Romans 7:5-7

7:5 For when we were in the flesh, ¹  the sinful desires, ²  aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body ³  to bear fruit for death. 7:6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died ⁴  to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. ⁵ 

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ⁶  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ⁷  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ⁸ 

[7:5]  ¹ tn That is, before we were in Christ.

[7:5]  ² tn Or “sinful passions.”

[7:5]  ³ tn Grk “our members”; the words “of our body” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[7:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “having died.” The participle ἀποθανόντες (apoqanonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[7:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

[7:7]  ⁶ sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).

[7:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.