For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse highlights that the law didn't create sinful desires but rather aroused them, acting like a catalyst that made our "sinful passions" more active. This reveals a subtle but crucial point: the problem wasn't the law itself, but how our deeply flawed inner nature ("the flesh") reacted to it, producing deadly "fruit."
For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul is contrasting the life lived apart from Christ with the new life believers now have in Him. He's explaining that before conversion, when people were "in the flesh" (meaning living according to their sinful nature), the law didn't deliver them from sin. Instead, it stirred up sinful desires, which then produced actions leading to spiritual death.
What does it mean to be 'in the flesh'? It's more than just a physical body; it describes a life lived apart from God's Spirit, where sin's desires run rampant.
Paul uses the phrase 'in the flesh' to describe our state before experiencing new life in Christ. It signifies being fully under the power of sin, where our natural desires and inclinations are corrupted.
The Flesh's Domain
This isn't a picture of occasional sin, but a whole life dedicated to death's outcome because of sin's reign.
Does God's good law actually cause us to sin more? Paul says 'yes,' but not in the way you might first think. It's a crucial, albeit painful, part of God's plan.
The Law itself isn't sinful. Instead, when the Law confronts our fallen, 'fleshly' nature, it has a powerful, often negative, effect. It doesn't create sin, but it does awaken and inflame it.
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How the Law Intensifies Sin
This is why Paul contrasts the 'oldness of the letter' with the 'newness of spirit' in the very next verse – freedom from the Law's condemning power is essential for true life.
What kind of 'fruit' does a life lived in the flesh bear? It's not the sweet, life-giving kind. This verse paints a stark picture of spiritual bankruptcy.
The end result of living 'in the flesh,' especially when provoked by the Law, is a harvest dedicated to death. This 'death' is multifaceted:
The Consequences of a Fleshly Life
This verse is a sobering reminder that a life not intentionally surrendered to the Spirit will inevitably bear fruit that leads to destruction.
Understand the original words
sarx · Greek Noun
Refers to the fallen human nature or the state of life lived apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. It describes the condition of humanity dominated by sinful desires and rebellion against God.
pathēma · Greek Noun
Strong impulses or desires toward sin. These are the internal movements of the heart that drive actions contrary to God's holy standard.
melos · Greek Noun
Bodily organs or the faculties of the person; figuratively, the parts of one’s life or nature through which sinful impulses are carried out.
thanatos · Greek Noun
Separation from God and the consequence of sin. It represents both physical mortality and, more significantly, the eternal spiritual ruin that results from living in rebellion against the Creator.
This passage echoes the idea that the law, rather than empowering righteousness, actually stirred up sin, highlighting the inability of the law alone to bring life.
Romans 6:21This verse directly speaks about the 'fruit' of sin leading to 'death,' reinforcing the ultimate consequence described in Romans 7:5.
Colossians 2:11This passage describes the 'flesh' in terms of its sinful state, mirroring the understanding in Romans 7:5 where 'in the flesh' signifies an unregenerate condition dominated by sin.
Romans 8:7This verse presents a direct contrast, stating that the 'mind controlled by the flesh is hostile to God,' which illuminates the hostile and death-producing nature of being 'in the flesh' as described in Romans 7:5.
John 15:4This verse speaks of bearing fruit, but in the context of abiding in Christ, it contrasts sharply with the 'fruit unto death' borne when one is 'in the flesh' and separated from Him.
pulpitRomans 7:5: "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."
Verse 5. - For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were through the Law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. In the flesh, to which might be opposed in the Spirit (cf. Romans 8:9), denotes our state when under the power of sin, before we had risen to a new life in Christ; it is virtually the same as what is meant…
barnesRomans 7:5: "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."
For when ... - The illustration in this verse and the following is designed to show more at length the effect of the Law, whenever and whereever applied; whether in a state of nature or of grace. It was always the same. It was the occasion of agitation and conflict in a man's own mind. This was true when a sinner was under conviction; and it was true…
The verse highlights that the law didn't create sinful desires but rather aroused them, acting like a catalyst that made our "sinful passions" more active. This reveals a subtle but crucial point: the problem wasn't the law itself, but how our deeply flawed inner nature ("the flesh") reacted to it, producing deadly "fruit."
Paul is contrasting the life lived apart from Christ with the new life believers now have in Him. He's explaining that before conversion, when people were "in the flesh" (meaning living according to their sinful nature), the law didn't deliver them from sin. Instead, it stirred up sinful desires, which then produced actions leading to spiritual death.
Paul is contrasting the life lived apart from Christ with the new life believers now have in Him. He's explaining that before conversion, when people were "in the flesh" (meaning living according to their sinful nature), the law didn't deliver them from sin. Instead, it stirred up sinful desires, which then produced actions leading to spiritual death.
"For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." — The verse highlights that the law didn't create sinful desires but rather aroused them, acting like a catalyst that made our "sinful passions" more active. This reveals a subtle but crucial point…
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Last reviewed October 2026