Romans 7:1-8:16

What’s Happening? 

Paul is in conversation with Jewish believers in Jesus, who are struggling to understand how they should relate to all of the laws in the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible, God told his people that his laws were meant to be obeyed and that by obeying them, they would bring life and flourishing to God’s people (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). But Paul has just said that, in Israel’s history, this flourishing never came true. God’s laws never produced life for God’s people because inside all humans is a dark power called Sin. That dark power rebelled every time they heard one of God’s laws and produced hatred, disobedience, and eventually death (Romans 7:5). But when Jesus died and rose from the dead, he destroyed the power of Sin and replaced it with his Spirit (Romans 7:6). Paul explains that Jewish people have a totally different relationship to the laws in the Hebrew Bible now. Just as a husband’s death frees the widow from her old marriage, Jesus' death frees Jewish believers from their old relationship with the laws of the Old Testament (Romans 7:1-4).

But a Jewish believer in Jesus might say Paul is calling the good laws God gave his people evil and sinful. So Paul clarifies that God’s laws are all good, but they also create an opportunity for disobedience (Romans 7:7). Sin hates God and his commands. So when Sin hears one of God’s commands, it immediately seizes the opportunity to rebel against God (Romans 7:8). God’s commands are good and holy. They are intended to give life to his people. But Sin hijacks God’s good commands and produces death instead (Romans 7:9-12). Again, Paul clarifies that the law doesn’t bring death; Sin does. Sin uses a good thing to rebel against God’s commands and bring death to God’s people (Romans 7:13). 

Again, Paul says God’s commands in the Old Testament are good things. They are deep spiritual truths God’s people are meant to live by. The problem is that unless we are filled with the Spirit, we are under the power of Sin and opposed to anything spiritual (Romans 7:14). Personifying this conflict, Paul describes the experience of wanting to obey God’s laws but being unable to perform them because the power of Sin is so strong (Romans 7:15-20). It's as if there’s a war going on inside those who try to keep God’s laws (Romans 7:21-24). However, Paul also knows that Jesus ultimately resolved this conflict. Jesus has freed all believers from Sin’s power and replaced it with his Spirit (Romans 7:25). Sin and death no longer rule anyone who believes in Jesus (Romans 8:1). Through Jesus’ bodily death, Sin was destroyed in our bodies. This means that God’s people can finally relate properly to God’s good laws, not under the power of Sin, but in the power of God’s Spirit (Romans 8:2-4). Now, all of God’s people can finally obey God’s commands and receive the life God intended to give through them.

Where is the Gospel?

In the next several verses, Paul will talk about God’s “Spirit” fifteen times. Paul says that as believers, we live according to God’s Spirit (Romans 8:5). Our minds are governed by the Spirit (Romans 8:6). Believers are empowered by the Spirit. And God’s Spirit lives in us and produces eternal life (Romans 8:9-11). The point is clear: we are no longer under the power of Sin, but the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us. This means all believers are now empowered to live lives marked by obedience to God’s commands and putting to death anything else (Romans 8:12-13). 

Paul clarifies that this isn’t a slavish obedience; rather, it is the good responsibility that comes with becoming a son and daughter of God (Romans 8:14). No longer are we slaves to a power that wants to kill us. We are children of a loving God. And in the loving gift of God’s Spirit, God has given us himself. Everything that God is and has is ours through Jesus. Just as Jesus defeated the power of Sin on the cross, he has given his children his Spirit to defeat Sin in our lives. And just as Jesus conquered death, we can know that there is no power that will ultimately overwhelm us since we are filled by God’s Spirit (Romans 8:15-16). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who gives his people his Spirit. And may you see Jesus as the one who has died to destroy the power of Sin.