Romans 7:5-6 : For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that, wherein we were held, so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. "Flesh" here does not mean the human body, for their being "in the flesh" was a thing of the past. Paul's marriage illustration to show their relation to the law and to Christ shows that he had in mind the Jewish brethren. No others were delivered from the law that they might be joined to Christ. "In the flesh" refers to the time they were under the law of Moses, for Paul immediately adds by way of contrast: "But now we have been discharged from the law." They had been "in the flesh" but had been "discharged from the law." It is not strange that Paul spoke of them as "in the flesh" during the time they were under the law. The old covenant was a flesh covenant. They were members of the covenant by virtue of their flesh connection with Abraham, and circumcision in the flesh was a sign of membership in that covenant. "Sinful passions," or passions of sin. Our passions are not essentially sinful, and they certainly did not come to us through the law of Moses--the law of Moses did not create passions. They are sinful only when they lead us to do things contrary to God's will. In this way they became sinful through the law--that is, through the violation of the law. These sinful passions work through our bodies to bring forth fruit unto death. The statement that they had been discharged from the law is a positive declaration that they were no longer under the law. They had died to that wherein they were held, and had no longer any connection with it. "Newness of the spirit" is the new life of the spirit into which they were raised at their baptism (Romans 6:4). The "oldness of the letter" was the old law. They were not then serving God in the law of Moses. But Sabbatarians tell us that the term law in these verses does not include the Ten Commandments. The next verse shows them to be wrong.