Romans 7:6-8
New Century Version
6 In the past, the law held us like prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way with the Spirit, and not in the old way with written rules.
Our Fight Against Sin
7 You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same thing. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin meant. I would never have known what it means to want to take something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.”[a] 8 And sin found a way to use that command and cause me to want all kinds of things I should not want. But without the law, sin has no power.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:7 “You . . . things.” Quotation from Exodus 20:17.
Romans 7:6-8
New International Version
6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(A) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(B)
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then?(C) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(D) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(E) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[a](F) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(G) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(H)
Footnotes
- Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.