Verses 1-2 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 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.
The Apostle continues teaching the Roman Christians the difference between the Law and God’s law of grace. At the same time he is speaking to the Jews who know the Law and who are not born again but who practice the Law and live under the bondage of the Law. Remember that the Romans had an entire system of laws and justice of their own and that these Christians no doubt were not just thinking about the Law and the Mosaic law given to the Hebrew people or the Jewish law practiced by the Pharisees that was the Babylonian Talmud, but are also relating to Roman law. Also remember that before he was converted, the Apostle Paul was a strict defender of the Law. He uses an analogy of marriage in which a woman is bound because of the Law in marriage to her husband for as long as that husband is alive. Remember that divorce which is so rampant today in churches was not an option in the days of the early Church. But should the husband die, the wife is no longer bound by the law of marriage and she can then remarry another should she choose to do so and not be breaking the Law.
Application: Although divorce is prevalent in cultures today, for the Christian divorce is not an option should there be marital disharmony. A husband or wife can leave the marriage if there is abuse or the marriage situation presents a danger to either spouse and/or any children in the home, but they cannot divorce and they cannot remarry another and remain in righteous standing with the LORD as long as their first spouse is still living. No one knows what the LORD may do to bring a couple back into right relationship in the future, so waiting upon Him is the proper thing for a Christian to do even if it is emotionally painful and often financially difficult. When obeying the LORD and doing the right thing, He will provide.
Verse 3 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.
So from the perspective of the Law, if either spouse divorces while the other spouse is still living, and then marries another spouse, the spouse that departed the marriage and remarried is an adulterer or an adulteress. Furthermore, the man or woman that marries a divorcee is also committing adultery. So there is a continual life of adultery for divorcees who have remarried while their original spouse is still alive. This is in violation of the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Is this a commandment of the Apostle Paul only? No because Jesus stated as recorded in Matthew 5:31-32, “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” So the only justification for divorce allowed by God in Old Testament days was if a spouse was unfaithful and had an affair with someone else or had various sexual relationships outside of marriage. Why was divorce allowed under this circumstance? Possibly for health reasons to prevent sexually transmitted diseases from becoming a problem among the Hebrew people.
Application: US divorce statistics as reported for 2026 show that one third of married Americans have experienced divorce and that divorce usually occurs in the first ten years of a marriage. How many of these divorcees remain single and live the right kind of life, one that is pleasing to the LORD? Statistics show that about sixty four percent of divorcees remarry. So from a spiritual perspective, there are a lot of people living in the US today that are adulterers and adulteresses. This is just the numbers for 2026. In 2023 it is reported that 672,502 divorces occurred in the US. The statistics do not show if these divorcees remarried and then divorced for a second or third time. So divorce is apparently a way of life for many people in today’s culture. Furthermore, the numbers do not take into consideration all the people living together without a declared marriage and who then move on to other partners.
Verse 4 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.
So the Law binds husbands and wives to each other as long as they are both alive. Freedom from the Law does not ocurr until one or the other physically dies. Likewise, those people who are bound by the law of sin and death but who obey the Gospel by repenting from sin which is, spiritually speaking, a death to sin, then by being baptized in Jesus’ name which spiritually represents a burial of the one who has died to sin, and then by rising up from the water of baptism a new creature with a new life filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit of Jesus which spiritually is the first resurrection, are then dead to the Law because they are then “in” Christ Jesus and are joined to Him spiritually through the presence of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. These converted Christians are born again of the water (baptism in Jesus’ name) and the Spirit (the infilling of the Holy Ghost/Spirit) and no longer lust after sin but begin to think like Jesus, and begin to have works of righteousness. Sin no longer controls them each and every day. So the Apostle Paul’s analogy is that unrepentant people living in sin in a sinful world not knowing the LORD are a part of an adulterous world. Whereas Christians who are baptized in Jesus’ name are dead to the world and sin and the adulterous world is dead to the Christian.
Application: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee; Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God:” Matthew 3:3 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 An emphasis on water baptism cannot be overstated. The words of Jesus as recorded in Scripture clearly teach that those people who believe on Jesus but who are never baptized properly remain believers and are not Christians or Christ-like. Believers have to obey the Gospel in order to be born again. It is not enough to simply repent of past sins and then try through the effort of the flesh to be righteous and cease from sinning. Believers have to be baptized properly in order to have the Holy Ghost/Spirit fill them so that they are then like Jesus Christ because they then have His Spirit dwelling in them. They are no longer believers on Jesus, but are believers in Jesus because He is in them and they are in Him. And they have to be baptized in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ because it is through the name of Jesus that the power to be born again comes into being. Jesus stated clearly as recorded in the verses above that failure to be obedient to the Gospel in its entirety will stop people from being born again and they cannot enter the kingdom of God and therefore they will perish and never see life everlasting in Heaven. Remember the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done may wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Verses 5-6 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. 6 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.
The Greek word translated as “motions” is “pathema” and it means that which one suffers or has suffered, misfortune, calamity, evil, and affliction. So sin is determined by the law for without any kind of law no one would know they were sinning. And sin that occurs because of the lusts of the flesh, because of pride, or because of yielding to temptations from devils causes harm to the fleshly body, causes actions or fruits to be unrighteous, and will lead to both physical and spiritual death. Sin causes suffering, misfortune, calamity, evil, and affliction to both the sinner and to those who are being sinned against. But as Christians in Christ Jesus the law has no ability to condemn as Jesus paid for sins, the Law is written in Christian hearts so that they do not transgress, therefore Christians when baptized in Jesus’ name become dead to sin and its affects and are free from the bondage of sin. Christians have the Holy Ghost/Spirit dwelling inside of them and so they are new creatures and do not follow after the ways of the past before conversion. So now Christians are living in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Verse 7 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.
The Law was given to teach people right from wrong so the Law does not cause sin. Sin is always a choice. Just because there is a Law that says “thou shalt not steal”, the man or woman stealing is doing so because of their choice to do so. The problem with the Law was that no one could keep it. Only Jesus Christ kept the Law perfectly. So mankind before the Law was given went along sinning and not giving thought to the sins until God came along and said, “Thou shalt not. . . ” making their sin against the Law. Then some thought was usually given to the sin and a decision was made whether to continue in the sin or to cease from sinning. So the Law helped and continues to help control mankind’s propensity to sin.
Verse 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
The Greek word translated as “concupiscence” is “epithumia” and it means desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, and lust. In other words every kind of evil. So before the Law, evil of every kind was present but there was nothing to say that the evil was wrong. But when the Law was given, mankind knew they were sinning and knew right from wrong.
Verse 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
At this point the Apostle Paul is speaking from the perspective of the natural or carnal man. He is not speaking about himself, but is using himself as an example in order to explain the concept he is teaching. Before the Law sin was not counted against the sinner, but after the commandment or the Law was given, sin was counted against the sinner and the wages of sin is death. Again the Apostle Paul is presenting the condition of the man or woman who is not converted and following Jesus Christ.
Verses 10-11 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
God gave the Law and if obeyed there is life. But if the Law is not obeyed there is death. For those people who are disobedient the Law brings physical and spiritual death.
Application: The principle is firm and unchangeable that to have life both physical and eternal one has to obey the Law perfectly. Unfortunately no one can keep the law perfectly so “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and all deserve physical death and condemnation to Hell. So in the Law is life everlasting if one is able to keep it in its entirety.
Verses 12-13 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Again, the Apostle Paul is talking about the natural man, who he was at one time but is no longer, and so he is using himself as an example of the natural man. The Apostle Paul never lost sight of the fact that he imprisoned and killed Christians before he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was converted, being baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit. The worldly person doesn’t view sin as sin and God had to say what was sin and what wasn’t whether mankind liked it or not. Sin and death is already working in people, but the commandment or the Law makes the sin worse.
Verses 14-15 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
This is the condition of people before they are filled with the Holy Ghost. For the unsaved, both those who reject Jesus Christ and those who believe on Jesus Christ but are not born again Christians, there is a constant battle or conflict going on in their hearts and minds.
Application: If a person is just a believer the verses above describes their condition because they do not have the strength to defeat sin. This is why churches today are full of believers who do not demonstrate changed lives but who continually battle sinful thoughts, desires and actions. Until these believers get “IN” Christ Jesus instead of just believing “ON” Christ Jesus they will never be able to cease from sin. How do they become “IN” Christ Jesus? By obeying the Gospel and fully repenting of their sins and then being baptized in the NAME of the LORD Jesus Christ. There is power in the name of Jesus and it is at the time of being buried with Jesus in the waters of baptism that the Holy Ghost/Spirit is given to the believer so that they are then “IN” Jesus and He is “IN” them. They then can dwell in His righteousness and He takes away the desire to sin and gives them the strength to withstand the temptations of the Devil. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1
Verses 16-17 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Those people who are ‘good’ by the world’s standard and who want to do the right things, and those believers who know there is a God but who have not had their sins washed away by proper baptism simply do not have the power to stop sinning. The sin problem was dealt with by the LORD Jesus Christ and He provided a way for mankind to not be in bondage to sin and to inherit life eternal, but mankind has to be obedient to the Gospel in order to receive the free gift of salvation from sin, death and Hell. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:36-41
Verses 18-25 For I 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. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 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. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 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. (Romans 7)
Again, the Apostle Paul is describing the situation of the carnal or natural man or woman who cannot do good without the indwelling of the Holy Ghost/Spirit who is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is a very hard way to live as the non-Christian is always in conflict with themself. In their mind they may want to serve God, but their flesh is weak and so they end up serving the law of sin and death.
Application: The Apostle Paul describes the gravity of sin in people’s lives by using the word “wretched” and comparing the carrying around of sin to the Roman punishment called “the body of death”. When someone was convicted of murder, the victim could not seek revenge on the perpetrator, so under Roman law the corpse of the murdered man or woman was chained to the body of the murderer and as the corpse rotted or decayed, it infected the skin and body of the one guilty of the murder, eventually killing him. This was a gruesome punishment as the stench and the weight of the corpse was inescapable and a constant reminder of the crime committed. So the analogy here is that sin causes death unless dealt with, that the chains of sin cannot be removed by will power or one’s own strength, and thus no one can escape or free themselves from the consequences of sin. So who can deliver someone from the body of this death? Only the LORD Jesus Christ can remove the chains of sin and remove the stench and weight of sin from off a man or woman and wash them clean with the power of His shed blood and through true repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name.