7 What, then, shall we say? the law `is' sin? let it not be! but the sin I did not know except through law, for also the covetousness I had not known if the law had not said:
wherefore by works of law shall no flesh be declared righteous before Him, for through law is a knowledge of sin.
`Thou shalt not covet;' and the sin having received an opportunity, through the command, did work in me all covetousness -- for apart from law sin is dead.
`Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which `is' thy neighbour's.'
and the sting of the death `is' the sin, and the power of the sin the law;
for, `Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false testimony, Thou shalt not covet;' and if there is any other command, in this word it is summed up, in this: `Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;'
for the law doth work wrath; for where law is not, neither `is' transgression.
And, if our unrighteousness God's righteousness doth establish, what shall we say? is God unrighteous who is inflicting the wrath? (after the manner of a man I speak)
Love not ye the world, nor the things in the world; if any one doth love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that `is' in the world -- the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the ostentation of the life -- is not of the Father, but of the world,
not in the affection of desire, as also the nations that were not knowing God,
and whoredom, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
That which is good then, to me hath it become death? let it not be! but the sin, that it might appear sin, through the good, working death to me, that the sin might become exceeding sinful through the command,
for when we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins, that `are' through the law, were working in our members, to bear fruit to the death;
What then? shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? let it not be!
And he said unto them, `Observe, and beware of the covetousness, because not in the abundance of one's goods is his life.'
And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently, And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man and his house, Even a man and his inheritance.
Of all perfection I have seen an end, Broad `is' Thy command -- exceedingly!
The law of Jehovah `is' perfect, refreshing the soul, The testimonies of Jehovah `are' stedfast, Making wise the simple, The precepts of Jehovah `are' upright, Rejoicing the heart, The command of Jehovah `is' pure, enlightening the eyes, The fear of Jehovah `is' clean, standing to the age, The judgments of Jehovah `are' true, They have been righteous -- together. They are more desirable than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; and sweeter than honey, Even liquid honey of the comb. Also -- Thy servant is warned by them, `In keeping them `is' a great reward.' Errors! who doth understand? From hidden ones declare me innocent,
And it cometh to pass, after these things, a vineyard hath been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that `is' in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, and Ahab speaketh unto Naboth, saying, `Give to me thy vineyard, and it is to me for a garden of green herbs, for it `is' near by my house, and I give to thee in its stead a better vineyard than it; if good in thine eyes, I give to thee silver -- its price.' And Naboth saith unto Ahab, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to thee;' and Ahab cometh in unto his house, sulky and wroth, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite hath spoken unto him when he saith, `I do not give to thee the inheritance of my fathers,' and he lieth down on his bed, and turneth round his face, and hath not eaten bread.
and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman `is' of very good appearance,
and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight `is' fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they `are' hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 7
Commentary on Romans 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
We may observe in this chapter,
Rom 7:1-6
Among other arguments used in the foregoing chapter to persuade us against sin, and to holiness, this was one (v. 14), that we are not under the law; and this argument is here further insisted upon and explained (v. 6): We are delivered from the law. What is meant by this? And how is it an argument why sin should not reign over us, and why we should walk in newness of life?
Rom 7:7-14
To what he had said in the former paragraph, the apostle here raises an objection, which he answers very fully: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? When he had been speaking of the dominion of sin, he had said so much of the influence of the law as a covenant upon that dominion that it might easily be misinterpreted as a reflection upon the law, to prevent which he shows from his own experience the great excellency and usefulness of the law, not as a covenant, but as a guide; and further discovers how sin took occasion by the commandment. Observe in particular,
Rom 7:14-25
Here is a description of the conflict between grace and corruption in the heart, between the law of God and the law of sin. And it is applicable two ways:-