ESTUDIO DEL CAPÍTULO

Romans 7 — Released from the Law, the Inner Struggle

Romans 7 explains believers' release from the law through union with Christ's body, then dramatizes the inward struggle between delight in God's law and indwelling sin.

Escritura

  1. 1.¿Acaso ignoráis, hermanos (pues hablo con los que conocen la ley), que la ley se enseñorea del hombre entre tanto que éste vive?Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?
  2. 2.Porque la mujer casada está sujeta por la ley al marido mientras éste vive; pero si el marido muere, ella queda libre de la ley del marido.For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
  3. 3.Así que, si en vida del marido se uniere a otro varón, será llamada adúltera; pero si su marido muriere, es libre de esa ley, de tal manera que si se uniere a otro marido, no será adúltera.So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.
  4. 4.Así también vosotros, hermanos míos, habéis muerto a la ley mediante el cuerpo de Cristo, para que seáis de otro, del que resucitó de los muertos, a fin de que llevemos fruto para Dios.Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
  5. 5.Porque mientras estábamos en la carne, las pasiones pecaminosas que eran por la ley obraban en nuestros miembros llevando fruto para muerte.For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
  6. 6.Pero ahora estamos libres de la ley, por haber muerto para aquella en que estábamos sujetos, de modo que sirvamos bajo el régimen nuevo del Espíritu y no bajo el régimen viejo de la letra.But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
  7. 7.¿Qué diremos, pues? ¿La ley es pecado? En ninguna manera. Pero yo no conocí el pecado sino por la ley; porque tampoco conociera la codicia, si la ley no dijera: No codiciarás.What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet:
  8. 8.Mas el pecado, tomando ocasión por el mandamiento, produjo en mí toda codicia; porque sin la ley el pecado está muerto.but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead.
  9. 9.Y yo sin la ley vivía en un tiempo; pero venido el mandamiento, el pecado revivió y yo morí.And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;
  10. 10.Y hallé que el mismo mandamiento que era para vida, a mí me resultó para muerte;and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:
  11. 11.porque el pecado, tomando ocasión por el mandamiento, me engañó, y por él me mató.for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.
  12. 12.De manera que la ley a la verdad es santa, y el mandamiento santo, justo y bueno.So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
  13. 13.¿Luego lo que es bueno, vino a ser muerte para mí? En ninguna manera; sino que el pecado, para mostrarse pecado, produjo en mí la muerte por medio de lo que es bueno, a fin de que por el mandamiento el pecado llegase a ser sobremanera pecaminoso.Did then that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; — that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.
  14. 14.Porque sabemos que la ley es espiritual; mas yo soy carnal, vendido al pecado.For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
  15. 15.Porque lo que hago, no lo entiendo; pues no hago lo que quiero, sino lo que aborrezco, eso hago.For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do.
  16. 16.Y si lo que no quiero, esto hago, apruebo que la ley es buena.But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good.
  17. 17.De manera que ya no soy yo quien hace aquello, sino el pecado que mora en mí.So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
  18. 18.Y yo sé que en mí, esto es, en mi carne, no mora el bien; porque el querer el bien está en mí, pero no el hacerlo.For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.
  19. 19.Porque no hago el bien que quiero, sino el mal que no quiero, eso hago.For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.
  20. 20.Y si hago lo que no quiero, ya no lo hago yo, sino el pecado que mora en mí.But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
  21. 21.Así que, queriendo yo hacer el bien, hallo esta ley: que el mal está en mí.I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present.
  22. 22.Porque según el hombre interior, me deleito en la ley de Dios;For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
  23. 23.pero veo otra ley en mis miembros, que se rebela contra la ley de mi mente, y que me lleva cautivo a la ley del pecado que está en mis miembros.but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
  24. 24.¡Miserable de mí! ¿quién me librará de este cuerpo de muerte?Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
  25. 25.Gracias doy a Dios, por Jesucristo Señor nuestro. Así que, yo mismo con la mente sirvo a la ley de Dios, mas con la carne a la ley del pecado.I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Qué significa este pasaje

Verses 1–6 form an analogy from marriage law: a wife is bound to her husband while he lives, but is released by his death. Paul applies this to believers — they have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ, so that they might be joined to the risen Christ and bear fruit for God. The point is not that the law is evil but that its binding claim is broken by the believer's co-death with Christ, transferring them from service 'in oldness of the letter' to service 'in newness of the spirit'.

Verses 7–13 address the objection that the law itself is sinful. Paul insists the law is 'holy, and righteous, and good' (v. 12). Its function was to expose sin: the commandment 'Thou shalt not covet' revealed coveting that was already latent. Sin used the commandment as an occasion to produce all manner of coveting and even death, so that sin might be shown to be 'exceeding sinful' through that which is good.

Verses 14–25 portray the divided self. The law is spiritual, but the speaker is 'carnal, sold under sin'. The willing mind delights in God's law, yet another law in the members wages war against the mind and takes captive under 'the law of sin'. The cry 'Wretched man that I am!' is met not by self-improvement but by thanksgiving 'through Jesus Christ our Lord', who is the one who delivers from 'the body of this death'.

Contexto

The chapter stands within Romans as Paul's bridge from justification by faith (chs. 3–5) to life in the Spirit (ch. 8). Its function is twofold: first, to show that the law's binding claim on the believer ends through identification with Christ's death (vv. 1–6); second, to expose sin's power so that the need for deliverance 'through Jesus Christ our Lord' (v. 25) is felt before the Spirit-filled life of chapter 8 is unpacked. The 'I' of verses 7–25 is widely understood as a literary portrayal of the self under law rather than a purely autobiographical confession, and the chapter note captures this dual focus: 'Released from law, inner struggle'.

The cross references supplied span the marriage institution (Genesis 2:23; Genesis 2:24), the adultery prohibition (Exodus 20:14), the Servant who bears sin in His body (1 Peter 2:24), the believer's delight in God's law (Psalms 1:2; Psalms 40:8; Psalms 119:35; Psalms 119:47), the marriage metaphor applied to Israel and her Maker (Isaiah 54:5), and the Spirit-versus-flesh conflict (Galatians 5:17; Galatians 5:22; Galatians 5:23). These cluster around the two halves of the chapter: the marriage/death analogy in vv. 1–6 and the inner war in vv. 14–25.

Palabras clave del original

  • G3551 νόμος (nomos) appears repeatedly and means 'law' — here the Mosaic law as a binding regulatory system. Paul affirms it is 'holy, and righteous, and good' (v. 12) while insisting its dominion over the believer ends through death with Christ (v. 4).
  • G2961 κυριεύω (kyrieuō, 'to rule, have dominion over') in v. 1 states the premise of the analogy: the law has dominion over a person only 'for so long time as he liveth' — setting up the death that releases the believer in v. 4.
  • G3428 μοιχαλίς (moichalis, 'an adulteress') in v. 3 is the term Paul deliberately uses so that the analogy carries moral weight: union with another while the first husband lives is adultery, but death dissolves the bond — the same logic that grounds freedom from the law through the body of Christ.

Versículos relacionados

  • 1 Peter 2:24 Supplied as the verse that grounds v. 4 — Christ 'bare our sins in his body upon the tree' so that believers might 'live unto righteousness'. This is the means by which they are 'made dead to the law through the body of Christ'.
  • Galatians 5:17 Supplied for vv. 23–24 — the parallel Pauline description of the flesh lusting against the Spirit. Romans 7 names this conflict 'the law in my members' warring against 'the law of my mind'; Galatians 5:17 names it the flesh against the Spirit.
  • Psalms 1:2 Supplied for v. 22 — the classic portrait of the person whose 'delight is in the law of Jehovah'. Paul identifies this delight as belonging to 'the inward man', even while another law wars in the members.

Preguntas frecuentes

Does Romans 7 describe Paul's past life or his present Christian experience?

The provided material does not decide this. Within the chapter itself the 'I' is a literary device that first speaks of the era 'when we were in the flesh' (v. 5) and then shifts to a present-tense struggle (vv. 14–25). The cross references cluster on both sides — past bondage (Galatians 5:17) and present delight in God's law (Psalms 1:2) — so the chapter functions to expose the need for the deliverance that v. 25 names 'through Jesus Christ our Lord'.

If the law is holy and good (v. 12), why does Paul say it brought death?

The text gives the reason explicitly in v. 13: sin used 'that which is good' — the commandment — to be shown as sin, so that 'through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful'. The law's role was diagnostic; it exposed coveting (v. 7) that was already there, and in doing so magnified sin's power rather than providing the remedy.

Who delivers from 'the body of this death' in v. 24?

v. 25 answers directly: 'I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.' The same one through whom believers were 'made dead to the law through the body of Christ' (v. 4) is here named the deliverer from the indwelling sin that wars in the members.

Continuar estudiando

Leer en el lectorGuía del libro
HomeDiscoverStudyReadMe