Fathers

Romans 7

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Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

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What the Fathers say

Romans 7:11

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

You observe how he everywhere keeps to sin, and entirely clears the Law of accusation. And so he proceeds as follows.

Homily on Romans 12 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

But if death resulted from it, the commandment is not to blame for this: for sin deceived me and put me to death through the commandment, that is, the inclination toward the worse and the corrupt and sin-loving heart, or rather — pleasure. For if there were no commandment showing sin, then I would not have been regarded as one committing sin, nor would I have been subject to punishment; for the word "put to death" should be understood in both senses, both of sin and of punishment, as was also said above concerning the word "I died." …

Commentary on Romans ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

What does the Apostle mean when he writes to the Romans: "For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me" (Rom 7:11)? Let us examine the whole passage and, with the help of Christ, try to understand its meaning. We do not wish to impose upon you our interpretation, but only to explain briefly what seems to us to be the true sense of the words. So what shall we say? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! Yet, I would not have known sin except through the Law. …

Letter 121, Chapter 8 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, for sin, he repeats the cause as though intending to clarify it by the outcome of the law, saying: this happened, namely, that the commandment which promised life proved to be death, for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, seduced me through the covetousness it wrought in me. Beauty has deceived you and lust has perverted your heart (Dan 13:56), and by it, namely, the commandment, sin took occasion to kill me: the letter kills (2 Cor 3:6).

Commentary on Romans ↗