Romans 7:7-25
1. Find all the occurrences of “law” in this reading and try to determine the meaning of each. Decipher the wordplay in verses 21-23. Can you think of a way that all these uses of the word “law” could refer to Torah?
2. Find and list all the descriptors of the law in this section, and therefore of God.
3. Two questions determine Paul’s endeavor here: Is God’s law bad? and Does God’s law kill? Why are the questions raised? What are Paul’s answers?
4. Do you read verses 15-24 as autobiographical? If so, is it written by Paul as a Christian looking back on life before accepting Christ? Or is it written by Paul as a Christian struggling every day with sinful nature and lusts?
5. Are verses 15-24 a digression in Paul’s main argument? Or a continued dive to the bottom of the human condition?
6. What joy or excitement comes to you from this text? What questions arise for you out of the reading of this text? What did you learn that was new to you, or a new way of looking at something? What does this text tell you about God and about yourself? About humans in general?
Other References
7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:7-21
7:10 Leviticus 18:5
7:11 Genesis 3:13
7:14 2 Kings 17:17
7:18 Genesis 6:5; 8:21
7:22 Psalm 1:2
Notes: Present tense, personification and separated identity of sin, no hint of inner struggle in chapter 8.