Christ has died. And all those who trust Him, claim His death as the final punishment for their sin.  Christ has been raised and will one day raise us from death to an everlasting life in close company with Him (2 Corinthians 5:8).  Therefore, Paul argues, how can we respond to the call of sin anymore?  Of course, the human answer is 'all too easily' (Romans 7:21-25), but as the Apostle personally experienced and was teaching the church in Rome, we need to think in a new way.

The good news of the gospel includes this: in Christ we do not have to submit to the tyranny of sin any more ... we are no longer slaves to wickedness.

Bad habits are difficult to shake off. Until our conversion, our sinful nature was constantly creating and reinforcing patterns of behaviour which offend God.

Paul used marriage as an illustration of the binding power of any law: and he later wrote about the powerful effect of the 'law of sin'.