Romans 7:6

"For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death."

Key Reflection

In Romans 7:6, Paul explains that before coming to faith and being transformed by Christ, people are governed by their sinful nature, which is activated and expressed through the law itself. The law, meant to bring about righteousness (Galatians 3:24), paradoxically highlights sin rather than suppressing it, leading individuals into a cycle of sin and death. This insight underscores the inherent powerlessness of the law in addressing human corruption on its own, setting the stage for the necessity of the gospel's transformative work.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 6. But now. Under the gospel. This verse states the conse- quences of the gospel, in distinction from the effects of the law. The way in which this is accomplished the apostle illustrates more at length in Ro 8, with which this verse is properly connected. The remainder of Ro 7 is occupied in illustrating the statement in Ro 7:5, of the effects of the law; and after having shown that its effects always were to increase crime and distress, he is prepared in Ro 8, to take up the proposition in this verse, and to show the superiority of the gospel in producing peace. We are delivered. We who are Christians.

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