Today we’re going to cover a lot of ground. That means this message is going long (also why it’s taken me so long to finish)…I really don’t want to split up this section of scripture any more because I want you to see the entire picture of what Paul is saying here. This is a section of scripture that can be grossly misinterpreted, even used as an excuse to continue in sin. We don’t want or need that. We do not want to be mislead in scripture, but we want to see the Truth that God has for us, and so my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would illuminate His great truth to you today. Rightly understood, there is perhaps no greater scripture for encouragement in the daily walk of Christian life. That is the weight of my task today – to present clearly this good news for your encouragement and joy.
Romans 7:15-25 – “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
First I need to quickly address the controversy that surrounds this section of scripture. Some want to say that Paul is speaking not of who he is currently, but of who he used to be before becoming a Christian. Why this thought is wrong: Paul talks about a hatred of sin. Paul agrees that the laws of Christ are good. Paul say he has the desire to do what is right, yearning for righteousness. Now we know that by nature we are at enmity with God, and in love with the world (Eph 2:3, Rom 8:5, Jam 4:4). Therefore, what Paul is describing cannot be the feelings of a non-Christian.
A second group of people want to say Paul is talking about a “Carnal” Christian. I cringe every time I hear this term, because it is so unBiblical and unhelpful to actual Christians to believe there is such a thing. That said, when someone speaks about a “carnal” Christian they mean a Christian that has accepted Jesus as savior, but is still in bondage to sin and continues in their sin without true repentance. Again, although Christians can struggle with carnality in their flesh, this “carnal” Christian that abides in sin is found NOWHERE in the Bible. The Bible specifically says that “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning” (1 John 3:9) This idea was born out of well-meaning pastors who wanted to comfort grandmothers that their grandson was still a Christian because he made a profession of faith at 8 years old, while he has not set foot in a church in 20 years and just left his wife and family for another woman. Let me be helpful, because the term “carnal Christian” can be confusing – I have another word for a “carnal Christian” and it’s much easier to understand – I call them nonbelievers. Clearly the idea of a “carnal Christian” as defined above is not what Paul is talking about.
What Paul is talking about is the war that wages itself in the hearts and minds of believers every day. That is why this passage of scripture is so helpful to us, because it describes us all and should serve as a comfort and reminder of the peace we have through gospel of Jesus. Let’s walk through this passage of scripture to see what God has for us.
When Paul is saying that he does not understand his own actions – what is he describing? He says that he does what he does not want, the very thing he hates – but what does this mean? Clearly Paul is talking about sin in his life, but what he is describing as his emotions about sin in his life is more than simple remorse. After all, you don’t have to be a Christian to feel bad about sinful actions. There are all sorts of reasons why a non-Christian would feel remorse, centered primarily on the consequences of their sin. Ex: if you cheat on your wife, she may leave you and you feel bad or if you drink heavily, you may do/say things you shouldn’t have and have to deal with the reprecussions.
For Paul, as a Christian, his sin illicits an emotional response which includes remorse, but extends far beyond the kind of remorse a non-Christian would experience. Paul doesn’t merely feel bad that he sins, he “hates” sin. Paul hates sin because he loves Jesus. Paul doesn’t merely dislike the consequences of his sin, he hates it for its own sake, because it defames the name of the One who set him free. There is a love of God that drives Paul, and his sin is directly in opposition to the God he loves. We see this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 14-15 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Therefore Paul’s hatred of sin is well placed. As Christians we all should hate our sin in the same way – that it is in opposition to the God we love. Pragmatically, if your fight against sin begins with trying to merely “stop sinning” instead of growing in your love and affection for God, you will never experience lasting success or experience true freedom and joy in Christ.
Now, if Paul is controlled by a love of Christ and the law points us to the righteousness of Christ, Paul is in agreement that the law is good. Even in sinning against the law, and hating his sin, Paul reckognizes that the law is good.
Right here we’re about to get pretty deep, so stay with me, its worth it. Paul now says that when he now sins it is not him doing it, but sin that dwells in him. He explains that there is nothing good in him, that is in his flesh. He says he has the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry out that desire. What does this mean? Is Paul suggesting that he can go on sinning and it doesn’t matter? Not at all. Paul refutes that heresy back one chapter in Romans 6:1-4 – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
So what is Paul saying? Paul realizes that it sin in his body, his sin that is sinning, but there are two reasons why he says that it is not him doing it. First, there is so great a love for God, and so great a hatred for sin in a believer, that they could rightly say that they are “not themselves” to be sinning. My fear is that for many Christians, they will have absolutely NO idea what I just meant by that, and the reason is that they neither truly hate their sin, nor truly love their God and Savior. As Christians, as we draw near to God through the means of grace He has given us in His Word, through prayer, through fasting, through song, through communion, through fellowship with saints, and in enjoying him in nature, our affections for God should grow. As our affections grow, our disdain for sin and all things that would draw us away from the God we love should also be growing. This should be continual in the life of a believer, where sin becomes non-sensical – to pursue a lie for suffering and deprive yourself of Truth for joy. So Paul, out of his great love for God says that it is no longer “him” sinning, but sin that dwells in him.
Second, and most importantly, we as believers must root our identity in Christ as Paul does in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Here you must realize that Paul has labored in Romans 5 two chapters ago to show what it means to no longer be identified with the sin of Adam, but the perfect righteousness of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 – “For if, because of one man’s trespass (Adam), death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” The death that Christ died, is your death through faith. He died to sin. You died to sin in Him. He was raised to life in righteousness. You were raised to life in righteousness. Before sin was your master. Now Jesus Christ and His righteousness is your master. We are not our own, we were bought with the blood of Christ. We are Jesus Christ’s and he has given us new life, new heart’s affection for Him and His righteousness for His glory. We must hate our sin, and seek to put it to death by the Spirit in pursuing Christ, but our sin is gone. It was paid for in full by Jesus on the cross. When Christ said “it is finished”, it was finished. Anyone who hears this as liberty to continue in sin is no Christian. This is liberty to pursue righteousness as a sinner free from the guilt that our enemy Satan and our flesh would have us in bondage to.
Following the Way 