Romans chapter 7
7:1-6 Know ye not? This question connects chapter 7 with chapter 6 and further explains the statement "ye are not
under the law" (6:14). Paul is still on the same subject--the sanctified life in Christ. But now he changes the metaphor.
Instead of the analogy of slavery, he uses the analogy of marriage. So long as he liveth: Only death breaks the
marital union. Loosed from the law of her husband: In the event of the husband's death the wife is free from obligation
to her husband and may either remain unmarried or may remarry. Called an adulteress: Under Roman law polygamy
and polyandry were forbidden. To marry another while one's spouse was still living and without a legal divorce was
adultery. Marriage is an indissoluble union which in general is broken only by the death of one of the partners.
Though the believer's identification with the death of Christ he is now freed from the law (6:15), but joined to Christ to
bear fruit unto God.
7:5 In the flesh means before before we were saved. We are delivered from the law: Paul is still answering the
question raised in 6:15. Its force is especially appropriate for the legalist who sees no legitimate reason for holiness
unless there is a rule dictating it. The motivation to holiness in Christ and under grace is equally valid but with a new
dynamic (Ephesians 2:10).
7:7, 8 Is the law sin? It might be concluded that the law sinful. Because of what the law does, it appears to be the
culprit. Paul shows that the law is not sinful and examines its precise relation to sin in order to dismiss this suggestion.
Paul answers his question (1) by giving a direct denial, God forbid (Greek me genoito, "may it never happen," "don't
even think that way") and (2) by giving positive instruction. The law reveals the fact of sin, for I had not known sin, but
by the law. Sin is unknowable without some law. The law also reveals the power of sin.
7:9 I was alive without the law once: There was a time when Paul lived a complacent life insensitive to the demands of
the law. I died: When Paul understood the law he realized that he was accused, guilty, and marked for death.
7:12, 13 The law is holy...just, and good: The law is an expression of God's righteousness and is intrinsically good.
Sin, not the law, produced death. The law shows us that we are helplessly under the control of sin and points us to
Christ, the only One who can help us.
7:14 The law is spiritual: The law has the characteristics of the Spirit and is consistent with the character of God. I am
carnal: What follows is autobiographical and designed to reveal the real struggle the apostle experienced in the flesh.
His experience is also exemplary, for it show the problems all believers experience in their battle with sin.
7:18 Flesh: This term is used by Paul in a variety of ways. Sometimes it simply refers to the physical body (Ephesians
2:15; Philemon 16). Sometimes it refers to physical descent (1:3; 9:3). Here it is used in an ethical sense to refer to a
condition of being dominated by sin and sinful pursuits.See also verse 25; 8:5-7; Galatians 5:17.
7:23 Law of my mind: Paul seems to equate this with "law of God after the inward man" (verse 22). This no doubt
connects with the new dynamic for service spoken of in verse 6 as the "newness of spirit." It refers to the influence of
the Holy Spirit in the believer's life to obedience and good works. In 8:2 he refers to it as "the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus." Law of sin: The law caused sin to "revive" (verse 9), literally, "become alive." Sin takes on an active
force throughout the passage, which climaxes in this expression, "the law of sin." It refers to that in man which is sold
under sin. It is "the law of sin and death" in 8:2. Apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit, the law of sin would dominate in
Paul's life.
7:24 O wretched man: The reference here is to Paul's tragic condition of defeat and frustration with sin. The body of
this death is not the physical body, but the inherited sin nature received from Adam. It is that in him which is
continually inclined toward thoughts and deeds that yield only death.
Romans chapter 8
8:1 Many manuscripts omit "who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."
8:2 Law of the Spirit of life: See the note on 7:23.
8:3 Law...was weak: There is nothing inherently wrong with the law. The presence of sin renders the believer
powerless to do what the law demands. The likeness of sinful flesh: Christ was truly human but not a sinner (2
Corinthians 5:21).
8:6 To be carnally minded means to have one's life dominated by the sin nature. To be spiritually minded is to be
controlled by the Holy Spirit.
8:9 None of his: Any who lack the Spirit are unsaved. The Holy Spirit abides in all who are regenerated (8:4; 1
Corinthians 12:13).
8:10 The body is dead: It is still mortal and subject not only to death but also to the temptation of sin. The Spirit of life
anticipates verse 11 and the hope of resurrection.
8:11 Quicken your mortal bodies: Resurrection is "bodily." Resurrected believers will, like Christ, receive new physical
forms (1 Corinthians 15:44).
8:12 Debtors: The word places emphasis on Paul's moral obligation. He uses the same term in 1:14.
8:13 Mortify: Death signifies separation. Here it denotes separation from the sinful deed of the flesh.
8:15 The Spirit of adoption: The Holy Spirit places the believer as a son in God's family. Abba (Aram. for "father"):
This is the intimate name used only by members of the family. Its use here denotes the intimacy of the believer's
relation to God.
8:17 Joint-heirs with Christ: All believers share all of the inheritance together. They also have the promise of
glorification if their lives are lived devotedly and sacrificially unto the Lord.
8:18 The sufferings of this present time: See 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18. The glory which shall be revealed: The blessed
hope of the Christian looks ahead with anticipation to this great moment. See also 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; Titus 2:
13.
8:19 The creature, or creation, eagerly looks forward to the revelation of the sons of God in the Millennium (Christ's
thousand-year earthly reign) because that is the time when the curse will be lifted and creation will be restored to
Edenic conditions.
8:20 Vanity (Greek mataioteti, "vanity," "emptiness," "frailty," "folly") is a reference to the curse of Genesis 3:14-19
and considers the whole thing as unnecessary. Creation did not actively participate in the Fall.
8:21 Delivered from the bondage of corruption: There will be no more death. The creature (or Creation) looks forward
to the Millennium when redeemed man is glorified and will never again have to face God's curse.
8:22 Groaneth and travaileth in pain refers to Adam's Fall, which has caused misery from then until the present. The
present sufferings of creation are the "birth pangs" of the new age to be born, the Millennium. From the Fall until now,
creation has been groaning over the pointlessness of having been made subject to a curse. It eagerly looks forward
to the time when the curse will be lifted (verse 19).
8:23 The first fruits of the Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the first installment of the glory yet to follow (Ephesians 1:13, 14).
Groan: The believer groans because of the conflict experienced in 7:14-24, from which he needs a final and complete
deliverance. This is the ultimate answer to 7:24, Christ will deliver us by the resurrection and glorification of our
bodies.
8:26, 27 Our infirmities may refer to the presence of sin (cf. 7:14 ff.). Groanings: The Spirit also groans along with
creation and the believer. The reference is to the Spirit's interpretation of the believer's innermost feelings, which
cannot be put into words. Searcheth the hearts: Denotes divine omniscience (1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 139:1, 23;
Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Hebrews 4:12, 13).
8:28 To them that love God are best able to appreciate that fact because they love Him no matter what (Job 13:15).
To them that are called is the divine perspective. Scripture often refers to believers as "the called" or "the elect."
8:29 Foreknow: This is not simple prescience or advance knowledge. This knowledge should also not be understood
in the sense of "being acquainted with," but in the sense of "bringing into a special relation with," as "Adam knew Eve
his wife" (Genesis 4:1), "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2), "I...know my sheep" (John
10:14), and "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23). Foreknowledge is God's determination from eternity to bring certain
ones into a special relationship with Himself. (See also 11:2). Predestinate: See Ephesians 1:5. To be conformed to
the image of his Son: The goal of predestination is not to send some to hell and some to heaven, but is the believer's
glorification, to make every Christian increasingly more like His Son.
8:30 Called: The calling of 8:28 is pretemporal; it occurred before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The
calling here is temporal and refers to the effectual communication of the gospel, resulting in salvation. Justified: See 3:
24. Glorified: Glorification is God's doing. While God's foreknowledge and predestination take place in eternity, and
while God's calling and justification are realized in history, God's glorifying is yet future. It is as certain, however, as
the previous works. Hence glorified is in the past tense. From God's point of view it is already accomplished.
8:32 For us all: This does not teach or necessitate limited attachment (the view that Christ died only for the elect), for
Christ died for all the sins of all the world (2 Corinthians 5:19). His death is effective unto salvation, however, only for
those who called upon the name of the Lord (10:13, 17).
8:33, 34 God's elect: See 8:28. Lay any thing to the charge: No charge is admissible, because the Father justifies, in
that the Son died, was raised, and now intercedes for us.
8:38, 39 We cannot be separated from God's love, because it is set forth in a person who is God Himself, Jesus
Christ, our Savior. God's desire to redeem believers cannot be frustrated, because He is infinitely greater than any
potential enemy. His plan will be realized because it is His purpose (verse 28).
Romans chapter 9
9:3. My Kinsmen according to the flesh expresses Paul’s sorrow for Israel . The question he now undertakes
concerns the privilege and subsequent spiritual blindness of the Jewish nation. It is a natural question following
chapter 8. Has the promise of God failed Israel and could His promise fail in our case?
9:4,5. Paul recites Israel ’s privileges bestowed because of their relationship to God. They are called Israelites (the
name sovereignly bestowed upon Jacob by God, Gen. 32:28). The adoption, with the definite article, may look at a
particular event: when Moses was instructed to stand before Pharaoh and tell him that Israel was God’s son (Ex 4:22 )
. The glory refers to the glory cloud that led Israel from Eqypt to Israel (cf Ex. 13:20 -22; 16:10 ). The covenants refer
to Israel’s four great unconditional covenants that govern all that God will do for an with Israel – the Abrahamic
covenant, Genesis 12, 13, a nation forever; the Palestinian covenant, Deuteronomy 30, a land forever; the Davidic
covenant, 2 Samuel 7, a king forever; and the new covenant, Jeremiah 31, a redeemed people forever. The giving of
the law refers to Sinai (Ex. 19-31). The service of God refers to the offerings, priesthood, and levitical institution (cf
Heb. 10:1-5). The promises refer particularly to the messianic promise (Gen. 3:15; 49:10; Num. 24:15-19; Deut. 18:
15-22). The fathers refers to the Old Testament patriarchs and leaders: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
David, and so on. Christ is their national fruit. Humanly, He came from Israel . God blessed forever is probably not a
doxology but rather a spontaneous and explicit assertion of Christ’s deity.
9:6 They are not all Israel , which care of Israel : The contrast is between Abraham’s physical descendants and his
spiritual descendants. Not all of Abraham’s physical descendants are to be recipients of His spiritual blessings. What
follows in verses 7-18 shows how God’s eternal purpose played a hand in Israel ’s history.
9:13 Loved….hated (Gen. 25:23; Mal 1:2,3) are not matters of emotion; they are matters of the Father’s will. In the
papyri (ancient secular writings dating to biblical times),
the expressions “loved” and “hated” are used of a man who could afford to adopt only one of two twin orphaned boys.
He was said to have “loved” the one he adopted and “hated” the one he did not adopt. Here all that is signified is that
Jacob was blessed and Esau was not.
9:19 ,20. Who hat resisted his will? Does all this lead to fatalism? Paul does not answer this question directly, for it is
absurd and raised by one who is ignorant of the righteous character of the infinite god and the finite character of
man. Paul rather deals with the heart attitude that would produce such a question and reminds man of his limited
understanding of the unlimited and sovereign God.
9:25-29 Paul documents his teaching by quoting Hosea 2:23 to show that the Old Testament teaches that vessels of
mercy are to be found among the Gentiles (vv. 25,26), Isaiah 10:22, 23 to show that the Old Testament prophesied
that only a remnant of Israel would be saved (vv. 27, 28), and Isaiah 1:9 to show the conclusion of the whole matter
(v. 29). This anticipates the subsequent discussion in chapter 11.
9:32 They sought it not by faith: Israel mistook the possession of the law as a means of righteousness, when the law
as given only to confirm the Fall and to show the need of God’s righteousness (cf 5:20 ). Stumbling stone: This is a
reference to Messiah (cf Is. 7:14 ; 1 Peter 2:8).