So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(A) through the body of Christ,(B) that you might belong to another,(C) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](D) the sinful passions aroused by the law(E) were at work in us,(F) so that we bore fruit for death.(G) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(H) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(I)

The Law and Sin

What shall we say, then?(J) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(K) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(L) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](M) But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(N) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(O) Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(P) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) deceived me,(R) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
  2. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21

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