Romans 7:14 ¶ For we know
that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I
would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I
consent unto the law that it is good. 17
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my
flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how
to perform that which is good I find not. 19
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that
I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do
good, evil is present with me. 22 For I
delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin
which is in my members. 24 O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So
then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin.
We all know that we are weak before sin because the human heart is
a wicked thing. Paul acknowledges that he does things he does not want to do
and doesn’t do things he should, just as you or I.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
But it is his sin nature that compels him, drives him forward,
because in our natural heart is no good thing. The Law of God, which Paul
delights in is at war with Paul’s sin nature, as it is with all of us.
In his comparison of death as in the body of this death who can
save me from it there is a link to the judgment on Adam and all of mankind
through history.
Genesis 2:17 But of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the dead works produced by our flesh.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?
The works of the flesh indeed produce death but the fruit of the
Spirit is life.
Galatians 5:16 This I say
then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not
under the law. 19 Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one
another.
Let’s review briefly, quickly and summarizing Paul’s argument up
until now. In Romans 1, he outlines a religious history of mankind that shows
mankind is worthy of destruction and judgment as is the so-called righteous
person who does the exact same thing as the unsaved in their behavior no matter
who they claim to belong to.
In Romans 2 he asks how the Jew or we, for that matter, can defy
God in our behavior and justify ourselves. He noted that the Gentile even has a
conscience and moral standards as if they also had the Law and often they are
more righteous acting than the Jew. We’ve seen that in our daily lives as all
of us have probably known an atheist of a higher personal moral character than
many Christians we have known. So, the Law and a law cannot possibly save us in
and of itself.
The point there in chapter 2 is that judgment is coming and one
can perish without the Law or one can be judged by it. But, mankind can be sure
that judgment is coming on all mankind. God is going to judge mankind by Jesus
Christ.
In chapter 2 Paul also accuses the Jew as we might accuse a
Christian today as in how can you teach others in righteousness when you do
yourself and have yourself the very same actions and attitudes the infidel you are trying to reach
has. Paul insists that the person who says they are a Jew and knows God’s will
and can instruct others in the way of righteousness and yet commits the same
wickedness as those they deem themselves worthy to instruct are wrong in their
thinking.
In chapter 3, among other things, Paul said that being a Jew is a
good thing, not a bad thing, but they have all fallen short of what they were
supposed to be. The Law therefore does not produce the righteousness that God
demands, only Christ can do that. The Jew must depend on Christ and understand
that considering the Jewish track record regarding the Law they have failed. It
is Christ alone who can save. This applies to all of those high-minded
Christians who act like they think God is lucky to have them on His team, so to
speak.
While James tells us in his letter that our works show our faith
Paul tells us, however, in Romans 4, that our works do not justify us. Only the
just Christ justifies the believer, the one who trusts in and has faith in Him.
One of the things chapter 5 shows us is that God’s love through
Christ was given to us when we were yet sinners. We did not straighten out our
lives and then get saved. Deathbed salvation experiences are risky things as
you might die suddenly and unexpectedly. But, back to what Paul was saying,
God’s love through Christ was ours when we were yet undone.
In chapter 6 Paul shows us that we are not under the power of sin
anymore and have eternal life through Jesus Christ.
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