Reading and meditation on Chapter 7 of the Letter to the Romans:
Paul explains that Christians of Jewish origin (those reading his letter)—who formerly observed the Mosaic Law in their lives—are no longer slaves to the written code that exposed their sins; instead, they have become Christ’s property, serving as slaves in a new sense: through the Spirit:
“Can it be that you do not know, brothers, (for I am speaking to those who know law) that the Law is master over a man as long as he lives? 2 For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So, then, while her husband is living, she would be called an adulteress if she became another man’s. But if her husband dies, she is free from his law, so that she is not an adulteress if she becomes another man’s. 4 So, my brothers, you also were made dead to the Law through the body of the Christ, that you might become another’s, the one who was raised up from the dead, so that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were living according to the flesh, the sinful passions that were awakened by the Law were at work in our bodies to produce fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, because we have died to that which restrained us, in order that we might be slaves in a new sense by the spirit and not in the old sense by the written code” (verses 1-6).
Next, he explains an important idea he has already written about—namely, that the Law made sin manifest—by giving concrete examples. However, this does not make the Law unjust; it is holy:
“What, then, are we to say? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! Really, I would not have come to know sin had it not been for the Law. For example, I would not have known covetousness if the Law had not said: “You must not covet.” 8 But sin, finding the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked out in me covetousness of every sort, for apart from law sin was dead. 9 In fact, I was once alive apart from law. But when the commandment arrived, sin came to life again, but I died. 10 And the commandment that was to lead to life, this I found led to death. 11 For sin, finding the opportunity afforded by the commandment, seduced me and killed me through it. 12 So the Law in itself is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (verses 7-12).
Incidentally, we can see that the Apostle Paul includes the Ten Commandments within the Law, because he quotes the tenth: » You must not covet ». Some Christians observe a mandatory Sabbath—part of the Ten Commandments—under the mistaken impression that the Ten Commandments are not part of the Law. The text of Romans 7:7 proves otherwise; consequently, Christians who observe a mandatory Sabbath have no biblical basis for doing so, because we are no longer under the Law, Christ being the end of the Law (Romans 10:4).
In the following passage, Paul explains in greater detail the struggle between the desire to do good—seeking to obey God’s law—and the inner force that drives us to do wrong, due to the law of sin inherited from Adam:
“Therefore, did what is good result in my death? Certainly not! But sin did, that it might be shown to be sin working out death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin might become far more sinful. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing. For I do not practice what I wish, but I do what I hate. 16 However, if I do what I do not wish, I agree that the Law is fine. 17 But now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that resides in me. 18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good; for I have the desire to do what is fine but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good that I wish, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice. 20 If, then, I do what I do not wish, I am no longer the one carrying it out, but it is the sin dwelling in me” (verses 13-20).
« For I do not do the good that I wish, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice » (verse 19)—this sentence aptly summarizes the conflict within every sinful human being, who must wage an inner battle to ensure that the will to act rightly—from God’s perspective—prevails over the inner force urging us to act in the opposite way. That is why, in concluding Chapter 7, Paul encourages us not to lose heart in this struggle against the forces of evil at work within us, but rather to let our desire to do good—through actions aligned with God’s will—triumph. We will win this battle by relying on God’s mercy through Jesus Christ:
“I find, then, this law in my case: When I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. 22 I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, 23 but I see in my body another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my body. 24 Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? 25 Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, then, with my mind I myself am a slave to God’s law, but with my flesh to sin’s law” (verses 21-23).
Many men and women believe it is impossible for God to forgive them. God’s mercy is much more generous than that of humans….
***
The chapter-by-chapter commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans will not follow a linear approach (such as a verse-by-verse study); instead, they will focus on key points emerging from the chapter under discussion…
When we read the Letter of James, it is surprising to see the likeness of his way of teaching, with that of his older brother Jesus. He uses many illustrations as Jesus did…
The purpose of the letter of Jude is to warn against the infiltration in the Christian congregation, of individuals with twisted behaviors perverting the spiritual purity required by God and his Son Jesus Christ…
John is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He is also the writer one of the Gospel which bears his name and as well as the book of Apocalypse or Revelation…
Peter is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, he also has the name of Simon Peter (Matthew 4:18) and Jesus Christ gave him another name, Cephas (John 1:42). Among the twelve, he was one of the three closest apostles of Jesus Christ: Peter, James and John his brother. These three men saw the transfiguration of Christ (Mark 9:1-10).
***
Table of contents of the http://yomelyah.fr/ website
Reading the Bible daily, this table of contents contains informative Bible articles (Please click on the link above to view it)…
Table of languages of more than seventy languages, with six important biblical articles, written in each of these languages…
***