What is the meaning of Romans 7:5? For when we lived according to the flesh Paul is looking back to our pre-conversion days, when self, not the Spirit, ruled. • “According to the flesh” points to a lifestyle guided by fallen desires, as in Romans 8:5–8 where “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.” • Ephesians 2:1–3 describes the same season: “we all once lived in the passions of our flesh… and were by nature children of wrath.” • The verb “lived” signals an ongoing pattern, not an occasional slip. Before Christ, this was our normal operating system. the sinful passions aroused by the law The law is holy (Romans 7:12), yet it exposes and even stirs up rebellion in the sinner’s heart. • Like a “Do Not Touch” sign that makes us want to touch, the commandments bring dormant desires to the surface (Romans 7:8). • 1 Corinthians 15:56 echoes this: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” • The problem is not the law itself but the sin within us that seizes the opportunity to transgress when the boundary is made clear. were at work in our bodies Sin isn’t abstract; it hijacks the tangible parts of us—eyes, tongue, hands—producing destructive deeds. • James 1:14–15 traces the process: desire conceives, gives birth to sin, and sin brings forth death. • Romans 6:12 urges, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.” • Colossians 3:5 calls believers to “put to death” these bodily sins now that we belong to Christ. bearing fruit for death Every tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:17–19). The harvest of a flesh-ruled life is spiritual death. • Romans 6:21 asks, “What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? Those things result in death!” • Galatians 6:8 warns, “The one who sows to please his flesh… will reap destruction.” • This death is both present—alienation from God—and future, culminating in eternal separation unless one trusts Christ (Romans 6:23). summary Romans 7:5 reminds us where we once stood: captive to fleshly urges that the law exposed, channeled through our bodies, and harvested in death. The verse sets the stage for the liberating contrast of Romans 7:6, where believers now serve “in the new way of the Spirit.” Remembering the old bondage magnifies the grace that has moved us from death-bearing fruit to life-giving freedom. |
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