Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 7:9

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

9. For I ] The “I” is emphatic. Through this section, as often elsewhere, Sin is quasi-personified, and distinguished from the Self which nevertheless it fatally infects. It is an alien thing, an invasion, which (at the Fall) broke in on Man’s nature created upright. In this representation of Sin, no extenuation of personal guilt is meant: with St Paul “every soul that doeth evil” incurs for itself the Divine wrath. But the separability in thought of Sin and the Self is not only true in fact, but suggests the gracious coming deliverance of the Self from Sin. We are not to view the Self as a good principle opposed to the evil principle; it is the subject on and in which the evil principle works; but it is not therefore identical with it, and is capable of being worked on and in by the Divine Principle.

was alive ] Here the context explains again. Subjectively he was “alive;” unconscious of resistance to God, and alienation from Him, and condemnation. See note on Rom 6:13, (“as those that are alive, &c.,”) where the true “life” (of acceptance) is remarked on. The state here referred to was, as it were, the phantom of that. In this, he took for granted his acceptance before God, or at least did not realize the opposite.

the commandment came ] Came home to conscience and will, in the midst of this fancied “life” to God.

revived ] Sin is viewed as (1) invading the soul (ideally, in the Fall); then as (2) dormant till the Law crosses it; and now as (3) roused to direct energy.

I died ] i.e., “my previous state of consciousness was reversed.” I became subjectively dead; I “found myself” alienated and doomed. Evidently the ideas of “death” and “life” here vary, as applied to Sin and Self. The “death” of sin before its “revival” was torpidity. The “death” of self on that revival of sin was sense of doom.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For I – There seems to be no doubt that the apostle here refers to his own past experience. Yet in this he speaks the sentiment of all who are unconverted, and who are depending on their own righteousness.

Was alive – This is opposed to what he immediately adds respecting another state, in which he was when he died. It must mean, therefore, that he had a certain kind of peace; he deemed himself secure; he was free from the convictions of conscience and the agitations of alarm. The state to which he refers here must be doubtless that to which he himself alludes elsewhere, when he deemed himself to be righteous, depending on his own works, and esteeming himself to be blameless, Phi 3:4-6; Act 23:1; Act 26:4-5. It means that he was then free from those agitations and alarms which he afterward experienced when he was brought under conviction for sin. At that time, though he had the Law, and was attempting to obey it, yet he was unacquainted with its spiritual and holy nature. He aimed at external conformity. Its claims on the heart were unfelt. This is the condition of every self-confident sinner, and of everyone who is unawakened.

Without the law – Not that Paul was ever really without the Law, that is, without the Law of Moses; but he means before the Law was applied to his heart in its spiritual meaning, and with power.

But when the commandment came – When it was applied to the heart and conscience. This is the only intelligible sense of the expression; for it cannot refer to the time when the Law was given. When this was, the apostle does not say. But the expression denotes whenever it was so applied; when it was urged with power and efficacy on his conscience, to control, restrain, and threaten him, it produced this effect. We are unacquainted with the early operations of his mind, and with his struggles against conscience and duty. We know enough of him before conversion, however, to be assured that he was proud, impetuous, and unwilling to be restrained; see Acts 8; 9. In the state of his self-confident righteousness and impetuosity of feeling, we may easily suppose that the holy Law of God, which is designed to restrain the passions, to humble the heart, and to rebuke pride, would produce only irritation, and impatience of restraint, and revolt.

Sin revived – Lived again. This means that it was before dormant Rom 7:8, but was now quickened into new life. The word is usually applied to a renewal of life, Rom 14:19; Luk 15:24, Luk 15:32, but here it means substantially the same as the expression in Rom 7:8, Sin …wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. The power of sin, which was before dormant, became quickened and active.

I died – That is, I was by it involved in additional guilt and misery. It stands opposed to I was alive, and must mean the opposite of that; and evidently denotes that the effect of the commandment was to bring him under what he calls death, (compare Rom 5:12, Rom 5:14-15😉 that is, sin reigned, and raged, and produced its withering and condemning effects; it led to aggravated guilt and misery. It may also include this idea, that before, he was self-confident and secure, but that by the commandment he was stricken down and humbled, his self-confidence was blasted, and his hopes were prostrated in the dust. Perhaps no words would better express the humble, subdued, melancholy, and helpless state of a converted sinner than the expressive phrase I died. The essential idea here is, that the Law did not answer the purpose which the Jew would claim for it, to sanctify the soul and to give comfort, but that all its influence on the heart was to produce aggravated, unpardoned guilt and woe.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 9. I was alive without the law once] Dr. Whitby paraphrases the verse thus:-“For the seed of Abraham was alive without the law once, before the law was given, I being not obnoxious to death for that to which the law had not threatened death; but when the commandment came, forbidding it under that penalty, sin revived, and I died; i.e. it got strength to draw me to sin, and to condemn me to death. Sin is, in Scripture, represented as an enemy that seeks our ruin and destruction; and takes all occasions to effect it. It is here said to war against the mind, Ro 7:23; elsewhere, to war against the soul, 1Pe 2:11; to surround and beset us, Heb 12:1; to bring us into bondage and subjection, and get the dominion over us, Ro 6:12; to entice us, and so to work our death, Jas 1:14-16; and to do all that Satan, the grand enemy of mankind, doth, by tempting us to the commission of it. Whence Chrysostom, upon those words, Heb 12:4: Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, , striving against sin; represents sin as an armed and flagrant adversary. When, therefore, it finds a law which threatens death to the violater of it, it takes occasion thence more earnestly to tempt and allure to the violation of it, that so it may more effectually subject us to death and condemnation on that account; for the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, condemning us to death for transgressing it. Thus, when God had forbidden, on pain of death, the eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, Satan thence took occasion to tempt our first parents to transgress, and so slew them, or made them subject to death; , he deceived them, Ge 3:13; 1Ti 2:14; which is the word used Ro 7:11. The phrase, without the law, sin was dead, means, that sin was then (before the law was given) comparatively dead, as to its power of condemning to death; and this sense the antithesis requires; without the law, , , sin was dead, but I was living; but when the commandment came, (i.e. the law,) sin revived, and I died. How were men living before the law, but because then no law condemned them? Sin, therefore, must be then dead, as to its condemning power. How did they die when the law came but by the law condemning them to death? Sin therefore revived, then, as to its power of condemning, which it received first from the sin of Adam, which brought death into the world; and next, from the law of Moses, which entered that the offence might abound, and reign more unto death, Ro 5:20; Ro 5:21. For though sin was in the world from Adam to Moses, or until the law was given, yet it was not imputed unto death, when there was no law that did threaten death; so that death reigned from that interval by virtue of Adam’s sin alone; even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, i.e. against a positive law, forbidding it under the penalty of death; which law being delivered by Moses, sin revived; i.e. it had again its force to condemn men as before to death, by virtue of a law which threatened death. And in this sense the apostle seems to say, Ga 3:19, the law was added because of transgressions, to convince us of the wrath and punishment due to them; and that the law, therefore, worketh wrath, because where no law is there is no transgression, Ro 4:15, subjecting us to wrath; or no such sense of the Divine wrath as where a plain Divine law, threatening death and condemnation, is violated.” See Whitby, in loco.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

For I was alive without the law once: q.d. Take me, if you please, for an instance. Before I knew the law aright, and understood the Divine and spiritual meaning of it, or whilst the law stood afar off, and was not brought home to my conscience, I was alive, that is, in my own conceit; I thought myself in as good condition as any man living; my conscience never gave me any trouble. So it was with me once, or heretofore, when I was a Pharisee, or in an unregenerate state.

But when the commandment came; i.e. when it came nearer to my conscience; when I came to know and understand the spiritual meaning and extent of it, that it condemned sinful lusts, affections, and inclinations.

Sin revived; i.e. its sinfulness and guilt appeared, and I had a lively sense thereof imprinted upon my soul; or my corruptions began to gather head, and seemed, as it were, to receive new vigour and life.

And I died; i.e. in my own opinion and feeling. I felt my conscience deadly wounded. I was convinced I was in a state of death and damnation. I lost the confidence I formerly had of my good estate.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. For I was alive without the lawonce“In the days of my ignorance, when, in this sense, astranger to the law, I deemed myself a righteous man, and, as such,entitled to life at the hand of God.”

but when the commandmentcameforbidding all irregular desire; for the apostle sees inthis the spirit of the whole law.

sin revived“cameto life”; in its malignity and strength it unexpectedly revealeditself, as if sprung from the dead.

and I died“sawmyself, in the eye of a law never kept and not to be kept, a deadman.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For I was alive without the law once,…. The apostle says this, not in the person of Adam, as some have thought; who lived indeed, in a state of innocence, a perfectly holy and righteous life, but not without the law, which was the rule of his actions, and the measure of his obedience; he had the law of nature written upon his heart, and a positive law respecting the forbidden fruit given him, as a trial of his obedience; and though when he transgressed he became mortal, yet sin could not be said to revive in him, which never lived before; nor does the apostle speak in the person of a Jew, or the whole body of the people of Israel before the law was given on Mount Sinai; before that time the sons of Abraham did not live without a law; for besides the law of nature, which they had in common with others, they were acquainted with other laws of God, as the laws of circumcision, sacrifices, and the several duties of religion; see Ge 18:19; and when the law did come from Mount Sinai, it had not such effects upon them as are here expressed: but the apostle is speaking of himself, and that not as in his state of infancy before he could discern between good and evil, but when grown up, and whilst a Pharisee; who, though he was born under the law, was brought up and more perfectly instructed in it than the common people were, and was a strict observer of it, yet was without the knowledge of the spirituality of it; he, as the rest of the Pharisees, thought it only regarded the outward actions, and did not reach to the spirits or souls of men, the inward thoughts and affections of the mind; the law was as it were at a distance from him, it had not as yet entered into his heart and conscience; and whilst this was his case he was “alive”, he did not know that he “was dead in trespasses and sins”, Eph 2:1, a truth he afterwards was acquainted with; nor that he was so much as disordered by sin; he thought himself healthful, sound, and whole, when he was diseased and full of wounds, bruises, and sores, from head to foot; he lived in the utmost peace and tranquillity, without the least ruffle and uneasiness, free from any terror or despondency, and in perfect security, being in sure and certain hope of eternal life; and concluded if ever any man went to heaven he certainly should, since, as he imagined, he lived a holy and righteous life, free of all blame, and even to perfection;

but when the commandment came; not to Adam in the garden of Eden; nor to the Israelites on Mount Sinai; but into the heart and conscience of the apostle, with power and light from above:

sin revived; it lift up its monstrous head, and appeared in its ugly shape, exceeding sinful indeed; it grew strong and exerted itself; its strugglings and opposition, its rebellion and corruption were seen and felt, which show that it was not dead before, only seemed to be so; it was in being, and it lived and acted before as now; the difference was not in that, but in the apostle’s sense and apprehension of it, who upon sight of it died away:

and I died; he now saw himself a dead man, dead in sin, dead in law, under a sentence of death which he now had within himself; he saw he was deserving of eternal death, and all his hopes of eternal life by his obedience to the law of works died at once; he now experimentally learnt that doctrine he so much insisted afterwards in his ministry, and to the last maintained, that there can be no justification of a sinner by the deeds of the law, since by it is the knowledge of sin.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

I was alive (). Imperfect active. Apparently, “the lost paradise in the infancy of men” (Denney), before the conscience awoke and moral responsibility came, “a seeming life” (Shedd).

Sin revived ( ). Sin came back to life, waked up, the blissful innocent stage was over, “the commandment having come” ( , genitive absolute).

But I died ( ). My seeming life was over for I was conscious of sin, of violation of law. I was dead before, but I did not know. Now I found out that I was spiritually dead.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

I was alive – once [ ] . Referring to the time of childlike innocence previous to the stimulus imparted to the inactive principle of sin by the coming of the law; when the moral self – determination with respect to the law had not taken place, and the sin – principle was therefore practically dead.

The commandment [] . The specific injunction “thou shalt not covet.” See on Jas 2:8; Joh 13:34.

Revived [] . Not came to life, but lived again. See Luk 14:24,

Rom 7:32The power of sin is originally and in its nature living; but before the coming of the commandment its life is not expressed. When the commandment comes, it becomes alive again. It lies dormant, like the beast at the door (Gen 4:7), until the law stirs it up.

The tendency of prohibitory law to provoke the will to resistance is frequently recognized in the classics. Thus, Horace : “The human race, presumptuous to endure all things, rushes on through forbidden wickedness” (Ode, 1, 3, 25). Ovid : “The permitted is unpleasing; the forbidden consumes us fiercely” (” Amores, “1, 19, 3).” We strive against the forbidden and ever desire what is denied “(Id., 1, 4, 17). Seneca :” Parricides began with the law, and the punishment showed them the crime “(” De Clementia,” 1, 23). Cato, in his speech on the Oppian law; says : “It is safer that a wicked man should even never be accused than that he should be acquitted; and luxury, if it had never been meddled with, would he more tolerable than it will be now, like a wild beast, irritated by having been chained and then let loose” (Livy, 34, 4).

I found to be unto death. The A. V. omits the significant auth this. This very commandment, the aim of which was life, I found unto death. Meyer remarks : “It has tragic emphasis.” So Rev., this I found. The surprise at such an unexpected result is expressed by I found, literally, was found []

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For I was alive without the law once,” (ego de ezon Choris nomou pote) “And I was living then, apart from jurisdiction of (the) law;” Not Spiritually responsible until I became mature in mind and comprehension to know the difference between right and wrong. This is the State of every immature infant or youth and the mentally unaccountable –they have a soul alive to God, protected by the death of Christ, till they come to know what sin is, Joh 1:29; 1Ti 4:10; Heb 2:9.

2) “But when the commandment came,” (elthouses de tes entoles) “But when the commandment came (of its own accord),” came to make me recognize that I was a covetous, selfish, adulterous law-breaker –when its import or meaning was revealed by the Spirit to condemn my conscience of former self -righteousness, that I was a sinner, condemned under the law, Luk 13:3; Luk 13:5; Mar 1:15; Act 17:30-31.

3) “Sin revived,” (he hamartia anezesin) “The Sin (rebellion, covetous will) rose up, revived;” actively, obstinately resisted the revelation of who and what I was, a moral and ethical enemy of holiness, justice, and goodness, Rom 3:23; Rom 6:23; Inherent sin brings Spiritual Separation from God, that requires the applied blood of Christ for Salvation, Jas 1:13-15.

4) “And I died,” (ego de apethanon) “And (then), at that point, I died;” I was Spiritually, accountably, cut off from all Spiritual benefits, and protection from the consequence of sin in me, Isa 53:6; Isa 59:2; Eph 2:1-2. I accountably realized that I was exposed to, in danger of, eternal death, Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36,

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

9. For I was alive, etc. He means to intimate that there had been a time when sin was dead to him or in him. But he is not to be understood as though he had been without law at any time, but this word I was alive has a peculiar import; for it was the absence of the law that was the reason why he was alive; that is, why he being inflated with a conceit as to his own righteousness, claimed life to himself while he was yet dead. That the sentence may be more clear, state it thus, “When I was formerly without the law, I was alive.” But I have said that this expression is emphatic; for by imagining himself great, he also laid claim to life. The meaning then is this, “When I sinned, having not the knowledge of the law, the sin, which I did not observe, was so laid to sleep, that it seemed to be dead; on the other hand, as I seemed not to myself to be a sinner, I was satisfied with myself, thinking that I had a life of mine own.” But the death of sin is the life of man, and again the life of sin is the death of man.

It may be here asked, what time was that when through his ignorance of the law, or as he himself says, through the absence of it, he confidently laid claim to life. It is indeed certain, that he had been taught the doctrine of the law from his childhood; but it was the theology of the letter, which does not humble its disciples, for as he says elsewhere, the veil interposed so that the Jews could not see the light of life in the law; so also he himself, while he had his eyes veiled, being destitute of the Spirit of Christ, was satisfied with the outward mask of righteousness. Hence he represents the law as absent, though before his eyes, while it did not really impress him with the consciousness of God’s judgment. Thus the eyes of hypocrites are covered with a veil, that they see not how much that command requires, in which we are forbidden to lust or covet.

But when the commandment came, etc. So now, on the other hand, he sets forth the law as coming when it began to be really understood. It then raised sin as it were from be dead; for it discovered to Paul how great depravity abounded in the recesses of his heart, and at the same time it slew him. We must ever remember that he speaks of that inebriating confidence in which hypocrites settle, while they flatter themselves, because they overlook their sins.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(9) I was alive.The state of unconscious morality, uninstructed but as yet uncondemned, may, compared with that state of condemnation, be regarded as a state of life.

Revived.The English version well represents the meaning of the original, which is not that sin came to life, but that it came to life again. Sin is lurking in the heart from the first, but it is dormant until the Commandment comes; then it revives.

I died.Became subject to the doom of eternal death.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

9. Alive Fanciedly alive alive in my own conceit; not knowing that I was truly a dead man.

Without the law The law having to me no virtual existence.

Commandment came Like a new arrival front parts unknown.

Sin revived A reversal takes place: sin was dead and I alive; but now, law having come, sin is alive and I am dead.

I died And the question is, Who killed me? The answer is not law; but law waked up sin, and sin killed me.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died,’

This was what had happened to Paul, while he was still Saul. He had been striving with all his might to obey the Law, and had prided himself on how well he was doing (Gal 1:13-14; Php 3:4-6), so much so that he had seen it as ‘making him alive’ (‘the man who does these things will live in them’ – Lev 18:5; Gal 3:12). He had been confident that he was on the way to eternal life. The Law had not been speaking to him. He had been ‘apart from the Law’. (Some, however, see this as referring to his early life before at the age of around 13 he became committed to observe the Law at his Jewish ‘coming of age’ ceremony)

And then the commandment had come and had spoken in his heart, and this had brought his sin ‘alive’ (had revived it), and the consequence had been that he himself had ‘died’. He had recognised that the Law, instead of giving him life, because by his obedience to it he was ‘living in it’, was instead pronouncing a sentence of death. It was pointing out that he was not alive at all. The result was that all his hopes of eternal life had collapsed, and he had recognised that all that awaited him was death. Spiritually he was stultified. (The rich young ruler who came to Jesus must have experienced something similar. Having observed the commandments from his youth up he had come to recognise that something vital was missing, which was why he had come to Jesus – Mar 10:17-22; Luk 18:18-23).

However, we must not read too much into Paul’s life and death language here. For parallel with Paul being ‘alive’ and then ‘dead’ we have sin being ‘dead’ and then becoming ‘alive’. Yet it is quite clear that sin was not dead, it was still doing its evil work. And it is clear that it did not come alive literally. The language is all metaphorical. Thus we must not let our interpretation be swayed by trying to make the thoughts of ‘being alive’ and dying’ literal.

On the other hand it is, of course, very possible that Paul had seen in his experience a throwback to the Garden of Eden, and to the experience of Adam when he first sinned. He too had been alive apart from the Law, for the Law had not yet been given (although we may argue that he was under God’s Law, for God had said of the tree of knowing good and evil, ‘you shall not eat of it’. That was Paul’s argument in Rom 5:12-14). But God’s commandment that he should not eat of the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil had brought sin to life and he had succumbed to it and had died. And now the same thing had been repeated in Paul’s own life. In typically Jewish fashion he could be seeing his own experience as involved in that of Adam (just as the Jew at Passover saw himself as again being redeemed). He may also have seen himself as echoing the experience of Israel when the Law had come to them, but only with the consequence that it resulted in their condemnation. The same had happened to him. ‘When the commandment came, sin revived and I died’. Thus it may be that he saw himself as very much involved in salvation history, not only that of Israel, but also that of Adam, and therefore mankind.

Note that in these few verses ‘the commandment’ is the equivalent of ‘the Law’, for the commandment was the part of the Law that had spoken to Paul. It is spoken of as ‘the commandment’ because at this stage Paul has one commandment in mind.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Rom 7:9 . But I was once alive without the law . , the antithesis of ; , antithesis of ; , just as in Rom 7:8 .

] The sense is, on account of the foregoing ( ) and the following ( , Rom 7:10 ) contrast, necessarily (in opposition to Reiche and van Hengel) to be taken as pregnant; but not with the arbitrary alteration, videbar mihi vivere (Augustine, Erasmus, Pareus, Estius), or securus eram , (Luther, Melancthon, Beza, Calvin, Piscator, Calovius, Bengel, and others, including Krummacher), thus representing Paul as glancing at his Pharisaic state , in which the law had not yet alarmed him, a view which is at variance with the words themselves and with the antitheses, and which is certainly quite inadmissible historically in the case of a character like Paul (Gal 1:14 ; Gal 3:23 ; Phi 3:6 ), who could testify so truly and vividly of the power of sin and of the curse of the law. No, Paul means the death-free (Rom 7:10 ) life of childlike innocence (comp. Winzer, p. 11; de Wette and Ewald in loc. ; Umbreit in the Stud. u. Krit . 1851, p. 637 f.; Ernesti, Urspr. d. Snde , I. p. 101; Weiss, bibl. Theol . p. 287; also Delitzsch), where as this state of life, resembling the condition of our first parents in Paradise, was the bright spot of his own earliest recollection the law has not yet come to conscious knowledge, the moral self-determination in respect to it has not yet taken place, and therefore the sin-principle is still lying in the slumber of death. Rightly explained already by Origen: , , and by Augustine, c. duas ep. Pelag . i. 9. This is certainly a status securitatis , but one morally indifferent, not immoral, and not extending beyond the childhood unconscious of the . Hence, in the apostle’s case, it is neither to be extended till the time of his conversion (Luther, Melancthon, etc.), nor even only till the time of his having perceived that the law demands not merely the outward act, but also the inward inclination (Philippi and Tholuck) which is neither in harmony with the unlimited (Paul must at least have written ), nor psychologically correct, since sin is not dead up to this stage of the moral development. From this very circumstance, it is clear also that the explanation of those is erroneous, who, making Paul speak in the name of his nation, are compelled to think of the purer and more blameless life of the patriarchs and Israelites before the giving of the law (so Grotius, Turretin, Locke, Wetstein, following several Fathers, and recently Reiche; comp. Fritzsche.)

The pregnant import of the lies in the fact that, while the sin-principle is dead, man has not yet incurred eternal death ( physical death has been incurred by every one through Adam’s sin, Rom 5:12 ); this being alive is therefore an analogue though still unconscious and weak, yet pleasingly presenting itself in the subsequent retrospect of the true and eternal (comp. Mat 18:3 ) which Christ (comp. Rom 7:24 f.) has procured through His atoning work. The theory of a pre-mundane life of the pre-existent soul (Hilgenfeld in his Zeitschr . 1871, p. 190 f.) is a Platonism forced on the apostle (comp. Wis 8:20 , and Grimm in loc. ) in opposition to the entire N. T.

.] but when the command , namely, the of the Mosaic law, had come, i.e. had become present to my consciousness . To the person living still in childlike innocence the was absent; for him it was not yet issued; it had not yet presented itself. Comp. on Gal 3:23 . Reiche, consistently with his view of the entire section, explains it, as does also Fritzsche, of the historical Mosaic legislation.

] is by most modern commentators rendered came to life . So Tholuck, Rckert, Fritzsche, Baumgarten-Crusius, de Wette, Maier, and Hofmann. But quite contrary to the usus loquendi (Luk 15:24 ; Luk 15:32 ; Rom 14:9 ; Rev 20:5 ), in accordance with which it means: came again to life. See also Nonnus, Joh . v. 25: , where (in opposition to the view of Fritzsche) is added according to a well-known pleonasm; comp. , reviviscet, Dial. Herm. de astrol . i. 10, 42; respecting the case of , usually cited as analogous, see on Joh 9:11 . So, too, in Aquila and Symmachus means reviviscere facio . See Schleusner, Thes . I. p. 219. And also the frequent classical and , always mean to come to life again; Plat. Rep . p. 614 B; Polit . p. 272; Lucian, Q. hist . 40: , Gall . 18. Comp. , 2Ma 7:9 . It is therefore linguistically correct to explain it, with the ancients, Bengel, and Philippi: sin lived again ( revixit , Vulgate); but this is not to be interpreted, with Bengel, following Augustine and others: “sicut vixerat, cum per Adamum intrasset in mundum” (comp. Philippi), because that is foreign to the context, inasmuch as Paul sets forth his experience as the expression of the experience of every individual in his relation to the law, not speaking of humanity as a whole . The , which is not to be misinterpreted as pointing to a pre-mundane sin (Hilgenfeld), finds its true explanation, analogously to the in Joh 9:11 , in the view that the , that potentiality of sin in man, is originally and in its nature a living power, but is, before the comes, without expression for its life, ; thereupon it resumes its proper living nature, and thus becomes alive again . Comp. van Hengel: “e sopore vigorem recuperavit.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1853
THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE LAW

Rom 7:9. I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

WHEN we behold the extreme supineness of those around us in relation to their eternal concerns, we are naturally led to inquire, What the reason of it is? Is it that they imagine there is no God; or no future state; or no connexion between their present life and their eternal destiny? No: they acknowledge their accountableness to God; but they are ignorant of the rule by which they shall be judged: and hence they conclude that they are in no danger, when, if they were apprised of their real state, they would he filled with alarm and terror. Thus it was with the Apostle Paul previous to his conversion: whilst ignorant of the spiritual nature of Gods law, he thought himself secure of acceptance with God: but when he had juster views of the law, he had juster views of his own spiritual condition also. Here then, as in a glass, we see,

I.

The apprehensions which ignorant men have of their state before God

[None are so blind as to think they have never sinned: but the generality suppose that they have never sinned in any great degree, so as to endanger their eternal happiness, or to justify God in consigning them over to eternal misery. If in some respects their actions have been incorrect, they have had no bad intentions: their conduct may have been bad; but their hearts were good. If they have refrained from gross immoralities, and been observant of some outward duties, they will, like the Pharisee, thank God that they are not as other men; and will boast before him of the good deeds which they have done [Note: Luk 18:11-12.]. As for being in any danger of perishing, they cannot for a moment admit the idea: they think, that if God were to cast them into hell, he would be unjust; that they have never merited such a doom: and it would be quite irreconcileable with the goodness of God to suppose him capable of proceeding with such severity against persons of their description. Such were Pauls views of himself; he was alive without the law once: having extremely contracted views of his duty, he thought he had done nothing to deserve punishment, and was secure of eternal life and salvation. And such is the delusion by which the whole host of unconverted men are blinded at this day.]

Hence we perceive,

II.

The means by which alone they can be brought to a juster knowledge of their state

[When God was pleased to arrest Paul in his way to Damascus, and to reveal himself to him, he discovered to him the spirituality and extent of the law. Paul had before thought that the commandments related only to outward acts; whereas he was now made to see that an inordinate desire was as much forbidden as the most criminal action; and that an impure or angry thought were in Gods sight as adultery or murder [Note: ver. 7. with Mat 5:22-23.]: he saw too that the curse of the law was denounced against every violation of its commands; and that it as truly condemned men for a dissatisfied or envious wish, as for the most flagrant transgression [Note: Gal 3:10.]. From this time all his delusions vanished: he no longer cherished the fond idea of meriting salvation by his past or future obedience: he saw that he had not in any one action of his life come up to the full demands of the law; and that consequently he must renounce all dependence on the law for his justification before God.

Thus were his views rectified: and it is in this way alone that any one can attain a just knowledge of his state. The commandment must come with power to his conscience: he must see the spirituality of the law as extending to every thought and motion of the heart, and the holiness of the law as unalterably consigning over to the curse every one who shall transgress it in the smallest particular. Then his hopes from it will for ever vanish; and he will seek for mercy solely through the atoning blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus.]

But let us more distinctly consider,

III.

The view they will have of themselves, when rightly informed

[Whilst men are ignorant what the law requires, sin appears to be, as it were, dead, and destitute of power either to enslave or condemn them: but when they have a discovery of the law, they will perceive that sin has all along exercised a tyrannic sway over them, and brought them under the heaviest condemnation. Their whole life will appear to have been one uninterrupted course of sin; and to have been spent, unwittingly indeed, but truly, in treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. Their best actions now will be viewed as defiled with sin, and as deserving punishment: and they will see their need of one to bear the iniquity of their holy things, as well as of their more evident transgressions. They will now confess, that if God should enter into judgment with them, they could not answer him for one act, or word, or thought, in their whole lives. Hence they lie before him as sinners under sentence of death, and cast themselves wholly on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Instead of rising against the denunciations of his wrath, as they once did, they are dumb [Note: Mat 22:12.]; well knowing that he will be justified in his sayings, and be clear when he judgeth [Note: Psa 51:4.]. Thus from thinking themselves alive and pure, sin revives in them, and they die.]

Improvement
1.

How mistaken then are they who imagine that they have no cause to fear the wrath of God!

[We will grant, that, according to the worlds estimate, they are very worthy characters: but are they more exemplary than the Apostle Paul was before his conversion? Let them hear his own account of himself, and judge [Note: Php 3:4-6.]. If then he, when his eyes were opened, saw that he was a dead condemned sinner, let not any of us delude ourselves with the idea that we are in any better state ]

2.

How suited is the Gospel to those who feel their guilt and misery!

[Are we lost? it was such persons that Christ came to seek and to save. Have we nothing to present to God in order to obtain salvation? He requires nothing at our hands, but to receive it freely from him without money, and without price Let the law then be to us as a schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ; and let us look to Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Ver. 9. For I was alive ] As being without sense of sin, and conscience of duty.

Sin revived ] sc. In sense and appearance.

And I died ] sc. In pride and self-justice.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

9 .] It is a great question with Interpreters, of what period Paul here speaks. Those who sink his own personality, and think that he speaks merely as one of mankind, or of the Jews, understand it of the period before the law was given: some, of Adam in Paradise before (?) the prohibition: those who see Paul himself throughout the whole think that he speaks, some, of his state as a Pharisee : this however would necessitate the understanding the legal death which follows, of his conversion , which cannot well be: some, of his state as a child , before that freedom of the will is asserted which causes rebellion against the law as the will of another: so Meyer, Thol., al. Agreeing in some measure with the last view, I would extend the limits further, and say that he speaks of all that time, be it mere childhood or much more, before the law began its work within him , before the deeper energies of his moral nature were aroused (see on below).

But ( opposed, but only formally, to , and so having : so Meyer and De W.) I was alive (not merely ‘ lived ,’ ‘went on,’ but emphatic, ‘ vivus eram ,’ as Aug [44] , i.e. ‘lived and flourished,’ contrasted with below) without the law (the law having no recognized place in my moral existence) once; but when the commandment (above, Rom 7:8 ) came (purely subjective; not ‘ was enacted ,’ ‘came in,’ but ‘ came to me ,’ as we say, ‘came home to me,’ ‘was brought home to me’), sin sprung into life (not ‘ revived :’ however true it may be that sin was merely dormant , the idea insisted on here, is, that it was dead and came to life , began to live and flourish: but this is not to be compared with in Joh 9:11 ; see note there),

[44] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rom 7:9 . : this is ideal biography. There is not really a period in life to which one can look back as the happy time when he had no conscience; the lost paradise in the infancy of men or nations only serves as a foil to the moral conflicts and disorder of maturer years, of which we are clearly conscious. . . . In these words, on the other hand, the most intensely real experience is vividly reproduced. When the commandment came, sin “came to life again”: its dormant energies woke, and “I died”. “There is a deep tragic pathos in the brief and simple statement; it seems to point to some definite period full of painful recollections” (Gifford). To say that “death” here means the loss of immortality (bodily death without the hope of resurrection), as Lipsius, or that it means only “spiritual” death, is to lose touch with the Apostle’s mode of thought. It is an indivisible thing, all doom and despair, too simply felt to be a subject for analysis.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

came. App-106.

revived. Greek. anazao. Here, Rom 14:9. Luk 15:24, Luk 15:32. Rev 20:5.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

9.] It is a great question with Interpreters, of what period Paul here speaks. Those who sink his own personality, and think that he speaks merely as one of mankind, or of the Jews, understand it of the period before the law was given: some, of Adam in Paradise before (?) the prohibition: those who see Paul himself throughout the whole think that he speaks,-some, of his state as a Pharisee: this however would necessitate the understanding the legal death which follows, of his conversion, which cannot well be: some, of his state as a child, before that freedom of the will is asserted which causes rebellion against the law as the will of another: so Meyer, Thol., al. Agreeing in some measure with the last view, I would extend the limits further, and say that he speaks of all that time, be it mere childhood or much more, before the law began its work within him,-before the deeper energies of his moral nature were aroused (see on below).

But ( opposed, but only formally, to , and so having : so Meyer and De W.) I was alive (not merely lived, went on, but emphatic, vivus eram, as Aug[44], i.e. lived and flourished,-contrasted with below) without the law (the law having no recognized place in my moral existence) once; but when the commandment (above, Rom 7:8) came (purely subjective; not was enacted, came in,-but came to me, as we say, came home to me, was brought home to me), sin sprung into life (not revived: however true it may be that sin was merely dormant, the idea insisted on here, is, that it was dead and came to life, began to live and flourish:-but this is not to be compared with in Joh 9:11; see note there),

[44] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rom 7:9. , I was alive) here does not merely signify to pass ones life, but it is put in direct antithesis to death. This is the pharisaic tone, comp. the following verse. [I seemed to myself indeed to be extremely well, V. g.]- , without the law) the law being taken out of the way, being kept at a distance, as if it did not exist.-) The antithesis to -, the commandment) , a commandment is part of the law, with the addition of a more express idea in it of compulsory power, which restrains, enjoins, urges, prohibits, threatens.-, revived) just as [even as] it had been alive, when it had entered into the world by Adam.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rom 7:9

Rom 7:9

And I was alive apart from the law once:-As the sinful feeling lay dormant apart from the law, he felt as if he were alive. He had no sense of sin or of its condemnation. [He was alive in all the freedom of an untroubled conscience. Possibly he refers to the undisturbed feeling of legal righteousness, as in the rich young ruler, who, when brought face to face with the commandment, could say: All these things have I observed: what lack I yet? (Mat 19:20). This seems to have been the case with Paul, who says that he was, as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. (Php 3:6). In this sense he had kept the law, as every pious Pharisee did.]

but when the commandment came, sin revived,-The lusts reigned and ruled in his members, but the sense of sin as connected with them and the consciousness of condemnation revived. [In this state-apart from the law, the specific commandment already mentioned, Thou shalt not covet (Rom 7:7)-he had not till this moment realized that it required a heart service as well as an outward service. Suddenly sin came to life, resuming the active power which properly belongs to it.]

and I died;-He felt he was dead in sin. [This evidently points to some definite period in his experience full of painful recollections. Just when or how Paul first began to feel the power of the law is not revealed, but in a man so strong and earnest as he was we may discern the intense, but unavailing, effort to satisfy by outward observance the demands of a holy and heart-searching law. When he became a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious (1Ti 1:13), a misguided zeal for God must have goaded him into fury by the sting of an uneasy conscience and the terrors of the law. Some such desperate struggle certainly is suggested by the words of the Lord when he said to him on that ever-memorable day, as he was approaching Damascus, bent on the persecution of the saints: It is hard for thee to kick against the goad. (Act 26:14). While the outward strife and inward fury were both raging with unabated fury, the sudden light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about (Act 26:13) him, and the accusing voice, flashed conviction upon his soul and subdued his strong, proud will. That was the decisive moment of the struggle upon which he now reflected, and came to realize that instead of serving God he was obnoxious to him, so that for three days he was without sight, and did neither eat nor drink. At length, Ananias, sent by the Lord, came to him with the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and commanded him to be baptized and wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Act 22:16). Up to this time he was, in the Jewish sense, under the law, but really apart from it. It had not yet come to his heart and understanding. The activities of his soul were in full exercise without restraint. But when the heart-searching law broke in upon his apprehension, he not only saw that he had broken it, but the sin which he had not felt before arose in active rebellion against that law, and he died.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

when the commandment

The passage (Rom 7:7-25) is autobiographical. Paul’s religious experience was in three strongly marked phases:

(1) He was a godly Jew under the law. That the passage does not refer to that period is clear from his own explicit statements elsewhere. At that time he held himself to be “blameless” as concerned the law Php 3:6. He had “lived in all good conscience” Act 23:1.

(2) With his conversion came new light upon the law itself. He now perceived it to be “spiritual” (Rom 7:14). He now saw that, so far from having kept it, he was condemned by it. He had supposed himself to be “alive,” but now the commandment really “came” (Rom 7:9) and he “died.” Just when the apostle passed through the experience of Rom 7:7-25 we are not told. Perhaps during the days of physical blindness at Damascus Act 9:9, perhaps in Arabia Gal 1:17.

It is the experience of a renewed man, under the law, and still ignorant of the delivering power of the Holy Spirit Rom 8:2.

(3) With the great revelations afterward embodied in Galatians and Romans, the apostle’s experience entered it third phase. He now knew himself to be “dead to the law by the body of Christ,” and, in the power of the indwelling Spirit, “free from the law of sin and death” Rom 8:2 while “the righteousness of the law” was wrought in him (not by him) while he walked after the Spirit Rom 8:4, Romans 7. is the record of past conflicts and defeats experience as a renewed man under law.

sin Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 5:21”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

For I: Mat 19:20, Luk 10:25-29, Luk 15:29, Luk 18:9-12, Luk 18:21, Phi 3:5, Phi 3:6

without: Mat 5:21-26, Mat 15:4-6, Mar 7:8-13

but: Rom 3:19, Rom 3:20, Rom 10:5, Psa 40:12, Gal 3:10, Jam 2:10, Jam 2:11

sin: Rom 7:21-23, Rom 8:7

and I died: Rom 7:4, Rom 7:6, *marg. Rom 7:11, Rom 3:20, Gal 2:19

Reciprocal: Gen 4:7 – sin Deu 15:9 – Beware 1Ki 8:32 – justifying 2Ki 22:13 – great 2Ch 15:3 – without law Neh 8:9 – all the people Psa 36:2 – For he Isa 57:10 – There is Jer 2:35 – Because Jer 23:9 – like a drunken Eze 28:15 – till iniquity Mal 3:7 – Wherein Mat 9:12 – They that be whole Mar 10:20 – General Mar 12:34 – Thou Luk 15:7 – which Joh 5:45 – there Joh 16:9 – General Act 2:37 – they Act 9:6 – what Act 13:39 – from which 2Co 3:6 – for

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

7:9

Rom 7:9. I was alive. Paul is speaking of humanity in general. While man was ignorant of his sin he was not responsible for it–it was not imputed (Rom 5:13). As sin was dead at that time, it follows that the conscience was alive–was free from the sting of guilt. The law brought sin to life and then man became “dead in sin.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rom 7:9. Now I was alive without the law once. For is incorrect; this clause continues the description of the state without the law. Alive has been explained as meaning: (1.) I seemed to myself to live, because not knowing my sin. (2.) I lived securely as a Pharisee. (3.) I lived comparatively innocent. The first is too narrow; the second is opposed by the immediate context which does not point to conversion; the last is preferable, if not pressed too far. Before an individual has a distinct and vivid perception of the nature and spirituality and extent of the Divine law, he is less active and desperate in his sin and guilt than after he comes to seek a knowledge (Stuart).

But when the commandment came; when the specific precept came home to me with its prohibition and command. This does not refer to the experience immediately preceding conversion, as some of the older expositors claim.

Sin revived, or, sprang into life. The former is the more literal sense, out involves a difficulty in regard to the previous existence of sin, which it implies. We may, however, explain it as referring to the power of sin which is dormant, though living, until it is aroused into activity through the commandment

But I died. Just as sin became alive, he died; he, through the knowledge and excitement of sin, entered into a moral state, which he calls death. This is further explained in what follows.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

As if the apostle had said, “Formerly, when I lived a Pharisee, and had the law in my hand, but did not consider in my heart what exactness and perfection it required in my life, I contented myself with an outward observation of it, and concluded my state to be good and safe: But when I came to a right understanding of the word and law of God, and to be convinced by it, that the inward lustings and ordinate desires of the heart were sins, then I found myself a guilty creature, obnoxious to wrath, and in a state of death.”

Here note, 1. The good opinion the apostle had, and all unregenerate men have of themselves before conversion: I was alive once. By life understand liveliness, confidence and assurance of his good estate and condition; he was full of vain hope; false joy, and presumptuous confidence.

Learn hence, That natural and unregenerate persons are usually very full of groundless confidence and cheerfulness without the least suspicion of their bad estate and sad condition: I was alive without the law once.

Note, 2. The apprehension and opinion which St. Paul had, and others will have of themselves, when they come under the regenerating work of the Spirit, by the ministry of the word and law of God: When the commandment came, I died.

Death here stands opposed to life before, and denotes the sorrows, fears, and tremblings which seized upon his soul, when he was convinced of the badness of his condition: it stabbed all his carnal mirth, joy, and jollity, as the very heart: I died.

Note, 3. The cause and reason or this wonderful alteration and change of judgment in the apostle,; it was the commandment and law of God: When the commandment came, that is, close and home to my heart and conscience with a divine efficacy. The commandment was come before to him by way of promulgation, and he had the literal knowledge to it; but now it came in the convincing power and spiritual application of it. Accordingly sin revived, that is, the sense of sin was more lively imprinted upon his soul; and now he died, all his vain hopes gave up the ghost now, and his sin and guilt stared in the face of his conscience.

Learn hence, That there is mighty efficacy in the word or law of God to kill vain confidence, and quench carnal mirth in the hearts of men, when God sets it home upon their consciences: I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Rom 7:9-11. For I was alive In my own conceit; without the law Without the proper knowledge of its spirituality, extent, and obligation. I apprehended myself to be righteous, and in the way to life eternal; but when the commandment came That is, the law; (a part being put for the whole;) but this expression particularly intimates its compulsive force, which restrains, enjoins, urges, forbids, threatens; when, in its spiritual meaning, it came to my heart: or, when the spiritual meaning and full extent of the law, condemning desires of evil, was brought home, and closely applied to my conscience by the Spirit of God; sin revived My conscience was awakened and convinced, and I found myself guilty of many sins, which before I perceived not, and a lively sense of the guilt of them was imprinted on my soul; and I died My virtue and strength died away, and my former persuasions vanished: for I saw myself to be dead in sin, in a state of condemnation, and liable to death eternal. And the commandment The law; which was ordained to life Which promised life to them that kept it, saying, The man that doeth these things shall live in, or by them; and which, if rightly used, would have been a means of increasing spiritual life, and leading to life everlasting. The law of nature, and its transcript in the moral precepts of the law of Moses, were intended for life; because the threatening of death for every offence, is virtually a promise of life to those who obey perfectly. This appears from the law given to Adam in paradise. I found to be unto death To be attended with deadly consequences, both as it consigned me over to destruction for past sin, and occasionally, though not intentionally, proved productive of new guilt and misery. Perfect obedience being impossible, according to the present state of human nature, the law, which threatens death for every offence, necessarily ends in death to the sinner, although it was originally intended to give life to the obedient. For sin, as I said before, (see on Rom 7:8,) taking occasion by the commandment Prohibiting it under the severest penalties, but affording me no help against it; deceived me Came upon me unawares, while I was expecting life by the law; and by it slew me Slew all my hopes, by bringing me under guilt, condemnation, and wrath. In other words, Satan, the grand enemy of mankind, and author of sin, finding a law which threatened death to the transgression of it, takes occasion thence more earnestly to tempt and allure us to the violation of it, that so he may more effectually subject us to condemnation and death upon that account. Thus, when God had forbidden, under the pain of death, the eating of the forbidden fruit, Satan thence took occasion to tempt our first parents to the breach of it, and so slew them, or made them subject to death. Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse rather differently, thus: Sin, taking occasion by the terror and curse of the violated commandment, and representing the great Lawgiver as now become my irreconcileable enemy, deceived me into a persuasion that I could be no worse than I was, and thereby it slew me; it multiplied my mortal wounds, and rendered my case still more desperate. Instead of sin taking occasion, Dr. Macknight renders , taking the opportunity, an expression which he thinks less likely to countenance the idea, that mens evil desires are owing to the prohibitions of the law; to suppose which, would be to make God the author of sin by his law. The apostles meaning, says he, is, that sin took the opportunity of men being under the commandment, first to deceive, and then to kill them. According to Bengelius, the most approved copies read, not, sin taking occasion or opportunity by the commandment, but, by the commandment deceived and slew me; connecting the commandment, not with the former, but with the latter clause of the verse. In the words, deceived me, there seems to be an allusion to the excuse which Eve made for eating the forbidden fruit. The serpent deceived me, by assuring me that I should not die. The apostle speaks of a two-fold opportunity taken by sin, while men are under the commandment. The first is, sinful dispositions, deceiving men into the belief that the prohibitions of the law are unreasonable, that the thing forbidden is pleasant or profitable, and that it will not be followed with punishment, persuade them to do it. This was the serpents discourse to Eve; and it is what mens sinful inclinations always suggest to them. The second opportunity which sin takes under the commandment, is that of killing the sinner by the curse annexed to the commandment which he hath broken.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 9, 10a. And I was alive when I was formerly without law; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;

Calvin well expresses the rhythm of these verses: The death of sin is the life of man; and, on the contrary, the life of sin is the death of man.

The Vatic. reads instead of : both forms are classical. What is this life which the apostle enjoyed when he was yet without law? Augustine, the Reformers, and some modern commentators (Bengel, Bonnet) think that the time in question is when, sunk in his Pharisaical delusions, filled with self-righteousness, Paul thought himself in possession of the life of God, of true righteousness. They understand the: I was alive, in the sense of: I thought myself alive. This interpretation is in itself forced; but there is more against it. Could Paul really say of himself that, as a Pharisee, he was without law? It was, on the contrary, the time when he was absolutely under the law, , according to 1Co 9:20, kept under the charge of the schoolmaster, who was to bring him to Christ, according to Gal 3:24. Then if it was his Pharisee life which he wished to characterize in the words: when I was formerly without law, what would be the time denoted by the following words: when the commandment came? Will it be said: the time of his conversion, when the law took its inmost meaning for him, in Christ, its full spiritual bearing? Though before his eyes, says Calvin, when speaking of his life as a Pharisee, the law did not seriously affect his heart with the conviction of the judgment of God. It was only by the Spirit of Christ that his eyes were opened, and that the commandment truly humbled and condemned him. But where, then, is this idea of the interposition of Christ, and of the profound crisis of which he speaks elsewhere as a new creation? And was the understanding of the commandment then the sole or even the principal character of this transformation? Certainly, if these words refer to his conversion, some indication or other would not be wanting to designate this transition to a new faith. To discover a period in Paul’s life to which the words: formerly when I was under the law, really apply, we must go back to the days which preceded the awakening of his moral consciousness under the operation of the law. We are thereby led to the period of his childhood, before he was subjected to the Pharisaic ordinances and the exact discipline of the law. From the age of twelve, young Israelites were subjected to the legal institutes, and became, as was said, sons of the law, ben hattorah. This stage of his outward life was undoubtedly for the young Saul the signal of the inward crisis described from Rom 7:7 onward. From the moment he found himself called to apply the prescriptions of the law seriously to his conduct, he was not slow to discover sin within him; for in the depths of his heart he found lust; and not only did the law unveil this evil principle to him, but it intensified its power. The torrent bubbled and boiled on meeting with the obstacle which came in its way. Till then Saul was alive, morally and religiously, which does not mean merely that he thought himself alive; nor does it denote merely the innocent and pure sprightliness of childhood, yet untroubled by any remorse. The word live, when used by Paul, always includes something more profound. It refers here to the state of a young and pious Israelitish child, trained in the knowledge and love of Jehovah, tasting by faith in the promises of His word the blessings of the covenant, awaking and going to sleep in the arms of the God of his fathers, and seeking not to displease Him in his conduct. There was here a real beginning of life in God, a pure flame, which was extinguished no doubt afterward by self-righteousness and by the inward strife inseparable from it, but which burst forth at last magnificently at the breath of faith in Jesus Christ.

The words: when the commandment came, after what precedes, refer simply to the appearance of the commandment, with its holy majesty, in the conscience of young Saul. Then began in him the serious attempt to put it fully into practice. The term commandment is used instead of law, because, as Rom 7:7 shows, it is specially the tenth commandment which is in question. It is by it above all that the work here described is effected in him. This work was, as Paul tells us, to make sin live or revive. The term live forms an antithesis to the other: sin is dead (Rom 7:8). It is a somewhat difficult question which of its two meanings is to be attached to the preposition in the composition of the verb , that of anew (like our re in revive): recovered life; or whether, according to its strict signification, above, it merely denotes here the transition from the passive to the active state: took life. Meyer, in favor of the first sense, insists on the fact that it is impossible to quote, either in the N. T. or in the classics, a single case in which this verb or its analogues (, ) signifies anything else than revive (Luk 15:24, for example). This cannot be denied. Nevertheless it is true that many verbs compounded with do not at all include the idea of a return to a previous state; thus , to spring (speaking of plants), and to rise (speaking of the stars); , to raise the voice, to cry; , to bubble up. The verb is taken in both senses: to look above (Mat 14:19; Mar 7:34; Luk 19:5), and to see anew (Act 9:12; Act 9:17-18). In Joh 9:11, the meaning is doubtful. If we translate: recovered life, what is the previous life of sin present to the mind of the apostle? Origen discovers here his system of the pre-existence of souls, and of a fall anterior to this present life. Hilgenfeld also ascribes this idea to the apostle. But how obscurely would it be expressed, and how would it come about that no other trace of it is found in his writings? Rom 5:12 is anything but favorable to this theory. Augustine and Bengel think of the first appearance of sin in paradise; but this fact is too remote to furnish us with the explanation of the word revive here. It would be better to hold that Paul was thinking of sin as it had lived in his parents before reviving in him. But what is simpler still is to abandon this idea of the renewal of the life of sin, and to explain in the sense of: to awake to active life.

The commentators who have applied the preceding words to the Pharisaic epoch of the apostle’s life, are embarrassed by the declaration: Sin revived, and I died (10a). Would such be the terms in which he would characterize his new birth? Impossible! But they apply, it will be said, to the most advanced stage of his Pharisaism. M. Bonnet says in this direction: Sin, pursued to its last intrenchments, manifested its power by a desperate resistance…; and, on the other hand, the man saw the nothingness of his moral life, and succumbed to the sentence of death executed by the law within the depths of his consciousness. But where in Paul’s Epistles do we find the evidences of such a crisis? It seems to me more natural to carry it back to the time when his moral consciousness was first developed, and to hold that this state was gradually increasing during the whole time of his Pharisaism.

Rom 7:10 a The transition of sin from its latent state to that of an active force was to Saul a mortal stroke. The internal divorce between God and him was consummated: to infantine liberty there succeeded fear, to filial feeling the revolt of the heart and servile obedience, two equally sure symptoms of death. A weight henceforth repressed the impulse of his soul Godward.

The words which follow serve to bring out the unforeseen character of this effect (Rom 7:10 b), and give the true explanation of it (Rom 7:11).

Vv. 10b, 11. And the commandment, which should have guided me to life, was found to turn me to death; for sin, taking occasion, deceived me by the commandment, and by it slew me.

This coming into activity on the part of sin, which Paul felt as if he were the object of a spiritual murder, was occasioned by a gift of God, the commandment; for this was the instrument of it, the commandment which God had given to the faithful Israelite with the words: This do and thou shalt live (Lev 18:5)! Instead of guiding him to holiness and peace, or giving life, it did the opposite, by revealing sin to him and increasing its power, it raised a thick wall between God and him, and involved him in death! The feeling of surprise which so unexpected a result produced is expressed by the word , was found.

Meyer understands the term death (end of the verse) of eternal death, in the sense that the man who passes through such experiences is doomed to final perdition (apart, of course, from redemption). But Paul is speaking of a more immediate result, a separation from God, that spiritual death which he describes himself, Eph 2:1 et seq.

Undoubtedly this description of the effects of the law exhibits only one aspect of the truth, that which had been particularly experienced by Saul the Pharisee. For he then regarded the law as the means of establishing his own righteousness (Rom 10:3), and not as the pathway opened to divine grace. The psalmists frequently describe the effects of the law in a wholly different light (Psalms 19, 119, etc.), and we cannot doubt that Jesus Himself, during the period of His development up to His baptism, found in it the fulness of what God had promised: Doing these things, thou shalt live by them, or what is expressed by the words of Paul: The commandment which was given me to guide me to life. Only, if it is to display this beneficent effect, the law must be received either by a heart free from sin, or otherwise by a heart which does not separate the commandment from the grace accompanying the law, a heart which seeks in it not the means of acquiring self-merit and gratifying its pride, but the way of union to the God of the covenant by sacrifice and prayer: as an illustration, let the parable of the Pharisee and the publican serve!

Vv. 11 is intended to explain what really took place. It throws back the blame of the sad experience related, on its true author, sin, as was already done in Rom 7:8, while reproducing this explanation more forcibly after the fuller development of the experience itself in Rom 7:9-10. The word , sin, is placed foremost; for it is the true culprit, not the law; it is this depraved instinct which the commandment encountered, and which caused the latter to produce a result diametrically opposed to that for which it was given.

The words taking occasion refer, as in Rom 7:8, to the external objects corresponding to our various lusts. The commandment, by raising a barrier between these objects and us, makes them appear so much the more desirable; we cannot get rid of the impression that a jealous God takes pleasure in refusing them to us, for the very reason that they would promote our happiness. Such is the mirage which sin produces in us by the commandment itself. The words: deceived me by the commandment, certainly contain an allusion to the part played by the serpent in Genesis 3, where, as we have said, it fills the office here ascribed to sin in relation to man in innocence. It deceives and seduces Eve by ascribing hatred to God, love to itself; and hence murder, separation from God, either by internal revolt or external disobedience.

The repetition of the clause: by the commandment…by it, with each of the two verbs, expresses forcibly how contrary to the nature of the commandment is the part which sin makes it play.

The verb includes the two ideas of deceiving, and of thus causing to deviate from the right road (, out of). Deception causes to deviate, and deviation leads to death: by it slew me. It is incomprehensible how Calvin should take the liberty of giving a purely logical sense to the terms deceived and slew: Sin was unveiled by the law as a seducer and murderer (Ergo verbum non de re ips, sed de notiti exponi debet).

It remained to conclude by finally formulating the result of this profound psychological analysis contained in the passage Rom 7:7-11. This is what is done in Rom 7:12-13. The , so that, Rom 7:12, announces a conclusion.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

PAULS INFANTILE REGENERATION.

9. But I was alive at one time without law. We are all generated in Adam the First, spiritually dead (Psa 9:5; 1Co 15:22). The moment soul and body united involve personality, we pass normally into the mediatorial kingdom, where Christ gives life to all. Hence, like the Prodigal Son, we are all born in the kingdom of God, and only get out by sinning out. The old theology holding the justification and not the regeneration of infants is untenable, as these two works, though separate and distinct, the former in heaven canceling condemnation, and the latter in the heart vitalizing the spirit; yet they are always synchronal, the one never existing without the other, the former logically preceding, but instantaneously followed by the latter. Justification disqualifies for hell, and regeneration is indispensable to heaven. Hence the hypothesis that our infants are justified and not vitalized is untenable and clearly refuted by this passage; while Paul affirms his own infantile regeneration, which he retained till he reached responsibility and forfeited it by violating known law. Hence this case clearly confirms the regeneration as well as the justification of infants. Therefore, infants are not sinners, but Christians when they are born into the world, and so remain till they commit actual transgression. Is it possible to bring them up without the forfeiture of their infantile justification and regeneration? Certainly; and this is our imperative duty. In that case, would they need conversion? They would, in order to keep them justified and regenerated. If they are born justified and regenerated by the normal work of Christ, in what would their conversion consist? The word does not mean justification and regeneration (though these graces are indispensable in case of actual conversion, being the antithesis of condemnation and spiritual death), but a turning, which all infants need, being born depraved, i. e., with inbred sin in the heart, which so turns them away from God that, if not turned round and introduced to the Savior, will start directly away from Him so soon as they set out in responsible life. Hence, take the infant, turn him round, introduce him to the Savior before he loses infantile justification, and then get him sanctified before he backslides, and you would soon see a giant in the kingdom. The commandment having come, sin revived,

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 9

I was alive; free from any special or aggravated outward guilt.–Without the law; at the period, whenever that period might have been, before the requirements of the divine law had been clearly brought to my mind.–Sin revived; was aroused to a state of activity, as explained in the Romans 7:7,8.–And I died; was involved in open guilt and ruin. This last expression has sometimes been understood to refer to the humility and self-abasement produced by conviction of sin, under a just appreciation of the divine law; but such a state of mind is spiritually good, whereas the whole context shows that the effect here spoken of, as resulting from the exhibition of the law, was an evil effect. This seems to be placed beyond question by the Romans 7:10,11.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

7:9 {5} For I was alive without the {q} law once: but when the commandment {r} came, sin revived, and I {s} died.

(5) He sets himself before us as an example, in whom all men may behold, first what they are by nature before they earnestly think upon the law of God: that is, stupid, and prone to sin and wickedness, without any true sense and feeling of sin, and second what manner of persons they become, when their conscience is reproved by the testimony of the Law, that is, stubborn and more inflamed with the desire for sin than they ever were before.

(q) When I did not know the law, then I thought that I indeed lived: for my conscience never troubled me, because it was not aware of my disease.

(r) When I began to understand the commandment.

(s) In sin, or by sin.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Paul was relatively alive apart from the Law. No one is ever completely unrelated to it. However in his past, Paul had lived unaware of the Law’s true demands and was therefore self-righteous (cf. Php 3:6). His pre-conversion struggles were mainly intellectual (e.g., Was Jesus the Messiah?) rather than moral.

"Saul of Tarsus could have headed the Spanish Inquisition, and have had no qualms of conscience!" [Note: Newell, p. 268.]

When the commandment entered Paul’s consciousness, it aroused sin, and he died in the sense that he became aware of his spiritual deadness. This is true of everyone. Paul was not speaking of His union with Christ in death here.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)