Romans 7:8

Plain English Version

And, you know, we all have a bad part in us that wants to do bad things, so when that bad part in us hears the law, it makes us want to do that same wrong thing that the law talks about. But if we don’t hear that law, that bad part in us can’t get us to go wrong like that.

Cross References

John 15:22

I came and talked to them, but they didn’t listen to me. So they are going against God, and he will say they are guilty. And they can’t argue with him. They can’t say they didn’t hear my message.

John 15:24

And that mob saw me do powerful things, but they took no notice of me, so they are guilty of going against God. I did those powerful things that nobody else ever did, and they saw what I did, but they still hate me, and they hate my father too. So they are really guilty.

Romans 4:15

People try to follow that law, but they can’t do it, and whenever they break that law, God gets angry with them and punishes them. So all the law does is give us trouble. (The only way people will not break the law is if there is no law to break.)

Romans 5:20

You see, the law came and showed people that they did wrong things. But that didn’t stop them. They still did wrong things. Yes, people kept on doing more bad things, but at the same time God kept on being good to people, more and more.

Romans 7:11

That bad part of us uses that law to trick us, so that we do bad things. And then we have to die.

Romans 7:13

So, does that good law kill people? No way. It’s like this. That law shows us the things that God said are wrong, and that law says that we have to die if we do those wrong things. So that law shows us that it is really bad to go wrong, and to do bad things against God.

Romans 7:17

So really, it’s not us that does those bad things. It’s that bad part of us that is inside us.

Romans 7:9

And you know, some people didn’t know that law at first, but after they heard it, that bad part in them made them want to do those bad things.