I Find It to Be a Law

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Romans 7:19

Romans 7:7–25 – Romans: The Righteousness of God
Fifth Sunday of Easter  – May 7, 2023 (am)

Today we’re getting into the portion of Rom.7 that people identify with most—Paul’s struggle with sin. But as we enter this vivid, engaging text, we must remember what we said last week: it’s not primarily about our incessant struggle to gain victory over sin. It’s actually about the believer’s relationship to the law. And it’s Paul’s defense of the law being good even though he’s said that it belongs to the realm of Adam, the flesh, sin, and death—that it’s joined forces with sin; it helps sin advance its cause. So, this text is a needed explanation of a vastly important point before moving on in his argument. It’s just very clear why [Jewish and Jewish Christian] opponents [struggled with] Paul’s view of the law. From Galatians we see how he taught that the Torah brings a curse (Gal. 3:10, 13), is subsidiary to the promise made to Abraham (3:15–18) since it was inaugurated 430 years later, produces transgressions (3:19), was given via angels instead of directly from God (3:19), and has no power to grant life (3:21) (Schreiner 356).

There’s one more clarification we should make before we move into this passage; it’ll aid our understanding greatly. Who’s the I in Rom.7? (e.g., 15 … I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 17 … it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.) There are essentially three possibilities. (1) The “I” refers to Adam’s experience with God’s command in the garden of Eden. (2) It designates Israel’s experience of receiving the law at Mount Sinai. (3) “I” is autobiographical, denoting the experience of the apostle Paul. … [This] last view is the closest to the truth, though the first two… contain truth, since [Paul’s life] replicates the history of Adam and of Israel (cf. Chester 2011: 72–73). … 363Paul relays his own experience because it [establishes the paradigm], showing the fate of all those under the law. We can also understand why so many scholars see a reference to Adam or Israel, since Paul’s experience recapitulates the history of Adam with God’s command given in the garden and Israel’s experience with the Torah. Still, the focus here is on Paul’s experience (cf. also Dunson 2012: 162–65), though what Paul says relates to all human beings in that [our] encounter with the law produces death in us, [not] life (Schreiner 357, 363).

Let’s see how Paul puts all this together. His three questions (7, 13, 24) identify the flow.

Is the Law Sin? 7-12

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? We set this up last Sunday, remember? We said that if we’re following Paul’s line of reasoning, this would be the needful next question because it surely sounds like the law has forged a partnership with sin. But what does Paul say? It’s an answer we’ve heard before: By no means! Yet, he continues, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” This is what Paul calls transgression (4:15; 5:14) (Moo 1994 1131-2), a going aside (Liddell 594)—sin we inherit from Adam; transgression comes as we break the law. So, when the law sets the standard, not only does transgression become clear, but now I’m determined to do it!

We’ll chase after anything that’s forbidden! 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Notice what Paul does here: he begins describing sin as a person, with a will and a purpose. Sin [seized the] opportunity [provided by] the commandment, “You shall not covet,” and produced [all new levels] of [sin] in me! Our battle against sin is so hot, so intense, so fearsome, that the only way to speak of it accurately and truthfully, even in Scripture, is to turn it into a living being, an intentionally malevolent enemy who engages the full force of it’s will and power to destroy us! We’re at war! And the hardest part is that, if sin actually were a person, it would be easier. But sin is invisible! And so are the ones who magnify its power! Eph.6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. God help us!

Paul then moves into a vivid chiasm (Moo 2018 461): 8 … For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. Clearly Paul isn’t talking about being literally alive and then dead. That’s why we need to notice the structure of his statement. He’s using a literary structure to make a point. He’s saying: [before] the law [was given], sin [was] dead and I was… alive…, but [once] the [law was given], sin came [to life] and I died! This does not mean, of course, that sin did not exist [before the law was given] but that it was not as active or powerful before the law as after (Moo 2018 461). 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. And, why? What’s the key element that turns something good (the revelation of God’s standard for living in covenant relationship with Himself) into something that brings death to [us]? It’s sin, our personified enemy that still lives within us (in our flesh [17-18]) even though we’ve been eternally freed from its condemnation (8:1) and power by faith in Christ. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

I could explain this further, but Paul does it better! So, we’d do best just to keep moving. But first, he does give a direct answer to his first question here. After all, bottom line: 12 … the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did That which Is Good Bring Death to Me? 13-20

But if that’s true: 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? Again: By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good (the law), in order that sin might be shown to be sin, that it might be exposed, so to speak, made visible—that, like the tree leaves moving exposes the invisible wind (cf. Joh.3:8)—and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. The evil nature of sin is proven by how it moves me to receive and rebel against the holy and righteous and good law of God.

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh (mortal, vulnerable), sold under sin (helpless in the face of its power, perhaps able to effect a small victory here or there, but nothing approaching perfection). And that’s what confuses/confounds me about myself! 15 For I do not understand my own actions. Sin makes me a stranger to myself! For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. This begins to show/explain the massive challenge we’re facing: sin is an outside enemy that enslaves its captors until we’re finally executed, every one of us! Yet, [this enemy] dwells within [us]! (20)

This is a tough situation! But there’s more we need to learn along the way. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. It’s this statement that most helps us see how broad Paul’s argument is here. This statement is true for everyone who hears it, believer and unbeliever alike!

For the unconverted who hate God, or even deny His existence, they still have this experience of not being able to live up even just to their own expectations of what’s good. And this very struggle displays why they’re accountable for their sin before God. His eternal power and divine nature (1:20) are made known to them in this experience to the point where they realize they’re missing a standard even if they can’t clearly articulate what that standard is!

For believers, we see here how sin still dwells within [us] (20) even after we’re freed from its condemnation and power by faith in Christ. That freedom shows itself as we press on in our battle against sin (see 8:11, 13), proving the power of the resurrection that’s our inheritance in Christ (cf. 6:4).

So, v.16 is for everyone. And the undeniable implication is that our recognition of the goodness spoken by that inner voice, which we can’t please, proves the goodness of God’s law, just as it proves the power of sin within us!

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. I’m responsible. But I do see the problem! And although it’s not hopeless, it’s a big problem! 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. [That’s unmistakably proven by the fact that] I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. And that’s what helps us come to the strange conclusion we read in v.20. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Again, this is not denying responsibility. But something within us is desiring to do good even though it can’t. And that’s an important thing to see in this passage. We have an enemy that’s imprisoned us. Sin is that enemy. And even though we’re freed from sin’s condemnation, and therefore its power, we’ll not know that freedom fully and finally until sin is entirely removed from this world, in the new heaven and new earth. We’ll hear more about in the next chapter (cf. 8:23).

Who Will Deliver Me from This Body of Death? 21-25

21 So, Paul writes as he begins moving toward the close of this quick defense of the goodness of the law, I find it to be a law (our title today) that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I do delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members, another metaphor, meaning, I watch myself live out another law that’s waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that still dwells in my members.

So, I’m trapped in this hideous scene! It’s like a nightmare! You know the feeling. Your mind tells your body to flee the danger that’s threatening in your dream, but it’s like you’re encased in concrete! You can’t move! Or you can’t speak! You can’t escape even though your life depends on it! But here it’s actually worse. This enemy is inside you, pulling the strings of your body in opposition to the desires of your mind like you’ve become a stage puppet! You tell your hand: Don’t touch that! But your hand touches it anyway! And you’re forced to stand and watch, owning responsibility for what happens! You tell your eyes: Don’t look there! But they look anyway! It’s horrifying! Disturbing! Dehumanizing! And it’s all the worse now that you’ve trusted Christ as Savior and gained an understanding of how bad sin really is!

That gets us ready for Paul’s final question today. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? And although his answer is framed for the believers who ask this question, the answer is the same even for the unbelievers. 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! …

For believers, this thanks expresses heartfelt gratitude for God’s merciful deliverance that promises full freedom once all is finally set right in this sin-saturated world.

For unbelievers, this thanks should express heartfelt gratitude for the fact that deliverance is even possible through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is a way of escape!

25 … So then, for believers only, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I am still incessantly tempted to serve the law of sin. And there we finish today. If you’ve been drawn into Paul’s argument, you may be tempted to respond: Wait a minute! I’m getting short-changed here! Don’t just finish by stating the problem more clearly, Paul! Give me an answer! What do I do?

Conclusion

Let’s conclude with two thoughts. (1) Paul has given us the answer: Thanks bet to God! He’s provided all that we need to escape this horrifying trap through faith in our Jesus Christ our Lord! (2) His very next words give us this same assurance in an even more delightful way! 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; that’s our title for next Sunday.

Bottom line today, we have a mortal enemy who’s bent on our destruction. If we don’t beat him, we’ll die! And he’s, literally, infinitely more powerful than we are. So, there really is no hope, except that another Player, a Champion Who’s infinitely more powerful than our enemy, has defeated him and made a way of escape for us, even though we’ll have to continue battling this enemy until the appointed Day our Champion returns. We only became aware of how serious this battle is because our Champion made it known to us. That happened in the giving of the law. Now, unfortunately, our having the law magnifies the power of our enemy because he can work within us to break it now that we see so many different ways that’s possible. But this is also what shows us just how badly we need our Champion’s deliverance, and how vital it is to battle our enemy furiously with all the resources we’ve been provided in order to stand ready on that Day. 25 Thanks bet to God that He has indeed provided our deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord!

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Resources

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NEXT SUNDAY: There Is Therefore Now No Condemnation, Romans 8:1–13