Romans 7:9

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. FOR I WAS ALIVE WITHOUT THE LAW ONCE, [ pote (G4218)] - 'at one time,' or 'formerly'-q.d., 'In the days of my ignorance, when, in this sense, a stranger to the law, I deemed myself a righteous man, and, as such, entitled to life at the hand of God.' BUT WHEN THE COMMANDMENT CAME - forbidding all irregular desire, for the apostle sees in this the spirit of the whole law, SIN REVIVED, - `came to life;' in its malignity and strength it unexpectedly revealed itself, as if sprung from the dead. AND I DIED - `saw myself, in the eye of a law never kept and not to be kept, a dead man.'...

9._For I was alive, etc. _He means to intimate that there had been a time when sin was dead to him or in him. But he is not to be understood as though he had been without law at any time, but this word_I was alive _has a peculiar import; for it was the absence of the law that was the reason why he was alive; that is, why he being inflated with a conceit as to his own righteousness, claimed life to himself while he was yet dead. That the sentence may be more clear, state it thus, “When I was formerly without the law, I was alive.” But I have said that this expression is emphatic; for by imagining himself great, he also laid claim to life. The meaning then is this, “When I sinned, having not the knowledge of the law, the sin, which I did not observe, was so laid to sleep, that it seemed to be dead; on the other hand, as I seemed not to myself to be a sinner, I was satisfied with myself, th...

7-13 There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more numerous than he had before thought, but it did not contain any provision of mercy or grace for his relief. He is ignorant of human nature and the perverseness of his own heart, who does not perceive in himself a readiness to fancy there is something desirable in what is out of reach. We may perceive this in our children, though self-love makes us blind to it in ourselves. The more humble and spiritual any Christian is, the more clearly will he perceive that the apostle describes the true believer, from his fi...

Verse Romans 7:9. _I WAS ALIVE WITHOUT THE LAW ONCE_] Dr. Whitby paraphrases the verse thus:-"For the seed of Abraham _was alive_ _without the law once_, before the law was given, I being not obnoxious to death for that to which the law had not threatened death; _but when the commandment came_, forbidding it under that penalty, _sin revived, and I died_; i.e. it got strength to draw me to sin, and to condemn me to death. Sin is, in Scripture, represented as an enemy that seeks our ruin and destruction; and takes all occasions to effect it. It is here said _to war against_ _the mind_, Romans 7:23; elsewhere, _to war against the soul_, 1 Peter 2:11; to _surround_ and _beset us_,...

FOR I - There seems to be no doubt that the apostle here refers to his own past experience. Yet in this he speaks the sentiment of all who are unconverted, and who are depending on their own righteousness. WAS ALIVE - This is opposed to what he immediately adds respecting another state, in which he was when he died. It must mean, therefore, that he had a certain kind of peace; he deemed himself secure; he was free from the convictions of conscience and the agitations of alarm. The state to which he refers here must be doubtless that to which he himself alludes elsewhere, when he deemed himself to be righteous, depending on his own works, and esteeming himself to be blameless, Philippians 3:4; Acts 23:1;...

EXPOSITION ROMANS 7:1 Here comes in the third illustration of the moral obligation of the baptized. It rests on the recognized principle that _death _cancels the claims of human law on a person (cf. Romans 6:7); and this with especial reference to the law of marriage, as being peculiarly applicable to the subject to be illustrated, since the Church is elsewhere regarded as married to Christ. As has been observed above, it is from _the Law _that Christians are now said to be emancipated in the death of Christ; not from _sin, as _in the previous sections. Hence this section might at first sight seem to introduce a new line of thought. But it is really a continuation of the same, though differently viewed; for, in the sense intended by St. Paul, being under th

FOR I WAS ALIVE WITHOUT THE LAW ONCE,.... The apostle says this, not in the person of Adam, as some have thought; who lived indeed, in a state of innocence, a perfectly holy and righteous life, but not without the law, which was the rule of his actions, and the measure of his obedience; he had the law of nature written upon his heart, and a positive law respecting the forbidden fruit given him, as a trial of his obedience; and though when he transgressed he became mortal, yet sin could not be said to revive in him, which never lived before; nor does the apostle speak in the person of a Jew, or the whole body of the people of Israel before the law was given on Mount Sinai; before that time the sons of Abraham did not live without a law; for besides the law of nature, which they had in common with others, they were acquainted with other laws of God, as the laws of circumcision, sacrifices,...

Romans 7:1. _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? 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._ He merely states this as an illustration. Romans 7:4. _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._...

WHEN THE COMMANDMENT The passage (Romans 7:7) is autobiographical. Paul's religious experience was in three strongly marked phases: (1) He was a godly Jew under the law. That the passage does not refer to that period is clear from his own explicit statements elsewhere. At that time he held himself to be "blameless" as concerned the law (Philippians 3:6). He had "lived in all good conscience" (Acts 23:1). (2) With his conversion came new light upon the law itself. He now perceived it to be "spiritual" (Romans 7:14). He now saw that, so far from having kept it, he was condemned by it. He had supposed himself to be ...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Law and its Dominion. (Romans 7:1 .)_ 2. Dead to the Law and Married to Another. (Romans 7:4 .) 3. Concerning the Law; its Activities and Purpose. (Romans 7:7 .) 4. The Experience of a Believer in Bondage to the Law. (Romans 7:14 .) 5. The Triumphant note of Deliverance. (Romans 7:25 .) Romans 7:1 The law is now more fully taken up. We have learned before that by the works of the law no man can be justified before God. But