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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Romans 7 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/romans/7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/romans/7-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Romans 7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../romans/6.htm" title="Romans 6">◄</a> Romans 7 <a href="../romans/8.htm" title="Romans 8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">An Example from Marriage</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_1"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.1" class="v45_7_1">1</span>My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. </span><span class="v45_7_2"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.2" class="v45_7_2">2</span>For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free </span><span class="v45_7_3"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.3" class="v45_7_3">3</span>to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_4"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.4" class="v45_7_4">4</span>That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so we could serve God. </span><span class="v45_7_5"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.5" class="v45_7_5">5</span>When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die. </span><span class="v45_7_6"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.6" class="v45_7_6">6</span>But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Battle with Sin</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_7"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.7" class="v45_7_7">7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.7.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do this. </span><span class="v45_7_8"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.8" class="v45_7_8">8</span>It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_9"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.9" class="v45_7_9">9</span>Before I knew about the Law, I was alive. But as soon as I heard that command, sin came to life, </span><span class="v45_7_10"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.10" class="v45_7_10">10</span>and I died. The very command that was supposed to bring life to me, instead brought death. </span><span class="v45_7_11"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.11" class="v45_7_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.7.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Sin used this command to trick me, and because of it I died. </span><span class="v45_7_12"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.12" class="v45_7_12">12</span>Still, the Law and its commands are holy and correct and good.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_13"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.13" class="v45_7_13">13</span>Am I saying something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is. </span><span class="v45_7_14"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.14" class="v45_7_14">14</span>We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. </span><span class="v45_7_15"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.15" class="v45_7_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.7.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. </span><span class="v45_7_16"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.16" class="v45_7_16">16</span>Although I don't do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. </span><span class="v45_7_17"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.17" class="v45_7_17">17</span>So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_18"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.18" class="v45_7_18">18</span>I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. </span><span class="v45_7_19"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.19" class="v45_7_19">19</span>Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. </span><span class="v45_7_20"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.20" class="v45_7_20">20</span>And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_21"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.21" class="v45_7_21">21</span>The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. </span><span class="v45_7_22"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.22" class="v45_7_22">22</span>With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. </span><span class="v45_7_23"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.23" class="v45_7_23">23</span>But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. </span><span class="v45_7_24"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.24" class="v45_7_24">24</span>What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? </span><span class="v45_7_25"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.7.25" class="v45_7_25">25</span>Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_7_25">So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.</span></p> </div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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