Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
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One of the most difficult passages of the New Testament Scriptures, nevertheless, has a deep inner logic and richness of meaning. Just a brief commentary.
Romans VII, 2 — 'ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός' - 'apo tou nomou tou andros' - 'from the law of man'. The law and, accordingly, the commandment binds a person to the good not through the person themselves, not in their nature, but in an additional way, as a model and pattern of action, as an image of what God desires and intends for human beings. The law is not obligatory for human existence, for human nature, but is given in addition. Therefore, a person may or may not be under the law, depending on various additional factors, including whether the husband and wife are alive.
Romans VII, 3 — 'ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου' - 'eleuthera estin apo tou nomou' - 'free from the law'. According to what has just been written, a person can exist without the law, if the conditions are appropriate. The word freedom
here has a more natural meaning, without freedom a person cannot exist, it is inherent in the very nature of people, it is part of the image of God.
Romans VII, 5 — 'ἦμεν' - 'emen' - 'were'. 'τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν' - 'ta dia tou nomou energeito en tois melesin emon' - 'which through the law (as a channel of action or state), acted, were accomplished, were active in our members. Some translations include the word
originate, but as we can see, it is not in the original. Sinful passions do not come from the law or commandment. However, their manifestations are closely related to the law and the commandment, as will be discussed in more detail below. Generally speaking, what the commandment and the law reveal, expose, show, use, and rely on, is the same thing that the sin and the passions try to use - and often succeed in doing so - to kill a human being. Paul does not say what exactly it is, so his words sound paradoxical and mysterious. We cannot say in a simplistic way that it is freedom that is used by both the law and sins. This is incorrect, because human freedom is not literally the very thing that makes commandments and passions and sins work, although it is very important here. I think what is meant here is that both the law, the commandment, and the sin and passions are connected with the relationship between a person and everything, with the relations, with the attitude of a person to everything. The law reveals what God intended and what is needed, while sin and passions, on the contrary, use human attitudes against the person. It is also obviously important to emphasise that it is the human, not the divine, that is at issue. For example, sin cannot use God's grace, but it can distort and pervert a person's attitude and the relationship between the person and the grace. The law, in turn, does not limit or define grace.
(Next paragraph added 09/07/2024 12:00 EEST)
Sin, at least as a temptation, can occur without a commandment. If there is a commandment, then the sinful desire, lust, does not stop when confronted with the commandment, but tries to "get around" it. One way of doing this is to use the commandment as a pretext for temptation, as a kind of additional reminder of it. Sin in this way, in the words of the Apostle Paul, "instrumentalises" the commandment, which may also be further indicated by constructions with 'δια', which sometimes indicate the ablative case in the ancient Greek language. The commandment itself does not save from the sin; the latter tries to use it until it is defeated. The sin cannot destroy the commandment, but it tries to influence the relationships and attitudes of a person, which it can change.
Romans VII, 6 — 'ἡμᾶς' - 'emas' - 'us' (to us; we).
Romans VII, 8, 11 — 'διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς' - 'dia tes entoles' - 'through the commandment' (as a channel of action). 'χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου' - 'khoris gar nomou' - 'for without (apart from) the law'.
Romans VII, 9 — 'χωρὶς νόμου' - 'khoris nomou' - 'without (apart from) law'. If there is no pattern, no model with which to compare a person's life, then sin cannot distort the attitude. But when there is a model, then comparison is possible, and both conformity and nonconformity are possible.
Romans VII, 10 — 'ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν αὕτη εἰς θάνατον' - 'e entole e eis zoen aute eis thanaton' - 'that commandment which is into life (as the final destination of movement, as the goal of movement) and into death (as the final destination of movement)'. The implication is that in their freedom, human beings are capable of both options, but when they sin, they choose the second, worse one. For more on freedom, see the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
Romans VII, 11 — 'καὶ δι' αὐτῆς ἀπέκτεινεν' - 'kai di' autes apekteinen' - 'and through it put to death' (as a channel of action). To a certain extent, death is non-compliance with God's plan, ideal, model. When a person moves away from the model, they die spiritually and then physically.
Romans VII, 13 — 'ἀλλὰ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἵνα φανῇ ἁμαρτία, διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοι κατεργαζομένη θάνατον- ἵνα γένηται καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἁμαρτωλὸς ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς' - 'alla e amartia ina phane amartia dia tou agathou moi katergazomene thanaton ina genetai kath' hyperbolen amartolos e amaria dia tes entoles' - 'but sin, in order to appear as sin, through (as a channel or means of action) goodness did me death, so that something like the excessive, exceeding sinfulness of sin through the commandment (as a channel or means of action) might happen. A complex explanation of several important ideas, including why sin is actually wrong, bad, and sinful. The ideal given to people by God is good, and the sin causes death to people through this goodness.
Read more about the reading from the Apostle here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19062023.html
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19062023.html
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19062023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!