Romans 7 - another look
written by Ken Walker
Introduction
The latter half of Romans 7 seems to be
misinterpreted by much of the Christian Church, creating a barrier that, in my
opinion, limits believers growth toward fullness of life in Christ. This
article has been written to show the real meaning of that section of scripture
and allow a believers faith to lead them into the fullness of the Gospel that
God intended.
On this site are other articles written about this subject and the importance
of correctly interpreting verses 14 - 25 in relation to living the Christian
life as intended by God. I there pointed out that much of the Christian world
has interpreted those verses so as to inhibit what Christ has provided by way
of fullness of life for believers. It is not the flesh verses Spirit battle it
is purported to be. These two articles, Searching for the Fullness of God and
The Phantom of Romans 7 are to be found listed with others at
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gnaust/life/index-gr.html
This article is another on the same subject, but from a different view point.
The article will show that Romans 7:14-25 is a parenthesis, which, although
Paul experienced the problem expressed there, was not a continuing life style
for him. Further, that the sin problem and the out of control nature described
there is cancelled out by Romans 8 : 9 which says that Paul was not in the
flesh at all, but in the Spirit of God.
After that is explained in full we look at the purpose of the Holy Spirit
having Paul include this section in his writing of Romans 7 and how a believer,
new or old, can move from Romans 6 into Romans 8 and not allow Romans 7 to be a
barrier to fullness of life in Christ.
1 Romans 7:14
This study came about when I began to look at
Romans 7:14 in some detail. The verse says:
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
sold under sin." Rom.
Strong describes the two key words in this verse in the following ways.
Spiritual - 4152 - pneumatikos. The
whole phrase, "the law is spiritual" means it is according to the
mind and will of the Spirit.
Carnal - 4559 - sarkikos - which
means fleshly, carnal, pertaining to the flesh or body.
So in this verse we have Paul describing his
natural state as carnal or fleshly. He compares himself with the law which is
spiritual - thus posing an apparent conflict between his natural state and the
law which is spiritual in nature.
Notice that he says that the law is spiritual - not himself personally, but the
law. Also, that he says that he is carnal, so in that state it is not possible
for him to achieve the spirituality of the law by his own efforts. We know from
the whole counsel of scripture that this is not possible, even if it is a
spiritual law, as his carnal nature does not allow it, as such application
requires the strength of an internal Spirit. So, although the mind and will of
the Spirit is good within him, his apparent carnality derails it. The word
apparent is used because later in Romans 8, Paul then tells us he is not in the
flesh.
Let us go back to Paul's opening statement that the law is spiritual and he is
carnal. This is Paul stating the basic philosophical position, that if he
himself attempts to fight towards spiritual fullness of life from a carnal
position, he cannot get there. He will always have things he cannot do and will
always be doing things he does not want to do. Man's soulish
sinful carnal nature cannot bring fullness of spiritual life by human carnal
effort. When he gets to verse 24 he expresses his exasperation that would be
present if he were actually trying to live like that. He says "Who can
deliver him?" instead of "what can deliver him?" because he
already knows the answer - "God through Christ Jesus our Lord".
When he was writing Romans in A.D 57 about his experiences of almost 20 years
before, he had already written in Romans 6 that he was dead to sin, freed from
sin and written in the earlier part of Romans 7 that he was dead to the law.
Intellectually, he already knew that he was free from these things, and was
soon to find out that he could not (and did not need to) fight the battle
against carnality and flesh from his natural human state. In verse 24 he even
mentions the real issue about residing in " the body of this death"
and needing deliverance from it.
Strong ( 2288 - Thanatos) defines this death as
spiritual death or eternal separation from God.
He is expressing this from the point of view of a
man deep in the confusion of Romans 7:14-25. But as he writes he is conscious
of his death to sin and law of Romans 6 and 7 and of his statements to come in
Romans 8 that he is free from the law of sin and death. He is aware that he is
not spiritually dead and ultimately he will not be separated eternally from
God. So he is able to thank God through Jesus Christ that he is and shall be
delivered from this body of death by God through Jesus Christ.
After he says this - "I thank God--through Jesus Christ our
Lord!" - he then restates the position similar to where he started in
Romans 7:14. "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin." Rom.
Mind - 3563 nous. He uses reason, conscience and
intellect to try to serve God
Flesh - 4559 - sarkikos -
fleshly carnal mind.
Prior to Romans 8 he has not mentioned living by the power of the Spirit of
God. We know of course that it is not possible to serve God by our own human
means, whether mind (nous) or flesh (sarkikos). God says it this way in the Old Testament.
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord of
hosts." Zech 4:6. In New Testament terms it is "But if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His
Spirit who dwells in you." Rom. 8:11 (NKJV)
So at this stage of writing Romans 7 Paul is still expressing the problem (to
explain it for us) as if God had not set us free by what Jesus Christ did on
the Cross and we were trying to achieve full spirituality by the law - which is
impossible. So in verse 25 he is not expressing full truth at all in terms of
living of life through Christ, although he does recognize that it is only
through Christ that he will gain this life.
So in Romans 7:14-25, it seems to me that Paul is taking a theoretical or
philosophical look at the two states of man ( in apparent opposition to each
other) as the man describes the difference between the two states. In other
words, Paul is telling a story and Romans 7:14-25, which really is a
parenthesis of the main story that he wants to convey in Romans 6 and Romans 8.
After all, he has already told us in Romans 6: 6 he is dead to sin, freed from
sin in 6:7 and dead to law in Romans 7:6
In one sense the verse which really precedes the first verse in Romans 8 is the
last verse of chapter 6 which says:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 6:23 (NKJV) This verse is a summary which
says that after all his explanation of the cross and its results in Romans 6
that the end result of all this is "eternal life through Christ Jesus
our Lord."
The latter half of Romans 7 in effect is a diversion which describes the
hopelessness of the position of a believer attempting to live in the fullness
of the Spirit if he were to use carnal means alone. However, it should be
untenable for the believer to allow the apparent continual conflict of Romans
7:14-25 to stand, when all of the rest of the New Testament says there is
victory in and through the Cross.
There cannot be disagreements in scripture, only apparent discrepancies, due to
our misunderstandings, until the Spirit of God brings understanding and wisdom.
So there can not be any disagreement between Romans 7:14-25 and other parts of
scripture.
Take for example:
We are dead to sin Romans 6:6
We are freed from sin - Romans 6:7
We are dead to law - Romans 7:6 (coupled with these verses which say)
Believers do not sin habitually - 1 John 3:6, 1 John 3:9, 1 John 5:18.
All this must mean something about us as believers. These verses are all in apparent opposition to what Romans 7:14-25 says - as it seems to suggest there is constant conflict between flesh and spirit. This is why Romans 7 must be treated carefully, otherwise we have a barrier, between us and true biblical fullness. Also, it allows biblical contradictions to stand, which is never spiritually healthy.
2 Romans 8:9
These next paragraphs are central to the main
point of this article. Let us now go to Romans 8: 9. which says:
"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." Rom. 8:9 (NKJV)
This verse in fact
dispels all the problems that Romans 7:14-15 seems to create. Notice that the
verse says, "you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit". Please
remember that the problem of Romans 7:14 was based on Paul saying that he was carnal,
sold under sin - carnal meaning fleshly, meaning that he was using ineffective
human power in his attempt to live righteously. But he is in fact now saying
that he is not fleshly at all, but in the Spirit! This means that he has the
Spirit of God dwelling in him to empower him in all that he does. The Spirit of
God empowers him to live as he should. There is no battle between flesh and
Spirit. There is no effective human effort with which to try and attain the
law.
If as he says, he is not in the flesh, which has been replaced by the Spirit,
then the apparent sin that he talks about in Romans 7: 15-23 is no longer a
relevant issue. Not only is he dead to it, but the Spirit now controls his
life. This is more evidence that Romans 7: 14-25 are a parenthesis explaining
an aspect of his life that is no longer relevant, current or true to Paul, as
he has now passed into the fullness of life expressed in Romans 8. No wonder he
wanted to thank God through Christ Jesus his Lord!
This one verse, by saying we are not in the flesh, in effect eliminates all the
apparent problems and supposed conflict of Romans 7 : 14 - 25. It reveals that
the apparent conflict that many believe exists in this section of scripture, is
Paul's description of a believer who has not yet appropriated by faith the
benefits of the cross in Romans 6.
3 Two questions then arise
1 Why did the Holy Spirit have Paul write the last half of Romans 7 at all?
Firstly, we need to backtrack a little. Prior to his conversion Paul was a
Pharisee basically living in accordance with the law. ( Philippians 3:6 -
blameless ) But now, having been taught by the Spirit of God that he was:
Dead to sin - Romans 6 : 6
Freed from sin - Romans 6 : 7
Dead to law - Romans 7 : 6
He must have been somewhat surprised to find himself sinning more than he ever
had because he said that previously:
In other words, despite being saved and dead to sin and law, Paul had to experience the uselessness of trying to live righteously by his own means and without Christ. So must we. Had the law not been there to prohibit coveting he would not have been aware of sin - for without the law sin is dead. But he found out that freedom could only be found through Jesus Christ.
So Romans 7:14-25 was recorded to show how Paul, as
a believer, was taught his utter helplessness without Christ, that he himself
could do nothing, that his striving with his mind towards the fulfilling of the
law could never succeed, but only end in seeing his own wretchedness, and in
need of deliverance by Jesus Christ.
We don't know how long Paul stayed in this experience of Romans 7, but by going
through it he reached the freedom of walking in the fullness of the Spirit of
God. Romans 7 was a doorway through which he had to pass. So must we.
Remember that Paul wrote the book of Romans in 57 A.D. after many years of
successful Christ empowered living. ( He probably went through this experience
of being taught by the Spirit in the years immediately following his conversion
around 38 A.D. when in
Had Paul lived in the conflict of Romans 7: 14 - 25 permanently he could not
have ministered successfully in Christ as he did. His writing of these verses
is really a parenthesis which demonstrates the spiritual / carnal dichotomy
that may still exist in the believer, whose knowledge and faith does not yet
allow them to fully accept the (new ) life of Christ in them.
Remember his words in Colossians about the life of
Christ being in the believer.
" this mystery among the gentiles which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory."
" when Christ, who is our life....."
Also remember that Romans 8:8 says that they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. And, whilst this certainly applies to the unbeliever, it also
applies in varying degrees to those believers who are yet carnal - 1 Cor 3: 1-3.
Because of the misunderstandings that Romans 7 : 14 - 25 has caused, there has
arisen an enormous barrier between the dead to sin of Romans 6 : 6 and the
fullness of life expressed in Romans 8. Instead of facilitating believers new
and old through from Romans 6 to Romans 8 ( as it ultimately did with Paul ) it
has not only become an insurmountable barrier, but has left believers in a
confused state, many believing that continual conflict between Spirit and flesh
must remain in their lives forever. Not so. Not for Paul. Not for us.
This barrier in Romans
7 is constructed of doctrinal error and unbelief, but reminds me of another
barrier removed by God at the death of Christ - when the curtain of the
2 How does one move from a knowledge of Romans 6 : 6 (dead to sin) and Romans 7 : 6 (dead to law) into the fullness of life of Romans 8?
By one means. Faith!
Faith is believing and acting on what God has said and done through Jesus
Christ. Faith gets us everything ( in God's time ) Without faith we get nothing
( Jesus said ) Without faith we would not have our salvation. It was simple
belief in God's promises that had us saved ( after having been shown our need
by His Spirit ). It is no different here in gaining His fullness, although the
process may seem to take longer. It is lack of real biblical faith and the
wrong interpretation of Romans 7: 14-25 that keeps us as carnal, soulish Christians.
A retired pastor known to me, who has had continual contact with ministries and
churches over
So........ what is required?
2.1 Believing what God has done for us.
Firstly, believing what God has done for us through Jesus Christ on the cross. The full message not just a part of it. ( for a discussion on all aspects see article by Dan Stone on the page that links to this present page )
Romans 6:6 - we are dead to sin
Romans 6:7 - we are freed from sin
Romans 7:6 - we are dead to law
1 John 3:6, 1 John 3:9, 1 John 5:18 - believers do not sin habitually.
Romans
Romans 8:2,
Romans
These verses are all in apparent opposition to what Romans 7:14-25 says - as it says we are in constant conflict and sin much of the time. That is why a different explanation of Romans 7 is given here, one that is not in conflict with these verses in Romans and 1 John.
2.2 Profession of these truths.
We need to speak from our believing hearts,
professing from our mouth these truths about what God through Jesus Christ has
done for us. "I am dead to sin..." etc.
2.3 Submission to God.
Be determined to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, allowing our absolute faith in Him to accept any and all things or changes He makes to any part of our life.
We do need to learn to accept surprises and difficulties we might otherwise consider unfair and unwanted.
We need to accept all things as loss in order to know Christ, as Paul mentioned in Philippians.
We need to wait, expecting everything, but chasing nothing as we lie on His altar without any concern.
We need to accept afflictions, perplexing matters,
persecutions, losses, and allowing ourselves to be constantly delivered over to
death for Jesus sake, that His life will be manifested in our life to bring
life to others.
2.4 Be obedient
Doing all things He wills in our lives, following the leading of the Spirit of God, as sons of God.
What not to do.
We should not try to make any changes
ourselves, crucify ourselves, or try to bring ourselves to death ( we are
already anyway ) or die to self as many do. Remember we are already dead to sin
and law and freed from sin. Our old man has been crucified and we already have
the fullness of God through His Spirit - whether it feels like it or not.
(Rather, cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He works in us)
We should not try to will or force faith on
ourselves by psychological or other means, but just accept what God has already
done and what He is doing right now and will do, even though we cannot see or
know His direction. We walk by faith, not by sight!
Finally.
Remember that it is God's work not ours. Our
job is to agree with Him on what He has done and allow Him to do the rest -
whatever that may be.
For further discussions on this subject, please
refer to other articles at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gnaust/life/index-gr.html
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