7:4 dead to the law. Note that the law has not died; rather, we have died to the law. As a woman could marry a new husband only after her first husband had died, so we have been married, as it were, to our great Bridegroom after the law died or—what amounts to the same thing—we died to the law.

7:5 motions. “Motions” is an Old English term for “impulses,” which is the meaning of the Greek text. Paul is saying that the law itself, by its very prohibitions, generates sinful impulses, which lead to breaking the law.

7:6 the letter. Here “the letter” is synonymous with “the law.” In Christ we can serve the Lord, even keeping the law—not because of the law’s bondage, but because of the Spirit’s freedom (Romans 6:18).