This passage is an honest account of a person’s inner conflict with himself, one part of him pulling one direction and another part pulling the opposite. The conflict is real and it is intense.

But where does the law fit into all this? In this section, Paul shows that the law is powerless to save sinners (7:7-14) and law-keepers (7:15-22). Even a person with a new nature (7:23-25) experiences ongoing evidence of the law’s inability to motivate him or her toward good. The sinner is condemned by the law; the lawkeeper can’t live up to it; and the person with the new nature finds that his or her obedience to the law is sabotaged by the effects of the old nature. Once again, Paul declares that salvation cannot be found by obeying the law. No matter who we are, only Jesus Christ can set us free. Yet the law, because it is God’s law, is not then cast aside as useless. In the this chapter Paul grapples with the complexity of life under grace and the believer’s relationship to God’s law.

7:7 Is the law sin?^NKJV Because the law arouses sin (7:5) and because we have been released from the law (7:6), does that mean the law is the same as sin? Paul again answers his own question, Certainly not!^NKJV Instead, the law is both holy (7:12) and spiritual (7:14). The law itself is not sin, but it does tell us what sin is. Paul uses coveting (Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21) as an example—I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”^NIV

Paul deliberately chose the last commandment as an example. That particular commandment was unique among the laws in the decalogue, and it obviously had a significant effect on Paul himself. The tenth commandment focuses entirely on our inward nature. At a superficial level, we may claim to have lived up to the first nine, but the last commandment

There are four major interpretations of the meaning of this section. All are ways of attempting to understand how Paul might have been using “I” in these verses. They also rise from difficulties in reconciling the picture that has emerged through history of Paul as a Christian superhero with the person revealed by these verses, who is experiencing deep and agonizing struggles with sin. The four main explanations are as follows:

1. “I” is autobiographical, but most likely positioned in the past—Paul is recalling his childhood or pre conversion experiences. At the bar mitzvah ceremony, the Jewish child becomes responsible for keeping the law.
2. “I” is Paul speaking for Adam at the fall in the Garden of Eden and identifying the universal human struggle with sin.
3. “I” is Paul speaking for the Jewish nation and identifying the unique struggle with sin created for Jews by the presence of the law of God that was given on Mount Sinai.
4. “I” is Paul speaking for every person’s experience under the law. Each interpretation finds some validity in the text, and none can be discounted outright. When they are compared to each other, we find that 2 and 4 are almost identical and that 1 and 3 could easily fit as subpoints under 2. Each, however, may give us some insight into the depth of human predicament under the law and under grace. But after each approach has been tried, the application question must still be asked: “In what ways is the ‘I’ me?” The Jewish law, a superficial adherence to the law, or nominal Christian life cannot deal with the force of our sinful desires. Only the lordship of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can give us the victory.

7:8 Sin, seizing the opportunity.^NIV “Opportunity” is the translation of a Greek word (aphormen) that was used as a military term—it denotes establishing a bridgehead as preparation for making an attack. Sin uses the law to get a point of attack against us. The commandment “Do not covet” doesn’t cause people to covet, but it arouses within them every kind of covetous desire.^NIV Then sin (or our capacity to sin) seizes the opportunity that arises when the law gives a prohibition, but offers no method of resistance. Instead of reading the law as a warning, sin reads the law as a welcome. Prohibiting something often makes people want to do that very act. When those desires are acted upon, they are sinful.

Apart from the law sin lies dead.^NRSV Without the law, sin goes unnoticed, unknown. Some sins may not even present a problem until they are prohibited.

1. Sin Deceives Me (7: 9- 14)

7:9 I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.^NIV Paul’s intimate, personal expressions in the remainder of this chapter have given rise to numerous interpretations. Commentators sound like the Ethiopian eunuch questioning Philip on the road to Gaza, “Tell me please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” (Acts 8:34 niv). The descriptions of someone alive apart from the law and later “deceived” (7:11) parallel the fall of humanity into sin recorded in Genesis. But whether Paul is simply telling his own story or retelling Adam’s story in the first person, the application is the same. Before we realize the seriousness of the law and of sin, we believe ourselves to be “alive.” But when the significance of the command not to covet, for example, becomes clear to us, we suddenly realize our sin and “die”—we sense the outcome of death, the inevitable result of sin (6:23). The other issue in this extended passage (7:9-25) is its timing in Paul’s life. In this verse, written in past tense, the events clearly precede conversion. Within a few verses, however, Paul shifts to the present tense. In this case, the term tense is particularly appropriate, since Paul reveals himself to be a person intimate with soul agony. We should listen carefully to what Paul says, within the context that he says it, before we allow theological priorities to shift our understanding.

7:10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.^NRSV Paul is probably referring to a well-known Old Testament passage, “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 18:5 niv). The commands were given to help people know how to live, but because of sin, those same commands brought only a heightened awareness of the inevitability of death.

7:11 Sin . . . deceived me. Sin deceives people by misusing the law. It is filled with false promises and deceptions:

• Sin promises to satisfy our desires even more than the last time.
• Sin promises that our actions can be kept hidden, so no one will know.
• Sin promises that we won’t have to worry about consequences.
• Sin promises special benefits: wisdom, knowledge, and sophistication.
• Sin promises power and prestige in exchange for cooperation.

Don’t buy the lie.

In the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3), the serpent deceived Eve by taking her focus off the freedom she had and putting it on the one restriction God had given. Since that time we have all been rebels. Sin is tempting precisely because God has said it is wrong. When we are tempted to rebel, we need to look at the law from a wider perspective—in the light of God’s grace and mercy. If we focus on his great love for us, we will understand that he only restricts us from actions and attitudes that ultimately will harm us.

How did sin use the commandment as an opportunity both to deceive and to kill? Perhaps Paul had thought of the commandments in general to justify himself as righteous, in which case he was deceived. But as he read the tenth commandment, he was caught suddenly by the truth of the law, to which sin immediately added killing guilt.

7:12 The law is holy. Although it was the instrument used to kill him, so to speak, Paul could not speak against the law. The law is holy because it reflects the character and will of God himself, who is holy. The commandment defines sin but is not sin (7:7). Instead it is holy and just and good.^NKJV And the purpose of the law is to teach us right from wrong, to give us guidelines, and to show sin for what it is. The law helps us live for God, but it cannot save us.

If the law causes so much difficulty, what useful purpose does it serve? (1) It is a revelation of the nature, character, and will of God. (2) Its ethical components were incorporated in Christ’s teaching. (3) It teaches us about sin. (4) It demolishes self-righteousness.

7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me?^NIV Taking the last word from the last verse, Paul asks, “Did the commandment [referring to his example of coveting and used as a picture for the law as a whole], which is good, result in death?” Again he answers his own question, By no means!^NRSV The law was given by God; it tells us what God desires of us, and it is good. Sin’s deception and then application of the commandment brought death.

In order that sin might be shown to be sin.^NRSV It is sin, not the law, that brings death, and it is only through the law that sin can be recognized as sin. Sin uses the commandments in the law, that are good, in order to continue to produce death in people because people cannot keep the law in their own strength. But, by using the commandments as instruments of death, sin reveals itself in all its ugliness.

7:14 The law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual.^NIV Here Paul abruptly changes from writing in the past tense to writing in the present tense. By using the past tense in verses 7-11, Paul considered the effects of the law somewhat dispassionately. Then in the last two verses (7:12-13), he again strenuously defended the law’s goodness. Paul’s intense desire to view the law with high esteem helped fuel his next thoughts. He was making every effort to clarify the tension between the “holy and just and good” (7:12) law and the sin that uses the law for its deadly purposes. The law comes from God, has his character, and tells his will for his people. But as the majesty of the law fills Paul’s mind, along with it comes the vision of his own standing before the law. Paul wants to make the point that sin does not besmirch the law. But he also realizes that he must clarify his own ongoing relationship to the law.

described such a great distance between the law and sin, he realized that he was still far more acquainted with the reality of sin than the righteous standard of the law. Being under grace does not eliminate the law—it changes the purpose of the law in our lives, from a source of judgment to a source of guidance, from an unattainable moral standard of our judge to a character study of the one who loves us. So, Paul writes, the law is spiritual (pneumatikos); but I am unspiritual (sarkinos), “of the flesh,” carnal. As such, he can write, sold as a slave to sin.^NIV The expression is literally “being sold under sin,” which is equivalent to saying “being given over to slavery.” At one time sin was tyrannical in Paul’s life. The law has an uncanny capacity for reminding us of what we once were, and of how captivating that old life can still appear. Our hope never shifts back to the law. We must daily focus on Christ.

2. My Sinful Nature Dominates Me   (7:15-22)

7:15 I do not understand. Or, “I don’t even recognize myself!” By introducing his personal dilemma, Paul invites us to consider how well we understand our own behavior.

I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.^NRSV As long as believers live in this world as men and women of flesh and blood, they will face a constant tension—the conflict between their sinful nature and their new spiritual life. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Galatians 5:17 niv). In 7:6, Paul described conversion as being “released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit.” This new service in the Spirit is not compulsory, but the longer we are in this way, the clearer we see its necessity. This growing awareness is itself a work of God’s Spirit, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 niv).

Paul shares three lessons that he learned in trying to deal with his old sinful desires. (1) Knowledge is not the answer (7:9). Paul felt fine as long as he did not understand what the law demanded. When he learned the truth, he knew he was doomed. (2) self-determination (struggling in one’s own strength) doesn’t succeed (7:15). Paul found himself sinning in ways that weren’t even attractive to him. (3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life (7:22-25).

Being born again starts in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime. Paul compares Christian growth to a strenuous race or fight (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7). Thus, as Paul has been emphasizing since the beginning of this letter, no one in the world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved—not the pagan who doesn’t know God’s laws, nor the Christian or Jew who knows them and tries to keep them. All of us must depend totally on the work of Christ for our salvation. We cannot earn it by our good behavior.

Accepting the approach that Paul is speaking from personal experience in these verses presents us with another problem. From what time in his relationship with God do these reflections come? Or, How realistic is it to think that the thoroughly converted Paul might actually have struggles that seem so strikingly familiar to our own?

Here are three possible answers:

1. Paul is reflecting on his pre-conversion state of mind.

• Defense—To accept this passage as a report of experiences Paul is having as a believer exposes him to the charge that he doesn’t practice what he preaches, such as in Romans 5:1-5. Did or didn’t Paul have peace, joy, and hope? It also seems to present one of the greatest Christian minds in a rather weak and frail condition.
• Response—Remember, Paul is human. Rather than fearing that Paul’s struggle somehow makes his faith less vital, we need to see this as rounding out our view of him. Paul is surprisingly human elsewhere, too! (See 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.) And as for Romans 5, isn’t it possible that anguish over our own frailties might come under “sufferings” that must be passed through on the way to perseverance, character, and hope?
  2. Paul is representing the immature, carnal, or even backslidden Christian.
• Defense—Believers who are serving in the Spirit and are yielded to God simply do not experience what Paul is reporting here. And since Paul is not appealing to the Spirit and getting immediate relief, the problem must reside in him.
• Response—In modem terms, who is in denial here? The history of the Christian church is full of godly men and women who have reported struggles remarkably like these. If there is one distinguishing characteristic of immature, carnal, and backslidden Christians, it is that they are devoid of these struggles until the moment when they take up the cross again.                                                                                            3. Paul was experiencing and reporting the normal Christian life.
• Defense—*This is the most straightforward reading of the text. The first person, present tense resonates with the reader. There is a heightened respect for the law of God. Its shocking openness is matched by its trusting conclusion. Its broader context (the entire letter) presents the experiences as part, but certainly not the whole, of Christian life. The depth of honesty highlights the magnificent message of 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
• Response—If the ongoing struggle with sin is real, the temptation never to accept the gift of grace is also real.

Those who are really under grace take sin seriously. Sin is no longer their master, but it is still a powerful adversary. If we don’t take sin seriously, we fall into it. If we don’t take victory seriously, we fail to utilize the Holy Spirit’s help.

Peter’s words do not lead us to expect an easy Christian life; “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9 niv). We may be slaves of a new master, but we still live in enemy territory. The unique balance of the Christian life was described by Jesus himself when he said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 niv). Whatever the experience of each day, our hope is only real “through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25).

7:16-17 If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^NIV We want to obey God’s law, yet we still fail. Our failure is not the law’s fault, nor is it our own fault: It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^NIV If sin did not exist, then the law would give us guidelines for living perfectly. But sin perverts everything. Paul is not abdicating responsibility for his sin; instead, he is making the point that his desires and the sin within him are in constant conflict. Sin is a power that, at times, can still win because his redemption is not yet complete.

The saints in the Old Testament expressed this struggle exquisitely. Jeremiah cried out, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 niv). David prayed, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13 niv).

One of the ongoing duties of God’s Spirit is to convict us of our potential for wickedness. Serving “in the new way of the Spirit” (7:6) includes regular encounters with the Spirit’s convicting ministry in our life (see John 16:7-15). When we are made aware of sin, we have a clear responsibility: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 niv).

7:18-19 Nothing good lives in me.^NIV In our sinful nature, there is nothing good. Paul sees this as part of being human. Although we belong to Christ and have died to sin, we still live in a sinful world and have a sinful nature. Picture the highly trained commander of a modem tank equipped with laser guidance systems, electronic wizardry, and atomic power. In preparation for a crucial battle he:

• loaded up with the wrong fuel
• filled his magazines with the wrong caliber ammunition
• picked up the wrong maps and directions
• left most of his crew in their bunks

How effective would he be under fire? Yet how often do we undertake spiritual warfare in our own strength, using our own tools and resources, and making up our own directions as we go along? We shouldn’t be surprised if Satan quickly puts us out of commission! The tension continues—What I do is not the good I want to do . . . the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^NIV Paul describes the person who knows what is good and might even desire to do it, but this person lacks the power. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, the person is dominated by the power of sin and continues to do evil when he actually desires to do good.

7:20 It is sin living in me that does it.^NIV Paul repeats his words from verse 17. Believers still have a sinful nature that pulls them to do what they do not want to do. The seeming contradiction of “I do-I don’t do” emphasizes how difficult it is to identify the sources of our sinful behaviors. One way to think of it is, Until I was under the grace of God, sin owned me. After I was under the grace of God, I admit that I still owned sin. Before Christ, I was responsible for being a sinner. Once Christ saved me, I’m still responsible for my sins.

7:21 This law at work.^NIV The law, or principle, at work here is the reality that evil is within us, even when we want to do good. In fact, it is when we most want to do good that we become most acutely aware of our propensity not to do so. A swimmer has no idea how strong the current is until she tries to swim upstream. When she faces the current, she finds this law at work: the current is against her.

7:22 In my inner being I delight in God’s law.^NIV Believers take delight in God’s law (i.e., the path of obedience to God that the entire Old Testament presents) because they long to know it and do it and thus to please God. This is one of the marks of wisdom: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:2 niv).

3. Christ Delivers Me  (7:23-25)

7:23 Another law at work in the members of my body.^NIV This other principle that is at work is the law of sin. Sin is constantly at war.^NRSV We are at war because sin will not give up the control over us that it lost when we came to faith in Christ. Sin fights against the law of the mind because our mind is where we make our decisions and our moral judgments. We are prisoners of the law of sin at work with us. We cannot resist our sin nature in our own power. When we try, we will be defeated.

Paul does not say that these powers are equal, but he knows they are both there. We must do the same. One power must be resisted while relying on the other. When we fail to rely on Christ’s strength for our daily strength, we in essence provide sin with more power over us. Sin’s power will not have grown, but our relative weakness will make it seem that way. Sin’s power is not an excuse for us to drift spiritually, or openly give in to temptation. Believers must not forget that “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 niv).

7:24 Who will rescue me from this body of death?^NRSV Our bodies are mortal; they are bodies of death. As long as we live on this earth in our human bodies, we will face this conflict with sin. Our place of residence is our place of least resistance. And, as seen above, as long as we are confined to this world, we will experience a measure of struggle and defeat. But, we are not left in defeat—rescue will come!

Sooner or later, almost every person asks this desperate question. How sad for those who cannot answer as Paul answered. His answer must also be ours, and we must share this truth with others. Paul made sure the Romans knew that he believed the gospel to be the answer.

7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!^NRSV The triumph is sweeter because the struggle is real. In the last few verses, we have glimpsed the struggle of a genuine believer. Now the answer is shouted in exclamation.

Many who claim to know Christ never see themselves well enough to appreciate as deeply as Paul did what they actually have in Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, we are assured of a great future. We will one day join him in eternity with a new body that is free from sin.

The battle ends with a shout of victory. The winners know who really won. The winners also know the war isn’t over. But in the meantime, there are more lessons to learn, and there is more freedom to experience.

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Sources:

MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The – MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8.

Bruce B. Barton, David R. Veerman, Neil Wilson, Life Application Bible Commentary – Romans, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1992), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 135-146.