Romans 7:7-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:13

Was then that which is good, made death unto me ?.... An objection is started upon the last epithet in commendation of the law; and it is as if the objector should say, if the law is good, as you say, how comes it to pass that it is made death, or is the cause of death to you? can that be good, which is deadly, or the cause of death? or can that be the cause of death which is good? This objection taken out of the mouth of another person proceeds upon a mistake of the apostle's meaning; for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:14

For we know that the law is spiritual ,.... We who have a spiritual understanding of the law, who have been led into the true nature of it by the Spirit of God, know by experience that that itself is "spiritual"; and therefore can never be the cause of sin or death: the law may be said to be "spiritual", because it comes from the Spirit of God; and reaches to the spirit of man; it requires truth in the inward parts; spiritual service and obedience; a serving of it with our minds; a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:15

For that which I do, I allow not ,.... The apostle having cleared the law from the charge of being the cause either of sin or death, and taken the blame to himself, proceeds to give an account of the struggle and combat he found in himself between the flesh and spirit; "that which I do, I allow not". That which he did was evil, since he allowed not of it; but this is to be understood not of any notorious crime committed by him, and repeated again and again; nor of a sinful course of life,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:16

If then I do that which I would not ,.... This is a corollary, or an inference from what he had related of his own experience; that since what he did, though it was contrary to the law of God, yet was what he did not will nor allow of, but hated, it must be a clear point, that he consented to the law, that it was good ; lovely and amiable; that it forbad those things which were hateful, and commanded those things which were desirable to a good man; and so is acknowledged to be a very... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:17

Now then, it is no more I that do it ,.... This is another inference, deduced from what is before said, that since he did not approve, but hated what he did, and willed the contrary, it was not he as spiritual, as born again, as a new man, a new creature, that did it; see 1 John 3:9 . He says, But sin that dwelleth in me ; the old man, the carnal I, the evil present with him, the law in his members; which not only existed in him, and wrought in him, and that at times very strongly, but... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:18

For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh ,.... The apostle goes on to give some further account of himself, what he knew, and was fully assured of by long experience; as that dwelleth no good thing in him, that is, in his flesh, or carnal self; for otherwise there were many good things dwelt in him; there was the good work of grace, and the good word of God in him, and even Father, Son, and Spirit, dwelt in him; but his meaning is, that there was no good thing naturally in him; no... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:19

For the good that I would, I do not ,.... The apostle here repeats what he had delivered in Romans 7:15 to strengthen and confirm this part of his experience; that though he had a will to that which was good, yet he wanted power, and had none of himself to perform; and therefore often did what he would not, and what he would he did not. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:20

Now if I do that I would not ,.... The same conclusion is formed here, as in Romans 7:17 , not with any view to excuse himself from blame in sinning, but to trace the lusts of his heart, and the sins of his life, to the source and fountain of them, the corruption of his nature; and to ascribe them to the proper cause of them, which was not the law of God, nor the new man, but sin that dwelt in him. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:21

I find then a law ,.... This is to be understood either of the corruption of nature, which he found by experience to be in him; and which, because of its force, power, and prevalence it sometimes had in him, he calls "a law"; it forcibly demanding compliance with its lusts; and is the same with what he calls "evil", and which the Jews so frequently style יצר הרע "the evil imagination", by which they mean the corruption of nature; and one of the seven names, and the first of them, by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 7:22

For I delight in the law of God ,.... This an unregenerate man cannot do; he does not like its commands, they are disagreeable to his corrupt nature; and as it is a threatening, cursing, damning law, it can never be delighted in by him: the moralist, the Pharisee, who obeys it externally, do not love it, nor delight in it; he obeys it not from love to its precepts, but from fear of its threatenings; from a desire of popular esteem, and from low, mercenary, selfish views, in order to gain the... read more

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