Romans - The Gospel of God
Chapter 7 - Free from the Law

A Sinful Nature - Exposed & Demonstrated by the Law vs 7-25
Part 3 - The Power & Debilitating Effect of Sin Demonstrated by the Law vs 7-13

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Romans 7:14–25 (NKJV)

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
   21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
       So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

A Dramatic Portrayal 
Verse thirteen of chapter seven then forms a pivotal point in Paul’s argument as he concludes his explanation of the deceitful character of sin exposed by the law (vs 7-12) and prepares the way to talk about the debilitating effect of sin demonstrated by the law (vs 14-25). But just as verse thirteen is pivotal, verse fourteen forms a headline which also sums up what has gone before and anticipates what is about to follow in verses fifteen to twenty-five. Paul identifies the problem with man: ‘For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin’ (v 14) and he goes on to demonstrate how this statement is true. 

Verse fourteen signals a new section. If Paul has shown how sin reacts and is exposed by the law, he now will demonstrate how sin captivates and prevents obedience to the law. Paul says ‘we know’ before reverting back to the use of the first-person singular only this time using verbs in the present tense. This means Paul is either talking about present experience as to himself which would mean he is speaking as a believer or, much more likely, he is adopting or using a style of speech to communicate and portray an ever present and unchanging reality. Those who understand these matters point out that Paul uses a form of rhetoric as in a style of speech called ‘impersonation’ or ‘speech in character’, referred to earlier, as he dramatically demonstrates the plight of anyone desiring and trying to obey God’s law in their own strength. Given the manner of how he speaks here it certainly seems to fit such a rhetorical style, which Paul employs for good effect in making the truth he’s communicating abundantly and impactfully clear. If Paul was anything, he certainly wasn’t a boring preacher, but a skilful communicator of divine truth. Therefore, Paul’s use of “I” here is not so much personal, though he too knew, no doubt, whereof he speaks from personal experience, as it is general and instructional. He represents and teaches a universal truth, it is suggested, in the form of ‘soliloquy’ with all the intensity such a style communicates. Paul is thus dramatically portraying the helpless plight of man. He speaks in the present tense for dramatic and vivid effect as well as to show that what he communicates is always universally relevant and applicable to anyone who tries by their own volition to obey God’s law in their own strength. Of course, other commentators, while understanding that Paul speaks representatively, don’t view his mode of speaking in this rhetorical style of ‘speech in character’.  

What and Who
Broadly speaking, there are two main views of this section. Paul is either writing about pre-conversion experience or post-conversion experience. Either an unsaved or saved person. Both have been ably expounded and defended. Paul is hardly ‘impersonating’ a self-righteous person who pridefully thinks they do keep God’s law by their own ability, nor a self-indulgent sinner who has no regard for God’s law whatsoever. Rather, Paul must be speaking as someone who delights in (v 22), and desires (vs 18, 21) to obey the truth of God’s law. If we take the view that this is pre-conversion, then there are two options. It could be a pious Jew and/or a God-fearing Gentile. If the post-conversion, then it's a believer struggling with sin whether mature or immature. However, to focus on the ‘who’, instead of the ‘what’ is probably to miss Paul’s point. ‘What’ he is showing is ‘what’ we need to understand and that is the helpless plight and inability of fallen human beings, whoever they are, to obey God and fulfil the righteousness of the law in or by their own strength. It can’t be done! Moreover, the law, spiritual as it is, offers no help, aid or power; that must come from another source. The law therefore demonstrates to man his inability to obey God because of indwelling sin. 

The fact that Paul does not mention the Holy Spirit in these verses is significant and indicates that Paul is probably not writing as a believer. Indeed, in verses seven to thirteen Paul does not specifically say that he speaks as an unbeliever and neither does he say in verses fourteen to twenty-five he is speaking as a believer. If we insist only on a literal understanding of Paul’s words in these two sections then we feel we must put Paul in one of the above categories and understand his language ‘literally’ as only referring to himself, but such an approach surely misses the evident possibility of Paul writing in a certain style and adopting a particular form of communication suitable to his audience. Insisting that Paul or what he says must be categorized as unbeliever or believer, particularly in this section, really only distracts from the content of what Paul is teaching. It is the case that in verses fourteen to twenty-five Paul further develops what he’s been saying in verses seven to thirteen. In the latter, the focus is on the sinfulness of sin – ‘so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful’ (v 13) whereas in verses fourteen to twenty-five his focus is on the sinfulness of self – ‘I am carnal, sold under sin’ (v 14). But actually, when you consider his exclamation and cry of desperation – ‘O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ (v 24) it seems apparent that Paul is not only developing what he said from the previous section, but in a dramatic and powerful manner he is bringing to a climax, the outcome of what he stated at chapter five verse twelve for after all, ‘this body of death’ which we all possess is the result of sin entering the world through one man.

If Paul, however, is portraying an aspect of Christian experience, which in context seems unlikely, this cannot be or ought not to be normal Christian experience. Knowing the power of sin is one thing, living a life of defeat is another and goes against what Paul teaches in chapter six and chapter eight and elsewhere. Each believer is conscious of sin within and failure in their obedience to God, but they are not helpless and without divine enabling. So, either Paul is adopting a rhetorical style here to get the truth across that, no matter who it is, even a believer, when we try in our own strength to do the will of God, we will miserably fail because we are fallen creatures. Paul is teaching believers the truth of the gospel in this epistle. If he is ‘dramatizing’ it’s not for its own sake, but for the truth’s sake. Neither is Paul speaking ‘hypothetically’ as in what it would be like for a believer without the Spirit, if such were possible. Rather he is showing what it is like for anyone who tries to obey God and fulfil his righteousness in their own strength and by their own effort, even should that person be a believer. The dichotomy between the purpose of mind and the power of sin in the flesh couldn’t be clearer. 
 
A Slave to Sin v 14
Paul states that ‘we know that’. With certainty we know two facts. The first is that ‘the law is spiritual’, in that it is of God, and the second, ‘I am carnal, sold under sin’ (v 14). Spiritual and carnal stand in obvious contrast. The law is of the Spirit and I am of the flesh (Compare the use of the same two words at 1 Cor 3 v 1). As much as ‘we know’ being instructed in truth, we also know intuitively and in light of what follows, by experience. Paul thus identifies the problem. He will now demonstrate by means of this representative style of speaking, the plight of all who discover the reality that all humanity is sold as slaves and under the dominion of sin and sentence of death, because of Adam’s sin – ‘death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ (Rom 5 v 12 KJV). His statement at verse fourteen signals to us that what Paul is about to describe and demonstrate is the human plight of sinfulness in light of the law, which renders us helpless in two ways. We are not able to do what’s right, and we cannot stop doing what is wrong!

A State of Frustration vs 15-20
The primary thing that Paul highlights is human inability. It’s the inability to do what is right despite wanting to, and the inability to not do what is evil despite wanting to! The reason for this is the presence of indwelling sin. He states this twice at verses seventeen and twenty and he makes his central statement at verse eighteen: ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find’. Paul moves through four steps of explanation marked off by the conjunction ‘for’ (vs 14, 15, 18, 19). The first at verse fourteen, extends out of verse 13 and introduces this new section. The second at verse fifteen opens the explanation for verse fourteen and along with the next two, explains what being ‘carnal, sold under sin’ means. Also, Paul uses four different present active verbs in verses fifteen to twenty translated ‘doing’, ‘will to do/not to do’ (‘not’ being a negative adverb), ‘do’, ‘practice’, ‘perform’. ‘Doing’ (v 15), ‘do’ (vs 17, 20), ‘perform’ (v 18) translate the same verb (katergazomai) which is also found at verses eight and thirteen in this chapter translated ‘produced’ and ‘producing’. Among its shades of meaning, it can mean ‘achieve, accomplish’ or ‘produce, create’ as we see in this chapter. 

So, Paul begins by expressing the frustration caused by sin when he says: ‘For what I am doing, I do not understand’ (v 15). He does the opposite of what he intends. This is what he does not understand. It amounts to, why is this happening? What he sets out to accomplish not only does not happen, but the opposite occurs, ‘For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do’ (v 15). He makes two observations. First, doing what I hate confirms the law as good, inasmuch as it necessarily and consistently tells me what is right and what is wrong. I’m agreeing with its assessment, I know what is right and I know I’m doing what is wrong. Second, from the law and my actions I am made aware of the presence and power of sin in me (v 16). Having observed these two things he can only conclude, ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells’ (v 18). Now he stresses ‘for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find’ (v 18). There is no power in me nor is any offered from the law and so he repeats again at verses nineteen to twenty more descriptively what he stated in verses fifteen to seventeen, ‘For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me’.

Now notice that what Paul describes is that the will, the desire is there, but not the ability to carry through nor resist the opposite. Thus, we sense the resulting confusion and frustration in such a person because of the tension of an inner conflict and the contradiction between desire and ability. Paul will now show, this is in fact because of the subjugation of the will by the power of sin. 

A Cry of Desperation vs 21-25
So, if a person cannot ‘find’ the power to do what is right, what they do ‘find’ is now discussed. They discover that ‘a law’ or principle that ‘evil is present’ (v 21) always and sin is ever operating from within, captivating and controlling a person through his or her body ‘members’ (v 23) which are the ‘vehicle’ of expression of the inner workings of the ‘mind’ and ‘flesh’. The latter, ‘flesh’ (vs 5, 18, 25) being the fallen nature in man, contrasting with and contradicting ‘the law of my mind’ (vs 23, 25), the rational and intelligent faculty which understands and expresses the desire of ‘the inward man’ or the will of the person within, so to speak, who ‘delight(s) in the law of God’ (v 22). Man is fallen, but this does not mean he cannot and does not know or understand what is right and good and possess the desire to realize it. The problem is the power of sin within him that dominates. 

So, unfortunately, the purpose or intentional ‘will’ (vs 15-16, 18-21) of the ‘mind’ (vs 23, 25) is defeated by the power of the sin dwelling and actively operating ‘in my flesh’ (v 18), and even though one may ‘delight in the law of God according to the inward man’ it’s not enough to overcome or overpower sinful desire. So, there are ‘laws’ operating within a person. Paul speaks about ‘another law’ (v 21) which is, it seems, ‘the law of sin’ (v 23), and of ‘the law of my mind’ (v 23) which refers to the principle of thought or rational desire which wants to fulfil God’s law. So, we have the principle of sin and the principle of thought or desire. These internal ‘laws’ appear to be distinct from the external ‘law of God’, though are hardly to be understood apart from it for both the understanding and fallen nature are affected by God’s law. The law of the mind is in agreement with God’s law and the law of sin resists it. So as Paul describes it, he desires to obey God and do good, but as soon as he tries, he realizes there is a war, a conflict raging within him. Sin or his sinful nature immediately ‘attacks’ and ‘ambushes’ his intention holding him captive and incapacitated regarding doing what’s right (v 23). 

It’s no wonder then this climax is reached: ‘O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ (v 24). Paul expresses our misery and distress. ‘This body of death’, this ‘mortal body’ (Rom 6 v 12) in which we dwell so full of contradiction and conflict because of sin. Death permeates it morally and spiritually as well as physically. This cry is more a cry of desperation than despair with a sense of deep longing for deliverance from the reign of death through sin realized in our present fallen existence. Paul expresses the longing for freedom, not from the body, but from this reign of death and the dominating power of sin. Why, though, does Paul use a future tense verb instead of a present when he says, ‘who will deliver me’? This certainly points to a future deliverance. If he writes in contrast to the condition, he has been portraying by speaking in the present tense then he is thinking of a future point of deliverance as in salvation which will be realized ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’. This would indicate that the person he’s been portraying has not yet known this deliverance and assurance. Alternatively, this cry perhaps expresses the desire or longing for ultimate freedom from such a body which will only come when Christ returns. This suggests, Paul is thinking beyond the spiritual reality of present salvation, to future salvation and the perfect state when sin will be gone from us forever. Probably, though Paul intends us to think of both aspects of deliverance. The present freedom found in salvation and the future glory it assures to be realized at the return of Christ. Both aspects are expounded in chapter eight and Paul’s interjection here of assurance at verse twenty-five anticipates what he’s about to unfold. His expression of thanks then is probably to be considered in parenthesis and his conclusion at verse twenty-five simply sums up what he has been saying about the human condition when awakened to righteousness, but painfully aware of the power of sin. 

The point then of this section seems to be that Paul writes in the first person using the empathic “I” to vividly portray a reality and a necessity. The reality is the impossibility of a ‘carnal’, a sinful person overcoming the power of sin within the flesh despite the purpose and desire of the mind to obey the law and fulfil its righteousness. Even if the law is obeyed externally, the conflict proceeding from the sinful nature within negates any idea of true righteousness and spirituality. Paul has made this point clear before in the epistle; ‘For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God’ (Rom 2 vs 28-29).

Therefore, the necessity is what Paul states in verse twenty-five, deliverance ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’. All human effort, no matter how sincere, is doomed to failure. Man needs a power outside of himself to overcome sin. Jew and Gentile need the power of the death and resurrection of Christ to be realized by the indwelling Holy Spirit, who enables us to experience present deliverance from sin’s power and guarantees to us, ultimate deliverance at Christ’s return (Rom 8 vs 1-11).  

Sadly, however, there are many professing Christianity within Protestantism who are in bondage to ‘the law of sin’ while trying to keep the ’law of God’ because of the false belief of a works-based righteousness. The confusing mix of Old Covenant truth with New Testament revelation accompanied by the false notion, through the misapplication of scripture, that the privilege of a Christian heritage confers on a child special grace and spiritual regeneration symbolized by the act of infant baptism.  

The gospel plainly tells us that Christ alone is the deliverer from sin and from the condemnation of the law. Therefore, through Him we are ‘justified by faith’ and ‘have peace with God’ and ‘access by faith into this grace in which we stand’ (Rom 5 vs 1-2). Being ‘in Christ Jesus’ we ‘are not under law, but under grace’ (Rom 6 v 14) and therefore freed from the dominion of sin and condemnation of law having received divine power to live a life pleasing to God through the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the truth Paul moves on to explain in chapter eight. Yes, there is the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in a believer as described by Paul in Galatians (chap 5 vs 16-26), but a believer does not live a life of defeat and contradiction, but of freedom and power through the Spirit of God. 

The law then is God’s law, ‘holy and just and good’. It does what it was intended to do in revealing His standard of righteousness and therefore exposing our sin as we fall short externally and our sinfulness as we rebel internally. Justification cannot come by the law and sanctification is not enabled by the law. It can teach, but it cannot transform. Sinners need a Saviour. 

AJC