Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
Parallel translations
- KJV Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
- BSB So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
- NKJV Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
- NASB So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
- NLT But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul affirms that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good. The problem is never with God's law but with sinful humanity.
Overview
Having shown how sin abuses the law, Paul defends the law's true character in the strongest terms. The law reflects God's own holy, righteous, and good nature. This vindication prepares the way for Paul's deeper analysis of the conflict between God's good law and indwelling sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Tim 1:8But we know that the law is good, if a person uses it lawfully,
- Ps 119:137You are righteous, Yahweh. Your judgments are upright.
- Ps 19:7–12Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
- Rom 7:14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
- Ps 119:172Let my tongue sing of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness.
- Rom 3:31Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- Neh 9:13“You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
- Deut 4:8What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today?
- Ps 119:140Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.
- Rom 12:2Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- Ps 119:86All of your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me!
- Rom 7:16But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
- Deut 10:12Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Ps 119:38Fulfill your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 7:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.