Theologians, expositors, and preachers have puzzled over and
debated exactly who or what sort of person is depicted in
Romans 7:14-25? Some contend that it
must be an unsaved person since a saved person is no longer a slave to
sin. Others say it is a regenerated man
who has not yet discovered the power or filling of the Holy Spirit, often seen
as a “second blessing” after salvation. Still
others see this struggle with sin as the normal lot of the Christian, the
battle we all must fight on a daily basis.
D. Martyn
Lloyd-Jones saw the passage differently from all those other positions, and I
am greatly indebted to him for pointing out Paul’s purpose for this
illustration. Pastor Charles Leiter
takes this same position in his book Justification
and Regeneration. Lloyd-Jones’s
exposition is very extensive in his series of published sermons on Romans.[1] While I agree with Lloyd-Jones’s central
point, I can’t agree with his conclusion that the “man” being described is
someone under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and enlightened concerning the
Law but not yet set free by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I think he made his point earlier when he
affirmed that Paul is constructing a closely-reasoned logical argument as to
the purpose and limits of the Mosaic Law.
So who is the man in Paul’s drama,
the man Paul refers to as “I” and “me”?
He is both every believer and no one in particular. He represents, in the person of the apostle himself, a progressive illustration of the
pervasive power of indwelling sin and the inability of the Law to overcome
it. The struggle itself is one that
every believer can identify with at various points in his or her Christian
walk. Yet it is not the “normal”
Christian life. It cannot be! The man in verses 14-25 is not only
struggling against sin, he is ALWAYS losing!
“For the good that I want, I do not do, but I
practice the very evil that I do not want.”
(Romans 7:19) He wants to do what’s
good, but he doesn’t. He wants to shun
evil, but he does it. This is not the
picture of the normal Christian life!
If
we look at this passage as the logical object lesson Paul intends, it will make
sense and the dilemma will be resolved.
Answering
Paul’s Critics
Paul
had been accused of preaching against the Law of Moses (Acts 18:13;
21:28). This was a charge Paul had to
answer wherever he went, including Rome where he was a prisoner (Acts 28:23). So in this epistle to the church at Rome
(written earlier), Paul carefully expounds the purpose and limits of the Old
Covenant Law of Moses.
To
assure his critics that he is not disparaging the Law, Paul states clearly at
the beginning of this section: “So then, the Law is
holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good . . . For we know that
the Law is spiritual . . .” (Romans 7:12, 14)
He acknowledges the goodness and spiritual nature of the Law from the
outset. Our problem is not caused by the
Law; it is caused by sin and by our own inability to keep it! In Chapter 8 Paul will say,
“For
what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and as an
offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement
of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4)
But that’s getting ahead of
ourselves. Paul steps into the picture
and uses himself as an illustration of what the Christian life feels like when
lived under the law and by our own fleshly efforts.
After
acknowledging that the law is good and holy and spiritual, Paul states, “but I
am fleshly, sold under sin” (v. 14). The
King James Version translates the word “fleshly” as “carnal,” the same basic
concept but with a more negative connotation.
Paul establishes the fact that as children of Adam we have innate sinful
tendencies that corrupt everything we do and think. When Adam declared his independence from God
by disobeying God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, his nature was corrupted, and everyone born after that inherited
Adam’s nature. “When Adam had lived one
hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own
likeness, according to his image . . .”
(Genesis 5:3) Paul explained in
Romans 5:19 that “through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners ...” Even though Paul is speaking as a saved man,
a born-again man, he recognizes that sin is still a powerful resident in his
life. The effects of innate sin have not
been eradicated.
So
with this as a starting point, let’s look at the passage.
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I
am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not
understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do,
but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So
now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know
that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is
not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I
do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the
one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle (lit. “law”) that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I
joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law
in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me
a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am!
Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Romans 7:14-24)
This
can only be a saved man, a regenerated man, who is saying these things. No unsaved person would or could say, “I
joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man.” But I don’t think is it Paul’s point to
describe the struggles of a saved person.
His point is to illustrate what happens when we try to live under the
law rather than in relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Limits
of Law and Good Will
Observe
what we have in this passage. Paul takes
the role of the saved man who (1) recognizes the good, holy, and spiritual
nature of the law, (2) who recognizes his own fleshly weakness and sinful
propensities, (3) who has the will to do good and avoid evil, and (4) who fails
in his holy efforts. Why does he
fail? What is missing? He has the law and delights in it, he has the
will to obey God’s law, but he lacks the power
to do what is good. This brings him to
his exclamation in verse 24: “Wretched man that I am! Who shall set me free from the body of this
death?” The Law demands obedience, yet
our fleshly efforts – in spite of the holiest of intentions – fail us! Why do they fail us? Because of indwelling, overpowering sin that
remains in our members. Sin is like a
law that springs into motion at the very mention of God’s Law!
Who
will set me free from the body of this death?
The Law? Not a chance! Sinful passions, Paul says, are “aroused by
the Law” (v. 5), and sin takes “opportunity by the commandment” and deceives us
(vss. 8, 11). The purpose of the Law in
God’s redemptive plan was to awaken us to the gravity and power of sin, “for
through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).
Freedom
from the Law of Sin and Death
So,
again, who will set me free from the body of this death? Paul answers triumphantly:
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25)
It is Paul’s relationship with Jesus Christ that sets
him free from the domination of sin. He
has already said in Chapter Six: “For sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans
6:14 NKJV) Please note: It is because we
are not under law but under grace that sin’s domination is broken. Under grace our focus is on Christ and our
relationship to Him, rather than on the Law which actually arouses our
indwelling sin. (Want to test this? Tell a two-year-old not to open something and
then leave the room!)
But
Paul doesn’t end verse 25 with the words above (as I’m sure you noticed). He concludes his logical argument about the
purpose and limit of the Law with these words:
“So then, with the mind I myself serve the law
of God, but with the flesh the law of sin”
What
does Paul mean here? Is he schizophrenic? No, he is simply concluding his argument that
the flesh has no capacity in and of itself to fulfill God’s law, even though
his mind fully concurs with God’s law and is a bond-servant to it. There is only one thing the believer can do
with the fleshly nature: “. . . but if by
the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans
8:13)
But what about the righteousness required by
the Law? Surely God wants to see that in
His redeemed children. Indeed, and Paul
now tells us how that happens under the New Covenant: The Law of the Spirit of
Life in Christ Jesus.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could
not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned
sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us,
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans
8:1-4 NASB)
So
who is the man struggling with sin and losing?
He’s Paul’s object lesson to show the inadequacy of the law and our good
intentions to produce a righteous life without the power of the Holy Spirit through
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
He is Paul’s way of showing the futility and frustration of trying to
live “under the Law”. The struggling man
is any believer in Christ who – even for a moment, a day, a week, or longer –
focuses on the Law rather than on Christ.
He is any believer who begins to take pride in his works rather than
humbly walking with Jesus.
[1]
For a detailed refutation of the various other positions, see D. M.
Lloyd-Jones. Romans: Chapters 7:1-8:4,
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974)