Content of the seventh chapter: The Apostle speaks of the passing of the old Law of death and of the reaction of the carnal nature to the Law.
Freed from the Law, Believers Should Serve Christ in Holiness Know ye not, brethren, Qor I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid, Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working
108 Commentary on Romans death in me by that which is good; that sin hy the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but 1 am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do 1 allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For 1 know that in me (that is, in my flesh*) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that 1 would I do not: but the evil which 1 would not, that I do. Now if 1 do that I would not, it is no more 1 that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I ami who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin (7:1-25).
Know ye not . . . how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? (7:1) The Apostle here confirms and describes more fully what he has said in the preceding chapter about the dying of the old man and the vivification of the new man; to this end he uses the analogy of the temporal or human law. Above all, he wishes to make clear what he says in 4:15: 'The law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
He speaks of the Law as it refers to man's heart and will, and not merely to his external works. To understand the Aposdes propositions the reader must grasp his basic premise.
Sin and wrath come from the Law. Hence, no one dies to the Law who does not die to sin; and whoever dies to sin, dies also to the Law. As soon as a person is free from sin, he also is free from the servitude of the Law. So, then, when sin has dominion over us, then also the Law has dominion over us, and vice versa.
However, unless first the inward dying (to sin) takes place, sin remains and has dominion, and with it the Law which rules through sin. Therefore those act with amazing folly who (merely') imitate the works of the saints as do the monks. They are foolish, for they desire merely to do the same works without concerning themselves about their spirit. For this reason we must ask God for divine grace, so that we may become new in spirit, willing and doing all good works with a joyous, ready heart and a free and Commentary on Romans 109 manly mind, and not moved by servile fear or by some childish desire. But this alone the Holy Spirit works (in us).
The woman which hath a husband is hound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth (7:2). The Aposde here emphasizes the thought that there is no freedom from the Law, unless death takes place. Just so, no one is free from the Law of the letter, unless he is buried with Christ by baptism into death, as he said in the preceding chapter.
Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ (7:4).
It is a strange and profound teaching which the Apostle sets forth in this chapter. He means to show that there are two men (in the believer) , the old and the new, corresponding to Adam and Christ.
But no one recognizes the old man, unless he first understands and consents to the Law. But if the Law is recognized, then also the old man, so to speak, becomes alive. So, then, we are subject through the Law to the old man and to sin, that is, we now realize this subjection. Without the Law we would not know that sin has dominion over us. But if the old man is dead, then we also are dead to the Law. It can no longer subject us to sin, but has lost its power over us.
When we were in the flesh, the motions ('passions) of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (7:5). The Apostle here refers to the Law of Moses.
Through this Law the old man was made alive; for this, while leading to the knowledge of sin, increases sin all the more as long as (divine) grace is lacking. The old man, revealed and made manifest by the Law, now does what the corrupt nature desires, as we read in 7:13: "Sin by the commandment (becomes) exceeding sinful." By divine grace, however, the old man dies and the Law can no longer bring him forth and make him manifest. In this way we die to the condemnation and dominion of the Law, though not to the Law itself, or absolutely, for we have the law, even when we are no longer under the Law.
But now we are delivered from the law (7:6). We are delivered from the Law in the sense that by faith in Christ we obey the Law, and by grace freely and willingly do what the Law demands of us. For this we need (divine) love which seeks what is God's and which is given to all who in true faith ask for it in the name of 110 Commentary on Romans
Christ. Though we often sin and are not perfectly willing, we have made a beginning and move forward, for (by faith) we are justified and made free. But we must always be afraid of being under the Law. So we must continue in faith and constantly pray for love.
For who is sure whether he does not act from fear of punishment or from love for his own advantage? Or who can know whether in his prayers and pious works he, in a very subtle way, does not seek after rest and reward rather than after doing God's will?
We should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (7:6). By "letter" the Apostle means all doctrine which prescribes what belongs to a virtuous life. If that is understood and impressed upon the memory without the Spirit of grace, then it is an empty letter and the death of the soul. So also St. Augustine says in the fourth chapter of his book Concerning the Spirit and the Letter: "The doctrine through which we receive the commandment to lead an abstinent, virtuous life, is the letter. This kills unless there is with it the Spirit, which makes alive/' Not the most learned who read much and write many books are the best
Christians. (Luther has in mind above all the medieval moralists.) But those are the best (Christians) who with ready willingness do what they, (the learned), teach from books. But the willing doers can do those things only if through the Holy Spirit they possess love. For this reason we must fear for our time, in which, thanks to the publication of many books, people indeed become very learned men, but also very unlearned Christians.
If people ask why the Gospel is called the Word of the Spirit, or the spiritual doctrine, or the Word of grace, or the publication of what the Word of the Old Testament predicted, or the hidden wisdom and the like, we reply: Solely for the reason that it teaches where and whence we can obtain grace and love. The Gospel offers Jesus Christ, whom the Law (the Old Testament
Scriptures) promised. The Law commands us to have love and hear Jesus Christ, but the Gospel offers and imparts both to us. The Law is not kept by man's own power, but solely through Christ who pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Hence, those do not understand the Gospel who interpret it as anything else than a good news.
I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not Commentary on Romans 111 covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence (7:7, 8). In the righteous who love the Law, the Law does not work concupiscence (lust), nor does it give any cause for sin, nor does sin take occasion by the commandment (to sin all the more); for in them sin is no longer present as a dominating power, indeed, it is truly dead. As an analogy I might refer to the heat in lime. No one knows that lime has heat until he pours water upon it. Then the heat has occasion to show itself. The water did not create the heat in the lime, but it has made it manifest. It is similar with the will of man and the Law. Sin is indeed in man, but no one knows it until man learns to know the Law. Then he burns all the more (with the fires of sin) though this is not the fault of the Law. But it is by grace that the fire of sin is extinguished.
1 was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived (7:9). So it is with the work-righteous and the proud unbelievers. Because they do not know the Law of God, which is directed against them, it is impossible for them to know their sin. Therefore also they are not amenable to instruction. If they would know the Law, they would also know their sin; and sin to which they are now dead would become alive in them.
And I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, 1 found to be unto death (7:9, 10). (The Apostle means to say):
This I recognized in the spirit, or according to my spiritual nature, or as a new man. And in this lies the cause of everything else, of my whole spiritual distress: I was dead, though I was alive. But through the knowledge of the Law, or rather through the Spirit's revelation, I recognized that the commandment worked death in me. Here the Apostle speaks for his own person and in the name of all saints (believers) of the deep darkness of our minds, on account of which even the most holy and wise men do not have a perfect knowledge of the Law. So David writes in Psalm 19:12:
"Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults." and again in Psalm 25:7: "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions." It is only by faith that we can say with the Psalmist in Psalm 51:3: "I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me"; and in verse 6: "In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." Such are the most
112 Commentary on Romans hidden depths of the Law that with our natural knowledge we can never fully know it. But now it is revealed (to us by the Holy
Spirit), in order that we may come to faith. Whoever therefore does not desire to confess any more of his sins than those which he knows and recalls, will confess but few of his transgressions. He cannot truthfully say with the Psalmist in Psalm 32:5: "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid."
There are some, and among them St. Augustine, who denied that the Apostle here speaks of his own person, and indeed of himself as being spiritual and not as carnal. But the whole passage shows very clearly a strong hatred against the flesh and a sincere love for the Law and all that is good. No carnal man ever does this.
He rather hates the Law and follows his flesh and evil lusts. Tht spiritual man fights against his flesh and deplores that he cannot do what (as a new man) he desires to do. The carnal does not fight at all, but readily yields to sin. In I Corinthians 9:27 the Apostle writes: "I keep under my body, and bring it unto subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
Again in 7:14 the Apostle says: "I am carnal, sold under sin."
That is the proof of a spiritual and wise man. He knows that he is carnal, and he is displeased with himself; indeed, he hates himself and praises the Law of God, which he recognizes because he is spiritual. But the proof of a foolish, carnal man is this, that he regards himself as spiritual and is pleased with himself.
So also the Apostle says in 7:15: "That which I do, I allow not" (I do not approve). The Apostle means to say: As a spiritual man I recognize only what is good, and yet I do what I do not desire, namely, that which is evil, not indeed willfully and maliciously. But while I choose the good, I do the opposite. The carnal man, however, knows what is evil, and he does it intentionally, willfully and by choice.
In the same verse the Apostle says: "What I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do." (This the Apostle says as a spiritual man), for of the carnal man Scripture says in Psalm 36:4:
"He abhorreth not evil."
In verse 16 the Aposde writes: "I consent unto the law that it is good." The Law desires what is good, and so does the Apostle.
Commentary on Romans 113 Hence both agree to the good. But the carnal man is always against the Law; and if it were possible, he would rather have no Law is good, but only what is evil. Evenat all. He never desires what when he does what is good {externally) , he finds no pleasure in it. He does it merely because he is driven to it by fear, or with a servile mind; if he could do the opposite with impunity, he would rather do it.
In verse 20 the Apostle says: "It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." It is not the Apostle (as a spiritual, or a new man) who sins, because he does not consent to the sinful passions of his flesh. And yet he says: "The good that I would,
I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do." The one and the same person is both flesh and spirit. So both are true: he does, and yet he does not. What he does according to the flesh, he does in his whole person. But inasmuch as he resists the evil, it is not the whole person who sins, but only a part of the person (his corrupt nature).
In verse 18 (the Apostle clarifies this by saying): "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." Here the Apostle ascribes the flesh to himself as a part of himself, just as he says: "I am carnal." He is carnal and evil on account of his carnal nature. The words "I will" and "I hate" refer to his spiritual nature; but the words "I do" and "I am carnal" refer to his fleshly nature. Because the total person consists of flesh and spirit, the Apostle ascribes to the whole person both things, which contradict each other and stem from parts of his being that are contradictory. This cannot be said of a person who is carnal (unconverted), for his whole person is totally carnal. There is nothing in him of the Spirit of God. In verse 18 the Apostle likewise says:
"To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." This "to will" is the readiness of the spirit and flows from love, as we read (of the spiritual man) in Psalm 1:2:
"His delight is in the law of the Lord."
In 7:21 the Apostle says: "I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." He means to say: When I desire and am ready to do according to the divine Law, then I find in me a law (principle, or power) which is contrary to me — (my desire to obey the Law). This cannot be said of a carnal person.
114 Commentary on Romans In 7:22 the Apostle says: "I delight in the law of God after the inward man." Here the Apostle says that he has an inward man, and this is none other than his "spiritual man," or "spiritual nature."
And his delight in the Law flows out of the love, worked by the Holy Spirit, for without Him we can love neither the Law nor what is righteous. To this he adds in verse 23: "I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." The "law of my mind" is love, which is the spiritual law or the spiritual nature; for it is most properly this that fights against the sinful lust, or the "law in my members" (the corruption of the flesh), as the Apostle says in Galatians 5:17: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." That is to say, the evil desires war against the good desires. So there are two active laws (principles, or powers) that struggle in man for life and death. The Apostle thus speaks of himself as a warrior (divided) between two laws. But he is not defeated (by the evil lusts), as long as he does not surrender to them, which the carnal man does. Indeed the Apostle heTe shows that he (as a spiritual man) serves only one Law, while he resists the other.
In 7:24 the Aposde says: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" This the Aposde does not say of bodily death, which he rather desires. St. Augustine explains this correctly in the second chapter of his Book Against Julian: "To be delivered from the body of this death means that the body which now is one of death, might become a body of life by having this (spiritual) death die in (temporal) death; and this is the end of the struggle." So here he does not speak of natural, or temporal death. This (prayer) shows still more clearly than the preceding (words) that the Apostle here speaks as a spiritual man; for he prays, is worried, and longs for the final redemption.
No one regards himself as a miserable man who is not spiritual. In Philippians, 1:23 the Aposde expresses the same thought in the words: "I (have) a desire to depart, and to be with Christ."
In 7:25 the Apostle writes: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This is the clearest passage of all, and from it we learn that one and the same (believing) person serves at the same time the Law of God and the Law of sin. He is at the same time justified and yet a sinner (simul
Commentary on Romans 115 histus est et peccat); for he does not say: "My mind serves the Law of God"; nor does he say: "My flesh serves the Law of sin"; but he says: "I myself." That is, the whole man, one and the same person, is in this twofold servitude. For this reason he thanks
God that he serves the Law of God and he pleads for mercy for serving the Law of sin. But no one can say of a carnal {unconverted') person that he serves the Law of God. The Apostle means to say: You see, it is just so as I said before: The saints (believers) are at the same time sinners while they are righteous. They are righteous, because they believe in Christ, whose righteousness covers them and is imputed to them. But they are sinners, inasmuch as they do not fulfill the Law, and still have sinful lusts. They are like sick people wrho are being treated by a physician. They are really sick, but hope and are beginning to get, or be made, well.
They are about to regain their health. Such patients would suffeT the greatest harm by arrogantly claiming to be well, for they would suffer a relapse that is worse (than their first illness).
The Apostle, therefore, fully realizing this fact, directs himself in the second chapter against those who regard themselves as righteous and judge others as evildoers, while they themselves do what is evil. He may not have known anything of their actual external works, but of one thing he was sure, namely, that as long as such persons are without (divine) grace, they go counter to the Law in their hearts. If already a spiritual (converted) man does not do what he should, though he desires to do good, how much more will the carnal (unconverted) man, who does not even desire good, but does it only under coercion, refuse to serve the Law of God?
(In this whole passage Luther shows by twelve different proofs, based on Paul's words, that the Apostle here, does not speak of himself as one who is still carnal, or unconverted, but as of one who is already spiritual, or converted, yet deeply laments the struggle of the old man in himself against the new man. Here, as in Galatians 5:17ff., the Apostle argues against the error of perfectionism.
After the Apostle has clarified this point, he briefly explains in his further exposition of the chapter a number of important points for gr&xter emphasis.)
Without the law sin was dead (7:8). The Law begins to be alive and sin is revived then when a person begins to understand the 116 Commentary on Romans
Law. Then the sinful lust comes out into the open and shows itself. Then a man burns all the more with evil yearning for what he desires, and he hates the Law with yet greater hatred.
It is no more 1 that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me (7:17).
Oh, how the false philosophy of Aristotle has deceived our theologians (the medieval Scholastics)! They teach that sin is entirely destroyed by baptism or repentance, and so regard it as absurd that the Apostle should here confess: "Sin . . . dwelleth in me." As a converted, or spiritual man, they say, he could no longer have any sin in him; therefore, they argue, he here speaks of himself as a carnal (or unconverted man). But sin remains in the spiritual man, in order that he might exercise himself in grace, put off his pride and check his arrogance. He who confesses his sins should not believe that he can thereby shake off the burden (of sin) and quietly live on (in sin). But he should know that when he puts off the burden (of sin) f he enters the warfare for God and takes up a new burden for God against the Devil and his own remaining faults. The Apostle here calls evil lust sin; for while in the words of St. Augustine, sin is forgiven in baptism, so far as condemnation is concerned, it remains in us as a reality (as an actual corruption) moving us to sin.
How to perform that which is good I find not (7:18). In the third chapter of his book Against Julian St. Augustine writes:
"Recall what the Apostle writes to the Galatians (and so to persons that were baptized) in Galatians 5:16: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.'" The Spirit, (that is, the spiritual man), does a good work by not yielding to the evil lust; but he does not perform that which is good inasmuch as he himself cannot destroy the evil lusts. Vain and injurious are the speculations (of the Scholastics) who teach from Aristotle that our virtues and faults adhere to the soul merely as whitewash to the wall.
By this teaching they fully destroy the distinction between spirit and flesh — (the new man and the old man in the believer).