:5; 86:12; 111:1; 119:2, 7, 10, 34, 58, 69, 145; 138:1; Prov. 3:1; 4:23; Matt. 12:34-35; 15:18-19; 18:35; Eph. 6:6; Philem. 20; Heb. 10:22.

     ⁵ During the first century AD approx. 16-20 percent were reportedly slaves within a population of about 60 million (W. V. Harris, “Towards a Study of the Roman Slave Trade” MAAR 36:117-40); some estimates are as high as 33-40 percent (K. R. Bradley, Slavery and Society 33). See K. L. Moore, “Households and Slavery,” Moore Perspective (24 July 2019), <Link>.

     ⁶ W. Sanday and H. C. Headlam, Romans 169.

     ⁷ H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds., EDNT 1:170; R. Mohrlang, Romans 106. 

     ⁸ Cf. 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 4:3, 4, 7; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 2:15; outside of Paul only Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:2. Compare 1 Pet. 4:1-5.

     ⁹ R. C. Kelcy, Thessalonians 83.

     ¹⁰ H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds., EDNT 2:252.

     ¹¹ Cf. Luke 3:14; 1 Cor. 9:7; 2 Cor. 11:8. 

     ¹² See also Gal. 3:22-23; Eph. 5:9; Phil. 1:11; Heb. 12:11; Jas. 3:17-18.

Related Posts: Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4), United with Christ (Rom 6:5-14)

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United with Christ: Dead to Sin, Alive to God

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God” (Rom. 6:5-10, ESV).  

To be baptized “into Christ” (v. 3) is to be “united with” him (v. 5a), both in “death” (vv. 5b-8a) and in “life” (vv. 8b-10), from having been “enslaved to sin” to being “set free from sin” (vv. 6-7). The slave-free and death-life analogies continue through the rest of the chapter. In baptism, reenacting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we obey the gospel (vv. 16-17), the aim of the apostolic mission (1:1, 5, 9, 15-16; 10:15-16; 15:16-20; 16:26). 

Jesus died and arose from the dead “once for all,” tasting death for everyone and destroying the devil’s power.¹  Accordingly, Jesus Christ is “our Lord” as he is “declared to be the Son of God … by his resurrection from the dead” (1:4). We thus share in the hope of his “resurrection” (5:2, 10) as we look to the future, “we will also live with him.” At the same time, we are “alive to God in Christ Jesus” presently as we “walk in newness of life” (v. 4). “The bodily resurrection lies ahead, but there has already taken place a ‘spiritual’ resurrection (cf. Col. 2:12; Eph. 2:6) that introduces the believer into a new life …”² This is “eternal life” (vv. 22-23), not just with respect to longevity but in quality both now and in the future (cf. 2:7; 5:21).

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Rom. 6:11-13). 

“So … also” [οὕτως καί], “drawing an inference from what precedes” (BAGD 597) and serving as “the hinge of the paragraph,”³ Paul charges: “you … must consider”—present (continuous) imperative—“yourselves,” like Christ, “to be”—present (continuous)—“dead” (detached, separate), “indeed”—emphatic affirmation—“to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Note the personal responsibility and effort in the process of sanctification: “Let not …. Do not present …. but present yourselves …” 

The reality of being united with Christ is not of our own doing (v. 5) but we make it operative by willing cooperation, an intentional endeavor to conform in obedient faith to the way of life the Lord expects. For the redeemed and sanctified ones submitting to “Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 23), sin must no longer “reign” as lord and master. Paul uses imagery seemingly borrowed from the customary practice of a free person selling himself into slavery because of debt or other extreme circumstances, surrendering “his right of self-determination” and owing “full allegiance to his master.”⁴ Paul himself has chosen to be “a slave of Christ Jesus” (1:1).

The general “you” (v. 11) is more specifically described as “your mortal body” (v. 12), alluding to life in the material world, narrowed further to “your members” (v. 13), with which we engage in the affairs of the world (cf. 7:5, 23). The verb “present” (vv. 13, 16, 19) is translated from παριστάνω, which carries the sense of “giving oneself in service to,”⁵ so not necessarily “to present yourself to a master, but to dedicate yourself entirely in obedience to him.”⁶

This servitude is a deliberate choice we have control over and to which we are held accountable (cf. 12:1-2). The word “instruments” [ὅπλα] refers generally to “implements” (cf. 13:12) and more particularly to “tools” or “weapons” (cf. John 18:3; 2 Cor. 6:7; 10:4). We have the choice of willingly offering ourselves as “weapons” for “unrighteousness”⁷ or as “tools” for “righteousness” (vv. 13-20),⁸ recalling OT prophecies about beating destructive weapons of war into productive farming instruments (Isa. 2:4; Mic. 4:3), or vice versa (Joel 3:10). 

Free from Sin’s Dominion

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). The dominion of sin has been defeated. Most relevant to those of Jewish heritage and those influenced by them, “law” is reintroduced into the discussion (cf. 2:12-27; 3:19-21, 28-31; 4:13-16; 5:13, 20) because it required strict obedience and enabled sin to increase (5:20a), whereas grace offers forgiveness and provides “the will and the power to obey; hence grace breaks the mastery of sin as law could not.”⁹

While we are “not under law” (i.e., the Law of Moses), we are “under grace,” a subtle reminder that the grace of God is not a license to sin (vv. 1-2) but affords motivation and discipline to live a righteous life free from the mastery of sin.¹⁰ Through the “law” sin reinforces its grasp on those under it (5:20-21; 7:1–8:3), but sin loses its grip when divine grace replaces the old law. 

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Heb. 2:9-15; 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:10.

     ² D. J. Moo, Romans 386.

     ³ D. J. Moo, Romans 354.

     ⁴ F. S. Malan, “Bound to Do Right” 127.

     ⁵ D. J. Moo, Romans 384. 

     ⁶ F. S. Malan, “Bound to Do Right” 127.

     ⁷ See also Rom. 1:18, 29; 2:8; 3:5; 9:14

     ⁸ See also Rom. 1:17; 3:5, 21-26; 4:3-13, 22; 5:17, 21; 8:10; 9:30-31; 10:3-10; 14:17.

     ⁹ F. F. Bruce, Romans 132; cf. E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 72.

     ¹⁰ Cf. 1 Cor. 15:9-10, 56-58; Tit. 2:11-12.

Related Posts: No Law, No Transgression (Rom 4:15), Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4), Free from Son (Rom 6:15-23)

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