HEY EVERYONE, I was talking about Paul with OLD REGGIE on Friday, and we were discussing the meaning of the following passage from Romans 7:
[14] We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.
[15] I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
[16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
[17] So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
[18] For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
[19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
[20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
[21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
[22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self,
[23] but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
[24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
[25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
I cited this passage to counter notion that Paul was asexual. I think this suggests that Paul was in fact subject to intense temptation. To me, it seems unlikely that he would write so powerfully and in an almost anguished fashion were his temptation to, say, gluttony instead of sexual sin.
How do y'all interpret this passage?
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin [Rom. 7:14].
This is Paul’s testimony. “We know” was the general agreement among believers. The Law is spiritual in the sense that it was given by the Holy Spirit and is part of the Word of God. In other words, that is an expression in Scripture. For example, the Rock is called spiritual in I Corinthians 10:4, for it was produced by the Holy Spirit. Israel in the wilderness had spiritual meat and spiritual drink in this sense—that is, the Spirit of God provided it.
“But I am carnal.” This means, “I am in the flesh [Greek sarkinos].” It does not mean the meat on the bones of the body. Carnality refers to this old human mind and spirit and nature which occupies and uses the flesh so that actually the flesh itself is contaminated with sin. (For example, look upon the face of a baby and then look at the face fifty years later. Sin has written indelible lines even upon the surface of the body.) Flesh is inert and has no capabilities or possibilities toward God. It is dominated by a sinful nature, the ramifications of which reach into the inmost recesses of the body and mind. The heart of man is desperately wicked. He wants to do the things that are evil, and the body responds. Paul describes his pitiful plight as a slave sold to a Simon Legree taskmaster with a whiplash of evil.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I [Rom. 7:15].
Here we have the conflict of two natures, the old nature and the new nature. There are definitely two “I’s” in this section. The first “I” is the old nature as he asserts his rights. “For what I would” is what the new nature wants to do. “That do I not”—the old nature rebels and won’t do it. “But what I hate”—the new nature hates it—“that do I”; the old nature goes right ahead and does it.
Do you have the experience of this struggle in your Christian life? Do you do something, then hate yourself because you have done it? And you cry out, “God, oh how I’ve failed You!” I think every child of God has this experience. Paul is speaking of his own experience in this section. Apparently there were three periods in his life. First he was a proud Pharisee under the Mosaic system, kidding himself by bringing the sacrifices and doing other things which he thought would make him right with God. But the Law was condemning him all the while. Then the second period began when he met Christ on the Damascus Road. This proud young Pharisee turned to Christ as his Savior, but he still felt he could live the Christian life. His new nature said, “I am now going to live for God!” But he failed and was in the arena of struggle and failure for a time. I do not know how long it lasted—probably it was not long. There came a day when there was victory, but Paul did not win it; Christ did. Paul learned that it was a matter of yielding, presenting himself and letting the Spirit of God live the Christian life through him.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good [Rom. 7:16].
When the old nature breaks the commandment (in this instance it was coveting), then the new nature agrees with the law that coveting is wrong. Paul was not fighting the Law because he broke it. He was agreeing as a believer that the Law was good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me [Rom. 7:17].
In other words: It is no longer I (new nature) who am working it out, but sin (the old nature) living in me. You see, Paul still had the old nature.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not [Rom. 7:18].
Paul learned two things in this struggle, and they are something that many of us believers need to learn. “In me (that old nature we have been talking about) dwells no good thing.” Have you learned that? Have you found there is no good in you? Oh, how many of us Christians feel that we in the flesh can do something that will please God! Many believers who never find out otherwise become as busy as termites and are having about the same effect in many of our churches. They are busy as bees, but they aren’t making any honey! They get on committees, they are chairmen of boards, they try to run the church, and they think they are pleasing God. Although they are busy, they have no vital connection with the person of Christ. His life is not being lived through them. They are attempting to do it in their own strength by the flesh. They haven’t learned what Paul learned: “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” Let me make it personal. Anything that BigMack does in the flesh, God hates. God won’t have it; God can’t use it. When it is of the flesh, it is no good. Have you learned that? That is a great lesson. The Lord Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh …” (John 3:6) (and that is all it will ever be), but “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin …” (1 John 3:9). We are given a new nature, and that new nature will not commit sin. I assure you that the new nature won’t commit sin. When I sin, it is the old nature. The new nature won’t do it; the new nature just hates sin. That new nature won’t let me sleep at night; it says, “Look, you are wrong. You have to make it right!” Paul found out something else that is very important for us to learn: “for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” He found there is no good in the old nature and there is no power in the new nature. The new nature wants to serve God, but the carnal man is at enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (see Rom. 8:7). But the new nature has no power. I remember when I started out, oh, I was going to live for God! That’s when I fell on my face, and I have never fallen harder than I did then. I thought I could do it myself. But I found there was no power in the new nature. And that is the reason that an evangelist can always get response in a meeting. I’m afraid ninety percent of the decisions that are made in our churches today have been made by Christians who have been living in defeat in their Christian lives. What they are really saying is, “I want to live for God. I want to do better.” Often an evangelist in a meeting says, “All of you that want to live for God, put up your hand. All of you today that want to come closer to God, put up your hand. Those of you who want to commit your life to God, come forward.” The minute an evangelist says that, he’s got me. That is what I want to do. That new nature of mine says, “I sure would like to live for God.” But there is no power in it. That is what multitudes of believers fail to recognize. There have been folk who have been coming forward for years, and that’s all they have been doing—just coming forward! They never make any progress. Oh, how they need to understand this truth!
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do [Rom. 7:19].
Have you experienced this?
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me [Rom. 7:20].
It is that old nature, my friend, that is causing us trouble.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me [Rom. 7:21].
When you are attempting to serve God in the Spirit, have you discovered that the old nature is right there to bring evil? Perhaps an evil thought will come into your mind. Every child of God, regardless of his state, must admit that in every act and in every moment evil is present with him. Failure to recognize this will eventually lead to shipwreck in the Christian life.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man [Rom. 7:22].
“The inward man” is the new nature.
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 [Rom. 7:23].
You see, you don’t get rid of the old nature when you are saved. And yet there is no power in your new nature. “I see a different law” is the enmity of the old nature against God. It causes the child of God who is honest to cry out, as Paul cried:
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [Rom 7:24].
This is not an unsaved man who is crying, “O wretched man that I am”; this is a saved man. The word wretched carries with it the note of exhaustion because of the struggle. “Who is going to deliver me?” He is helpless. His shoulders are pinned to the floor—he has been wrestled down. Like old Jacob, he has been crippled. He is calling for help from the outside.
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 [Rom. 7:25].
“I thank God who gives deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the answer to Paul’s SOS. God has provided deliverance. It introduces chapter 8 in which the deliverance is given in detail. Both salvation and sanctification come through Christ; He has provided everything we need.
BigMack
Not asexual, but heterosexual. I think Paul, not being married when he was converted, was conflicted by his sexual desires. I'm assuming that he thought that sex outside of marriage was not permissable and so struggled. Not having any "outlet" for it, he may have occassionaly found an "outlet" that involved...how should I say, improper fantasies?
I think all and all it's not that big of an issue. It's one every man struggles with. But it was Pauls fate to have his struggles put forth in a book and read by billions.