Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Romans chapter 7 as we continue our study through the Word of God. Last week we started the third main division of Paul’s letter to the Romans, a section on sanctification or how God is molding and shaping our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit into His image and this section covers Romans chapters 6, 7 and 8.
In Romans chapter 6 the word “sin” is used some 17 times, it is truly the theme of that chapter. Paul’s point is this, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:16-18.
Then in Romans chapter 7 which we will see tonight, the word “Law” is used some 23 times, it is the theme of this chapter. Paul’s point is this, “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6.
And lastly, next week, in Romans chapter 8 we will see the word “spirit” used some 22 times, it is the theme of that chapter. Paul’s point is this, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:6-10.
Tonight, in Romans chapter 7, Paul is going to pick up where he left off in Romans 6:14, where he said, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Then, from Romans 6:15-23 Paul describes the practical implications of being set free from the bondage of sin. Now, starting in verse 1 of Romans chapter 7, Paul is going to explain more fully on how we are no longer under the power of the Law but under grace. So with that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 7, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
To the Jew, the Law had become an idol, a source of salvation. Rabbi Judah, a noted Talmudic commentator said, “The nature of the Holy One differs from that of mortal men. When a man prescribes a remedy, it may benefit one individual but injure another. But God gave the Torah to Israel as a source of healing for all.” (Erubin, 54 a). Also, Rabbi Raba wrote in the Babylonian Talmud, which was a collection of ancient rabbinical commentaries on the Torah or the Mosaic Law, “The Holy One created man’s evil inclination but created the Torah [the Mosaic law] to overcome it.” (Baba Bathra, 16 a). The Law superceded their own relationship with God and keeping the Law brought to them salvation, at least that is what they thought. But, remember what Paul said in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Now I don’t believe Paul is speaking just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles here. You see, the literal translation here is “those who know law.” In other words, any law has dominion over us, even the Law of Moses, while we live. That seems obvious. If a man robs a bank and in the process he kills three people, he has broken the law and he will be arrested. But, while he is trying to escape he is shot and killed, the law has no power to do anything. You would not bring this dead man into court to try him for these crimes, the man is dead! And Paul’s point is that we should already know this, it is obvious!
VERSES 2-3
Please understand that Paul is trying to illustrate a point here, he is not teaching on marriage and divorce as some like to say, making their own doctrine out of this section. There are other places in the Bible that deal with this issue but this is not what Paul is speaking on. Paul is saying that the death of a husband frees the wife to marry another so too the death of ourselves frees us from the Law. Please understand that Paul is not saying that the Law died, for the Law is good, the Law is perfect and we need to die to self, die to the Law so we can be married to grace, to Jesus. Paul will explain that in the next few verses.
VERSE 4
Paul is picking up on what he said in Romans 6:3-8, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
When you talk with some they truly believe you are saved by grace but then you must live to the Law to maintain your salvation! But Paul’s point is we are dead to the Law in regards to it saving us, and alive in Christ, we are married to another. It is as Paul said in Galatians 2:19-21, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” It is as the great theologian Charles Hodge wrote: “As far as we are concerned, redemption is in order to [produce] holiness. We are delivered from the law, that we may be united to Christ; and we are united to Christ, that we may bring forth fruit unto God. . . As deliverance from the penalty of the law is in order to [produce] holiness, it is vain to expect that deliverance, except with a view to the end for which it is granted.” That is the fruit that is produced in our lives – HOLINESS!
VERSES 5-6
Here Paul contrasts the Law and grace. The Law can’t save us, the Law can’t make us holy people, all the Law can do is show us we are sinners, we have fallen far short of God’s standard of perfection. Paul will pick up on this more in a few verses, that the Law arouses the sin nature in us, it stirs it up.
On the other hand, we as believers have died with Jesus, died to the Law and now we live under grace not the Law. Of verse 6 Kenneth Wuest gives to us this rendering: “But now, we were discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were constantly held down, insomuch that we are rendering habitually a bondslave’s obedience.” Now, as believers we love to serve the Lord, to do His will, to obey the Law, out of love though, not constraint!
VERSE 7
The logical conclusion then is that the Law is evil, the Law is bad – but that is a wrong conclusion to come to. In fact, in regards to that idea Paul says “Certainly not!” or “God forbid!” The Law shows us that we are sinners, it exposes our sins. By the time of Jesus the Jewish Rabbis had come up with 613 commandments. Of those 248 were positive and 365 negative. They sought to be righteous before God by outward actions, keeping the Law but the reality is, it is a mater of the heart. What a heavy burden the Law became upon the Jewish people, all those rules and regulations, what kind of relationship with God did that bring? It was a horrible one! Can you imagine a marriage relationship like that, based upon 613 commandments? Of course not! Then why do we try to have a relationship with God by the Law through works?
Paul, in Philippians 3:3-6, speaking of his life before he was saved, said “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
That is how Paul felt but then I believe God was working on his heart as he began to see his failure in keeping the Law, he saw it more than just being external, it was internal. Thus, he saw how he began to covet and thus he was guilty of breaking the Law that he once prided himself in keeping. It was the work of the Holy Spirit beginning to break Paul.
Of this Charles Hodge wrote: “The law, although it cannot secure either the justification or sanctification of men, performs an essential part in the economy of salvation. It enlightens conscience and secures its verdict against a multitude of evils, which we should not otherwise have recognized as sins. It arouses sin, increasing its power, and making it, both in itself and in our consciousness, exceedingly sinful. It therefore produces that state of mind which is a necessary preparation for the reception of the gospel. . . Conviction of sin, that is, an adequate knowledge of its nature, and a sense of its power over us, is an indispensable part of evangelical religion. Before the gospel can be embraced as a means of deliverance from sin, we must feel we are involved in corruption and misery.”
VERSE 8
Please understand that the weakness of the Law isn’t in the Law, it is in us. God sets boundaries and we then are enticed to go beyond those boundaries, it is the sin nature in us. Let me explain this with this example. In Florida there was this waterfront hotel that was concerned that people would try to fish from their balcony so they made several signs that said: “NO FISHING FROM THE BALCONY!” As soon as that was done people were fishing all the time, breaking windows with the sinker weights they were using on their lines and bothering the people who were below them. How did they solve the problem? Believe it or not, they just took down the signs and no one fished from the balcony! You see, because of our evil hearts, the Law can actually drive us to sin!
Let me give you one more example. Last summer my wife was watering the flowers in our yard and I was sitting on our deck studying with Brandy, our dog at my side. Everything was good, no problems until my wife screamed and pointed saying, “Look, a bunny!” Sure enough, it was and this thing took off. Now, as soon as it ran across the yard, with my wife pointing it out and screaming, Brandy took off and you can guess what happened, the bunny is no longer with us! If Julie didn’t point out the rabbit, it would still be alive, but now it is not. Regarding this incident, please send your letters “C/O Julie Guglielmo . . .” You see, the Law awakens sin in us, not because the Law is bad, or the Law is evil, we are!
The word “opportunity” or APHORME (af-or-may’) in the Greek speaks of a base of operations. In other words, “Don’t step on the grass!” ends up being a spring board or a base of operations for us to walk all over the grass!
VERSES 9-11
When Paul saw the Law as external he felt safe, secure in keeping it. But, once he saw that it goes far deeper, it is internal, he saw that he failed, he fell far short of God’s standards! The end result is death. Thus, as we have said before, the Law can’t save us, it can only show us that we are lost in our sins, just as looking in a mirror can’t cleanse us of the dirt on our face, it can only show it to us! Now the Law didn’t deceive Paul, but sin did as it used the Law to deceive Paul into thinking he was something that he was not, holy before God!
VERSE 12
Again, Paul wants us to understand that the Law is holy, it is just, it is good, which means that we aren’t! David, in Psalm 19:7-11 said the following in regards to the Law of God, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.” That is the Law, it is good, it is perfect!
VERSES 13-14
The ultimate purpose of the Law was to expose man’s sin and drive him to the cross, to Jesus, who fulfilled the demands of the Law for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! It is as Paul said in Galatians 3:23-26, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Of this C. E. B. Cranfield said: “The more seriously a Christian strives to live from grace and to submit to the discipline of the gospel, the more sensitive he becomes to . . . the fact that even his very best acts and activities are disfigured by the egotism which is still powerful within him – and no less evil because it is often more subtly disguised than formerly.”
VERSES 15-17
The question here is, “Who is Paul speaking of?” Some argue it speaks of a non-Christian, a keeper of the Law like a Pharisee. Others say Paul is speaking of a carnal Christian, one who is not walking with the Lord. The third view, the one I believe, is Paul is speaking of himself, as you look at this section Paul uses the first person singular some forty-six times in Romans 7:7-25, and thus, he must be speaking of himself! Paul is showing us how a normal, mature Christian can have a struggle with the spirit and the flesh!
The reason I see this as Paul after his salvation is because he speaks of wanting to obey the Lord, obey God’s Law and hating sin, Romans 7:15, 19, and 21. Also, he is humble before God and he understands that nothing good dwells in the flesh nature, Romans 7:18. And there is a struggle with sin in his life, Romans 7:17, 20-22. Lastly, we see that he gives thanks to Jesus as His Lord and his desire is to serve Jesus, Romans 7:25. Obviously the unsaved religious would not care because they are fulfilling the Law and a backslidden Christian would not care because they continue to walk away from the Lord.
Let me say this, this section does give me encouragement that even a man like Paul had this struggle within his life. Paul, in Romans 6:12-13 said, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Don’t give in, keep up the fight and don’t let sin rule your life, let God!
Now don’t think that Paul lacked the desire to do what was right. Don’t think that Paul lacked the knowledge to do what was right. You see, the Law says “Here are the rules, now keep them!” but it does not give us the power to keep them. Harry Foster put it this way: “Here was a man trying to achieve holiness by personal effort, struggling with all his might to fulfill God’s ‘holy and righteous and good’ commandments (v. 12), only to discover that the more he struggled, the worse his condition became. It was a losing battle, and no wonder, for it is not in the power of fallen human nature to conquer sin and live in holiness.” How true that is and how frustrated we become when we try to do it on our own, to do it our way!
Now verse 17 can be confusing and seem out of place. It says, “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” It seems that Paul is passing the blame for his sinfulness. Kind of like “The Devil made me do it!” Not at all! Remember, we are speaking of a person who is saved, and thus, as Paul said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Corinthians 5:17. That means he is acting in opposition to his new nature in Christ, and it is that old nature that is rising up from time to time and trying to work in this new life. You need to own up to your sin – not hide it or blame someone else for it, but also understand it is not coming from your new nature in Christ, but the old nature, the flesh!
VERSE 18
Again, Paul is speaking of knowing what is right but lacking the power to perform it! It would be like me using power tools to build a house. I may be very sincere, but I lack the power, the talent to do it perfectly. The fault doesn’t lie with the wood, the nails, the screws, the tools, the paint, the brushes, the cement, the shingles and-so-on, but with me. That is why I need the Master Builder, Jesus Christ, to place His hands on mine in order that I can do with His strength and talent what I could not do on my own!
VERSES 19-21
It is as C. S. Lewis said, “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.” Paul is speaking of the war going on between the spirit and the flesh. It is truly a battle as Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16-18, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” The key is where are you walking, who are you walking with?
VERSE 22
The inward man, the spiritual man loves the things of God. That is what needs to grow, to mature in our lives as we feed it the Word of God and apply the Word of God to our lives. As we do then it is the nature of God that will flow from our lives, the fruit of the Spirit which is love instead of the works of the flesh, which is just plain ugly! Paul, in Ephesians 3:16-21 is praying that the Lord “. . . would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Build up the inner man, love what the Lord loves and hate what the Lord hates and you will be growing in Him!
VERSES 23-24
Here is the struggle, the inner man loves the things of God and the flesh is at war, the flesh doesn’t want you to go down that path. And Paul says “O wretched man that I am!” or literally, “O wretched through the exhaustion of hard labor.” It can be overwhelming as we see ourselves in this condition. What can be done? Who can deliver us from this condition? Look at verse 25 and you will see the answer!
VERSE 25
Of this verse, John MacArthur tells us: “Paul’s primary emphasis in the present passage, however, is not on the believer’s eventual deliverance from sin’s presence but on the conflict with sin that torments every spiritually sensitive child of God. He therefore ends by summarizing the two sides of that struggle: So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. In the poem Maud (X. 5), one of Tennyson’s characters yearns, ‘Ah for a new man to arise in me, that the man I am may cease to be!’ The Christian can say that a new man has already arisen in him, but he also must confess that the sinful part of his old man has not yet ceased to be.” How true that is!
How often we try to do it on our own, or seek the philosophy of the world, but Paul warned us in Colossians 2:8-10, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” That is what Paul is saying here, our help, our sufficiency is in Jesus and even though this war is going on inside of us, Jesus will give us the victory that we need!
As I begin to rap this up this evening, listen to what Stedman had to say in his book, From Guilt to Glory. We are told:
There are teachers who teach that this passage in Romans 7 is something a Christian goes through but once. Then he gets out of it and moves into Romans 8, never to return to Romans 7 again. Nothing could be further from the truth! Even as mighty a man as Paul went through it again and again. This is a description of what every believer will go through many times in his experience because sin has the power to deceive us and to cause us to trust in ourselves, even when we are not aware we are doing so. The law is what will expose that evil force and drive us to this place of wretchedness that we might then, in devotion of spirit, cry out, Lord Jesus, it is your problem; you take it.
- Stedman, From Guilt to glory, p. 195
And next time, as we move into Romans chapter 8, we will see where the victory is, which will be the life of the Spirit for the word “spirit” is the overall theme and is found some 22 times in this chapter. It is as Paul said back in Romans 6:11-14, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” That is only accomplished as we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit; our victory is only found in Him! Let me close with this saying, “I am not what I am going to be but thank God I am not what I was!” Praise the Lord for that!