返回Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Rom. 7:1. Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
Rom. 7:2. A married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
Rom. 7:3. Therefore, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law, and she will not be an adulteress if she marries another man.
Having left moral teaching, he returns to dogmatic teaching and proves that his listeners should no longer remain under the law. The law, he says, as you yourselves know, has authority over a person as long as the person remains alive; for it does not extend to the dead. So you too, he says, have died to the law, and therefore it no longer had authority over you. He hints at this at the beginning, and further on speaks of it from another side. Namely: when the husband dies, the wife has the right to join in marriage with another. Here he likened the husband to the law, and the wife to his listeners. Then he should have said: therefore, brethren, the law has no authority over you, for it has died. But the apostle did not say this, so as not to grieve the Jews, but instead presents the wife as having died, that is, the Jews themselves, who therefore enjoy a twofold freedom. For if the wife is free from the authority of the law when her husband dies, how much more is she free when she herself has died.
Rom. 7:4. So you also, my brethren, have been put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him Who rose from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.
If you have died, he says, then you are not under the law. For if a wife after the death of her husband is not subject to liability, then all the more is she free from the yoke of the law when she herself has died. Notice how wisely he proves that the law itself wants people to leave it. And so you also were freed from the law through the body of Christ, crucified for us. For the body was put to death for this very reason, that you might die to the law and be under the authority of another, who died for you and then rose again. For the law does not live after it has died, but Christ lives even after He died, so that you have no right to depart from Him who lives. And what is the benefit of this? "That we should bear fruit to God," that is, so that from that marriage in which we were united with Christ, we might bear children to God, that is, good works.
Rom. 7:5. For when we were living according to the flesh, the passions of sins, which were made manifest through the law, were at work in our members, so as to bear fruit unto death.
Proving that the law in no way helps us in avoiding fleshly passions, but only reveals them, he says: when we were in the fleshly life and in evil deeds, the sinful passions, exposed by the law and made known through the law, were at work in our members. He did not say that the members produce vices, lest he give occasion for blaming the flesh. For the soul is like a musician, and the members are a lyre. If the musician plays poorly, then the lyre also produces bad sounds. So then, when we were under the law and could not escape the passions, we bore forth death through evil deeds.
Rom. 7:6. But now, having died to the law by which we were bound, we have been released from it, so that we might serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
So as not to grieve the Jews, he did not say: the law has been abolished, but: "we have been released from it," that is, we have been set free, liberated, died and became dead and motionless with respect to that bond which held us. And this bond is sin; for we were held by it as by a chain. And we died to sin, so that we might "serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." In ancient times virtue was difficult, because Adam received in his mortal body a multitude of natural deficiencies; but now by the grace of Christ in baptism our nature has received help from the Spirit, Who made us new and young and freed us from the oldness and weakness of the letter. Therefore in the time of the law virginity was a rarity, but now in the Church there are thousands who piously lead a virginal life. The same must be said also concerning contempt for death.
Rom. 7:7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. But I had not known sin, except through the law. For I would not have known lust, if the law had not said: Thou shalt not covet.
The Apostle said many things that could have appeared to be an accusation against the law: namely, "sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14), and "the law came in besides, and so the transgression was multiplied" (Rom. 5:20), and also "the old letter" (Rom. 7:6). Therefore, in order to remove such a suspicion, he introduces an objection in the form of a question and says: what then shall we say about the law? Is it that the law is sin? Then he resolves this objection, first answering in the negative, as he usually speaks of what is utterly absurd, and then offering proofs. The law, he says, is not sin, but an indicator of sin; for I would not have known desire "if the law had not said: you shall not desire." But then how did the flood come about? How was Sodom burned, if before the law they did not know that desire is evil? They knew even then, but at that time desire had not been intensified, and therefore they did not recognize it with the same thoroughness with which they came to understand it when the law was given. Originally they knew desire only through the natural law, but afterward also through the written law, which is why it became an occasion for greater punishment; and this came about not from the teachings of the law, but from the carelessness of those who paid no heed to the precepts of the law, as the Apostle shows further on.
Rom. 7:8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of desire: for without the law sin is dead.
He did not say that the law "produced the desire," but rather "sin" (which, according to Chrysostom, is a careless and corrupted will), and the devil (for some understood sin to refer to him), or the inclination toward pleasure and the tendency toward what is worse, used the very instruction of the law for evil. It would be unjust to blame a physician who, when a patient with a fever is ready to drink water unceasingly, does not allow him to drink, and thereby intensifies his desire to drink; for it is the physician's task to forbid, while it is the patient himself who must refrain from drinking. So too the law intended through its instruction to draw man away from desire, but the sin-loving will intensified the desire and produced not just one, but every kind of desire, straining to do evil. For when someone is forbidden something, he rages all the more. Thus sin is revealed when the law has been transgressed. "For without the law sin is dead," that is, it is not considered to exist. But when there is a law prescribing what is proper, then sin lives, that is, it exists and is recognized as sin by those who transgress the law and sin knowingly.
Rom. 7:9. I was alive once without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived,
Rom. 7:10. And I died.
Before Moses, he says, I lived without the law, which is why I was not subject to strict condemnation (here in his own person he means human nature); but when the commandment came, it was revealed that sin is sin: for although people sinned even before, they were not aware of it. And this is precisely the benefit of the law, that it made people conscious that they are sinning. The words "I died" should be understood in two ways — both thus: "I sinned," and thus: "I became liable to greater punishment," for which not the law is to blame, but the one who heeds it. Consider, for example: someone is sick and does not realize that he is sick; then a physician comes to the sick man and reveals to him that he is sick, and that he ought to abstain from such-and-such food, as it aggravates the illness; the sick man did not listen to the physician and died.
Rom. 7:10. And so the commandment, which was given for life, served for me unto death,
Rom. 7:11. Sin, having taken opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
He did not say: the commandment became death for me, but: "it served," thereby explaining the extraordinariness and strangeness of such an incongruity. The purpose of the commandment is to lead to life, for which reason it was also given. But if death resulted from it, the commandment is not to blame for this: for sin deceived me and put me to death through the commandment, that is, the inclination toward the worse and the corrupt and sin-loving heart, or rather — pleasure. For if there were no commandment showing sin, then I would not have been regarded as one committing sin, nor would I have been subject to punishment; for the word "put to death" should be understood in both senses, both of sin and of punishment, as was also said above concerning the word "I died."
The entire essence of the apostle's thought is this: when there is no law, sin is not imputed; but when the law came and was transgressed, sin was revealed and came to life, so that through the transgression of the commandment, sin—that is, the exposure and condition of sin—emerges, whereas before it neither existed nor was imputed, because there was no law either. Therefore the law in itself was not the cause of sin; but neither could it deliver from sin, so that because of this weakness of the law we came to have need of grace.
Rom. 7:12. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Here he very clearly shut the mouths of the Marcionites, Manichaeans, Simonians, and all who condemn the Old Testament; for he clearly proclaims that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good. He distinguishes the law from the commandment as the general from the particular; for in the law, one part constitutes doctrines and another commandments. Thus, both the doctrines of the law are holy, and the commandments concerning conduct are holy and just and good. Consequently, they are the ordinances of a good and righteous God, even though the aforementioned heretics blaspheme that the law originates from an evil god.
Rom. 7:13. So then, did that which is good become deadly to me? By no means; but sin, showing itself to be sin because through that which is good it causes me death.
The Law, he says, did not become death for me, but sin put me to death, so that it would become clear what an evil sin is, and that despite the healing provided by the Law, it became worse. And by sin, as we said above, understand both the will inclined toward pleasure, and the inclination toward sin, and therefore the devil, and the very activity driven by pleasure. Thanks be to Christ, who freed us from such evil!
Rom. 7:13. Sin becomes exceedingly sinful by means of the commandment.
What a ruin sin is, this was revealed through the commandment; for sin took advantage of the commandment unto death. So also concerning a disease, when it through medical remedies comes to a worse condition, one can say that it revealed its malignancy by means of the medical art, although it received no benefit from it.
Rom. 7:14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
The Apostle said that sin was revealed through the commandment. Therefore, lest you think that the law is the cause of sin, he pronounces a general verdict and says: "for we know that the law is spiritual." It is known to all, he says, and acknowledged by all, that the law is by no means the cause of sin, but that it is "spiritual," that is, an instructor of virtue and an enemy of vice. From what, then, did sin arise under so wonderful an instructor? From the negligence and weakness of the disciples. For "I," he says, "am carnal," which means: all of human nature, both before the giving of the law and during the time of the law, was filled with a multitude of passions; for as a consequence of Adam's transgression, we not only became mortal, but our nature acquired passions, gave itself over to sin, and became a slave, so that it could not even lift its head.
Rom. 7:15. For I do not understand what I do.
Here he speaks not of complete ignorance, for if they sinned in ignorance, then for what would they be punished? What then does he say? I remain in darkness, I am carried away, I do not know how sin carries me away. Therefore, when he says: "I do not understand," he indicates not ignorance of what ought to be done, but dangers, snares, seduction, enticement. All this he says about people who lived before the coming of Christ in the flesh, although he presented himself.
Rom. 7:15. I do not do what I want.
So he expresses himself instead of the following: for the people of that time did not do what they wanted. In expressing himself this way, he does not suggest necessity or compulsion. But what does he say? This: what they did not approve of, what they did not accept, what they did not love, that they did. For further on he adds:
Rom. 7:15. But what I hate, that I do.
Do you see that he introduces neither compulsion nor necessity? For otherwise he would have added: what I am compelled to by necessity, that I do. But he did not say this; rather, he says: "what I hate." How then did evil arise? Through enticement, through the weakness that they had from Adam's transgression. This weakness the law could not heal, although it did say what one ought to do; Christ healed it when He came. So then, in everything that the apostle has said and intends to say, his purpose is to demonstrate that human nature had come into an incurable state and that no one would heal it except Christ.
Rom. 7:16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
That the law is good, he says, is evident from the fact that I naturally know what ought to be done, and that my reason is not impaired, even though I give myself over to vice.
Rom. 7:17. And so it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwelling in me.
Rom. 7:18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells.
He did not say that the flesh does this, but "sin," that is, the tyranny of sin that drags me along. What then do those babble who arm themselves against the flesh and exclude it from the number of God's creations? They object: the apostle says, "there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, anything good." Listen in what sense he said this. Man consists of two parts: the soul and the flesh; of these, the first, that is, the soul, rules over everything, while the flesh is a servant. Therefore the expression "there dwells not in my flesh anything good" means: it does not lie in the power of the flesh, but in the power of the soul; whatever the soul chooses, the flesh does. It is just as if someone were to say that harmonious sound is not in the harp but in the harpist — he does not disparage the harp, but shows the superiority of the musician over the instrument.
Rom. 7:18. The desire for good is in me, but to do it, that I do not find.
Rom. 7:19. For the good that I wish to do, I do not do, but the evil that I do not wish to do, that I do.
Rom. 7:20. But if I do that which I do not wish, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
By the words "I do not find" he indicated the assault and scheming of sin; for he removes the blame both from the essence of the soul and from the essence of the flesh, and ascribes everything to vicious activity and will. When he says, "which I do not want," he removes the blame from the soul, and when he says, "it is no longer I who do it," he removes the blame from the body. Who then does evil? Sin, which, according to John Chrysostom, is a vicious and sin-loving will. And this will is not a creation of God, but our own movement. The will in itself is a creation of God; but the will directed toward a particular end is something of our own, an act of our free choice. It was said above what sin is, that is, the tyranny of sin, which carries away our mind through pleasure.
Rom. 7:21. So then I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
The expression is unclear; something is lacking in it. It should have said: so then, when I wish to do good, I find the law to be my defender, yet I do not do the good, because evil is present with me. The meaning of the present passage is this: the knowledge of good has been implanted in me from the beginning; I also find that the law defends it, and praises it, and I desire to do good, but I am drawn in by some other force, and evil is present with me, that is, the working of evil is not destroyed in me. However, St. John Chrysostom, having interpreted the present passage as incomplete, suggests that it can also be understood differently, namely thus: I find that the law was given not to anyone else, but to me who wishes to do good; for the law is a law only for those who wish to do good, since it desires the same thing that they also desire. This will be made clear from what follows.
Rom. 7:22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man;
Rom. 7:23. 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.
I knew the good even before the law, and when I find it depicted in writings, I praise the law and agree with it "according to the inner man," or according to my mind. "But I see another law," that is, sin, which he called a law because those deceived by it submit to it and are afraid to abandon it, as a law that must be fulfilled. This law wars against "the law of my mind," that is, the natural law (above he called it the inner man, and now he clearly calls it the mind), and prevails, even making me a captive, conquering both the natural and the written law. In what way does it make one a captive? By "the law of sin," that is, by force, by tyranny. He did not say: by the attraction of the flesh, or by the nature of the flesh, but by "the law of sin" dwelling in my members. Therefore, the flesh is not to blame for this. If a robber occupies a royal palace, the palace is in no way to blame for that. So it is here: if sin dwells in my members, the flesh is not evil because of this. Some discern here four laws: one is God's law, which taught us what is proper; another is the opposing law, which comes to us through the activity of the devil; the third is the law of the mind, that is, the natural law; the last is the one residing in our members, that is, the sin-loving disposition and inclination toward evil, which through habit make us insensible and hardened of heart.
Rom. 7:24. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
The natural law became insufficient, the written law proved powerless, and the tyranny of sin conquered both. From where, then, shall we hope for salvation? "Who will deliver me from this body of death?", that is, subject to death. For the body, having become liable to suffering as a result of the transgression, thereby also became convenient for sin. Someone will say: if the body was convenient for sin, then why were sinners punished before the coming of Christ? Because they were given such commandments as they were able to fulfill even while being under the power of sin.
Rom. 7:25. I thank my God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Having been placed in a hopeless situation and having found no other savior, he of necessity found Christ as Savior. Therefore he also thanks "God" the Father "through Jesus Christ our Lord," that is, the cause of thanksgiving is Christ. He, he says, accomplished what the law could not do: He delivered me from the weakness of the flesh, having strengthened it, so that it no longer stands under the tyranny of sin; but just as through the transgression of Adam, having become mortal, it became easily overcome by sin, so through the obedience of the Crucified and Risen One, having received the pledge of incorruption, it manfully resists sin.
Rom. 7:25. So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.
Rom. 7:1. Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
Rom. 7:2. A married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
Rom. 7:3. Therefore, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law, and she will not be an adulteress if she marries another man.
Having left moral teaching, he returns to dogmatic teaching and proves that his listeners should no longer remain under the law. The law, he says, as you yourselves know, has authority over a person as long as the person remains alive; for it does not extend to the dead. So you too, he says, have died to the law, and therefore it no longer had authority over you. He hints at this at the beginning, and further on speaks of it from another side. Namely: when the husband dies, the wife has the right to join in marriage with another. Here he likened the husband to the law, and the wife to his listeners. Then he should have said: therefore, brethren, the law has no authority over you, for it has died. But the apostle did not say this, so as not to grieve the Jews, but instead presents the wife as having died, that is, the Jews themselves, who therefore enjoy a twofold freedom. For if the wife is free from the authority of the law when her husband dies, how much more is she free when she herself has died.
Rom. 7:4. So you also, my brethren, have been put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him Who rose from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.
If you have died, he says, then you are not under the law. For if a wife after the death of her husband is not subject to liability, then all the more is she free from the yoke of the law when she herself has died. Notice how wisely he proves that the law itself wants people to leave it. And so you also were freed from the law through the body of Christ, crucified for us. For the body was put to death for this very reason, that you might die to the law and be under the authority of another, who died for you and then rose again. For the law does not live after it has died, but Christ lives even after He died, so that you have no right to depart from Him who lives. And what is the benefit of this? "That we should bear fruit to God," that is, so that from that marriage in which we were united with Christ, we might bear children to God, that is, good works.
Rom. 7:5. For when we were living according to the flesh, the passions of sins, which were made manifest through the law, were at work in our members, so as to bear fruit unto death.
Proving that the law in no way helps us in avoiding fleshly passions, but only reveals them, he says: when we were in the fleshly life and in evil deeds, the sinful passions, exposed by the law and made known through the law, were at work in our members. He did not say that the members produce vices, lest he give occasion for blaming the flesh. For the soul is like a musician, and the members are a lyre. If the musician plays poorly, then the lyre also produces bad sounds. So then, when we were under the law and could not escape the passions, we bore forth death through evil deeds.
Rom. 7:6. But now, having died to the law by which we were bound, we have been released from it, so that we might serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
So as not to grieve the Jews, he did not say: the law has been abolished, but: "we have been released from it," that is, we have been set free, liberated, died and became dead and motionless with respect to that bond which held us. And this bond is sin; for we were held by it as by a chain. And we died to sin, so that we might "serve God in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." In ancient times virtue was difficult, because Adam received in his mortal body a multitude of natural deficiencies; but now by the grace of Christ in baptism our nature has received help from the Spirit, Who made us new and young and freed us from the oldness and weakness of the letter. Therefore in the time of the law virginity was a rarity, but now in the Church there are thousands who piously lead a virginal life. The same must be said also concerning contempt for death.
Rom. 7:7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. But I had not known sin, except through the law. For I would not have known lust, if the law had not said: Thou shalt not covet.
The Apostle said many things that could have appeared to be an accusation against the law: namely, "sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14), and "the law came in besides, and so the transgression was multiplied" (Rom. 5:20), and also "the old letter" (Rom. 7:6). Therefore, in order to remove such a suspicion, he introduces an objection in the form of a question and says: what then shall we say about the law? Is it that the law is sin? Then he resolves this objection, first answering in the negative, as he usually speaks of what is utterly absurd, and then offering proofs. The law, he says, is not sin, but an indicator of sin; for I would not have known desire "if the law had not said: you shall not desire." But then how did the flood come about? How was Sodom burned, if before the law they did not know that desire is evil? They knew even then, but at that time desire had not been intensified, and therefore they did not recognize it with the same thoroughness with which they came to understand it when the law was given. Originally they knew desire only through the natural law, but afterward also through the written law, which is why it became an occasion for greater punishment; and this came about not from the teachings of the law, but from the carelessness of those who paid no heed to the precepts of the law, as the Apostle shows further on.
Rom. 7:8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of desire: for without the law sin is dead.
He did not say that the law "produced the desire," but rather "sin" (which, according to Chrysostom, is a careless and corrupted will), and the devil (for some understood sin to refer to him), or the inclination toward pleasure and the tendency toward what is worse, used the very instruction of the law for evil. It would be unjust to blame a physician who, when a patient with a fever is ready to drink water unceasingly, does not allow him to drink, and thereby intensifies his desire to drink; for it is the physician's task to forbid, while it is the patient himself who must refrain from drinking. So too the law intended through its instruction to draw man away from desire, but the sin-loving will intensified the desire and produced not just one, but every kind of desire, straining to do evil. For when someone is forbidden something, he rages all the more. Thus sin is revealed when the law has been transgressed. "For without the law sin is dead," that is, it is not considered to exist. But when there is a law prescribing what is proper, then sin lives, that is, it exists and is recognized as sin by those who transgress the law and sin knowingly.
Rom. 7:9. I was alive once without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived,
Rom. 7:10. And I died.
Before Moses, he says, I lived without the law, which is why I was not subject to strict condemnation (here in his own person he means human nature); but when the commandment came, it was revealed that sin is sin: for although people sinned even before, they were not aware of it. And this is precisely the benefit of the law, that it made people conscious that they are sinning. The words "I died" should be understood in two ways — both thus: "I sinned," and thus: "I became liable to greater punishment," for which not the law is to blame, but the one who heeds it. Consider, for example: someone is sick and does not realize that he is sick; then a physician comes to the sick man and reveals to him that he is sick, and that he ought to abstain from such-and-such food, as it aggravates the illness; the sick man did not listen to the physician and died.
Rom. 7:10. And so the commandment, which was given for life, served for me unto death,
Rom. 7:11. Sin, having taken opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
He did not say: the commandment became death for me, but: "it served," thereby explaining the extraordinariness and strangeness of such an incongruity. The purpose of the commandment is to lead to life, for which reason it was also given. But if death resulted from it, the commandment is not to blame for this: for sin deceived me and put me to death through the commandment, that is, the inclination toward the worse and the corrupt and sin-loving heart, or rather — pleasure. For if there were no commandment showing sin, then I would not have been regarded as one committing sin, nor would I have been subject to punishment; for the word "put to death" should be understood in both senses, both of sin and of punishment, as was also said above concerning the word "I died."
The entire essence of the apostle's thought is this: when there is no law, sin is not imputed; but when the law came and was transgressed, sin was revealed and came to life, so that through the transgression of the commandment, sin—that is, the exposure and condition of sin—emerges, whereas before it neither existed nor was imputed, because there was no law either. Therefore the law in itself was not the cause of sin; but neither could it deliver from sin, so that because of this weakness of the law we came to have need of grace.
Rom. 7:12. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Here he very clearly shut the mouths of the Marcionites, Manichaeans, Simonians, and all who condemn the Old Testament; for he clearly proclaims that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good. He distinguishes the law from the commandment as the general from the particular; for in the law, one part constitutes doctrines and another commandments. Thus, both the doctrines of the law are holy, and the commandments concerning conduct are holy and just and good. Consequently, they are the ordinances of a good and righteous God, even though the aforementioned heretics blaspheme that the law originates from an evil god.
Rom. 7:13. So then, did that which is good become deadly to me? By no means; but sin, showing itself to be sin because through that which is good it causes me death.
The Law, he says, did not become death for me, but sin put me to death, so that it would become clear what an evil sin is, and that despite the healing provided by the Law, it became worse. And by sin, as we said above, understand both the will inclined toward pleasure, and the inclination toward sin, and therefore the devil, and the very activity driven by pleasure. Thanks be to Christ, who freed us from such evil!
Rom. 7:13. Sin becomes exceedingly sinful by means of the commandment.
What a ruin sin is, this was revealed through the commandment; for sin took advantage of the commandment unto death. So also concerning a disease, when it through medical remedies comes to a worse condition, one can say that it revealed its malignancy by means of the medical art, although it received no benefit from it.
Rom. 7:14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
The Apostle said that sin was revealed through the commandment. Therefore, lest you think that the law is the cause of sin, he pronounces a general verdict and says: "for we know that the law is spiritual." It is known to all, he says, and acknowledged by all, that the law is by no means the cause of sin, but that it is "spiritual," that is, an instructor of virtue and an enemy of vice. From what, then, did sin arise under so wonderful an instructor? From the negligence and weakness of the disciples. For "I," he says, "am carnal," which means: all of human nature, both before the giving of the law and during the time of the law, was filled with a multitude of passions; for as a consequence of Adam's transgression, we not only became mortal, but our nature acquired passions, gave itself over to sin, and became a slave, so that it could not even lift its head.
Rom. 7:15. For I do not understand what I do.
Here he speaks not of complete ignorance, for if they sinned in ignorance, then for what would they be punished? What then does he say? I remain in darkness, I am carried away, I do not know how sin carries me away. Therefore, when he says: "I do not understand," he indicates not ignorance of what ought to be done, but dangers, snares, seduction, enticement. All this he says about people who lived before the coming of Christ in the flesh, although he presented himself.
Rom. 7:15. I do not do what I want.
So he expresses himself instead of the following: for the people of that time did not do what they wanted. In expressing himself this way, he does not suggest necessity or compulsion. But what does he say? This: what they did not approve of, what they did not accept, what they did not love, that they did. For further on he adds:
Rom. 7:15. But what I hate, that I do.
Do you see that he introduces neither compulsion nor necessity? For otherwise he would have added: what I am compelled to by necessity, that I do. But he did not say this; rather, he says: "what I hate." How then did evil arise? Through enticement, through the weakness that they had from Adam's transgression. This weakness the law could not heal, although it did say what one ought to do; Christ healed it when He came. So then, in everything that the apostle has said and intends to say, his purpose is to demonstrate that human nature had come into an incurable state and that no one would heal it except Christ.
Rom. 7:16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
That the law is good, he says, is evident from the fact that I naturally know what ought to be done, and that my reason is not impaired, even though I give myself over to vice.
Rom. 7:17. And so it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwelling in me.
Rom. 7:18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells.
He did not say that the flesh does this, but "sin," that is, the tyranny of sin that drags me along. What then do those babble who arm themselves against the flesh and exclude it from the number of God's creations? They object: the apostle says, "there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, anything good." Listen in what sense he said this. Man consists of two parts: the soul and the flesh; of these, the first, that is, the soul, rules over everything, while the flesh is a servant. Therefore the expression "there dwells not in my flesh anything good" means: it does not lie in the power of the flesh, but in the power of the soul; whatever the soul chooses, the flesh does. It is just as if someone were to say that harmonious sound is not in the harp but in the harpist — he does not disparage the harp, but shows the superiority of the musician over the instrument.
Rom. 7:18. The desire for good is in me, but to do it, that I do not find.
Rom. 7:19. For the good that I wish to do, I do not do, but the evil that I do not wish to do, that I do.
Rom. 7:20. But if I do that which I do not wish, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
By the words "I do not find" he indicated the assault and scheming of sin; for he removes the blame both from the essence of the soul and from the essence of the flesh, and ascribes everything to vicious activity and will. When he says, "which I do not want," he removes the blame from the soul, and when he says, "it is no longer I who do it," he removes the blame from the body. Who then does evil? Sin, which, according to John Chrysostom, is a vicious and sin-loving will. And this will is not a creation of God, but our own movement. The will in itself is a creation of God; but the will directed toward a particular end is something of our own, an act of our free choice. It was said above what sin is, that is, the tyranny of sin, which carries away our mind through pleasure.
Rom. 7:21. So then I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
The expression is unclear; something is lacking in it. It should have said: so then, when I wish to do good, I find the law to be my defender, yet I do not do the good, because evil is present with me. The meaning of the present passage is this: the knowledge of good has been implanted in me from the beginning; I also find that the law defends it, and praises it, and I desire to do good, but I am drawn in by some other force, and evil is present with me, that is, the working of evil is not destroyed in me. However, St. John Chrysostom, having interpreted the present passage as incomplete, suggests that it can also be understood differently, namely thus: I find that the law was given not to anyone else, but to me who wishes to do good; for the law is a law only for those who wish to do good, since it desires the same thing that they also desire. This will be made clear from what follows.
Rom. 7:22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man;
Rom. 7:23. 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.
I knew the good even before the law, and when I find it depicted in writings, I praise the law and agree with it "according to the inner man," or according to my mind. "But I see another law," that is, sin, which he called a law because those deceived by it submit to it and are afraid to abandon it, as a law that must be fulfilled. This law wars against "the law of my mind," that is, the natural law (above he called it the inner man, and now he clearly calls it the mind), and prevails, even making me a captive, conquering both the natural and the written law. In what way does it make one a captive? By "the law of sin," that is, by force, by tyranny. He did not say: by the attraction of the flesh, or by the nature of the flesh, but by "the law of sin" dwelling in my members. Therefore, the flesh is not to blame for this. If a robber occupies a royal palace, the palace is in no way to blame for that. So it is here: if sin dwells in my members, the flesh is not evil because of this. Some discern here four laws: one is God's law, which taught us what is proper; another is the opposing law, which comes to us through the activity of the devil; the third is the law of the mind, that is, the natural law; the last is the one residing in our members, that is, the sin-loving disposition and inclination toward evil, which through habit make us insensible and hardened of heart.
Rom. 7:24. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
The natural law became insufficient, the written law proved powerless, and the tyranny of sin conquered both. From where, then, shall we hope for salvation? "Who will deliver me from this body of death?", that is, subject to death. For the body, having become liable to suffering as a result of the transgression, thereby also became convenient for sin. Someone will say: if the body was convenient for sin, then why were sinners punished before the coming of Christ? Because they were given such commandments as they were able to fulfill even while being under the power of sin.
Rom. 7:25. I thank my God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Having been placed in a hopeless situation and having found no other savior, he of necessity found Christ as Savior. Therefore he also thanks "God" the Father "through Jesus Christ our Lord," that is, the cause of thanksgiving is Christ. He, he says, accomplished what the law could not do: He delivered me from the weakness of the flesh, having strengthened it, so that it no longer stands under the tyranny of sin; but just as through the transgression of Adam, having become mortal, it became easily overcome by sin, so through the obedience of the Crucified and Risen One, having received the pledge of incorruption, it manfully resists sin.
Rom. 7:25. So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.