Purpose of the Law in Romans 7

In Romans 7, Paul addresses the purpose and function of the Law, particularly in relation to sin and the believer's experience. He begins by asserting that the Law has authority over a person only as long as they are living ^[1]. This sets the stage for understanding how believers are "delivered from the law" ^[9].

Paul anticipates an objection: "Is the law sin?" ^{[4, 6]}. He emphatically rejects this idea, stating, "Far be it!" ^[4]. Instead, he clarifies that the Law's purpose is to reveal sin. He explains, "I had not discovered, sin, save through law, for even, of coveting, I had not been aware if, the law, had not kept on saying—Thou shall not covet" ^[4]. The Law, therefore, serves as a guide that exposes sin, rather than being sinful itself ^[8].

The apostle further elaborates on the Law's nature, declaring, "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" ^[7]. The Law is not merely a system of external rites but a spiritual system that reaches into the "hidden purposes, thoughts, dispositions, and desires of the heart and soul" ^[10]. It is from God and reflects His holiness, justice, and goodness ^[7].

Despite the Law's inherent goodness, Paul describes a personal struggle, stating, "I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present" ^[2]. He expresses delight in God's Law "after the inward man" ^[3], yet acknowledges a conflict between his desire to do good and the presence of evil within him ^{[2, 11]}. This internal conflict highlights that while the Law is spiritual and good, it neither pardons nor saves from sin ^{[7, 10]}. The Law reveals sin and its power, but it does not provide the means for deliverance from it ^[5].

Sources

Romans “Romans 7:1 (BBE) — Is it not clear, my brothers (I am using an argument to those who have knowledge of the law), that the law has power over a man as long as he is living?”
Romans “I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. -- Romans 7:21”
Romans “For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, -- Romans 7:22”
Romans “Romans 7:7 (Rotherham) — What, then, shall we say? Is the law sin? Far be it! On the contrary, I had not discovered, sin, save through law, for even, of coveting, I had not been aware if, the law, had not kept on saying—Thou shall not covet;”
Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 7 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO ROMANS 7 The Apostle, in this chapter, discourses concerning the freedom of justified and regenerated persons from the law, and concerning the nature, use, and excellency of it; in which he removes several objections to it, and gives an account from his own experience of the struggle and combat there is between flesh and spirit in a regenerate person; and which shows, that though believers are justified from sin, yet still sin remains in them, and is the complaint of their souls. Whereas he had in Rom 6:14, of the preceding chapter, asser”
Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 7:7: What shall we say then? is the law sin?.... The apostle having said, that "the motions of sins were by the law", Rom 7:5, meets with an objection, or rather an ill natured cavil, "is the law sin?" if the motions sins are by it, then it instigates and prompts men to sin; it cherishes it in them; it leads them and impels them to the commission of it, and therefore must be the cause of sin; and if the cause of sin, then it must be sin, or sinful itself: "what shall we say then?" how shall we remove this difficulty, answer this objection, and silence this cavil? To this it”
Romans (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Romans 7:12: Wherefore the law is holy - As if he had said, to soothe his countrymen, to whom he had been showing the absolute insufficiency of the law either to justify or save from sin: I do not intimate that there is any thing improper or imperfect in the law as a rule of life: it prescribes what is holy, just, and good; for it comes from a holy, just, and good God. The Law, which is to regulate the whole of the outward conduct, is holy; and the Commandment, Thou shalt not covet, which is to regulate the heart, is not less so. All is excellent and pure; but it neither pardons”
Romans (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Romans 7:7: 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,”
Romans (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Romans 7:1: Among other arguments used in the foregoing chapter to persuade us against sin, and to holiness, this was one (Rom 7:14), that we are not under the law; and this argument is here further insisted upon and explained (Rom 7:6): 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? 1. We are delivered from the power of the law which curses and condemns us for the sin committed by us. The sentence of the law against us is vacated and reversed, by the death of Christ, ”
Romans (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Romans 7:14: For, we know that the law is spiritual - This is a general proposition, and probably, in the apostle's autograph, concluded the above sentence. The law is not to be considered as a system of external rites and ceremonies; nor even as a rule of moral action: it is a spiritual system; it reaches to the most hidden purposes, thoughts, dispositions, and desires of the heart and soul; and it reproves and condemns every thing, without hope of reprieve or pardon, that is contrary to eternal truth and rectitude. But I am carnal, sold under sin - This was probably, in the ap”
Romans (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Romans 7 (introduction): We may observe in this chapter, I. Our freedom from the law further urged as an argument to press upon us sanctification (Rom 7:1-6). II. The excellency and usefulness of the law asserted and proved from the apostle's own experience, notwithstanding (Rom 7:7-14). III. A description of the conflict between grace and corruption in the heart (Rom 7:14, Rom 7:15, to the end).”

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