Romans 7:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Since the Apostle said above that evil increased, and that sin became stronger when it encountered the commandment, the opposite of what the law sought came about. By this he brought the hearer into greater perplexity. Therefore, after first freeing the law from wicked suspicion, he explains the cause by which this happened. He does this so that no one, hearing that sin received occasion in the commandment, that sin revived when the commandment came, and that sin deceived and slew through the commandment, should think the law caused all these evils. First of all, he presents a defense of the law with great boldness. He not only frees it from accusation, but also weaves for it the highest praise.

The Apostle said that sin was revealed through the commandment. Therefore, lest you think that the law is the cause of sin, he pronounces a general judgment and says, "For we know that the law is spiritual." It is known to all, he says, and acknowledged by all, that the law is in no way the cause of sin. It is spiritual, that is, a teacher of virtue and an enemy of vice. From where, then, did sin arise, when there was so wondrous a teacher? From the carelessness and weakness of the disciples. "But I," he says, "am fleshly." This means that all human nature, both before the giving of the law and during the law, was filled with many passions. Because of Adam's transgression, we not only became mortal, but our nature received passions, surrendered to sin, and became a slave. It could not even lift up its head.

One thing is contemplated by the will of the spirit, and another by the will of the flesh. They are opposed to one another and cannot coincide in identity. Therefore, when man is carnal and the law is spiritual, how will the law be bearable for those so deeply wounded by sin? This is quite reasonable. If he is carnal, he will be understood as captive and in a servile condition.

He calls the law spiritual because it makes those who follow it spiritual. The spiritual man is not the one who lives according to the flesh. Rather, he is the one who has inclined to the desire to follow the desire of the spirit.

When Paul says, "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal," he clearly shows that the law can be fulfilled only by a spiritual man, whom the grace of God makes such.

A man who has become spiritual like the law will easily fulfill what the law commands. He will not be under the law, but will be together with the law.

He will not be one seized by passing good things or frightened by passing sorrows.

The great Apostle, when he says that "the Law is spiritual" (Rom 7:14), includes the historical narratives under the name of Law.

Thus for those who read, all divinely inspired Scripture is Law, not only through its explicit commandments, but also through its historical narratives. For those who understand deeply, it teaches knowledge of the mysteries and a pure manner of life.

Having all this in view, the Apostle begins to say, "The law is spiritual." By this he made them boast, so that they might be converted. Then, in order to humble them, he speaks of the law's weakness. The law is spiritual in relation to our flesh, which is full of sins. But in relation to the Gospel, the law is fleshly, being full of earthly promises and harsh punishments. Therefore, although the law is spiritual, fleshliness and sensory delight were joined to its spirituality, as the crucifixion of deeds is joined to the Incarnation of our Lord. Therefore our Lord clothed Himself in our flesh and had mercy on us. He did this so that, contrary to petty pleasures and sensory delight, He might give us the ability to acquire righteous life.

To those who know the law Paul says, "For we know that the law is spiritual." Men would not have submitted to the law unless they knew that it is spiritual. He calls man fleshly as long as he sins. "Sold under sin." Being sold under sin takes its beginning from Adam, who sinned before the others. Yet it also comes from one's own transgression. Adam first sold himself, and through this all his seed was subjected to sin. Yet without strengthening by divine help, man is unable to serve the precepts of the law. Therefore the Apostle says, "The law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin." This means that the law is firm and just, and there is no fault in it. Man, however, is fragile and subject either to inherited or to personal sin. By his own power he cannot fulfill the law.

"For we know that the law is spiritual." Again he crowns the law with praise. For what is more honorable than this name?

It was written, says the Apostle, by the Spirit of God. Having partaken of this grace, blessed Moses wrote the law.

"But I am carnal, sold under sin." The Apostle brings forward the man before grace, tossed by passions. For he calls carnal the one who has not yet obtained spiritual help.

As for "sold under sin," let us understand it from the prophetic saying. It is written, "Behold, you were sold by your sins" (Is 50:1). The Apostle says the same here: "I gave myself over to sin and sold myself to it."

The grace of the New Testament is mystically hidden beneath the letter of the Old Testament. Therefore the Apostle says that the law is spiritual. For the law, growing old and obsolete according to the letter, is abolished (Heb 8:13). According to the spirit, it grows young and is always effective, for it is not proper to grace to grow old. The law is the shadow of the Gospel, and the Gospel is the image of the good things to come. The former hinders the performance of evil deeds. The latter proposes the performance of good deeds. We say that all Holy Scripture, like a certain spiritual man, is divided into flesh and spirit. Whoever says that the words of Scripture are its flesh, and its meaning its spirit or soul, does not err from the truth.

Now Paul speaks in the person of one who has reached mature age. For whoever says, "the law is spiritual," condemns himself for sinning by his own will.

Therefore Paul adds, "But I am carnal, sold under sin," to show that although he is free, he sold himself to sin.

An explanation of the words: “We know that the law is spiritual.” Thus the whole human race, without any exception, is subject to this law. For there is no one, not even a saint, who receives the bread spoken of above without the sweat of his face, that is, without the careful exertion of the heart.

Spiritual is the law which commands us, in the sweat of our face, to eat that true bread which comes down from heaven (Jn 6:51). But the sale into sin makes us carnal. What is this sin, and whose is it? Without doubt it is Adam’s sin. By his transgression, as by a deceitful bargain, we were sold.

"The law is spiritual, but I am fleshly." The law is called spiritual according to its origin from God the Spirit. It is spiritual in content, because it contains spiritual commandments. It is spiritual in purpose, because it serves the formation of the spirit. It is spiritual in effect, because it promises spiritual blessings to those who fulfill it. It is spiritual in meaning or character, because it is perfect and holy. The Apostle calls himself fleshly in contrast to the spirituality of the law. He speaks as an imperfect man infected by sin, sold under sin, and existing in the state before regeneration, as Chrysostom and Theodoret say.

“The Apostle said above that evil increased, and that sin, being restrained by the commandment, grew stronger. In practice the opposite of what the law sought occurred, and by this he brought the hearer into great perplexity. Therefore, having first freed the law from evil suspicion, as though it were the cause of sin, he then explains the cause of why this happened” (Saint Chrysostom).

This has already been indicated, namely, that it happened because of sin. It has also been hinted how sin contrives to succeed in this, namely, through deception. It deceives and draws one toward what is contrary to the law. Now he enters more deeply into the examination of what takes place in us when the law and sin meet.

In order to understand the Apostle’s discourse more easily, one must keep in mind that here too, as before, when speaking of himself, he speaks in the person of fallen man. This is a man who has not received the grace that restores from the fall, yet has felt the need to rise and has desired it.

It is in vain that some suppose the Apostle is speaking here of himself personally, and in his own person of every one who has received grace. The words, “The evil which I do not will, that I do,” and, “It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (cf. Rom 7:19-20), cannot in any way apply to one who has received grace. Sin makes itself known even to him, but it does not have over him a determining and coercive power for action. The Apostle already said above: “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are under grace” (cf. Rom 6:14). Saint John also says: “Everyone born of God does not commit sin” (1 Jn 3:9).

It is also in vain that they set forth as the basis of their opinion the idea that the Apostle’s discourse can refer only to one who has received grace. They say that in one without grace there is no such inward division as the Apostle depicts here: “I delight in the law of God,” but “I see another law” (cf. Rom 7:22-23). In the fallen man without grace, they say, sin reigns peacefully. His thoughts, feelings, and desires are all joined with sin, and there is no discord with it.

Yet the fallen and sinning man, however much he corrupts his nature, does not turn it into evil. Good principles remain in it, and at times they strongly raise their voice with a demand for satisfaction. Here is the division. In the present place the Apostle has in view this man, who has felt such a division within himself. He has recognized the necessity of passing from sin to the side of good, and he has desired to pass over, but he does not find the strength for this in himself.

We have the clearest example of this in those who struggle with drunkenness, or with the passion of fornication, or with gambling. How aptly the Apostle’s word applies to all of them: “The evil which I do not will, that I do.” All our interpreters understand here a depiction of man’s state before the law and under the law, that is, of one who has not received grace. The aim is to awaken desire for this grace and to draw one to the evangelical faith, which alone gives it.

“For we know.” Here is the cause why the law was given for one thing, but something quite different resulted. It is because the law is spiritual, but I am carnal.

“The law is spiritual.” “Again he crowns the law with praise. For what is more honorable than this name?” (Blessed Theodoret). “By this the Apostle as it were says: everyone knows and agrees that the law is spiritual. Therefore it is impossible that it should be the cause of sin, or that the guilt of the evils that occurred should lie upon it. Notice that he not only frees it from accusation, but praises it beyond measure” (Saint Chrysostom).

The law is spiritual because it proceeded from the Spirit and leads to what is spiritual. “It was written by the Spirit of God. Having partaken of this grace, blessed Moses wrote the law” (Blessed Theodoret). “It is a gift of the Holy Spirit and was dictated by Him” (Oecumenius). “By calling it spiritual, the Apostle makes known that it is an instructor of virtue and an enemy of vice. To be spiritual means to turn one away from every sin. This is what the law did, terrifying, instructing, punishing, correcting, and advising everything virtuous” (Saint Chrysostom). “It desires what is spiritual and demands what is profitable for the soul” (Oecumenius).

Although, according to the Apostle, the divine economy under the law was chiefly visible, and the service in it was especially bodily, leading only to fleshly purity (see Heb 9:13) and to ordinances of the flesh (see Heb 9:10), it was not given so that those under it would stop at the visible and bodily alone. They were to pass from it to the invisible and spiritual. It was a guidance from the outward to the inward. Every prescription that determined a visible manner of action was given from the person of God. Through everything visible, it imprinted God upon the mind. And because everything visible in it was instituted with a special spiritual meaning, it led into that spiritual meaning.

Therefore those who served in it, though they served a copy and shadow (cf. Heb 8:5), were not deprived of the possibility of seeing through this veil and beholding what was hidden there. This must be said of the very external arrangement of the order under the law. As for the spirituality of its moral and religious precepts, there is no need even to speak. It is precisely these that the Apostle has in view here. He says that the law demanded what is spiritual, that is, that one should be directed toward God, remain with Him in mind and heart, please Him in every way, fulfill His holy will according to conscience, and delight only in what is divine.

Such is the law, but I am carnal. Carnal means not by nature, but by inward disposition. That is, I seek only what delights the flesh or arranges only my earthly well-being. The natural principles of spiritual life are not destroyed, but weakened and muffled. From time to time they break through, yet in general carnality predominates.

Carnality here does not mean only fleshly, sensual life. It expresses generally the bad condition of the fallen sinner. In the Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle called the same thing naturalness (cf. 1 Cor 2:14). Yet one may also distinguish naturalness from carnality, as two forms or two sides of life of one kind. By carnality one may understand sensual life, passed in pleasing the flesh. By naturalness one may understand life spent exclusively in arranging earthly well-being through the satisfaction of the soul’s needs alone. These needs may be natural or acquired by voluntary habit. Yet they never remain in their proper order, but are necessarily disturbed and distorted by the passions. Therefore such a life can rightly be called a life passed in pleasing the passions of the soul, though it moves within orders determined by natural needs.

One must know that man is not only body and soul, but body, soul, and spirit. What the body is is clear in itself. What is the spirit? The spirit is all those manifestations of our inward life that direct man from the earthly to the heavenly, from the temporal to the eternal, from the created to the divine. It is the power that God breathed into man’s face at his creation, and in which the image and likeness of God properly lie. As such, it directs man toward God and is satisfied only when man lives in God and remains in living union with Him.

It is revealed more tangibly in us by the fear of God, the actions of conscience, and the fact that it does not allow us to be satisfied with anything created. All these innermost movements in us, when they are in force, detach us from everything earthly and compel us not to heed any conditions of earthly existence. They are common to all humanity and are present among the most uncultivated as well as among the educated.

What is the soul? What remains between body and spirit belongs to the soul and constitutes its life. Here belong every kind of knowledge and all learning. Here belong every kind of art, every artistic capacity, and every craft. Here belong every kind of practical life, family life and social life, with all the means of arranging and sustaining them. For all this, needs have been implanted in the soul. Powers have been given for satisfying them, with an indication in them of the manner of satisfaction.

It is clear in itself that bodily life is lower than the life of the soul, and the life of the soul is lower than spiritual life. Therefore the life of the soul must be subordinated to the spiritual, and the bodily to both. The norm of man’s life is to live in the spirit, and by the spirit to spiritualize both soul and body. Such was his original constitution. Such man came from the hands of the Creator, and such he was in Paradise before the fall.

To live in the spirit is to live in God. One who lives thus receives from God the power to govern soul and body and to subject them to the spirit. In the fall, man rebelled against God, truly rebelled. The sin of the first ancestors was small in appearance, but in its spirit it was very grave. Believing the evil suggestion of the enemy, that God had forbidden them to eat from the tree so that they too would not become gods, they distorted in themselves the most essential knowledge of God. They thought that God envied them and therefore kept them from what belonged to them. Yet God, by His very essence, is the unenvious, overflowing source of good things.

Having received such an evil thought, they decided to arrange their well-being themselves, in defiance of God’s will. The violation of the commandment would not have been possible if the decision had not been spoken within them: thus we shall arrange ourselves and become what it befits us to be. This decision produced a complete upheaval within man.

Having torn himself away from God in this way, man turned away from God in his spirit. As a consequence, his spirit lost the power to rule over soul and body. Man inevitably fell under the most varied demands of soul and body and became soul-bodily. That is, the governing life in him became the life of the soul, turned toward arranging temporal existence, and bodily life, moved by pleasures of the flesh. Spiritual life was not destroyed, but it lost its first and ruling place and became subject to the other two.

There are many needs of soul and body, and many ways to satisfy them. Since their natural governor, the spirit, lost authority, great disorders arose among them. Each need lost its measure. All lost the law of mutual relation and subordination. At every opportunity each strives to occupy the dominant place and subject all the others to itself. This is already a great evil. Yet it increased immeasurably because, at the same time that man spoke within himself the decision, “Thus I shall arrange myself,” he fell into selfhood. In this selfhood he received the seed of evil passions, which proceed from this selfhood and are not rooted in nature.

They penetrated the whole soul-bodily condition, saturated it with their poison, and immeasurably increased the evil arising from the loss of the measure of needs and the order of their mutual relation. The state of the fallen man may be defined as self-centered, passionate, soul-bodily existence. Its spirit is self-pleasing in defiance of everything. This very thing is what Saint Paul called carnality. It is the sin dwelling in us, which breeds in our life every transgression of the law and every kind of sin.

Every man remains this way until he receives grace, even if he is under the law. The Apostle says: the law is spiritual, and it demands that I live in the spirit. But in me soul-bodily self-pleasing predominates. Because of this, even under the law I only sin. The needs of soul and body are not sinful. But when the body is satisfied to the harm of the soul, and when soul and body are satisfied in defiance of the spirit, then one sins. And sin is especially sinful when one acts in this way not simply to satisfy needs, but by satisfying them feeds the passions.