THE ORGANIZATION OF ROMANS 5-8

In my post titled “Romans: Introduction to the Literary Structure” I proposed the following symmetrical structure for the book:

Figure 1: The Structure of Romans

I. Greetings (1:1-7)

II. Gospel as the Power of God (1:8-17)

III. Gentiles do not Honor God (1:18-32)

IV. Judging Those Outside the Body (2:1-16)

V. Doing the Law (2:17-24)

VI. Present Position of the Jews (2:25-4:25)

VII. Justification by Faith (chs. 5-6)

A. Christ’s Death (ch. 5)

B. United With Christ (ch. 6)

VII'. New Life (chs. 7-8)

B. Dying to the Law (ch. 7)

A. Life in the Spirit (ch. 8)

VI'. Future Position of the Jews (chs. 9-11)

V'. Living in the Spirit (chs. 12-13)

IV'. Judging Those Within the Body (14:1-15:6)

III'. Gentiles Glorify God (15:7-13)

II'. Gospel Preached by the Power of the Holy Spirit (15:14-33)

I'. Greetings (ch. 16)

Since the center of this organization encompasses Romans 5-8, a closer consideration of that portion of the book is in order.

In Stott’s introduction to his excellent little commentary on these verses, he states that “chapters 5-8 do form a compact unity. They are without doubt among the greatest and most glorious chapters of the whole New Testament.” This is appropriate considering their central position in the structure shown in Fig. 1. In these chapters, “Paul sketches a drama of bondage and liberation. A trilateral power alliance of sin, flesh and death – plus an unwilling accomplice, the law – stand opposed to the reign of God.” (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)

A number of scholars prefer to include ch. 5 with the previous literary unit instead, perhaps because, as Becker formulated, it acts in a way as a hinge between these two adjacent sections. However, thematically, Romans 5 belongs with the following chapters due to their common emphasis on sin (Morris), the Christian life (Morris), and the law of Moses (Childs). Kasemann similarly rejects inclusion of ch. 5 in the previous section as a confusion between justification and sanctification. Another argument in favor of treating these four chapters as a unity is its “long drought of direct citation of the Scriptures” compared to the rest of the book, only broken by the quotation in 8:36. (Seifrid)

Stott divides these chapters thematically into four subunits: Peace with God (5:1-19), Union with Christ (5:20-6:23), Freedom from the Law (7:1-8:4), and Life in the Spirit (8:5-39). A fourfold division along present chapter lines seems more justified by literary considerations, most notably their similar endings:

“Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (5:21)

                        “Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23)

                        “Law of God...Jesus Christ our Lord” (7:23)

                        “Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:39)

Romans 5 is unified by its repetition (11x) of the word “one.” Romans 5 and 6 (VIIA and B) share an emphasis on the death of Christ (5:10; 6:3-9), the fact that sin’s power has been broken (5:18-19; 6:3), and the concept of our life being in His (5:10; 6:8). Each of the two chapters begins with a long passage in which the use of “we” is pervasive. In these passages, we learn that “[o]ur election, calling, justification, standing in Christ, is fully accomplished by his saving work.” (Harvey and Towner) It has also been noted by Allen that 6:15-23 “is the application of 5:12ff to the Christian’s moral life.” Chapters 5-6 contain four examples of the sentence construction “just as..so” (5:12-18,19,21; 6:4). Words commonly utilized in Section VII include “offenses,” “increase” and “offer.”

On the other hand, Morris notes that chs. 7 and 8 (VII'B and A) appear to purposely contrast one another in that the “I” of the former chapter is almost wholly replaced by “the Spirit” in Rom. 8. The key word “body” is quite prominent throughout Section VII'. And McGuinn points out the presence of sexual metaphors in 7:1-6 and 8:18-25. Kasemann calls these two chapters “The End of the Law in the Power of the Spirit.” In addition to this proposed division, there is a symmetrical correspondence uniting all four chapters that takes the following form:

                                                VIIA. Chapter 5

VIIB. Chapter 6

                                                            VII'B. Chapter 7

VII'A. Chapter 8

Kasemann has similarly pointed to the common motifs in Romans 5 and 8, the connected thoughts of chs. 5 and 6, and the close relationship between 6 and 7.

Brauch, alternatively, sees two implied questions brought up in Rom. 7:1-4. The first one is addressed briefly in 7:5 and then in more detail in 7:7-24 while the second question is answered briefly in 7:6 and then expounded upon further in 8:1-17.

VIIA and VII'A (Romans 5 and 8)

Kasemann entitles ch. 5 “Freedom from the Power of Death” and subdivides it with a new unit beginning at vs. 12, as does Stott. Stott also notes that this chapter ends as it began, with “the privileges of the justified.” One of the major themes of ch. 8 is the work of the Spirit (the latter word occurring almost twenty times in this chapter). We are prepared for this emphasis by a crucial pronouncement earlier in ch. 5:

“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.” – Rom. 5:5

The role of the Spirit in giving the Christian eternal life is found in 5:21 and 8:9-11. Another common theme to these two chapters is the implications of faith-righteousness found in 5:1-11 (a sub-unit defined by a framework consisting of the word complex “boast / through our Lord Jesus Christ / justified / reconciled”) and 8:31-39, which effectively brackets the whole of the combined sections VII through VII'. There is a possibly similar function served by the references to Christ / Spirit helping us in our weakness (5:6; 8:26). Similar themes within these passages include (a) the sharing by Christians in God’s glory (5:2; 8:30), (b) boasting in our sufferings since it leads to glory (5:2-4; 8:18), (c) perseverance in the midst of suffering (5:3; 8:35), and (d) Christ’s dying for sinners (5:6-8; 8:32). The effects of the Fall on mankind and nature are described in 5:12-20 and 8:19-22, respectively.

Some specific verbal correspondences between these parallel sections include: “peace” (5:1, 8:6), “justified” (5:1,9; 8:30,33), “hope” (seven times in 5:2-5; 8:20-24), “not only that” (5:3,11; 8:23), “patience” (5:3-4; 8:25), “God's love” (5:5,8; 8:35,39), “Lord Jesus Christ (5:8; 8:11),” “saved” (5:9,10; 8:24), “enmity with God” (5:10; 8:7), “his son” (5:10; 8:29,32), “likeness” (5:14; 8:30), “condemnation” (5:16;18, 8:1), and “life” (5:17,18; 8:6,10).

There is also a roughly chiastic correspondence between the major sub-themes of these two chapters:

1. Justified / at peace with God (5:1-2)

2. Suffering–hope–Spirit (5:3-5)

3. Law increases the trespass (5:6-21)

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                                    3'. Law of Spirit frees (8:1-17)

2'. Suffering–hope–Spirit (8:18-27)

1'. Justified / at peace with God (8:28-39)

All of the above structural considerations work against the contention of Campbell that all or part of Romans 8 should be considered closely together with chs. 9-11.

VIIB and VII'B (Romans 6 and 7)

Ch. 6 is titled “Death to the Power of Sin” by Kasemann and consists of three parallel units: vv. 1-11, 12-14 and 15-23. The first and last of these begin in an identical manner and conclude with a contrast between life and death including the phrase “in Christ Jesus.” The middle unit (6:12-14) has been treated by others as either part of the first unit (Stott), the theme to the last unit (Kasemann), or as transitional verses (McGuinn). Romans 7 has as its major theme “Death to the Law” (closely allied with the theme of the previous chapter) and contains three sub-units with openings using language borrowed from ch. 6.

            A. QUESTION – “What shall we say then?” (6:1)

B. ANSWER – “Certainly not!” (6:2)

                        C. QUESTION – “Do you not know?” (6:3)

A. QUESTION – “What then..?” (6:15a)

B. ANSWER – “Certainly not!” (6:15b)

C. QUESTION – “Do you not know?” (6:16)

C. QUESTION – “Or do you not know, brethren?” (7:1)

A. QUESTION – “What then shall we say then?” (7:7a)

B. ANSWER – “Certainly not!” (7:7b)

A. QUESTION – “Has then..?” (7:13a)

B. ANSWER – “Certainly not!” (7:13b)

Each of these five units figuratively describes a spiritual truth: dying with Christ, freed from slavery, freedom to remarry after a spouse dies, killed by sin through the commandment, and an alien entity living within, respectively. Key words and phrases found in both chapters are: “no more” (6:2,9; 7:17,20), “by no means” (6:2,15; 7:7,13), “raise up” (6:4,9; 7:4), “body” (6:6,12; 7:4,24), “serve” (6:6; 7:6,25), “mastery” (6:9,14; 7:1), “desires” (6:12; 7:7-8), “members” (6:13,19; 7:5,23), “thanks be to God” (6:17; 7:25), and “slavery” (6:19; 7:6).

The center unit beginning at 7:1 has been linked thematically with both the preceding verses and those that follow by Thimmes.

            More substantial thematic similarities have been noted in the literature:

            Objections to Christian discipline (6:1,15; 7:7-8)

            Various things are nullified or discharged (6:6; 7:2,6)

            Paul’s “sin-dominated personality” (6:6; 7:24)

            Going from death to life (6:13; 7:5-6,10)

The figure of marriage applied to the law (6:14; 7:1-6)

            The law is not evil (6:14; 7:7)

            Being under sin compared to slavery (6:17-18; 7:6,14)

            Mind/body dualism; “members” (6:19; 7:23-24)

An additional factor uniting these two chapters is found in their respective conclusions in which the phrase “Christ Jesus (or Jesus Christ) our Lord” is prominent. Likewise, the first unit of ch. 6 and the last unit of ch. 7 both end with quotes from Psalm 119 (v. 133 in 6:14 and v. 7 in 7:22).

Finally, L.C. Allen has proposed that the second half of Romans 7:25 more properly belongs with the following chapter, but this proposal is countered by others (see Morris) who would actually rearrange the text to move 7:25b to a position before 7:24.