Romans 7:14

Plain English Version

The problem is not the law, it is us. We know this. That law came from God, so there is nothing wrong with that law. But there is something wrong with us. We keep on going wrong. There is a bad part inside us that makes itself our boss, and we do whatever that boss tells us to do.

Cross References

Genesis 37:27

So let’s not kill him. Let’s sell him to this Midian mob. You know, Joseph is our brother, and we are all in the same family, so we shouldn’t hurt him.” The rest of Joseph’s brothers agreed to do what Judah said.

Genesis 37:36

But Joseph wasn’t really dead. That Midian mob, they took Joseph to Egypt country, and they sold him to a man called Potifar. That man Potifar, he worked for the big boss of Egypt, called Pharaoh. Potifar was in charge of all the soldiers that guarded Pharaoh’s house.

Genesis 40:15

You know, I am from the Hebrew tribe, and I used to live with my people, in my home country. But then some men grabbed me, and they took me away from my home country, and they brought me here to Egypt country. And now I’m in jail, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Matthew 18:25

The work-man said, ‘No, not yet. I haven’t got any money right now.’ The big boss was angry. He wanted to get some money back, so he told his soldiers, ‘Grab this man, and his wife, and his kids, and all his things, and sell them to another man. He will make them work for no pay.’

Matthew 5:22

But now I’m telling you this. Don’t even get angry with anybody. That is bad too. If you are angry with somebody, God will be your judge, and he will punish you. Or if you call somebody bad names, you will end up in God’s court. And if you get really angry with somebody, and if you tell them, ‘You are a stupid fool,’ God will judge you for that, and he can send you into the big fire called hell.”

Matthew 5:28

But now I’m telling you this. If you look at a woman that is not your wife, and you think about sleeping with her, that is bad too. If you think about doing that, you are going wrong. Thinking about it is just as bad as doing it.

Romans 3:9

So what about those of us that are Jewish people? Will God be more good to us than to other people? No way. Both Jewish people and other people do bad things, just like I already said.

Romans 6:6

We know that they nailed Jesus Christ to that cross, and it was like they nailed a part of us there too, that old part of us that makes us do wrong things all the time. It got nailed to that cross with Jesus, and it is dead. So now it doesn’t have any power over us. It can’t make us do bad things.

Romans 7:18

We know that we can’t do anything good by ourselves. We want to do the right thing, but we can’t.

Galatians 4:3

Now I’ll tell you what that picture story is all about. We were like that little kid. We had bosses too. The bad spirits that are the bosses over this world, they were our bosses.

Ephesians 3:8

I’m not important. All of God’s people are more important than me. But God was good to me, and he gave me this special job. He sent me to tell the people that are not Jews about the really great things that Jesus Christ can give them. These things are so great that nobody can understand them properly.