Romanos 7:21-23

‘I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, 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.'

So he recognises that he has discovered a certain principle at work, that when he wanted to do good evil was present. However, he now introduces a new element as he builds up his picture of the Christian life. In his ‘inward man' he was not like that. In his inward man he delighted in the Law of God. For within him is ‘the law of his mind' which is at war with ‘the law of sin'. His ‘mind' is totally set on good (unlike that of the unregenerate man - Efesios 2:3). This demonstrates that he saw nothing bad in the Law. His will and intent was to live it out fully. In principle his mind was set on it. But he found another law or principle within him (something permanent and unceasing) which ‘warred against the law of his mind', and which, as a result of his fleshly disposition, often made him captive to the principle of sin which was within him. Life was thus a constant battlefield. Compare Gálatas 5:17. He is not, of course, denying responsibility for his sin. He recognises that it is he who does it. But nevertheless he wants it to be recognised that he does not ‘willingly' do it. It comes from his sinful disposition and from ingrained habit which are both at work through his body with its many ‘members'. The fact that it is ‘another' law makes clear that he is not in this instance referring to the Law of God.

Thus Paul is building up here to his statement in Romanos 7:24 - Romanos 8:2 where the problem is to be resolved by the introduction of ‘Jesus Christ our LORD' and ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus' (note the continued use in Romanos 8:2 of the singular personal pronoun ‘me', its last use) which defeats the law of sin and sets him free. Our Chapter s separate chapter 7 from chapter 8, but there were no Chapter s in the Greek text. Romanos 8:2 is a vital part of the argument as the continued use of the singular personal pronoun makes clear.

‘The inward man.' This description occurs also in 2 Corintios 4:16 and Efesios 3:16, and it is surely in mind in Romanos 2:29 where Paul speaks of ‘being a true Jew inwardly (hiddenly)', and goes on to refer to ‘the spirit'. In 2 Corintios 4:16 it is in contrast with ‘the outward man' (the body which decays), and is renewed day by day. In the latter it is ‘strengthened with might by the Spirit'. All these references point to the inward man as being a description of the regenerate man who experiences the work of the Spirit (particularly important in the light of Romanos 8:1). This is especially so as it ‘delights in the law of God'. Certainly unregenerate men respected the Law and even had a zeal for it. But we are never given the impression by Paul that they ‘delighted' in it. Indeed they found it somewhat of a burden (Hechos 15:10). The Psalmist who so delighted in it was himself a regenerate man (there was always a remnant of Israel which was regenerate, necessarily so, or the truth would not have survived).

‘The inward man' is also referred to in classical literature where it refers to ‘man -- according to his Godward, immortal side', and therefore as the equivalent of the term ‘spirit'. But to Paul the spirit of unregenerate men was ‘dead' (Efesios 2:1; Efesios 2:5). It would hardly therefore have been seen as delighting in the Law of God.

‘The law of my mind (nous).' To Paul the unregenerate mind was ‘unfit' (Romanos 1:28). That was why ‘those who are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh' (Romanos 8:5). And ‘those who are in the flesh cannot please God' (Romanos 8:8). In contrast the Apostles had their mind ‘opened' in order to understand the Scriptures (Lucas 24:45), and Christians have to seek ‘the renewal of their mind' in order to escape being conformed to the world (Romanos 12:2). Both with their mind served Christ. But both needed the Spirit's help in order to satisfactorily fulfil that service. Thus ‘the mind', illuminated and acting rightly (becoming the mind of the Spirit), and seeking to serve the (spiritual) Law of God (Romanos 7:25) is an important aspect of the Christian. All this must be seen as indicating that ‘the law of my mind' relates to the illuminated, and therefore regenerate, mind. Indeed it is difficult to see how there could be a law within which warred against the law of his mind, unless his mind had come over to God's side. Whilst the unregenerate man uses his mind, it is in collusion with the law of sin, not at enmity with it. It is the mind of the flesh. Unregenerate man follows the desires of the flesh and of the mind (dia-noiown). See Efesios 2:3. His battles are between two forces both controlled by sin.

Note that this very teaching confirms what we saw in Romanos 5:12 onwards, that as men we have inherited a tendency to sin. We do not start with a clean slate. We are born having within us a carnality which drives us to sin, which is the final explanation as to why all men sin.