Romans 7:4–6

“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.”

“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.” — Rom 7:6

Part of the Torah Eternal study — examining every passage cited to argue the Law has been abolished.

The Common Reading

Believers have died to the entire Law and are released from it — no longer bound to keep Torah. We now serve in the Spirit apart from the old written code, which has been left behind.

What the Passage Actually Says

The Marriage Analogy

Paul’s argument begins in v.1–3 with a legal principle: a married woman is bound to her husband by law while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is free to marry another. Death dissolves the legal bond.

The application (v.4): believers have “become dead to the law” through Christ’s body (the crucifixion), so they can be “married to another” — Christ Himself. The purpose: “that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

What died? Not the law — the law is the constant in the analogy (like the principle of marriage itself). What died is the old man under the law’s condemnation. Paul has been building this since Romans 6:6: “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” The old self, enslaved to sin and condemned by the law, is put to death. The new self is free to enter a renewed covenant relationship with Christ.

“Delivered from the Law” — From What Exactly?

“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held.” — v.6

G2673 katargeō — to render inoperative, release, discharge. The same word Paul uses in Rom 3:3 (“shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?”) and 3:31 (“do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid”). Paul uses katargeō to describe release from a binding force — here, from the law’s holding power as a condemning authority.

“Wherein we were held” — G2722 katechō — to hold down, restrain, detain. This is imprisonment language. The law detained the old man under its verdict (parallel to Gal 3:23: “shut up unto the faith”). Deliverance is from the cell, not from the building code.

Six Verses Later: The Law Is Holy

If Paul just declared Torah obsolete, his next statements are inexplicable:

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.” — v.7

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” — v.12

“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” — v.14

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” — v.22

“So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” — v.25

Paul calls the law holy (G40 hagios), just (G1342 dikaios), good (G18 agathos), and spiritual (G4152 pneumatikos). He delights in it. He serves it with his mind. If he had just told the Romans they were released from it entirely, this is incoherent. If he told them they were released from its condemnation so they could obey it from the heart, everything harmonizes.

“Newness of Spirit, Not Oldness of Letter”

“That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” — v.6

G4151 pneuma — spirit. G1121 gramma — letter, written character. The contrast is not Spirit vs. Torah — it is Spirit-empowered Torah obedience vs. external, letter-only Torah observance (without heart-change). This is the $renewed-covenant promise:

“I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.” — Ezek 36:27

The “oldness” is the Sinai administration: stone tablets, external enforcement, no provision for heart transformation. The “newness” is the same law written on hearts by the Spirit — the same content, different power source. The letter without the Spirit kills (2 Cor 3:6); the Spirit writing the letter on hearts gives life.

The Destination: Romans 8:4

Paul’s argument across chapters 6–8 reaches its climax:

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” — Rom 8:4

The whole arc — dead to sin (ch.6), dead to the law’s condemnation (ch.7), alive in the Spirit (ch.8) — leads to one destination: the law’s righteous requirement fulfilled in Spirit-led believers. Not abolished. Fulfilled.

Harmony

1. The marriage analogy is about the death of the old man under condemnation — not the death of the law itself. The law, like the principle of marriage, remains constant.
2. “Delivered from the law” means from its condemnation — its power to detain and hold guilty (v.6; cf. Gal 3:23).
3. Paul calls the law holy, just, good, and spiritual within the same chapter (vv.12, 14) and says he delights in it (v.22) and serves it (v.25).
4. “Newness of spirit vs. oldness of letter” contrasts how Torah is obeyed (internally by Spirit vs. externally by stone), not whether it is obeyed.
5. The goal is Torah fulfilled in us through the Spirit (Rom 8:4) — the $renewed-covenant promise of Jer 31:33 and Ezek 36:27.

Greek Reference