What does Paul mean when he says 'old Adam was dead' in Romans 7:8?
Paul means old Adam was dead in that he was not functioning—not functioning in the spirit realm—because he was not paying any attention to the law. Without the law he was inactive, but when the commandment came, sin took occasion by it and wrought evil, immoral thinking.
Les explains that when Paul writes “without the law, old Adam was dead,” he means old Adam was not functioning. More specifically, he was not functioning in the spirit realm because he was not paying any attention to the law. Paul uses the commandment “Thou shalt not covet” as the primary example of the law. When sin, or old Adam, takes occasion by that commandment, it works all manner of “contraptions,” which Les understands as immoral or evil thinking. Les also notes that Paul was a religious fanatic: an Israelite, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day, the epitome of a Judaistic Jew who practiced the Jewish religion to the hilt.
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
More Questions
What does Romans 7:8 say sin or old Adam did when the commandment came?
When the law gave the commandment, old Adam or sin took occasion through that commandment to produce all kinds of evil thinking in Paul.