Romans 7 · Verse 16

Romans 7:16

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Romans 7:16, King James Version

Romans 7:16 in other translations

BSBAnd if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good.
WEBBut if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
ASVBut if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good.
YLTAnd if what I do not will, this I do, I consent to the law that it is good,
DARBYBut if what I do not will, this I practise, I consent to the law that it is right.
BBEBut, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good.
WebsterIf then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good.

What does Romans 7:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 7:15-16

15-16. For, &c.--better, "For that which I do I know not"; that is, "In obeying the impulses of my carnal nature I act the slave of another will than my own as a renewed man?" for, &c.--rather, "for not what I would (wish, desire) that do I, but what I hate that I do."

Read the full comment on Romans 7:15-16 →

Barnes' Notes
Verse 16. I consent unto the law. The very struggle with evil shows that it is not loved, or approved, but that the law which condemns it is really loved. Christians may here find a test of their piety. The fact of struggling against evil--the desire to be free from it, and to overcome it, the anxiety and grief which it causes--is an evidence that we do not love it, and that therefore we are the friends of God. Perhaps nothing can be a more decisive test of piety than a long-continued and painful struggle against evil passions and desires in every form, and a panting of the soul to be delivered from the power and dominion of sin.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 If then I do that which I would not, etc. - Knowing that the law condemns it, and that therefore it must be evil. I consent unto the law; I show by this circumstance that I acknowledge the law to be good.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Romans 7:14-17

Compared with the holy rule of conduct in the law of God, the apostle found himself so very far short of perfection, that he seemed to be carnal; like a man who is sold against his will to a hated master, from whom he cannot set himself at liberty. A real Christian unwillingly serves this hated master, yet cannot shake off the galling chain, till his powerful and gracious Friend above, rescues him. The remaining…

Read the full comment on Romans 7:14-17 →

Romans 7:16 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἰeiIfG1487
δὲdenowG1161
ὃhothat whichG3739
οὐounotG3756
θέλωthelōI do wantG2309
τοῦτοtoutothisG3778
ποιῶ,poiōI do,G4160
σύμφημιsumphēmiI consentG4852
τῷtōto theG3588
νόμῳnomōlawG3551
ὅτιhotithat [it is]G3754
καλός·kalosgood;G2570

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Romans 7:16

  • Romans 7:12

    Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

  • 1 Timothy 1:8

    But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

  • Romans 7:14

    For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

  • Romans 7:22

    For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

  • Psalms 119:127-128

    Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I consent.
12,14,22; Ps 119:127,128

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Romans 7:15

    For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

  • Romans 7:16

    If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

  • Romans 7:17

    Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Read all of Romans 7

Romans 7:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y si lo que no quiero, esto hago, apruebo que la ley es buena.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Or si c’est ce que je ne veux pas que je pratique, j’approuve la loi, reconnaissant qu’elle est bonne.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn ich aber das, was ich nicht will, ausübe, so stimme ich dem Gesetz bei, daß es recht ist.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si autem quod nolo, illud facio: consentio legi, quoniam bona est.