Audio commentary on this verse

Note 1 at Rom. 7:1: Remember that Paul wrote this epistle to all the saints in Rome (Rom. 1:7). Therefore, even though this term "brethren" can be used to designate fellow countrymen as in Romans 9:3, here it is specifying fellow believers, especially the Jewish believers who were knowledgeable of the law.

Note 2 at Rom. 7:1: Paul is saying that the only way to get out from under the Old Testament law is through death. He had just taught that the old man is once and for all dead (see note 6 at Rom. 6:4, p. 777; note 8 at Rom. 6:6, p. 778). Now he uses the natural illustration of marriage to further make this point.

In the same way that the marriage vow was intended by God to be binding until "death do us part" (see note 5 at Mt. 19:7, p. 383), so our bondage under the tyranny of the sin nature (see note 9 at Rom. 5:21, p. 775) was inescapable except through death. Therefore, this knowledge of our death to the old man is crucial to escaping the carnal life that the old man put in place in our lives.