Romans 7:13-25

Text

Romans 7:13-25. Did then that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good;that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful. Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. Romans 7:15 For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do. Romans 7:16 But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. Romans 7:17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. Romans 7:18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. Romans 7:19 For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise. Romans 7:20 But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. Romans 7:21 I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present. Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: Romans 7:23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. Romans 7:24 Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

REALIZING ROMANS, Romans 7:13-25

292.

God had several purposes in giving the law, or we might say there were several results forthcoming. Another is stated in Romans 7:13. What is it?

293.

The nature of sin or Satan is also revealed. How?

294.

Is Paul here describing an experience before or after he became a Christian?

295.

In what sense was the law spiritual? In what sense was Paul carnal?

296.

Who sold Paul under sin?

297.

How could it be true that Paul did not know what he was doing in the matter of sin?

298.

How could man be held responsible if sin has such a power over man? cf. Romans 7:15. Please do not be superficial in your answer.

299.

What is the reason for all this emphasis upon the goodness and spirituality of the law?

300.

Sin does it, but I am responsible. Is this true? Explain.

301.

Paul makes a confession in Romans 7:18. Have you ever made such an admission? Have you found a solution?

302.

What is the inward man of Romans 7:22?

303.

The power of Satan seems to be in our members. cf. Romans 7:23. In what sense is this true?

304.

The law of the members is contrasted with the law of the mind. Define each.

305.

This is indeed a most wretched state. Why?

306.

Paul was living in or with a body of death. Explain.

307.

Does Romans 7:25 say that we can overcome this terrible bondage through Jesus Christ? Just how complete and final will this overcoming be?

308.

Does Romans 7:25 b describe a state or a principle? Explain.

Paraphrase

Romans 7:13-25. The good law, then, which you praise so much, to me hath become the cause of death? I reply, It is by no means the law, but sin, which hath become the cause of death to sinners. And God hath so appointed it to be, that sin might be seen to work out death to sinners, through the good law; that is, that sin might become known to all God's subjects, as a thing most exceedingly destructive, through the commandment, forbidding it under the penalty of death.

Romans 7:14 Besides, we know that the law is agreeable to our spiritual part, but that I am led by my carnal part, being enslaved to sin.

Romans 7:15 The spirituality of the law we know; for what evil things in an unregenerate state I habitually work, I do not approve: and our slavery to sin we know; for I practice not the things which reason and conscience incline, but what they hate, that I do.

Romans 7:16 And if, as often as I obey the law, I do that which reason and conscience incline not; by thus condemning these actions, I acknowledge the law to be good.

Romans 7:17 Now, therefore, it is not reason and conscience which work out these evil actions, but they are wrought out by the sinful inclinations which prevail in my animal nature.

Romans 7:18 These evil actions I justly ascribe to the prevalence of fleshly appetites: For I know that good is not predominant in me, that is, in my flesh. Indeed, to have an inclination to what is good, is easy for me, or any one whose conscience is not wholly seared; but to practice what is excellent I do not find easy.

Romans 7:19 Therefore I and others do not the good which reason and conscience incline; but the evil which these higher parts of our nature are averse to, that we practice; we omit many duties, and commit many sins, contrary to the dictates of reason and conscience.

Romans 7:20 Now if I omit good, and commit evil, contrary to the inclination of my reason and conscience, which constitute my higher part, it is no more I who practice it, but sin dwelling in my carnal part.

Romans 7:21 Well then, what experience discovers [reveals]to me, and to every one, is, we find, this law in us inclining to do what is excellent, that evil lies near at hand; is easy to be practiced, being agreeable to our strongest passions.

Romans 7:22 For I am well pleased with the law of God, according to the dictates of my inward man, or better self.

Romans 7:23 Yet I, and all other men, while unregenerated, find in ourselves a variety of lusts, whose influence is so strong and constant that it may be called another law in our animal part, warring against the law of our mind, and making us abject slaves to the law of sin which is in our animal part.

Romans 7:24 In this miserable situation, having from law no assistance to subdue my lusts, nor any hope of pardon, I, in the name of mankind, cry out, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the slavery of the body, ending in this death!

Romans 7:25 Our deliverance from these evils does not come from the law but from the gospel: therefore I thank God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Being thus delivered, Do I-' myself, then, or any delivered person, as slaves, still serve with the mind the law of God, by ineffectual approbations of good and disapprobations of evil, but with the body the law of sin, (Romans 7:23), performing wicked actions habitually? No, as becomes delivered persons, we serve God both with the mind and with the body.

Summary

Did then a holy law become death to me? No, But sin did, in order that by effecting my death by a just law, its true nature might become known. The law is no source of death, because it is spiritual; but I am fleshly, and therefore at times under the dominion of sin. As evidence that I am fleshly, and consequently under evil influences, I often do what I do not approve, that is, I do wrong, and practice what I do not wish to practice. If now I do what I do not approve, I agree with the law that it is right; for the law requires just what I wish to do, and condemns only what I do not wish to do, Now when, under these circumstances, I sin, it is not I alone that of my own accord do it, but it is the sinful influences which I am under that impel me to it. There is no good dwelling in my flesh; for while I can wish to do right, I am unable, because of the flesh, to do it, Indeed, I find it the rule with me, that whenever I wish to do right, evil is present, because the flesh is ever ready to prompt me to do wrong, In the inner man I delight in the law of God, but then there is another law in my membersthis strong tendency to sin; and under its power I often sin. I am toil-worn in this strife between wishing to do right and not doing it, and hating to sin and yet sinning. Who shall deliver me from it? Thanks to God, he will. So then with the mind at least, I serve the law of God which is the great matter; but with the flesh I at times serve the law of sin.

Comment

4.

Objection as to the law in respect to death. Romans 7:13-25

a.

Objective Stated; Did then that which is good become death unto me? This, of course, refers to the commandment which is called good in Romans 7:12 b.

b.

Objective answered; God forbid that such a condition should exist; no, it does not exist. The answer to this objection entails in it some of the same considerations that are found in Paul's answers to the law in respect to sin. However, the answers, though necessarily similar in content, are given to answer two different problems, The other problem was the act of sin but this one is in regard to the result of sin. Romans 7:13 a

(1) The first comment is a direct answer to the question, Who brought this spiritual death if the commandment didn-'t? It is answered in the statement: sin, or Satan brought it. If Satan took that which was good and used it wrongly, why did God choose such a procedure? This reason is that the true evil nature of Satan could be shown. So it is that through the use Satan made of the commandment his exceeding wickedness is clearly shown. Romans 7:13 b

(2) When we think of the law Satan used we must confess that it is from God, spiritual; but when we examine ourselves we see that we are fleshly. Paul says of himself that he is carnal, sold under sin. This we take to mean as an ordinary Christian, not as an apostle; he was tempted by Satan through his flesh, and struggle as he would against it he could not completely free himself from the bondage in which sin, through the flesh, held him. Please remember that he is describing here a circumstance to which there is a deliverance through Jesus Christ. The extent of the deliverance depends entirely upon the willingness of the individual to avail himself of it. Romans 7:14

(3) In Romans 7:14 the apostle states a condition, that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly. In Romans 7:15-25 he discusses the results of this condition.

(a) That which I do I approve not. (We render the, word know as approve, since it is one translation of the Greek word and fits more easily into the sense of the passage.) Here is the situation: I practice not what I wish, but rather I do the very things I hate. Romans 7:15

(b) But of course in doing this if I hate the things I do because they are contrary to God's law, I thus consent to the law that it is good. Romans 7:16

(c) So you can see that of myself, as a Christian, I would not do these things; hence there must be some other force at work. That power is sin (or Satan) which is dwelling in me. (Of course this dwelling would only be in the sense that Satan is a spirit and thus could associate with our spirits and exert his influence upon our flesh.) Romans 7:17

(d) As a further conclusion to this matter I can see that in me alone (apart from Christ), as an individual, a mere creation of the dust, there dwells no good thing. It is not that I do not want to do right, for I do, but the power to do it just is not there. For when I decide to do good, somehow I never get it done; and the evil which I have decided not to do, lo, I find myself practicing. But it is even as I have said that this practice of sin is not carried out by me alone but rather by sin taking over my will through the flesh. Romans 7:18-20

147.

What is the thought of the objection of the law in respect to death?

148.

What is the difference between this objection and the preceding one?

149.

What is the thought of Romans 7:13 b?

150.

What does Paul mean the law is spiritual; I am carnal?

151.

What would be a better translation of Romans 7:15?

152.

How does Paul consent that the law is good?

(e) The law says to do good. That is fine; I consent to it and I would do it, but evil is present. Why, I delight in the law in my very soul; with my spirit I revel in the beauty of God's will; but there is another law, or power, or tendency in my flesh, in my nature, or in my being, and since the members of my body are directed by my mind I can say that this tendency to do evil is a veritable part of my members. This tendency, which becomes a lust when excited by temptation, wars against the law of my mind, the desire, the tendency to do good, of which I have already spoken. Hence there is a terrible conflict between the tendency to do evil and the tendency to do good. Wretched man that I am (or as Lard words it, -Toilworn man that I am-',) who shall deliver me out of this body of death? What is the body of death? In answer, we might inquire, what body was it that was being used by Satan to cause sin and spiritual death? Was it not the body of flesh, the mortal body in which sin could reign? (Romans 6:12) So then, the cry of Paul is for release from the power of the flesh, a cry for deliverance from the thralldom in which the flesh can hold a man. We can see clearly now who caused spiritual death. It was not the law, but Satan using the law to beguile man through the tendency to sin which is in man's flesh. Is there an answer? Is there a deliverer? Yes, thank God, Jesus Christ our Lord can effect our deliverance. He can release us from spiritual death. He can through his Spirit give us victory over the flesh. The extent of this victory is dependent solely upon the willingness of the Christian to give himself, body, soul and spirit, into the hands of Christ. We can indeed say that only by a denial of self, coupled with a commitment of our bodies as a living sacrifice, can we hope to be delivered from the power of Satan through the flesh. Romans 7:21-25 a

(f) In review of the whole situation, we have the words of Paul: So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God. I of myself apart from any thought of the power of Christ, I of my natural self as a Christian, assent to the worthiness of obedience to the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is also with me the flesh, and under the influence of this nature I serve the law of sin, or yield to the tendency to sin. This choice is before us and we know how to become the conqueror rather than the victim. Romans 7:25 b

153.

In what way could sin dwell in Paul and in us?

154.

What is it we need in order to practice the things we know are right?

155.

Explain in your own words Romans 7:21-23.

156.

What isthe body of death?

Rethinking in Outline Form
Objections to the Proposition Concluded

3.

Objection as to the law in respect to sin. Romans 7:7-12

Objection Stated: Since it is so desirable to be released from the law, is the law a form of sin?

Objection Answered:

(1)

The law is not sin, but defines sin. Romans 7:7 c

(2)

Satan uses the law as an occasion for temptation and sin. Romans 7:8

(3)

The personal experience of Paul is given, from his childhood of innocence, to his subsequent death through the efforts of Satan. Romans 7:9

(4)

The commandment was given to bring life, but Satan used it to bring death. Romans 7:10-11

(5)

The law of itself, apart from the use made of it by Satan, is holy, righteous, and good. Romans 7:12

4.

Objection as to the law in respect to death, Romans 7:13-25

Objection Answered :

(1)

God forbid. The law of itself brings about the death of no one. Satan uses it as an occasion, and through it spiritual death makes its advent. Romans 7:13-14

(2)

The law is from God, but man is fleshly and through the weakness of man's flesh Satan occasions his death. Our spirits are willing, but the flesh is weak. This circumstance results in great inward pain, and we are moved to cry out, Who will deliver us? The answer and deliverance comes through Christ Jesus. Romans 7:15-25