Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“For when we were in the flesh--in our unregenerate state, as we came into the world. See on Joh 3:6 and Ro 8:5-9. the motions--"passions" (Margin), "affections" (as in Ga 5:24), or "stirrings." of sins--that is, "prompting to the commission of sins." w…”

“I had not known sin but by the law--It is important to fix what is meant by "sin" here. It certainly is not "the general nature of sin" [ALFORD, &c.], though it be true that this is learned from the law; for such a sense will not suit what is said of it in the…”

“For without the law--that is, before its extensive demands and prohibitions come to operate upon our corrupt nature. sin was--rather, "is" dead--that is, the sinful principle of our nature lies so dormant, so torpid, that its virulence and power are unknown,…”

“I found to be unto death--through breaking it. For sin--my sinful nature. taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me--or "seduced me"--drew me aside into the very thing which the commandment forbade. and by it slew me--"discovered me to myself to be a c…”

“For we know that the law is spiritual--in its demands. but I am carnal--fleshly (see on Ro 7:5), and as such, incapable of yielding spiritual obedience. sold under sin--enslaved to it. The "I" here, though of course not the regenerate, is neither the unreg…”

“Now then it is no more I--my renewed self. that do it--"that work it." but sin which dwelleth in me--that principle of sin that still has its abode in me.”

“I find not--Here, again, we have the double self of the renewed man; "In me dwelleth no good; but this corrupt self is not my true self; it is but sin dwelling in my real self, as a renewed man." 19, 21.”

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man--"from the bottom of my heart." The word here rendered "delight" is indeed stronger than "consent" in Ro 7:16; but both express a state of mind and heart to which the unregenerate man is a stranger.”

“The apostle found two such laws within him; the one "the law of sin in his members," called (in Ga 5:17, 24) "the flesh which lusteth against the spirit," "the flesh with the affections and lusts," that is, the sinful principle in the regenerate; the other, …”

“But the language is not that of a sinner newly awakened to the sight of his lost state; it is the cry of a living but agonized believer, weighed down under a burden which is not himself, but which he longs to shake off from his renewed self.”

“There is therefore now, &c.--referring to the immediately preceding context [OLSHAUSEN, PHILIPPI, MEYER, ALFORD, &c.]. The subject with which the seventh chapter concludes is still under consideration.”

“We think it wrong, therefore, to render the words (as in the Margin) "by a sacrifice for sin" (suggested by the language of the Septuagint and approved by CALVIN, &c.); for this sense is too definite, and makes the idea of expiation more prominent than it is. …”

“For they that are after the flesh--that is, under the influence of the fleshly principle. do mind--give their attention to (Php 3:19). the things of the flesh, &c.--Men must be under the predominating influence of one or other of these two principles, and, …”

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God--The desire and pursuit of carnal ends is a state of enmity to God, wholly incompatible with true life and peace in the soul. for it is not subject--"doth not submit itself." to the law of God, neither indeed can…”

“So then--nearly equivalent to "And so." they that are in--and, therefore, under the government of the flesh cannot please God--having no obediential principle, no desire to please Him.”

“Now--"But." if any man have not the Spirit of Christ--Again, this does not mean "the disposition or mind of Christ," but the Holy Ghost; here called "the Spirit of Christ," just as He is called "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (see on Ro 8:2).”

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh--"Once we were sold under sin (Ro 7:14); but now that we have been set free from that hard master and become servants to Righteousness (Ro 6:22), we owe nothing to the flesh, we…”

“Note, (1) "There can be no safety, no holiness, no happiness, to those who are out of Christ: No "safety," because all such are under the condemnation of the law (Ro 8:1); no holiness, because such only as are united to Christ have the spirit of Christ (Ro …”

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, they, &c.--"these are sons of God." Hitherto the apostle has spoken of the Spirit simply as a power through which believers mortify sin: now he speaks of Him as a gracious, loving Guide, wh…”

“"Abba" is the Syro-Chaldaic word for "Father"; and the Greek word for that is added, not surely to tell the reader that both mean the same thing, but for the same reason which drew both words from the lips of Christ Himself during his agony in the garden (Mr …”

“The one expresses the dignity to which we are admitted; the other the new life which we receive. The latter is more suitable here; because a son by adoption might not be heir of the property, whereas a son by birth certainly is, and this is what the apostle is…”

“For the creature--"the creation." was made subject to vanity, not willingly--that is, through no natural principle of decay. The apostle, personifying creation, represents it as only submitting to the vanity with which it was smitten, on man's account, in obe…”

“And if so, to represent it as sympathizing with man's miseries, and as looking forward to his complete redemption as the period of its own emancipation from its present sin-blighted condition, is a beautiful thought, and in harmony with the general teaching of…”

“For we are saved by hope--rather, "For in hope we are saved"; that is, it is more a salvation in hope than as yet in actual possession. but hope that is seen is not hope--for the very meaning of hope is, the expectation that something now future will become p…”

“And--or, "Moreover," or "Now"; noting a transition to a new particular. we know, &c.--The order in the original is more striking: "We know that to them that love God" (compare 1Co 2:9; 2:5) "all things work together for good [even] to them who are the calle…”