Romans 7:1--8:39

The Believer’s Relationship to the Law

7:1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters ¹  (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person ²  as long as he lives? 7:2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her ³  husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ⁴  7:3 So then, ⁵  if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her ⁶  husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 7:4 So, my brothers and sisters, ⁷  you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. ⁸  7:5 For when we were in the flesh, ⁹  the sinful desires, ¹⁰  aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body ¹¹  to bear fruit for death. 7:6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died ¹²  to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. ¹³ 

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ¹⁶  7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. ¹⁷  For apart from the law, sin is dead. 7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 7:10 and I died. So ¹⁸  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! ¹⁹  7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. ²⁰  7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual – but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. ²¹  7:15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate. ²²  7:16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. ²³  7:17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 7:18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. ²⁴  7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

7:21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 7:23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 7:25 Thanks be ²⁵  to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, ²⁶  I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but ²⁷  with my flesh I serve ²⁸  the law of sin.

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²⁹  8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ³⁰  in Christ Jesus has set you ³¹  free from the law of sin and death. 8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because ³²  it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

8:5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by ³³  the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. 8:6 For the outlook ³⁴  of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, 8:7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. 8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 8:9 You, however, are not in ³⁵  the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but ³⁶  the Spirit is your life ³⁷  because of righteousness. 8:11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one ³⁸  who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ ³⁹  from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you. ⁴⁰ 

8:12 So then, ⁴¹  brothers and sisters, ⁴²  we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 8:13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will ⁴³  die), ⁴⁴  but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are ⁴⁵  the sons of God. 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, ⁴⁶  but you received the Spirit of adoption, ⁴⁷  by whom ⁴⁸  we cry, “Abba, Father.” 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness to ⁴⁹  our spirit that we are God’s children. 8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ⁵⁰  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

8:18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared ⁵¹  to the glory that will be revealed to us. 8:19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God ⁵²  who subjected it – in hope 8:21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, ⁵³  groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, ⁵⁴  the redemption of our bodies. ⁵⁵  8:24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. ⁵⁶ 

8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, ⁵⁷  but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 8:27 And he ⁵⁸  who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit ⁵⁹  intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. 8:28 And we know that all things work together ⁶⁰  for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ⁶¹  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ⁶²  8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 8:32 Indeed, he who ⁶³  did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? ⁶⁴  It is God who justifies. 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ ⁶⁵  is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ⁶⁶  8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ⁶⁷  8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory ⁶⁸  through him ⁶⁹  who loved us! 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ⁷⁰  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[7:1]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[7:1]  ² sn Here person refers to a human being.

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “husband.”

[7:3]  ⁵ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[7:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[7:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “that we might bear fruit to God.”

[7:5]  ⁹ tn That is, before we were in Christ.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “sinful passions.”

[7:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “our members”; the words “of our body” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[7:6]  ¹² tn Grk “having died.” The participle ἀποθανόντες (apoqanonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[7:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

[7:7]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “covetousness.”

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate the result of the statement in the previous verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[7:10]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and there was found in/for me the commandment which was for life – this was for death.”

[7:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “and through it killed me.”

[7:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “under sin.”

[7:15]  ²² tn Grk “but what I hate, this I do.”

[7:16]  ²³ tn Grk “I agree with the law that it is good.”

[7:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “For to wish is present in/with me, but not to do it.”

[7:25]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Most mss (א* A 1739 1881 Ï sy) read “I give thanks to God” rather than “Now thanks be to God” (א¹ [B] Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), the reading of NA²⁷. The reading with the verb (εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ, eucaristw tw qew) possibly arose from a transcriptional error in which several letters were doubled (TCGNT 455). The conjunction δέ (de, “now”) is included in some mss as well (א¹ Ψ 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), but it should probably not be considered original. The ms support for the omission of δέ is both excellent and widespread (א* A B D 1739 1881 Ï lat sy), and its addition can be explained as an insertion to smooth out the transition between v. 24 and 25.

[7:25]  ²⁶ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[7:25]  ²⁷ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[7:25]  ²⁸ tn The words “I serve” have been repeated here for clarity.

[8:1]  ²⁹ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[8:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ³¹ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[8:3]  ³² tn Grk “in that.”

[8:5]  ³³ tn Grk “think on” or “are intent on” (twice in this verse). What is in view here is not primarily preoccupation, however, but worldview. Translations like “set their mind on” could be misunderstood by the typical English reader to refer exclusively to preoccupation.

[8:6]  ³⁴ tn Or “mindset,” “way of thinking” (twice in this verse and once in v. 7). The Greek term φρόνημα does not refer to one’s mind, but to one’s outlook or mindset.

[8:9]  ³⁵ tn Or “are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit.”

[8:10]  ³⁶ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[8:10]  ³⁷ tn Or “life-giving.” Grk “the Spirit is life.”

[8:11]  ³⁸ sn The one who raised Jesus from the dead refers to God (also in the following clause).

[8:11]  ³⁹ tc Several mss read ᾿Ιησοῦν (Ihsoun, “Jesus”) after Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”; א* A D* 630 1506 1739 1881 pc bo); C 81 104 lat have ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν. The shorter reading is more likely to be original, though, both because of external evidence (א² B D² F G Ψ 33 Ï sa) and internal evidence (scribes were much more likely to add the name “Jesus” if it were lacking than to remove it if it were already present in the text, especially to harmonize with the earlier mention of Jesus in the verse).

[8:11]  ⁴⁰ tc Most mss (B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï lat) have διά (dia) followed by the accusative: “because of his Spirit who lives in you.” The genitive “through his Spirit” is supported by א A C⁽*⁾ 81 104 1505 1506 al, and is slightly preferred.

[8:12]  ⁴¹ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[8:12]  ⁴² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[8:13]  ⁴³ tn Grk “are about to, are certainly going to.”

[8:13]  ⁴⁴ sn This remark is parenthetical to Paul’s argument.

[8:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are.”

[8:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “slavery again to fear.”

[8:15]  ⁴⁷ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).”

[8:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “in that.”

[8:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Or possibly “with.” ExSyn 160-61, however, notes the following: “At issue, grammatically, is whether the Spirit testifies alongside of our spirit (dat. of association), or whether he testifies to our spirit (indirect object) that we are God’s children. If the former, the one receiving this testimony is unstated (is it God? or believers?). If the latter, the believer receives the testimony and hence is assured of salvation via the inner witness of the Spirit. The first view has the advantage of a σύν- (sun-) prefixed verb, which might be expected to take an accompanying dat. of association (and is supported by NEB, JB, etc.). But there are three reasons why πνεύματι (pneumati) should not be taken as association: (1) Grammatically, a dat. with a σύν- prefixed verb does not necessarily indicate association. This, of course, does not preclude such here, but this fact at least opens up the alternatives in this text. (2) Lexically, though συμμαρτυρέω (summarturew) originally bore an associative idea, it developed in the direction of merely intensifying μαρτυρέω (marturew). This is surely the case in the only other NT text with a dat. (Rom 9:1). (3) Contextually, a dat. of association does not seem to support Paul’s argument: ‘What standing has our spirit in this matter? Of itself it surely has no right at all to testify to our being sons of God’ [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:403]. In sum, Rom 8:16 seems to be secure as a text in which the believer’s assurance of salvation is based on the inner witness of the Spirit. The implications of this for one’s soteriology are profound: The objective data, as helpful as they are, cannot by themselves provide assurance of salvation; the believer also needs (and receives) an existential, ongoing encounter with God’s Spirit in order to gain that familial comfort.”

[8:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:18]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “are not worthy [to be compared].”

[8:20]  ⁵² tn Grk “because of the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:23]  ⁵³ tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.

[8:23]  ⁵⁴ tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.

[8:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “body.”

[8:25]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “perseverance.”

[8:26]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.”

[8:27]  ⁵⁸ sn He refers to God here; Paul has not specifically identified him for the sake of rhetorical power (for by leaving the subject slightly ambiguous, he draws his audience into seeing God’s hand in places where he is not explicitly mentioned).

[8:27]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “he,” or “it”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:28]  ⁶⁰ tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì⁴⁶ A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).

[8:29]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ⁶² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[8:32]  ⁶³ tn Grk “[he] who.” The relative clause continues the question of v. 31 in a way that is awkward in English. The force of v. 32 is thus: “who indeed did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – How will he not also with him give us all things?”

[8:33]  ⁶⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 50:8 where the reference is singular; Paul applies this to all believers (“God’s elect” is plural here).

[8:34]  ⁶⁵ tc ‡ A number of significant and early witnesses, along with several others (Ì^46vid א A C F G L Ψ 6 33 81 104 365 1505 al lat bo), read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after Χριστός (Cristos, “Christ”) in v. 34. But the shorter reading is not unrepresented (B D 0289 1739 1881 Ï sa). Once ᾿Ιησοῦς got into the text, what scribe would omit it? Although the external evidence is on the side of the longer reading, internally such an expansion seems suspect. The shorter reading is thus preferred. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:35]  ⁶⁶ tn Here “sword” is a metonymy that includes both threats of violence and acts of violence, even including death (although death is not necessarily the only thing in view here).

[8:36]  ⁶⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.

[8:37]  ⁶⁸ tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”

[8:37]  ⁶⁹ tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.

[8:38]  ⁷⁰ tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).