Romans 7:5-6 Romans 7:5-The Law Aroused Sinful Passions In ...

If along the lines of scientific and philosophical development pneuma as a
physical or physiological term thus remains essentially materialistic and vitalistic.
In its poetic, mythico-religious development, in which again, especially in
manticism, it is never wholly freed from matter, it is an exceptional phenomenon
imparted only in special circumstances to the elect, and it thus bears a very definite
enthusiastic and ecstatic character.

In the Greek world pneuma is always regarded as a thing, never as a person.
The secular Greek concept of pneuma, whether understood physiologico-
cosmologically, mantico-enthusiastically or in the last resort spiritually, is
distinguished from the NT concept by the fact that the God who stands behind it is
quite different.

The noun pneuma translates the following Hebrew terms in the LXX: (1)
Nishmah (hmvn), “breath” (Dn. 5:23-Aramaic). (2) Neshamah (hmvn), “breath” (1
Kgs. 17:17; Dn. 10:17). (3) Qadhim (sudq), “east wind” (Is. 27:8). (4) Ruach
(jwr), “Spirit” (Nm. 11:25; 1 Sm. 16:14; Is. 11:2).

In the Septuagint (LXX) the Hebrew equivalent of pneuma is almost always
ruach and only 3 times does pneuma render neshamah, “breath.”

Furthermore, as far as LXX translations of ruach are concerned, pneuma
predominates, for the 377 instances of ruach in the Masoretic Text, 264 are
translated by pneuma, the next most frequent rendering being anemos, “wind,”
used 49 times.

The idea behind ruach is the extraordinary fact that something as intangible as
air should move; at the same time it is not so much the movement per se which
excites attention, but rather the energy manifested by such movement.

The basic meaning of ruach, therefore, is more or less that of “blowing.” Thus,
both the Greek term pneuma and the Hebrew term ruach demonstrate the same
diversity in meaning.

Depending upon the context ruach oftentimes denotes human life which is
composed of both body and soul which is generated by God through breathing
(neshamah) into man’s nostrils to give him this soul life (Is. 57:16).

The basic idea of ruach is “air in motion,” from air which cannot come between
a crocodile’s scales (Jb. 41:16) to the blast of a storm (Is. 25:4; Hab. 1:11). In
living beings the ruach is their breath, whether of animals (Gn. 7:15; Ps. 104:25,
29), men (Is. 42:5; Ez. 37:5), or both (Gn. 7:22-23); whether inhaled (Jer. 2:24) or
on the lips (Is. 11:4; cf. Job 9:18; contrast dead idols, Jer. 10:14; 51:17).

God creates it: “the ruach “Spirit” of God (from God) is in my nostrils” (Job.
27:3).

The connotations of breath include: (1) Power (1 Kgs. 10:5) (2) Courage (Josh.
2:11; 5:1) (3) Value (Lam. 4:20) (4) Wind (Jer. 5:13) (5) Rush of air, a snort

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through one’s nose (6) Emotions of aggressiveness (Is. 25:4) (7) Anger (Jud. 8:3;
Prov. 29:11) (8) Activity and life (Job 17:11; Jud. 15:19; 1 Sm. 30:12) (9) Mind
(Ezk. 11;5; 20:32; Dn. 5:20).

In God’s hand is the breath, ruach, of all mankind (Job 12:10; Is. 42:5). The
unique feature of human life is not, however, the physical but the spiritual, i.e., the
mental and personal. The “breath” of man was bestowed by a special creative act
of God (Gn. 2:7; contrast the beasts in 1:24). But it is in his inner being that
reflects the image of God, formed by the counsel of the Trinity (“us” 1:26) and
sovereign over all other living things (2:20).

The noun ruach, further, depicts disposition of mind or attitude (Num. 14:24;
cf. 2 Kgs. 19:7).

A person’s ruach may be: (1) Sad (1 Kgs. 21:5) (2) Overwhelmed (Ps. 77:3) (3)
Contrite (Is. 57:15) (4) Restrained (Prov. 17:27) (5) Jealous (Num. 5:14) (6)
Patient or proud (Ecc. 7:8).

People may be marked by a lifestyle of wisdom (Dt. 34:9), or whoredom (Hos.
4:12). Also, ruach comes to denote the entire immaterial consciousness of man (Is.
26:9; Prv. 16:32; Dn. 5:20; Ps. 32:2).

Man is said to have a ruach as well as a nephesh, “soul.” The ruach is contained
with its bodily nidneh, “sheath” (metaphor for the body) (Dn. 7:15; Zech. 12:1). At
death the body returns to the dust of the ground, but the immaterial spirit returns to
God Who gave it (Gen. 3:19; Ecc. 12:7). In this regard ruach and nephesh, here
meaning distinctly “soul,” tend to overlap (Jb. 7:11; Is. 26:9; cf. Ex. 6:9 with Nm.
21:4).

Ruach may at times designate a supernatural, angelic being (1 Sm. 16:23). The
distinctions between ruach and nephesh are as follows: Ruach is the principle of
man’s rational and immortal life, and possesses reason, will, and conscience. It
imparts the divine image to man, and constitutes the animating dynamic which
results in man’s nephesh as the subject of personal life.

The distinctive personality of the individual inheres in his nephesh, the seat of
his emotions and desires.

Ruach is the life-power, having the ground of its vitality in itself; the nephesh
has a more subjective and conditioned life.

Finally, the word is also used to designate the Holy Spirit (Gn. 1:2; 6:3; Is.
11:12; 40:13; Ps. 51:11; cf. Is. 63:10-11; 48:16).

The noun pneuma appears 388 times in the Greek New Testament.
Louw and Nida list the following NT meanings for the word (Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains volume 2): (1) A title
for the 3rd Person of the Trinity (page 141). (2) A supernatural non-material being
(page 145). (3) An evil supernatural being (page 146). (4) An apparition, ghost
(page 147). (5) The non-material, psychological faculty which is potentially

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sensitive and responsive to God as an expression of the divine in contrast with the
purely human (page 323). (6) An attitude or disposition reflecting the way in which
a person thinks about or deals with some matter (page 350). (7) Air in relatively
rapid movement, but without specification as to the force of the movement (page
167). (8) A breath of air coming from the lungs (page 274).

Moulton lists the following NT meanings which he gathered from his research
(The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised, page 331): (1) Wind, air in motion (2)
Breath (3) A spirit, spiritual being (4) A bodiless spirit, spectre (5) A foul spirit (6)
Spirit, as a vital principle (7) The human spirit, the soul (8) The spirit as the seat of
thought and feeling, the mind (9) Spirit, mental frame (10) A characteristic spirit,
an influential principle (11) A pervading influence (12) Spirit, frame of mind, as
distinguished from outward circumstances and actions (13) Spirit as distinguished
from outward show and form (14) Spirit, a divinely-bestowed spiritual frame,
characteristic of true believers (15) Spirit, latent spiritual import, spiritual
significance, as distinguished from the mere letter (16) Spirit, as a term for a
process superior to a merely natural or carnal course of things, by the operation of
the Divine spirit (17) A spiritual dispensation, or, a sealing energy of the Holy
Spirit (18) The Holy Spirit (19) A gift of the Holy Spirit (20) An operation or
influence of the Holy Spirit (21) A spiritual influence, an inspiration (22) A
professedly divine communication, or a professed possessor of a spiritual
communication.

The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists the following meanings of the
word in the NT (pages 520-523): (1) A movement of air (2) The spirit, i.e. the vital
principle by which the body is animated (3) A spirit, i.e. a simple essence, devoid
of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing,
desiring, deciding, and acting. (4) God’s power and agency,-distinguishable in
thought from God’s essence in itself considered,-manifest in the course of affairs,
and by its influence upon soul’s productive in the theocratic body (the church) of
all the higher spiritual gifts and blessings (5) The disposition or influence which
fills and governs the soul of any one; the efficient source of any power, affection,
emotion, desire, etc.

Bauer, Gingrich and Danker provide the following list of meanings (A Greek-
English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature pages
674-676): (1) Blowing, breath (2) Breath, (life)spirit, soul, that which gives life to
the body (3) The spirit as a part of the human personality (4) A spirit as an
independent being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical
senses (5) The spirit as that which differentiates God from everything that is not
God, as the divine power that produces all divine existence, as the divine element
in which all divine life is carried on, as the bearer of every application of the divine
will. All those belong to God possess or receive this spirit and hence have a share

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in his life. This spirit also serves to distinguish the Christians from all unbelievers,
where the spirit enters a man and, in accordance with God’s will, separates him
from himself. (6) The Divine Spirit reveals his presence in the persons whom he
fills, in various ways (7) Of persons who are possessed by a spirit that is not from
God (8) The Spirit appears as an independent personality in formulas that became
more and more fixed and distinct.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words has the following
article regarding the NT usage of the noun pneuma, stating, “pneuma primarily
denotes ‘the wind’ (akin to pneo, ‘to breathe, blow’); also ‘breath’; then, especially
‘the spirit,’ which, like the wind, is invisible, immaterial and powerful. The NT
uses of the word may be analyzed approximately as follows: (a) the wind, (John
3:8) (where marg. is, perhaps, to be preferred); (Heb. 1:7); cf. (Amos 4:13), Sept.;
(b) the breath, (2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 11:11; 13:15); cf. (Job 12:10), Sept.; (c) the
immaterial, invisible part of man, (Luke 8:55; Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5:5; Jas. 2:26); cf.
(Eccl. 12:7), Sept.; (d) the disembodied (or `unclothed,' or `naked,' (2 Cor. 5:3,4))
man, (Luke 24:37,39; Heb. 12:23; 1 Pet. 4:6); (e) the resurrection body, (1 Cor.
15:45; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:18); (f) the sentient element in man, that by which he
perceives, reflects, feels, desires, (Matt. 5:3; 26:41; Mark 2:8; Luke 1:47,80; Acts
17:16; 20:22; 1 Cor. 2:11; 5:3,4; 14:4,15; 2 Cor. 7:1); cf. (Gen. 26:35; Isa. 26:9;
Ezek. 13:3; Dan. 7:15); (g) purpose, aim, (2 Cor. 12:18; Phil. 1:27; Eph. 4:23; Rev.
19:10); cf. (Ezra 1:5; Ps. 78:8; Dan. 5:12); (h) the equivalent of the personal
pronoun, used for emphasis and effect: 1st person, (1 Cor. 16:18); cf. (Gen. 6:3);
2nd person, (2 Tim. 4:22; Philem. 25); cf. (Ps. 139:7); 3rd person, (2 Cor. 7:13); cf.
(Isa. 40:13); (i) character, (Luke 1:17; Rom. 1:4); cf. (Num. 14:24); (j) moral
qualities and activities: bad, as of bondage, as of a slave, (Rom. 8:15); cf. (Isa.
61:3); stupor, (Rom. 11:8); cf. (Isa. 29:10); timidity, (2 Tim. 1:7); cf. (Josh. 5:1);
good, as of adoption, i. e., liberty as of a son, (Rom. 8:15); cf. (Ps. 51:12);
meekness, (1 Cor. 4:21); cf. (Prov. 16:19); faith, (2 Cor. 4:13); quietness, (1 Pet.
3:4); cf. (Prov. 14:29); (k) the Holy Spirit, e. g., (Matt. 4:1) (see below); (Luke
4:18); (l) `the inward man' (an expression used only of the believer, (Rom. 7:22; 2
Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16)); the new life, (Rom. 8:4-6,10,16; Heb. 12:9); cf. (Ps. 51:10);
(m) unclean spirits, demons, (Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:33; 1 Pet. 3:19); cf. (1 Sam.
18:10); (n) angels, (Heb. 1:14); cf. (Acts 12:15); (o) divine gift for service, (1 Cor.
14:12,32); (p) by metonymy, those who claim to be depositories of these gifts, (2
Thes. 2:2; 1 John 4:1-3); (q) the significance, as contrasted with the form, of
words, or of a rite, (John 6:63; Rom. 2:29; 7:6; 2 Cor. 3:6); (r) a vision, (Rev. 1:10;
4:2; 17:3; 21:10). The use or absence of the article in the original where the ‘Holy
Spirit’ is spoken of cannot always be decided by grammatical rules, nor can the
presence or absence of the article alone determine whether the reference is to the
"Holy Spirit." Examples where the Person is meant when the article is absent are

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(Matt. 22:43) (the article is used in (Mark 12:36)); (Acts 4:25), RV (absent in some
texts); (19:2,6; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; Gal. 5:25) (twice); (1 Pet. 1:2). Sometimes
the absence is to be accounted for by the fact that Pneuma (like Theos) is
substantially a proper name, e. g., in (John 7:39). As a general rule the article is
present where the subject of the teaching is the Personality of the Holy Spirit, e. g.,
(John 14:26), where He is spoken of in distinction from the Father and the Son. See
also (15:26) and cf. (Luke 3:22). In (Gal. 3:3), in the phrase ‘having begun in the
Spirit,’ it is difficult to say whether the reference is to the ‘Holy Spirit’ or to the
quickened spirit of the believer; that it possibly refers to the latter is not to be
determined by the absence of the article, but by the contrast with ‘the flesh’; on the
other hand, the contrast may be between the ‘Holy Spirit’ who in the believer sets
His seal on the perfect work of Christ, and the flesh which seeks to better itself by
works of its own. There is no preposition before either noun, and if the reference is
to the quickened spirit it cannot be dissociated from the operation of the ‘Holy
Spirit.’ In (Gal. 4:29) the phrase ‘after the Spirit’ signifies ‘by supernatural power,’
in contrast to ‘after the flesh,’ i. e., ‘by natural power,’ and the reference must be to
the ‘Holy Spirit’; so in (5:17). The full title with the article before both pneuma
and hagios (the ‘resumptive’ use of the article), lit., ‘the Spirit the Holy,’ stresses
the character of the Person, e. g., (Matt. 12:32; Mark 3:29; 12:36; 13:11; Luke
2:26; 10:21) (RV); (John 14:26; Acts 1:16; 5:3; 7:51; 10:44,47; 13:2; 15:28; 19:6;
20:23,28; 21:11; 28:25; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 3:7; 9:8; 10:15). The Personality of the
Spirit is emphasized at the expense of strict grammatical procedure in (John 14:26;
15:26; 16:8,13,14), where the emphatic pronoun ekeinos, ‘He,’ is used of Him in
the masculine, whereas the noun pneuma is neuter in Greek, while the
corresponding word in Aramaic, the language in which our Lord probably spoke, is
feminine (rucha, cf. Heb. ruach). The rendering ‘itself’ in (Rom. 8:16,26), due to
the Greek gender, is corrected to ‘Himself’ in the RV. The subject of the ‘Holy
Spirit’ in the NT may be considered as to His divine attributes; His distinct
Personality in the Godhead; His operation in connection with the Lord Jesus in His
birth, His life, His baptism, His death; His operations in the world; in the church;
His having been sent at Pentecost by the Father and by Christ; His operations in the
individual believer; in local churches; His operations in the production of Holy
Scripture; His work in the world, etc.” (pages 1085-1086).

The following is a comprehensive list of the word’s usage in the NT: (1) Title
for the 3rd Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18; Mk. 1:8; Lk. 1:15;
Jn. 1:32; 7:39; 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13; Act. 1:2; Rm. 5:5; 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Cor. 6:6;
Gal. 5:5; Eph. 1:13; Phlp. 1:19; 1 Th. 1:15; 4:8; 2 Tm. 1:14; 1 Jn. 5:7; Rev. 2:7, 11,
17, 29; 3:1, 6, 13, 22). (2) The believer’s human spirit (Rm. 1:9; 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:10-
12; 14:15-16; 16:18; 2 Cor. 2:13; Gal. 6:18; Phlp. 4:23; 1 Th. 5:23; 2 Tm. 4:22;
Phlm. 25; Heb. 4:12; 12:9; Jam. 2:26). (3) Humanity of Christ’s human spirit (Lk.

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1:80; 23:46; Jn. 11:33; 13:21; 19:30; Rev. 22:6). (4) Fallen Angels (Mt. 10:1; Mk.
1:27; Lk. 4:33; Acts 5:16; 1 Tm. 4:1; 1 Pt. 3:19; Rev. 16:13). (5) Elect Angels
(Heb. 1:7, 14; Rev. 1:4). (6) Regeneration, salvation ministry or operation of the
Spirit (John 3:1-16; Titus 3:5). (7) Baptism of the Spirit, salvation ministry or
operation of the Spirit (Jn. 7:39; Acts 1:5, 8; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:2, 14; Eph. 4:4; 1
Th. 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:11-12). (8) Indwelling of the Spirit, salvation ministry or
operation of the Spirit (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). (9) Filling
of the Spirit, salvation and post-salvation ministry or operation of the Spirit and the
enabling divine power to live the spiritual life (Lk. 4:1; Jn. 4:24; Acts 2:4, 38;
10:44; Eph. 5:18; 6:19; Gal. 5:16, 25; Phlp. 1:19, 27; 3:3; Col. 2:5; 1 Pt. 1:22; Heb.
9:14; Jude 20; Rev. 1:10). (10) Sealing of the Spirit, salvation ministry of Holy
Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). (11) Adoption, as a ministry of the Holy
Spirit (Rm. 8:15). (12) Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11). (13) Sanctification,
salvation and post-salvation ministry of the Spirit (2 Th. 2:13). (14) Intercessory,
post-salvation ministry of the Spirit (Rm. 8:26). (15) Fruit (production of divine
good) of the Spirit (Rm. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; 1 Th. 1:6). (16) Quenching the Holy Spirit
by the believer out of fellowship with God (1 Th. 5:19). (17) Grieving the Holy
Spirit by the believer out of fellowship with God (Eph. 4:30). (18) Blasphemy
against the Spirit (Matt. 12:14-32) (19) Resistance of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)
(20) Lying to God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3) (21) Divine viewpoint (Rm. 8:6; Eph.
1:17; 2 Tm. 1:7; 1 Jn. 4:6). (22) Lifestyle of believer in fellowship with God (Eph.
1:17). (23) The omnipotence of the Word of God as a spiritual weapon (Eph. 6:17).
(24) Satan (Eph. 2:2). (25) Breathing of the believer’s soul who is in fellowship
with God (Eph. 4:23). (26) Discerning ministry of God the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.
2:10; 1 Jn. 3:24; 5:6). (27) Mentorship of the Holy Spirit, post-salvation ministry
or operation of the Spirit (Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:13). (28) Cosmic
viewpoint (Rm. 11:8; 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 Jn. 4:1). (29) Wind as a meteorological
phenomenon (John 3:8) (30) Breath which sustains human life (2 Thes. 2:8; Rev.
11:11; 13:15) (31) Ghost, apparition (Lk. 24:39). (32) Attribute of the Triune God
(Jn. 4:24; 1 Jn. 5:6; Rev. 5:6). (33) Inspiration, ministry or operation of the Spirit
enabling the regenerate human beings to produce Scripture (1 Pet. 1:11; 2 Pet.
1:21; Rev. 22:6). (34) Fellowship with the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).

In theology, God the Holy Spirit is identified as the third Person of the Trinity.
The word “Trinity” describes God as being one in essence but three coequal, co-
infinite, and coeternal Persons. Who are these three Persons? They are God the
Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Each member of the Trinity is in union with each other and all have the same
divine nature with specific attributes or characteristics, which can be described.
Each member of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
is a separate person who possesses these divine attributes individually.

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There is no member of the Trinity who is lower in rank to another member.
Each member of the Trinity has a specific purpose related to the plan of God. The
Bible teaches us that each member of the Trinity has their own specific role that is
not shared by the others.

God the Father's role in the Trinity is as the source and planner of all things.
God the Son's role in the Trinity is to carry out the plan of God. God the Holy
Spirit reveals the Father's plan and provides the power to carry it out.

God the Holy Spirit is a Person not a thing (John 15:26; 16:7; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1
Pet. 1:2). The Holy Spirit is the unseen power of God. He reveals the Plan of God
on earth and is the agent for executing the Christian way of life.

The Titles of God the Holy Spirit: (1) “Spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4) (2)
“Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2) (3) “Spirit of knowledge” (Isa. 11:2) (4) “Spirit of
truth” (John 14:17).

Titles related to God the Father: (1) “Spirit of God” (2) “Spirit of our God”
(Gen. 1:2; Matt. 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:11) (3) “Spirit of your Father” (Matt. 10:20).

Titles related to God the Son: (1) “Spirit of Christ” (2) “Spirit of Jesus
Christ” (Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19) (3) “Spirit of His Son” (Gal. 4:6) (4) “Spirit of the
Lord” (Acts 5:9).

These titles do speak of an attribute because an attribute would not be
designated by a personal pronoun such as “He,” “Him,” and “His.”

John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him
because He abides with you and will be in you.”

John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
that I said to you.”

John 16:5-15, “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you
asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage
that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if
I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they
do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father
and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this
world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you
into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He
hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that

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the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will
disclose it to you.’”

God the Holy Spirit is a separate and distinct Person in the Godhead. He is
called “Lord” in 2 Cor. 3:17 just as God the Father and God the Son are.

2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty.”

The Holy Spirit has the attributes of personality: (1) Intellect (1 C. 2:10-13; R.
8:27). (2) Emotion (Eph. 4:30; He. 10:29; Ja. 4:5). (3) Will (1 C. 12:11; Acts 16:6-
11). (4) He has a mind, and therefore He thinks, searches and teaches.

1 Corinthians 2:10-13, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit;
for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men
knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so
that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also
speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the
Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

Ephesians 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption.”

1 Corinthians 12:11, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things,
distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

The Spirit Performs The Actions Of Personality: (1) Teaches (Jo. 14:26; 16:13-
15). (2) Testifies or bears witness (Jo. 15:26). (3) Guides and Leads (R. 8:14). (4)
Performs miracles (Acts 8:39). (5) Convinces (Jo. 16:7-8). (6) Restrains (Ge. 6:3; 2
Th. 2:6-7). (7) Commands (Acts 8:29). (8) Intercedes in prayer (R. 8:26). (9) He
receives ascriptions of personality. (10) He can be obeyed (Acts 16:6-7). (11) He
can be lied to (Acts 5:3). (12) He can be resisted (Acts 7:51). (13) He can be
blasphemed (Mt. 12:31). (14) He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30). (15) He can be
insulted (He. 10:29).

God the Holy Spirit is the divine author of the Word of God (2 Pet. 1:20-21).
2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act
of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Forty days after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven
and was seated at the right hand of the Father, He received power and authority
and the title of kurios, “Lord” over history and creation. Ten days later on the day
of Pentecost in June of 30 A.D., the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit to
permanently indwell those who had exercised faith in Him for eternal salvation.
On this day, the baptism of the Spirit first took place.

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Jewish believers were the first to receive it and this event is recorded in Acts 2.
It took place among Gentile believers not too long after this and is recorded in Acts
10. Therefore, when a person trusts in the Lord Jesus as his Savior, the Spirit
proceeds from the Lord Jesus Christ to permanently indwell that person.

There are several passages, which state that the Spirit proceeds from the Lord
Jesus Christ.

John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may be with you forever that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him
because He abides with you and will be in you.”

John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
that I said to you.”

John 15:26-27, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the
Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify
about Me and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the
beginning.”

John 16:5-87, “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you
asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage
that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if
I go, I will send Him to you.”

John 16:13-15, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you
into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He
hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that
the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will
disclose it to you.”

Acts 1:8, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Acts 2:33, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and
having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has
poured forth this which you both see and hear.”

Romans 8:9-11, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is
dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised

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Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 John 3:23-24, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of
His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The
one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know
by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

1 John 4:12-13, “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another,
God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we
abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

God the Holy Spirit’s Role in Man’s Salvation: (1) Common Grace: Makes the
gospel understandable (John 16:7-11; 2 Cor. 2:14b). (2) Regeneration: Creates a
human spirit at the moment of salvation (John 3:1-16). (3) Efficacious Grace:
Makes the believer’s faith in Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:2; Eph. 2:8-9).

Seven Salvation Ministries of God the Holy Spirit:
(1) Efficacious Grace: Makes faith in Jesus Christ effective for salvation (2
Cor. 6:1-2; Eph. 2:8-9).
2 Corinthians 6:1-2, “And working together with Him, we also urge you
not to receive the grace of God in vain -- for He says, ‘AT THE
ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF
SALVATION I HELPED YOU.’ Behold, now is ‘THE ACCEPTABLE
TIME,’ behold, now is ‘THE DAY OF SALVATION.’”
(2) Regeneration: Creates a human spirit for the purpose of the imputation of
eternal life (John 3:1-16; Titus 3:5).
Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and
renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
(3) Baptism of the Spirit: Places every believer in union with Jesus Christ
(John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5; 1 Pet. 3:21).
Galatians 3:26-28, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free
man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
(4) Indwelling: Creates a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:11;
1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16).
1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man
commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have
been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

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(5) Filling: Influences the soul of the believer in executing the plan of God for
the church age (Eph. 5:18).

Ephesians 5:18, “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of
being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather
permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.”

(6) Sealing: Puts His stamp on the believer to guarantee their salvation (2 Cor.
1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

Ephesians 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption.”

(7) Distribution of Spiritual Gifts: Gives every believer a spiritual gift (1 Cor.
12:4-11).

Four ministries given to the believer to glorify Christ (John 16:14; Gal. 5:22-
23): (1) The Baptism of the Spirit places us in union with Christ making each
church age believer a member of the Body of Christ, a child of God and a member
of the Royal Family of God (1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). (2) The Indwelling of the
Spirit makes the believers body a temple for the indwelling of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Shekinah Glory (Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). (3)
The Sealing of the Spirit guarantees the believers eternal security (Eph. 1:13;
4:30). (4) A Spiritual gift is given to each believer in order that they may function
in the body of Christ and therefore, build it up (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11).

God the Holy Spirit’s post-salvation ministries on behalf of the believer: (1)
Empowers the believer to execute the plan of God (Jo. 14:16, 26; Ga. 5:16, 25;
Eph. 5:18; Phlp. 2:13). (2) Reproduces Christ-like character in the believer (Ga.
4:19; 5:5, 16-23). (3) Teaches the believer the doctrines of Christ (Jo. 14:26; 1 Co.
2:10-16; 1 Jo. 2:20, 27). (4) Convicts the believer of sin (Jo. 16:7-11; Rm. 8:4-14;
Eph. 4:30; 1 Th. 5:18). (5) Leads the believer in worshipping the Father (Jo. 4:24;
Phlp. 3:3; Rm. 8:4-13). (6) Promotes spiritual maturity (Ga. 5:1-5; He. 5:11-6:6).
(7) Restrains sin in the world (2 Th. 2:6-7). (8) Regenerates to new life (Tit. 3:5).
(9) Applies truth to the believer’s experience (Jo. 14:26; Rm. 8:16; Eph. 6:18). (10)
Gives power to the believer’s prayer life (Jo. 15:7; Eph. 6:18; Jude 20). (11)
Promotes worship of God (Jo. 4:23-24; Eph. 5:18-21; Phlp. 3:3; Is. 59:1-2). (12)
Gives capacity, burden and direction for witnessing (Ac. 1:8; 1 Th. 1:5). (13) Gives
capacity for ministry (1 Co. 1:12-14). (14) Provides fellowship for the believer (2
Co. 13:14; Phlp. 2:1).

God the Holy Spirit teaches the believer through the Word of God (John 14:26;
15:26). Several passages state that the believer is to give heed to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches because of this spiritual principle that the Spirit takes the
doctrines of Christ and makes them understandable to the believer. The Spirit
speaks to the church through the communication of the Word of God.

Acts 21:11, “This is what the Holy Spirit says.”

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Acts 28:25, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to
your fathers.”

1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking
by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is
Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”

Timothy 4:1, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will
fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of
demons.”

Hebrews 3:7, “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY IF YOU
HEAR HIS VOICE.”

Revelation 2:11, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.”

Revelation 2:17, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.”

Revelation 2:7a, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.”

Revelation 3:6, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.'”

Revelation 3:13, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.'”

Revelation 3:22, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.”

The church age believer is totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit in order to
attain Christ-likeness and as a result execute the plan of God (Ga. 5:5, 16; Eph. 3;
16-17). He is the believer’s true teacher (John. 14:16-20, 26; 15:26; 16:7-16; 1 Co.
2:10-16; 2 Co. 13:14; Ga. 5:5, 16-25; Eph. 3:16-19; 5:18; 1 Jo. 2:20-27).

The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to produce Christ-like character in the
believer (Ga. 5:22-23; Phlp. 2:13).

Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my virtuously loved ones, in the same
manner that all of you have consistently obeyed, not only when in my
presence, but now, much more in my absence, you yourselves continue
executing your own spiritual life by means of respect (for God) and with
trembling. Since God (the Holy Spirit) is the one producing in all of you not
only the determination but also the (resultant) production for the attainment
of the grace purpose (of God the Father in eternity past).”

He takes the Word and empowers, guides and directs the believer in the process
of executing the Father’s plan (Acts 8:29; Rm. 8:14, 26; Phlp. 3:3; 2 Per. 1:21; cf.
Heb. 4:12).

Philippians 3:2-3, “Beware of those dogs, beware of those evil workers,
beware of the mutilation because we are the circumcision those who are

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serving (God the Father) by means of the Spirit of God, who are priding
themselves in the nature of Christ Jesus, who have no confidence in the flesh.”

He calls attention sin in the life of the believer by taking the Word of God and
using it to convict him (2 Ti. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12; cf. Jo. 16:7-11; 1 Co. 2:10-16;
Eph. 4:30; 1 Th. 5:19).

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Member of the Trinity Who reveals whether
the believer is living in accordance with the doctrines of Christ or not (Jo. 16:7-16;
Rm. 8:14).

Philippians 3:15, “Therefore, as many as are mature, let us consistently
think this. Nevertheless, if-and let us assume it is true for the sake of
argument anyone of you are thinking otherwise at the present time then God
the Holy Spirit as a rule will reveal this for your benefit.”

God the Holy Spirit produces peace in the soul of the believer who applies the
Word of God and in particular applies the doctrine of prayer.

Philippians 4:6-7, “At this very moment, all of you stop continuing to be
anxious about absolutely anything, but rather, concerning anything at all by
means of reverential prayer in the presence of the Father and by means of
petition accompanied by the giving of thanks, let your specific detailed
requests be repeatedly made known in the presence of the Father and as a
result the peace produced by God the Holy Spirit, which is always superior to
any and every human conception, will as a dogmatic statement of fact cause
your hearts to be protected and as a result your thoughts by means of the
doctrine of Christ Jesus.”

There are two types of sin committed by the unbeliever against God the Holy
Spirit: (1) “Blasphemy” against the Spirit (Matt. 12:14-32) (2) “Resistance” of the
Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).

There are three sins by the believer against the Holy Spirit: (1) “Lying” to God
the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3) (2) “Grieving” the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) (3)
“Quenching” the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19).

In Romans 7:6, the noun pneuma refers to the third member of the Trinity, the
Spirit. The word contains the figure of “metonymy” where the Spirit is put for the
work of the Spirit on behalf of Paul and his fellow Jewish Christians in Rome the
moment they were declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Some expositors interpret the word as referring to a new attitude or even the
human spirit. However, the believer’s new position in Christ and being a servant of
God were brought about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner, permanently indwells their bodies,
identifies them with Christ in His death and resurrection and gives them a spiritual
gift the moment they trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. The Christians does not
become a servant of God forever by means of his human spirit or a new attitude

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that originates from the Spirit or a new attitude that originates from the human
spirit.

The Holy Spirit is also the means or the agency by which the Christian serves
God in an experiential sense. In Philippians 3:2, Paul warns the Philippians of the
Judaizers and their legalist teaching in which they sought to put the Gentiles under
the Law and then in Philippians 3:3, he refutes them by teaching that the Christian
serves by means of the Spirit of God!

Philippians 3:2-3, “Beware of those dogs, beware of those evil workers,
beware of the mutilation because we are the circumcision those who are
serving (God the Father) by means of the Spirit of God, who are priding
themselves in the nature of Christ Jesus, who have no confidence in the flesh.”

If you recall, in Romans 7:6, presents the contrast between the effects of being
under the authority and dominion of the Mosaic Law with that of obeying the
gospel and being placed in union with Christ and under the authority and dominion
of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans chapter eight, Paul illustrates in greater detail his statement here in
Romans 7:6 and speaks in greater detail of the Spirit’s role in the Christian’s life.
The remainder of chapter seven is concerned with Paul’s statement in verse 5,
which speak of the effects of being under the Law. Therefore, Paul is in effect
“postponing” temporarily his contrast between the sin nature and the Spirit until
chapter eight in order that he might emphasize the Christian’s deliverance from the
jurisdiction and condemnation of the Mosaic Law as well as the implications of his
teaching concerning the Law itself in verses 7-25.

As we noted in our study of kainotes, the noun pneuma functions as a
“attributed genitive” meaning that the head noun kainotes rather than the genitive
is functioning in sense as an attributive genitive. Thus, the noun kainotes can be
converted to an attributive adjective describing the genitive noun pneuma, which
refers to the work of the Spirit on behalf of Paul and his fellow Jewish Christians
in Rome the moment they were declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as
their Savior. Therefore, kainotes describes the work of the Holy Spirit on behalf of
Paul and his fellow Jewish Christians in Rome the moment they were declared
justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior as “extraordinary in character
an nature.”

This extraordinary work of the Spirit in making the Christian a servant of God
forever is accomplished through seven ministries that He performs on behalf of the
sinner who is declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

Again, Paul is speaking of his Jewish Christian readers’ new position in Christ
in contrast to their old position under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law.
Therefore, he is referring to the Holy Spirit’s work in establishing this new

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position of being in union with Christ and being a servant to Christ and the Father
and is not speaking of the Spirit’s work in experiencing this new position.

The anarthrous construction of the word emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit
on behalf of all believers the moment they were declared justified through faith in
Jesus Christ. Therefore, the word contains the figure of “metonymy” where the
Spirit is put for the work of the Spirit on behalf of Paul and his fellow Jewish
Christians the moment they were declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as
their Savior.

We will translate pneuma, “the work of the Spirit.”
Corrected translation thus far of Romans 7:6: “But now in our present state,
we have been discharged from the Law as a result of having died with respect
to that which we were once in a perpetual state of being bound. Consequently,
we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, forever slaves for the benefit of God the
Father by means of the extraordinary work of the Spirit…”
Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to
that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and
not in oldness of the letter.”
“And” is the “connective” use of the conjunction kai (kai)V . It connects the
previous prepositional phrase en kainoteti pneumatos with the expression to
follow, ou palaioteti grammatos. The prepositional phrase en kainoteti pneumatos
emphasizes that the Christians’ position of forever being a servant of God is by
means of the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit the moment they were declared
justified through faith in Christ. The expression ou palaioteti grammatos
emphasizes that this never came about by observing the obsolete and useless letter
of the Law. Therefore, the conjunction kai connects these ideas and indicates that
they are directly related to each other. The first idea involves the second. The work
of the Spirit excludes the work of the Jew in observing the letter of the Law. We
will translate kai, “and.”
Corrected translation thus far of Romans 7:6: “But now in our present state,
we have been discharged from the Law as a result of having died with respect
to that which we were once in a perpetual state of being bound. Consequently,
we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, forever slaves for the benefit of God the
Father by means of the extraordinary of the work of the Spirit and…”
Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to
that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and
not in oldness of the letter.”
“Not” is the emphatic negative adverb ou (ou)) (oo), which is used to deny the
reality of an alleged fact and is the clear cut, point-blank negative, and objective,
final. In Romans 7:6, it emphatically negates the idea that the Jewish Christians in

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Rome are forever servants of God by means of observing the letter of the Law. We
will translate ou, “never.”

Corrected translation thus far of Romans 7:6: “But now in our present state,
we have been discharged from the Law as a result of having died with respect
to that which we were once in a perpetual state of being bound. Consequently,
we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, forever slaves for the benefit of God the
Father by means of the extraordinary work of the Spirit and by no means…”

Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to
that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and
not in oldness of the letter.”

“In oldness” is the dative feminine singular form of the noun palaiotes
(palaiotv h$) (pal-ah-yot-ace).

In classical Greek, this noun is generally used of “age,” but it can be found
more frequently as “antiquity, obsoleteness” according to Liddell and Scott (Page
1290). The word does not appear in the Septuagint and only once in the Greek
New Testament, our passage here in Romans 7:6.

There are two words for “old” in Greek, archaios, “that which is old in point of
time,” and palaios, “that which is old in point of use, worn out, useless.”

In Romans 7:6, the latter is used indicating that Paul and his fellow Jewish
Christians did not become servants of God forever by means of the “useless and
obsolete” observance of the letter of the Law.

The noun palaiotes functions as an object of the preposition en and as an
“instrumental of means.” Together, they signify that Paul and his fellow Jewish
believers in Rome did not become servants of God forever “by means of the
useless” or “obsolete” work of observing the letter of the Law.

In Romans 7:6, Paul is saying that he and his fellow Jewish Christians in Rome
are forever servants of God by means of the extraordinary work of the Spirit and
never by means of the obsolete and useless work of observing the letter of the Law.

The noun palaiotes functions as an attributive adjective because the genitive
noun gramma functions as an “attributed” genitive, which takes place when the
head noun, rather than the genitive, is functioning in sense as an attributive
genitive. Therefore, palaiotes is describing gramma, which refers to the
observance of the letter of the Law.

We will translate the noun palaiotes, “by means of the useless.”
Corrected translation thus far of Romans 7:6: “But now in our present state,
we have been discharged from the Law as a result of having died with respect
to that which we were once in a perpetual state of being bound. Consequently,
we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, forever slaves for the benefit of God the
Father by means of the extraordinary work of the Spirit and never by means
of the useless…”

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Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to
that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and
not in oldness of the letter.”

“The letter” is the dative neuter singular form of the noun gramma (gramv ma)
(gram-mah), which basically means, “letter” but its range of meaning includes
“musical notes, a list, a rule or law, papers, a letter or book” and “Scripture.”

The word means: (1) the product of the action, especially where contrast with
the spoken word is stressed (2) occasionally, the action itself; but then also (3)
ability to write It can mean the individual letters of the alphabet (Herodotus 5, 58
f.), but also papers, letters, documents (The New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology, volume 3, page 483).

In Romans 7:6, the noun gramma refers to the written document known as the
Mosaic Law and contains the figure of “metonymy” where the Law in its written
form is put for the observance of it.

The word views the Law but from the perspective of the unregenerate, legalistic
Jew who has no illumination from the Holy Spirit and therefore no understanding
of the true purpose of the Law.

To the legalistic, unregenerate Jew, the Mosaic Law is simply a body of
external rules of conduct without the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

That Paul is speaking of Law is indicated in that in context, he is speaking of
the Jewish Christians’ severed marriage relationship with the Law.

We saw this word in Romans 2:27 and 29.
Romans 2:27, “In fact, the physically uncircumcised by fulfilling perfectly
the Law will condemn you who are by means of Scripture and circumcision a
transgressor of the Law.”
In Romans 2:27, gramma refers to “any kind of written document, whether in
book or manuscript form, with focus upon the content.” The word refers to the
Mosaic Law with emphasis upon the Ten Commandments since Paul is saying that
Gentile obedience to the Law will serve as evidence against the Jew in their
condemnation and which Law the Gentiles did not receive in written form like the
Jew but were created with it inherent in their souls.
The noun gramma refers to the mechanical observance of the written code of
the Mosaic Law and in particular obeying the command to circumcise all Jewish
males as eight day old infants (Genesis 17:1-27; Leviticus 12:3).
Romans 2:29, “But rather, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is a Jew who is
one by means of the internal and circumcision originates in the heart by
means of the omnipotence of the Spirit, never by means of the letter whose
praise is as an eternal spiritual truth never from men but from God.”
In Romans 2:29, the emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically negates the
meaning of the noun gramma and should be translated “never.” The noun gramma

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functions as a “dative instrumental of means” indicating that authentic
circumcision is emphatically not “by means of” observing the command to
circumcise a Jewish boy as an eight day old infant. Therefore, the expression ou
grammati, “never by means of the letter” means that authentic circumcision is
never accomplished by means of the mechanical observance of the command to
circumcise a Jewish boy as an eight day old infant but rather by means of the Spirit
in the person who exercises faith in Jesus Christ.

In Romans 7:6, the noun gramma refers to the written document known as the
“Mosaic Law.” It contains the figure of “metonymy” where the Law in its written
form is put for the observance of it. The unregenerate legalistic Jew who has no
illumination from the Holy Spirit and therefore no understanding of the true
purpose of the Law views the Mosaic Law as a body of external rules of conduct.

Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the noun “legalism,”
“strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription,
especially to the letter rather than the spirit.”

The Judaizers like the Pharisees taught strict adherence to the letter of the Law,
especially to the letter rather than the spirit of the Law (Mk. 2-3)! The legalism of
the Pharisees from whom the Judaizers originated is illustrated by their critical
attitude of our Lord Jesus when he healed on the Sabbath. Under the Mosaic Law,
the Sabbath was designed to benefit Israel by prohibiting Israel from working on
this day and yet the Pharisees criticized the Lord for healing on the Sabbath, thus
they strictly adhered to letter of the Law rather than the spirit of the Law. This
same attitude is reflected in their teaching concerning circumcision, which Paul
addresses in Romans 2:25-29.

In Romans 2:25, Paul teaches his unsaved, self-righteous Jewish audience that
circumcision can not deliver them from eternal condemnation since disobedience
to the Law negates the value of circumcision.

Romans 2:25, “Indeed, on the one hand circumcision is, as an eternal
spiritual truth, beneficial if you should always practice the Law. On the other
hand, if you should be at any time a transgressor of the Law, (then) your
circumcision has become uncircumcision.”

In Romans 2:26, Paul poses a rhetorical question, which demands a positive
response from his unsaved Jewish audience that believed that because they were
circumcised that they could escape eternal condemnation and gain entrance into the
kingdom of heaven.

Romans 2:26, “Therefore, if the uncircumcision always observes the
righteous regulations originating from the Law, then, will not (God) consider
and treat accordingly his uncircumcision as circumcision?”

This rhetorical question implies in a hypothetical sense that although the
Gentile is uncircumcised his perfect obedience to the principles of the moral code

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of the Mosaic Law would make him circumcised in the eyes of God and is
designed to destroy Jewish confidence in circumcision to be justified before God.

This passage teaches the principle that perfect Gentile obedience without the
ritual of circumcision is righteousness in the eyes of God.

In Romans 2:27, Paul teaches that obedient Gentile conduct would serve as
evidence against the disobedient Jew.

Romans 2:27, “In fact, the physically uncircumcised by fulfilling perfectly
the Law will condemn you who are by means of Scripture and circumcision a
transgressor of the Law.”

In Romans 2:28, Paul taught that authentic Jewishness is not based upon being
a biological descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob nor is authentic circumcision
based upon receiving the surgical procedure of circumcision as an eight day old
infant.

Romans 2:28, “Therefore, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is absolutely
never a Jew who is one by means of the external, nor, as an eternal spiritual
truth, is circumcision, that which is by means of the external in the human
body.”

Then, in Romans 2:29, Paul teaches that authentic Jewishness is by means of
the internal and authentic circumcision is by means of the omnipotence of the Holy
Spirit.

Romans 2:29, “But rather, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is a Jew who is
one by means of the internal and circumcision originates in the heart by
means of the omnipotence of the Spirit, never by means of the letter whose
praise is as an eternal spiritual truth never from men but from God.”

The Lord Jesus Christ taught a leader of the Jews, Nicodemus about the
importance of the Spirit’s work.

John 3:1-21, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi,
we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these
signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him,
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom
of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He
cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?’
Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed
that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes
and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where
it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to Him,
‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the

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teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to
you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do
not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into
heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so
that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world
to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who
believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men
loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For
everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for
fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to
the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in
God.’”

Israel was commanded to circumcise their hearts, which means to turn to the
Lord in faith so that they might be able to obey His commands.

Deuteronomy 10:16, “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no
longer.”

Jeremiah 4:4, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the
foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else
My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of
the evil of your deeds.”

Circumcision of the heart involves accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, which
enables the Holy Spirit to regenerate the believer, giving him a new nature that will
always be obedient to the commands of God.

Circumcision of the heart is connected to regeneration since it is through
regeneration that one receives a new nature enabling one to obey the commands of
God.

Israel was promised by God that He would remove their heart of stone from
their flesh and give them a heart of flesh and give them the Holy Spirit so that they
might obey His commands.

Ezekiel 36:25-27, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be
clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I
will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I

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will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you
will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

An “uncircumcised heart” means a will that is rebellious and negative to God’s
commands and is another way of saying the person is stubborn. It refers to
possessing an old Adamic sin nature that needs to be crucified with Christ through
faith in Christ. Therefore, the command to Israel to circumcise their hearts assumes
that human hearts are naturally rebellious and need correction.

Addressing unsaved Jews, Stephen called them “uncircumcised in heart”
meaning they were arrogant and had not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior so as
to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and identified with Christ in His crucifixion,
death and burial, which would deal with the problem of their old sin nature.

Acts 7:51, ‘You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers
did.”

The nation of Israel will have circumcised hearts at the Second Advent of Christ
and subsequent millennial reign meaning they will accept Jesus Christ as Savior
and as a result will be regenerated by the Holy Spirit so that they will have a nature
that will obey the commands of God.

Deuteronomy 30:1-6, “So it shall be when all of these things have come
upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call
them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, and
you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul
according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the
LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you,
and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has
scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the
LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. The
LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed,
and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than
your fathers. Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and
the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

Authentic circumcision takes place the moment a person trusts in Jesus Christ
as his Savior, which results in his being regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thus
receiving the nature of Christ called the new creation, or new spiritual species.

Galatians 6:15, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creation.”

“Regeneration” is a ministry performed by the Holy Spirit on behalf of a person
the moment they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior where He creates a human
spirit for the person so that they might receive the imputation of eternal life.

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Titus 3:5, “He (God the Holy Spirit) saved us, not on the basis of deeds
(human works) which we have done in (human power) righteousness, but
according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the
Holy Spirit.”

This act of regeneration makes the believer a new spiritual species, which is the
nature of Christ that can never sin and that is described in Scripture by many
phrases such as the “new self, new man, newness of life, new creation.”

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual
species; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

According to Colossians 2:11-12, authentic circumcision is the result of the
“baptism of the Spirit” where the believer in Jesus Christ is identified with Christ
in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session.

Colossians 2:11-12, “and in Him you were also circumcised with a
circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which
you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who
raised Him from the dead.”

In Romans 7:6, the noun gramma functions as an “attributed genitive” meaning
that the head noun palaiotes, rather than the genitive form of the noun gramma is
functioning in sense as an attributive adjective. Therefore, palaiotes is describing
the observance of the letter of the Law as obsolete. Therefore, it denotes that Paul
and his fellow Jewish Christians in Rome did become servants of God forever by
means of the useless observance of the letter of the Law.

Again, Paul is using the figure of “metonymy” again meaning that the letter of
the Law is being put for the observance of it.

We will translate gramma, “observance of the letter.”
The expression ou palaioteti grammatos is “elliptical” meaning that Paul
deliberately omits the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun nomos
(nomv o$) (nom-os), “the Law” though it is implied.
He omits the word since he wants to emphasize the words in this expression.
Nomos would function as a “genitive of simple apposition” meaning that it would
be identifying for the reader what this letter is, namely, the Law. The articular
construction of the word would signify that the word was used in verse 5 and that
its meaning in verse 5 is retained here in verse 6. We will translate nomos, “which
is the Law.”
Completed corrected translation of Romans 7:6: “But now in our present
state, we have been discharged from the Law as a result of having died with
respect to that which we were once in a perpetual state of being bound.
Consequently, we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, forever slaves for the

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benefit of God the Father by means of the extraordinary work of the Spirit
and never by means of the useless observance of the letter, which is the Law.”

In 2 Corinthians 3:1-6, the apostle Paul contrasts the Law and the Spirit. In this
passage, he teaches that the work of the Holy Spirit made him a servant of God
rather than the letter, which he teaches kills since the unregenerate Jew has no
capacity to obey the Law since he does not have the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or
do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are
our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested
that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with
the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human
hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are
adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our
adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new
covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life.”

He contrasts the work of the Spirit and the Law in Galatians chapter three.
Galatians 3:1-29, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only
thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of
the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the
Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many
things in vain -- if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you
with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law,
or by hearing with faith? Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS
RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is
those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand
to Abraham, saying, ‘ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.’
So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. For as
many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written,
‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS
WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.’ Now
that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘THE
RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’ However, the Law is not of
faith; on the contrary, ‘HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY
THEM.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a
curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON
A TREE’ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to
the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's
covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions
to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not
say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your
seed,’ that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four
hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously
ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on
law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by
means of a promise. Why the Law then? It was added because of
transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a
mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law
then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been
given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have
been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that
the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But
before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the
faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor
to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith
has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
descendants, heirs according to promise.”

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