Bondage in the flesh by the indwelling sin (Romans 7)
By
Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian
Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music
Bondage in the flesh by the indwelling sin
Scriptures reading Romans 7:1-25
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
7:1
Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the
law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 7:2 For example, by law
a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her
husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.7:3 So then, if she
marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an
adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not
an adulteress, even though she marries another man. 7:4 So, my brothers, you
also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to
another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit
to God.7:5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful
passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit
for death 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released
from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old
way of the written code.
The Law and Sin
7:7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 7:9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.7:10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 7:16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.7:17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.7:21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 7:23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 7:25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
In Romans 7 verse 1-6 Paul
introduces a new metaphor, that of a fruitful marriage. The Christian, because
of his death with Christ, is free from his marriage to the law and is brought
into a new marriage with Christ. The new union demands good living as its
progeny. The believer who has died with Christ is released from bondage
to the law and hence from bondage to sin and is free to experience the abundant
life of Christ. When we were controlled by the sinful nature. Before we were
saved.
Verse 1-6 continue 6:14 to
explain how it is that we are not under the law. One hand, the law
continues to exist, for God has not recalled, annulled, or abolished it. One
the other hand, because of the crucifixion of our old man (6:6) who is the
first husband mentioned in these verses, we are no longer under the law and no
longer have anything to do with it. Instead, we have become the wife of Christ;
that is, we have become those who depend on Christ.
Because fallen man left his
proper position as God’s wife and desired to be the husband, God gave him the
law, which he cannot possibly keep. The law is intended not for the wife but
for the husband, and the law was given not that it might be kept but that the
old man might be exposed (v.5;3:20;5:20). Accordingly, this verse refers to the
law as “the law regarding the husband.” The husband here (the first husband)
is not the flesh or the law, but the old man mentioned in 6:6, who has been
crucified with Christ. Thus, vv.1-6 correspond with 6:6 “ Knowing this, that
our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be
annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves.
Verse 3 she is joined to another man referring to the second husband mentioned in
these verses, who is Christ.
Verse 4 Since our old man,
who was the old husband, has been crucified with Christ (6:6), we are freed
from his law and are joined to the new Husband, Christ, the ever-living One. As
believers, we have two statuses. The first you in this verse refers to us in
our old status as the fallen old man,
who left the original position of a wife dependent on God and took the
self-assuming position of husband and head, independent of God. The second you
in this verse refers to us in our new status as the regenerated new man,
restored to our original and proper position as the genuine wife to God
(Isa.54:5;1Cor.11:3), dependent on Him and taking Him as our Head. We no longer
have the old status of the husband, for we have been crucified. We now have
only the new status of the proper wife, in which we take Christ as our Husband,
and should no longer live according to the old man, i.e., no longer take the
old mam as our husband. As the regenerated new man and the wife to Christ,
everything we are and do is now related to God, and God is brought forth by us
as the fruit, the overflow, of our life. This is in contrast to the fruit born
to death (v.5), which was previously brought forth by us as the old man, the
old husband.
Verse 6 Since the old man
has been crucified, the regenerated new man is now free from the law of the old
man (vv.2-3;Gal2:19). Since the law was given to the old husband, the old man,
not to the wife, and since the old husband, the old man, died on the cross, the
new man, the wife, has been discharged from his law. In 6:4, new ness of life
issues from our being identified with Christ’s resurrection and is for our walk
in our daily life. Here, newness of spirit issues from our being discharged
from the law and being joined from the law and being joined to the resurrected
Christ, and is for our service to God. Thus, both newness of spirit and newness
of life are results of the crucifixion of the old man. We serve in the newness of spirit Referring to our regenerated
human spirit, in which the Lord as the Spirit dwells (2Tim.4:22). Everything
that is related to our regenerated spirit is new, and everything that comes out
of our spirit is new. Our regenerated spirit is a source of newness because the
Lord, the life of God, and the Holy Spirit are there.
In vv.7-25 Paul used his
own experience, which he had before he believed in the Lord, to illustrate the
wretchedness of trying to do good under the law in order to please God. Neither
the human spirit nor the Spirit of God is mentioned in this section; rather,
the will and the mind of the human soul (vv.19,23), which attempt to please God
with the good of the natural life (vv.18-19,21), are referred to. Although this
is the situation of an unsaved person, nearly all Christians pass through this
kind of experience after they are saved.
The law portrays God and defines Him
(Lev.19:2). Accordingly, it places many demands and requirements on fallen man,
and in so doing it identifies sin as sin and leads man to the knowledge of sin
(3:20;4:15;5:20). In this way man is both exposed and subdued by the law (3:19).
The tenth commandment,
“You shall not covet,” is not related to outward conduct, but rather to the sin
within man, mainly in his thoughts. This shows that man’s problem is with the
sin that indwells him, not just with outward sinful acts.
Verse 8 this chapter, especially in this verse and
in vv.11,17,20, indicates that sin is a person, the embodiment of Satan, and is
living and acting within us.
Verse 10 Referring to our being put to death by
the curse and condemnation brought to us, both in our conscience and before
God, by sin through the law (4:15;5:13,20).
Verse 11 the law is the instrument through which sin
deceives and kills men. The power of sin is the law (1Cor.15:56). This fact
should warn us not to turn to the law to try to keep it, for in so doing we
give sin the opportunity to deceive and kill us.
Verse 14 For we know
that the law is spiritual the inward, subjective consciousness. The same in
essence, nature, and substance as God who is Spirit (John 4:24). Paul saw that
he was contrary to all that is portrayed by the law. It is spiritual, holy
righteous, and good; he was fleshy, common and defiled, unjust, and evil.
Verse 15 Lit., do not know; i.e., do not acknowledge, do not
approve of . Paul did not allow, approve of , or acknowledge his wrong action,
for it issued from his flesh, which served the law of sin against his mind and
against his will.
Verse 17 Lit., houses itself. Sin does not merely abide or
remain within us for a time; it makes its home in us.
Verse 18 the flesh here is the fallen and corrupted human
body with all its lusts. This flesh was not created by God but is a mixture of
God’s creature and sin, which is the life of Satan, the evil one. God created
man’s body a pure vessel, but this vessel was corrupted and transmuted into the
flesh by Satan’s injecting himself into it at the time of the fall. Now Satan
as sin personified is in man’s flesh, making his home there and ruling as an
illegal master, overruling man and forcing him to do things that he dislikes.
It is this indwelling sin, which is the unchangeable evil nature, that
constitutes all men sinners (5:19).
Paul here, was careful to say that it is in the flesh, not
in man’s whole being, that nothing good dwells. Good does exist in other parts
of man’s being. The will desires to please God (vv.18-21) according to the good
law in the mind (vv.22-23) but is impossible to perform this good through the body, for the body has
become the flesh, where sin dwells. To will to do good is to turn to the law.
The law of good in our mind (vv.22-23) corresponds with the law of God and
responds to its demands by trying to keep it.
Verse 21 the law with
me. According to the fact mentioned in v.20, Paul discovered that the law
of sin was the sin that dwelt in him and the evil that was present with him. In
v.23 he realized that this law was the law of sin in his members. The evil is present with me The Greek
word means that which is evil in character. This must be the evil life, nature,
and character of Satan himself, who is
the indwelling sin is us. When sin is dormant within us, it is merely sin, but
when it is aroused in us by our willing to do the good, it becomes “the evil.”
Verse 23 I see a different law in my members. There are three different laws in the three
different parts of the believers’ being. As revealed in chapter 7 and 8, these
three laws derive from the three parties in the universe. The law of sin and death in the believer’s members (v.23),
that is, in his body, derives from Satan, who as sin dwells in the believer’s
flesh. The law of good in the believer’s mind (v.23), that is, in his soul,
derives from the natural human life, that is, from man himself. The law of the
Spirit of life in the believer’s spirit derives from God, who as the Spirit
dwells in his spirit (8:2,16). These three parties with the three laws
are now present in the believer in much the same way that they(God, man, and Satan) were present in the Garden of Eden
(Gen.3). In addition to the three laws within the believer, there is the
law of God outside of him. (vv.22,25). The warfare here is between the law of sin in the members of our
body and the law of good in the mind of our soul. It is absolutely a matter of
sin in our flesh fighting against good in our natural being; it is not at all related to our spirit or the
Spirit of God. Hence, I is different from the warfare in Gal. 5:16-25 between
our spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of God and the flesh. A person who
is independent of God cannot deal with the law of sin in the flesh, for this law
is the powerful person of Satan himself.
Verse 24 To attempt to keep the law
by the flesh results in death and wretchedness. Man has become fleshy, sold
under sin (v.14). In man’s flesh nothing good dwells (v.18), and man is unable
to master sin (vv.15-20). If man in such a condition tries to fulfill the law
of God he will surely fail. In 6:6 our fallen body is called “the body of sin.”
Here it is termed “the body of this death.” The body of sin is strong in sinning against God, but the body of this death is weak in acting to please God.
Sin energizes the fallen body to sin, whereas death utterly weakens and
disables the corrupted body, so that it cannot keep God’s commandments. The death caused by sin through the weapon of
the law, the death of being defeated, the death of trying of being defeated,
the death of trying to keep the law to please God but instead being made a
captive by the law of sin in our members. This is the death that is working in
our flesh this very moment.
Verse 25 the phrase with the mind I myself indicates that
the mind, representing the self, is independently attempting to do good. Although the law of good in the mind (v.23) gives us the
inclination to do good, the mind will be defeated because the law of sin in our
members is stronger than the independent mind.
The law of sin. Sin and the evil are synonymous terms, denoting Satan,
who dwells in man’s fallen body.
Chapter 7 from 15 to 25 The intensely personal character of
these verses seems to indicate that this was Paul’s own experience as a
believer. This is his diagnosis of what happens when one tries to be sanctified
by keeping the law. Sin living in me. Though Paul has written of acts of sin,
here he speaks of sin as a disposition deep in a man’s life that produces those
acts. Sinful nature., Lit., flesh. Paul uses flesh in several ways. (1) it
denotes the personality of man controlled by sin and directed to selfish
pursuits rather than the service of God (v.25;8:5-7; Gal.5:17). (2) It
sometimes refers simply to physical descent (1:3;9:3). (3) it also stands for
the physical existence of a person, i.e., being in the body
(Eph.2:15;Philem.16) . There is no blame attached to the last two meanings of
the word.
Bibliography,
Friberg,
Timothy, Barbara Friberg, and Neva
F. Miller et al., eds. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.1st ed.
Victoria BC: Trafford Publishing, 2005.
King
James, The Holy Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Lee,
Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream
Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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