What does Romans 7:1 mean?

This seems to begin a deeper explanation of what Paul wrote back in Romans 6:14, before briefly changing his focus. In verse 14 he wrote that Christians are not under the law but under grace.

Now he expands on that idea with the obvious-sounding statement that the law remains binding only as long as a person lives. He will develop this idea further in the following verses, showing that those who are in Christ have, in fact, died to the law.

First though, he insists that he is speaking to people who know the law, apparently referring to the law of Moses. The first audience for Romans was the Christians in Rome. This would have included Jews who had trusted in Christ, as well as Gentiles. Certainly, Paul's Jewish readers would have known the law of Moses, but even Gentile Christians would have been taught something about the law.

Paul's bottom line is that those who died, spiritually, are not required to keep the law they were under while alive. He will use the concept of marriage to illustrate this idea in the following verses.